Hi everyone!
As you probably already know, our beloved amstrad cpc gameport, unlike many other home micros like Atari/Atari st, amiga, c64 etc, doesn't provide any 5volt power supply.
Because of that, autofire function on many joysticks is not working, but most important, many usefull adapters designed for standard DB9 gameports (like this usb joystick/gamepad adapter (http://www.ebay.ie/sch/m.html?_odkw=DB15&_ssn=ikonsgr74&_armrs=1&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2046732.m570.l1313.TR12.TRC2.A0.H0.Xusb+ps2.TRS0&_nkw=usb+ps2&_sacat=0) or this DB15 Pc Joystick adapter (http://www.ebay.ie/sch/m.html?_odkw=DB+15&_ssn=ikonsgr74&_armrs=1&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2046732.m570.l1313.TR2.TRC0.A0.H0.XDB15.TRS0&_nkw=DB15&_sacat=0) i make) can't function either on amstrad cpc!
Unfortunately, it's not as simple as connecting the 5volt supply to the coresponding pin of joystick port connector, because of the strange way amstrad gameport funcrtions:
It doesn't provide a steady 0 volt/ground pin, instead the "ground" or common-com signal is pulsed, where every 0.02 seconds goes from high to low, and only then amstrad scans movement+fire signals!
So, what i have to show you, is a rather simple circuit that will provide the necessary 5volt supply (and 0volt/ground too) to joytisck's DB9 connector, thus enabling the usage of autofire, but most important, allowing any adapter designed for DB9 gameport to function properly! :)
This is the circuit:
[/size] As you can see, it's rather simple circuit, in essence, a 74LS367 Hex tristate buffer is inserted between joystick's DB9 connector and amstrad's gameport. All the required connections are show in the above diagram, along with the necessary 5volt supply through an Y power cable taken from amstrad's psu.And for everyone that doesn't have any soldering skills,this is the ready made adapter i offer:
Cost is 9euros including standard shipping (+2.5euros for registered with tracking number) and payment with Paypal. if anyone interested please contact to ikonsgr745@hotmail.com (ikonsgr@hotmail.com) to arrange it.[/font]
[attachimg=2]Finally a small teaser:What about playing Zynaps using a modern HAMA usb joystick controller? (https://www.dropbox.com/s/5rgcfub0eipqrxw/zynaps.JPG?dl=0) ;D The design was slightly modified by adding a small resistor in series with the 5volt supply,in order to prevent a short circuit with Joysticks that support second fire button on pin 7.
Cool idea, even if I can't see any pictures in your post. I can see the advantage for auto-fire joysticks, but for newly designed devices a simple flylead solves the issue as I did here with my PS/2 and USB Mouse adapters: http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/PS2Mouse (http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/PS2Mouse)
Edit: Just noticed that you've only connected 1 fire button, so an AMX mouse wouldn't work with your device.
Bryce.
Yes, because this is the standard for DB9 atari joystick port. Only one fire button exists on pin 6, any extra button functionality was undocumanted and every company did it differently, for instance, amiga provides 2nd fire button on pin 9 where amstrad gameport had a 2nd fire on pin 7 (where the 5volt supply supposed to be according to standard atari joystick port). In any case, there is one tristate buffer spare, where you can conncet another pin if you want ;)
Btw, what you mean by "flylead"? Is this some kind of buffer too? I have tried any other possible way of doing this (even leaving the com pin of amstrad's port unconnected) , but unfortunately nothing seem to work right, except using tristae buffers. Everything else, was either giving garbage on joy output (resulting in abnormal behavior in games etc), or the adapters didn't seem to work.
Quote from: ikonsgr on 14:38, 08 December 16
Btw, what you mean by "flylead"? Is this some kind of buffer too?
it is a short cable.
In your final design it would be a short cable for the power cable to connect to.
Exactly. there's two ways of doing the flylead. (1) Have a socket on your device for the normal 5V power lead and then a wire from your device to pass the power on to the CPC or (2) Have a wire from your device to the power socket of the CPC with a socket for the power on the same wire. You can see method 1 in the picture here: http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/File:PS2Mouse.png (http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/File:PS2Mouse.png)
You'll also notice that I also used a tristate buffer for the inputs, but I chose the 74LS240.
Bryce.
I can see that, but the thing is, without using tristate buffers, which isolate completely all move+fire pins from amstrad's joy port when com signal is HIGH, there is no other way of providing proper 5volt + ground to pins 7 and 8 of joystick's DB9 connector (in order for any DB9 adapter device that needs 5volt power supply -which can be provided directly from pins that the standard atari gameport dictates- to function properly ), and at the same time don't mess with amstrad's peculiar (and rather annoying) method of scaning the joystick port and keyboard.
For instance, both usb and DB15 adapters i make, are for any computer equipped with standard atari gameports. The problem is ,that, if i want to make them usable for amstrad cpc too, it's not enough just to provide an extra power supply flylead, because both adapters use output ports of a pic microcontroller to drive the movement+fire pins of the DB9 gameport, which means that they can only be at HIGH (5volt) or LOW(0 volt) state and NOT the needed high impedance state when amstrad's gameport com signal goes High.
And as far as i know, from all the home micros equipped with compatible DB9 atari type gameports, ONLY amstrad's need the extra use of tristate buffers (all other computers -amiga, atari, atari st, c64, vic 20 etc- work perfect without buffer). Of course there could be another "solution" of making special versions of the adapters for amstrad cpc only, with the extra power flylead and the 3state buffers, but doing that way, the usage of these is limited only to the specific adapter, not mentioning the extra complexity and cost.
IMO, the usefulness of such an adapter which provides independant power flylead+buffering, is that by doing so, you can use ANY adapter, which is designed for ANY computer with standard atari DB9 gameport + enabling the autofire function! ;)
p.s. Hey Bryce, there's a small case study: i suppose your ps2 mouse adapter can function on any computer with DB9 gameport, right? But the added octal 3state buffer+ power supply flylead is only needed for amstrad cpc, right? So, instead of making all mouse adapters with extra 3state buffers+supply flylead, you can make a simpler and cheaper version for ANY computer, and for anyone who wants to use it with amstrad, he can extra use the adapter i propose here! ;)
With this cable are Megadrive GamePads compatible with CPC ?
Will be the same cable for CPC and CPC+ ?
Thanks.
As far as i know, the 9pin ports on 6128+ have the same pinout with the classic amstrad cpc, so you can use the adapter on both machines just fine!
About the megadrive gamepads,i think these where "almost" compatible directly with amostrad joy port (the only problem was the locking of the keyboard when connected i think).
Since sega's gamepads have the same basic (movements+fire+ground) pinout (http://www.picaxeforum.co.uk/showthread.php?27553-Reading-the-Sega-Mega-Drive-Genesis-control-pads) as with amstrad's joystick port, by inserting this adapter between amstrad and megadrive gamepad, most probable it will solve the "Sticky keyboard" problem too (you might need to change the 5volt pin from 7 to 5 as it's on the standard sega controller pinout though). I think i have a sega controller somewhere, but i can't find it to verify the... "theory" :)
IMHO the best pad you can connect to any classic machine is a PS2 joypad with this adapter: http://www.kipper2k.com/psx.html
key cloning, autofire, several modes... it's a work of art with features found nowhere else :D
The Amstrad made ZX Spectrum +2A, +2B and +3 machines have their joystick ports as part of the keyboard matrix, so have pulsing commons as well.
@ikonsgr (http://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/profile/?u=541) BTW nice device :D
Mark
Quote from: ikonsgr on 14:38, 08 December 16
Yes, because this is the standard for DB9 atari joystick port. Only one fire button exists on pin 6, any extra button functionality was undocumanted and every company did it differently, for instance, amiga provides 2nd fire button on pin 9 where amstrad gameport had a 2nd fire on pin 7 (where the 5volt supply supposed to be according to standard atari joystick port).
The ATARI standard left pin7 N/C, so no 5V is provided.
On Amiga and ST, pin7 is used for 5 volt to power the mouse embedded electronic.
On Sega, pin5 is used for 5 volt to power controllers electronic. pin7 is N/C on SMS and SELECT on Megadrive.
On Amstrad, pin7 is used for FIRE2 and pin5 for SPARE on CPC (N/C on PLUS and GX)
That will result:
- A shortcut if you plug a GX4000 controller on it and press FIRE 2, because that will link VCC to GND.
- No power for the IC if you plug a Sega controller.
- Only 1 fire button for Amstrad controller.
So, the idea is good but the task not easy to build a real adapter... ;)
Quote from: ikonsgr on 15:40, 08 December 16
I can see that, but the thing is, without using tristate buffers, which isolate completely all move+fire pins from amstrad's joy port when com signal is HIGH, there is no other way of providing proper 5volt + ground to pins 7 and 8 of joystick's DB9 connector (in order for any DB9 adapter device that needs 5volt power supply -which can be provided directly from pins that the standard atari gameport dictates- to function properly ), and at the same time don't mess with amstrad's peculiar (and rather annoying) method of scaning the joystick port and keyboard.
For instance, both usb and DB15 adapters i make, are for any computer equipped with standard atari gameports. The problem is ,that, if i want to make them usable for amstrad cpc too, it's not enough just to provide an extra power supply flylead, because both adapters use output ports of a pic microcontroller to drive the movement+fire pins of the DB9 gameport, which means that they can only be at HIGH (5volt) or LOW(0 volt) state and NOT the needed high impedance state when amstrad's gameport com signal goes High.
And as far as i know, from all the home micros equipped with compatible DB9 atari type gameports, ONLY amstrad's need the extra use of tristate buffers (all other computers -amiga, atari, atari st, c64, vic 20 etc- work perfect without buffer). Of course there could be another "solution" of making special versions of the adapters for amstrad cpc only, with the extra power flylead and the 3state buffers, but doing that way, the usage of these is limited only to the specific adapter, not mentioning the extra complexity and cost.
IMO, the usefulness of such an adapter which provides independant power flylead+buffering, is that by doing so, you can use ANY adapter, which is designed for ANY computer with standard atari DB9 gameport + enabling the autofire function! ;)
p.s. Hey Bryce, there's a small case study: i suppose your ps2 mouse adapter can function on any computer with DB9 gameport, right? But the added octal 3state buffer+ power supply flylead is only needed for amstrad cpc, right? So, instead of making all mouse adapters with extra 3state buffers+supply flylead, you can make a simpler and cheaper version for ANY computer, and for anyone who wants to use it with amstrad, he can extra use the adapter i propose here! ;)
No, my adapter is for CPC only, because if you connected it to an Atari joystick port you'd be feeding 5V into an output and that would cause the magic smoke to escape. Also you have to remember that hardware compatibility is only half of the story. My mouse adapter can (and does) use all three fire buttons, because the software used them. My mouse adapter was designed to replace/emulate the AMX mouse, so it needed to support all software that was AMX Mouse compatible. What's the point of designing a mouse that works on multiple computers, but doesn't support the software on the computer I designed it for?
Bryce.
It should be noted that some auto-fire joysticks don't need a seperate +5V supply, they steal power from the input line(s).
But others do need a +5V supply. The joysticks that I have use pin 7 for the +5V.
Mark
Quote from: keropi on 22:00, 08 December 16
IMHO the best pad you can connect to any classic machine is a PS2 joypad with this adapter: http://www.kipper2k.com/psx.html (http://www.kipper2k.com/psx.html)
key cloning, autofire, several modes... it's a work of art with features found nowhere else :D
Or with a few more euros, you can have
this (http://www.ebay.ie/sch/m.html?_odkw=&_ssn=ikonsgr74&_armrs=1&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2046732.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.XUsb+PS2.TRS0&_nkw=Usb+PS2&_sacat=0) and be able to connect many usb joysticks/gamepads+ Playstation 2 controllers by using
this "almost for free" (http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Hi-Q-for-Playing-Game-Controller-Gamepad-USB-Adapter-Converter-PS2-to-PS3-PC-New-/361725579030?hash=item5438864f16:g:MB4AAOxy43FRaSyB) usb to ps2 controller adapter! ;)
Quote from: TotO on 08:19, 09 December 16
The ATARI standard left pin7 N/C, so no 5V is provided.
On Amiga and ST, pin7 is used for 5 volt to power the mouse embedded electronic.
On Sega, pin5 is used for 5 volt to power controllers electronic. pin7 is N/C on SMS and SELECT on Megadrive.
On Amstrad, pin7 is used for FIRE2 and pin5 for SPARE on CPC (N/C on PLUS and GX)
That will result:
- A shortcut if you plug a GX4000 controller on it and press FIRE 2, because that will link VCC to GND.
- No power for the IC if you plug a Sega controller.
- Only 1 fire button for Amstrad controller.
So, the idea is good but the task not easy to build a real adapter... ;)
Well ,basically, the idea was to built an adapter for amstrad cpc so we don't care for all the others! ;D
Secondly, i'm sorry to disappoint you, but the information you got that atari had N/C on pin 7 is WRONG! You can easily confirm from wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_joystick_port) and also here (http://old.pinouts.ru/Inputs/JoystickAtari2600_pinout.shtml) too, that ALL 8 bit Atari models (400, 800, 1200XL, 600XL, 800XL, 65XE, 130XE and 800XE and even the very first ATARI 2600 from 1979! )gave 5volt on pin 7! And the reason to do so ,was that the very popular atari paddle controllers (analogue potentiometers) needed 5volt on the port in order to work! Also, by the mid 80's ,almost ALL popular 8bit and 16bit home micros provided 5volt on pin 7 of their gameports! That includes, not only amiga and atari st you mentioned, but also the guiness record seller Commodore 64, commodore 128, VIC 20 and of course all 8bit atari models! So in practice 5volt on pin 7 was truly the "rule of thumb", and NOT doing so, was the exception (notably amstrad cpc and the spectrum models after amstrad purchased sinclair e.g. +2, +3 )
Finally, you are right about the 2nd fire button of amstrad cpc, some joysticks was indeed supported this, and by giving 5volt to pin 7and pressing this fire button, will result in short circuit of the 5volt psu. And that's the only thing that someone must take care for, although i have already "tested" that many times, with the adapter i made and a joystick with such alternative fire button, and the worst thing that happened is amstrad's reset (possibly caused by voltage drop due to short circuit of the psu)! Of course if you continue pressing the button, you will probably end up burning your 5volt psu! ;D
Quote from: 1024MAK on 14:48, 09 December 16
It should be noted that some auto-fire joysticks don't need a seperate +5V supply, they steal power from the input line(s).
But others do need a +5V supply. The joysticks that I have use pin 7 for the +5V.
Mark
I think i have tried something like this in the past, but i couldn't make it to work. It seems that current on input lines was so small that it couldn't support the autofire circuit (i think it was a 555timer ic wired as astable oscillator)
Quote from: ikonsgr on 01:47, 10 December 16
I think i have tried something like this in the past, but i couldn't make it to work. It seems that current on input lines was so small that it couldn't support the autofire circuit (i think it was a 555timer ic wired as astable oscillator)
Yeah, it needs the joystick port to have normal TTL inputs with reasonable value pull-up resistors.
On the subject of pin 7 being used for +5V or a button input, simply putting a suitable resistor (say 220 ohms) in series with the +5V protects both the computer and the button in the joystick / controller ;-)
Mark
Well, that will not work, because by pressing a fire button connected on pin 7 (which has 5volt), you are physically attach this pin (e.g the 5volt) DIRECTLY on the ground, so any resistor will be practically "by passed" ;)
Wait, you said "in series"? That might work, although i'm afraid it will create a voltage drop after the resistor, depending on the internal resistance of the circuit attached compared to the resistor in series.
I might try this and see what happens! ;)
Quote from: ikonsgr on 01:33, 10 December 16Well ,basically, the idea was to built an adapter for amstrad cpc so we don't care for all the others! ;D
You will not avoid peoples to plug a controller of their choice on it.Here is the problem by adding 5Vcc, not the adapter itself... You have to take care about side effects. ;)
By the way, if your choice is to use pin7 for Vcc you can link input pin9 to output pin7 to allow SMS controllers to use 2 fire buttons instead of left them N/C.About Wikipedia... I don't trust it.
Well i "insist" on using pin 7 for 5volt supply, because unfortunately it can't be done otherwise, since this was the standard (btw it's not a matter of "Trust wikipedia", like it or not, almost all homemicros of the 80's equipped with atari gameports had 5volt on pin 7, you can verify this for yourself by checking any 8bit atari model, amiga, atari st, c64), so evey joystick/ controller designed for these (e.g. 99% of joysticks), expect 5volt on pin 7 (mainly for enabling the autofire circuit)! ;)
And that's why 99% of joysticks of that era support only one fire button, since atari standard has only one fire button, and that's how 99% of games work too! They were very few joystick models that support the undocumented 2nd fire on amstrad's pin7 joyport (or even amiga's 2nd fire on pin 9 ) and this was specifically noted even on joystick case itself. For example some quickshot models (for example QuickJoy II turbo) had a switch with indication "cpc 464".
Good news every one!
I just test what 1024MAK proposed (adding a resistor in series with 5volt supply), and.... IT WORKS PERFECT!!! :D
The resistor doesn't seem to affect the functioning of the chip, and most important, pressing the second fire button doesn't do anything! I even tried to press it constantly for ~10 seconds and the only thing happend is a slight increase in resistor's temp. I used a typical 1/4watt 220 ohn resistor, which is more than enough considering that maximum thermal dissipation on it would be less than half (~120mW)
I already modified the schematics in the first post for anyone want to build it too.
For obvious reason, the chip is getting zero volts when you press the second fire button. Are there any situations where this pin could be permanently shorted? If so, your device wouldn't work in these situations. Also the voltage drop across the resistor is relative to how much current the chip is using. Have you also checked that the chip still works if three outputs are high at the same time, for example when you push the joystick diagnolly while firing?
If it can do all that, you should be fine. If it has problems you could consider dropping the resistor down to 180ohms.
Bryce.
Thanks for your usefeul comments and advices Bryce!
The pin we are talking is the 2nd fire button pin, and indeed "disables" the adapter if pressed. Obviously, there is no reason for someone to press it constantly. Even if some games used the 2nd fire button, and someone knew it and wanted to use it, he can easily find out that pressing it, will not do anything, so why keep press it? :)
In practice, since every one will know that 2nd fire button is not supported, the resistor exists only to prevent any accidentally pressing of the second fire button.Now,i have tested the adapter with 2-3 Games, and yes Bryce, it seems that works ok, even with 3 signals at the same time (fire+diagonal movement).
I also checked the voltage drop, the output that goes to 74LS367 and Joystick's 9pin D port is about 2.9Volts, and it's practically stable (~0.05 Volts or less) when you use joystick movements+fire. So, maybe i should use a smaller resistor to increase output voltage.
Hey, Bryce, i was thinking of an alternative way to protect from short circuit without having the problem of voltage drop using the resistor. What about use 78L05 (http://www.ebay.ie/itm/100Pcs-WS78L05-78L05-TO-92-5V-100mA-Voltage-Regulator-IC-CF-/272041593794?hash=item3f56f14bc2:g:1BwAAOSwYaFWg5dP) voltage regulator? They have thermal/short circuit protection, and they can handle up to 100mA which is more than enough. Ofcourse, the supply must be from amstrad's monitor 12Volt supply, or a separate 12Volt psu. You think that will work too?
I actually meant, wire the resistor between the +5V from the Amstrad side connector to pin 7 of the "Atari standard" joystick connector. The +5V supply for the 74LS367 IC would still be supplied direct from the +5V power input. By using this arrangement, the 74LS367 IC would receive a nice steady +5V supply voltage.
You could use a 78L05 regulator. But although these do have current and temperature limits, the heat cycling that intermittent short circuits causes, sometime cause them to fail. In the case of protecting the +5V supply of the computer and a switch inside a joystick, a simple resistor is fine IMHO. Remember, while shorted, the power dissipation is 12V * the current. The TI data sheet gives the Peak Output Current as 140mA, but the actual figure does depend on the temperature.
Most joystick auto-fire circuits will work okay with a 220 ohm resistor. But I have only tested this on a couple of joysticks. You could lower the value of the resistor to say 150 ohms if you want less volt drop.
Mark
Again, a very nice idea 1024MAK! I will try it tomorrow and if it works ok, i will revise the design (again).... :D
I just finished testing the "New" design with 5volt directly to Vcc of 74LS367, and the resistor between supply and pin7 of joystick port.
Now, as i wrote before, besides the enabling of autofire, the main usefullness of this adapter would be the ability to use various joyport adapters, (like the 15pin to 9pin or usb to 9pin adapter i make, and mentioned in the first post). For this reason, and after some more testing,i decided to use a rather small resistor in order to minimize the voltage drop that goes to the circuits of these adapters. On the other hand, the resistor value can't be very small, because it raises the short circuit current (when 2nd fire button is pressed) and thermal dissipation , too much.
So, after some more tesitng, i decided to use a 22 Ohm resistor. Using this, voltage drop is only ~0.7 volt, meaning that pin 7, which supplies adapter's circuits, would be ~4.3Volt.
I've tested all usb joysticks/gamepads i have, and all seem to work ok.
On the other hand, the use of such small resistor, raises the short circuit current to ~220mA, so i decided to use a 0.5Watt resistor, instead of the usual 0.25Watt.
I've tested the short circuit protection by pressing repeatedly 2nd fire button for ~30 seconds which heated up resistor ~40c.I also tried pressing constantly 2nd fire button for ~10seconds, resulting in heating at ~60degrees celsius.
To sum up, the 22 Ohm 0.5Watt resistor, seem to can easily handle any accidental pressing of 2nd fire button, and also supply sufficient voltage to pin7 for adapters to work right.
Btw, the schematics on the first post are also changed according to this last modification.
Yes, it is now better with those changes.
I repeat, but please link the pin 9 (joystick side) to the pin 7 (cpc side) to support 2 buttons controllers. :-\
(add a jumper if you think that is better to be able to unlink this signal for your usage)
Hey Toto, is it my idea, or you REALLY like SMS controllers? :D
And yes, since there is one 3state buffer spare, you can use it to connect any spare pin of the 9pin joystick connector (e.g. pin 9 and pin 5) to pin 7 of amstrad's game port. This way it will add 2nd fire button support, not only for SMS controllers, but also for some amiga joysticks who had the undocumented 2nd fire button on pin 9 (http://old.pinouts.ru/Inputs/AmigaMouseJoy_pinout.shtml)! ;)
Any news ?
Keep in touch, soon i'll have some! ;)
Check first post for updates! ;)
Don't remember if this adaptor can be used with Megadrive Pad ?
It can surely work with SMS controller as they have almost exactly the same pinout: http://pinouts.ru/Game/sega_ms_joy_pinout.shtml (http://pinouts.ru/Game/sega_ms_joy_pinout.shtml)
Sega mega drive controllers use a chip inside so most probable they will not work: http://segaretro.org/Control_Pad_(Mega_Drive (http://segaretro.org/Control_Pad_(Mega_Drive))
Is there an option to switch autofire on and off as autofire may not be needed constantly in a game?
I think you are a bit confused. This is not an autofire circuit, but it provides the necessary power supply to joystick port in order for any joystick equipped with autofire to work. And obviously any joystick with autofire has it's own on/off switch.
If you are interested to add autofire functionality to a joystick without autofire, then you can try and make this simple circuit (http://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/amstrad-cpc-hardware/auto-fire-adapter-for-amstrad-cpc/) i designed some years ago.
Ah, makes sense now :picard: will definitely get one.
If i understand with this we can use USB -> DB9 converter to play with USB gamepad on CPC ?
You'll sell it on ebay ?
Quote from: Arnaud on 07:35, 11 March 17
If i understand with this we can use USB -> DB9 converter to play with USB gamepad on CPC ?
You'll sell it on ebay ?
Yeap, with this adapter you can use the usb to db9 adapter, and connect many modern usb joysticks/gamepads (even playstation 2 controllers using a very cheap adapter) to your amstrad! You can check it
here (http://www.ebay.ie/itm/272434403432?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649) . And if you want to get both adapters, we can arrange it from here to save ebay fees too! ;)
Finally,i managed to design a proper pcb for the circuit (the soldering of all the small cables from the two 9pin D connectors to the 74LS367, as easy as it may seems, in reality, it's a real pain the... a#@$! ::) ) , so if all goes well, in a few weeks i will be able to provide the adapter in a nice,small neat board (~3cmX4cm),and most important, cheaper! ;)
Keep,in touch!
Finally, i made the first new version of the adapter:
[attachimg=1]
In a few days i'm getting the (rather delayed...) new batch of Y power cables, and it will be ready for anyone who want it, at very cheap price too! ;)
(https://www.dropbox.com/s/e9vlqa55d602788/amstrad_joy_psu.JPG?dl=0)
Interesting. Are these plus/gx4000 compatible too?
Sent from my ONEPLUS 3t using Tapatalk
If 6128 plus doesn't provide 5volt on joy ports (e.g. auto fire doesn't work), then most probable it will, although it might work only on 1st joy port.
I finally got the Y power cables so if anyone interested can buy the adapter shown on 1st post.
Unfortunately, this device does not work properly with my superboard QuickShot SV-125, in CPC464 or 6128. I have tried all the functions of the joystick, but it seems that the buttons are crazy (maybe the sprite jumps, shoots or both at the same time). Can you tell me any joystick with autofire that works sure in the CPC?
Thanks
Well, i've tried it with many joysticks (quickshot models, tomahawk, cms etc), as with all the adapters for joystick port i also make (bluetooth wireless adapter, amiga/atari st mouse adapter, 15pin pc joystick adapter), and all worked fine!
Are you sure that your joystick works ok? Also, did you use the Y power cable, or a separate psu for powering the adapter? Sometimes if the power supply is not proper, there might be problems with adapter's function. Better use the Y power cable, in order to power the adapter from amstrad's psu.
Thanks for your answer. In fact, I have 2 joysticks SV-125, not possible the both are broken. But this model has a switch for CPC464/Atari and you can control the velocity of autofire too. Perhaps for that it is not compatible with your device, I don't know. I have tried with several PSU and the Y cable too.
I have seen your others adapters. Very interesting!!
Does the joystick works ok, except autofire? Did yyou test it on other computers like C64 or atari to see if joy+autofire works ok?
Note also that you DONT set it for 'CPC464', this is a special mode where autofire is not supported, as it replaces the 5v supply with the 2nd fire button of amstrad joy port!
You should use the "Atari/C64" position instead, only there autofire is supported as this provides the required 5v supply to joystick in order for the autofire to work right!
So in theory, if you set it for "C64/ATARI" you should have autofire AND 2nd fire button support (adapter redirects pin9 of 2nd fire button from an atari joystick to proper pin7 on amstrad's joy port).