SNES/NES to JAMMA

[Hojo_Norem]

is there any way to connect a snes or nes pad to a jamma compatible interface without having to mutilate the controller?  But if it involves using 4021 ICs I have plenty cause I have plenty of NES pads to spare!

[Tom61]

without having to mutilate the controller?

I have plenty cause I have plenty of NES pads to spare!

Umm.... you're not willing to solder to a controller, but you have no qualms about opening it up and desoldering the chip that makes it work.  :blink:  

[Scared0o0Rabbit]

snes pads are starting to become hard to come by, atleast around here.  I'd much rather hack up a couple nes pads than a snes pad (though nes pads are getting rare too).  In any case, that might be his reasoning.



Edit: oh and if you have no qualms about soldering to those IC's... then you could probably find a guide to building your own snes controller and then hacking it up  :lol:  

[NFG]

Yes, you can easily make a SNES controller's logic out of two NES pads' 4021 ICs.  The diagram on the SNES pad page shows the schematic for the system.  The only problem is clock, you're going to need some sort of oscillator or clock to advance the chips and latch the inputs.  A 555 timer would suffice.

[Hojo_Norem]

Thanks, however I must have not made my question clear enough.  I want to be able to take serial otput of a SNES or NES pad and convert that signal into control signals which can be connected to the up/down/left/right/fire/start/coin/etc lines. (I allways use select to insert a coin in mame using my SNES pad connected via directPad Pro).

The reason I am willing to cannibalise NES pads is that I have plenty to spare, however I do have issues with opening up the controllers I use regulary or are hard to replace, unless I am cleaning them!

A quick google for data sheets on the 4021 suggested to me and my vrey limited electronics knowlage is that using 4021s to change the serial signal from the pad back into a 'parallel' signal for the control signals.

However, while my electronics is weak, I do know enough to build circuits from schematics and perform the various 60Hz mods and which end of a soldering iron is the hot one!

[hemphacker]

I don't think there's a simple way to do what you're talking about. The 4021 is parrallel -> series, but I don't think there's the opposite (although I could be wrong). But I've already written code for a PIC chip to talk to a snes/nes controller and it would (theoretically) be simple to adapt to this application. I wouldn't mind doing it if you covered the cost of the chip and shipping (the chip costs about $6).

[matt]

snes pads are starting to become hard to come by, atleast around here.  I'd much rather hack up a couple nes pads than a snes pad (though nes pads are getting rare too).  In any case, that might be his reasoning.

You can still order both SNES and NES (dog-bone style) pads from Nintendo...

[Hojo_Norem]

I don't think there's a simple way to do what you're talking about. The 4021 is parrallel -> series, but I don't think there's the opposite (although I could be wrong). But I've already written code for a PIC chip to talk to a snes/nes controller and it would (theoretically) be simple to adapt to this application. I wouldn't mind doing it if you covered the cost of the chip and shipping (the chip costs about $6).

Thanks.  However, how much would shipping to the UK cost?  Also would your soultion be fixed so it could only read one type of pad or woudl it be possible to select between NES or SNES interfacing?

[hemphacker]

I asked a friend from the UK about shipping (I live in the US), and he said that it should be $2-$3 US dollars (not sure what that is in pounds). About the NES/SNES, I should be easy to use a switch. Flip it one way and it's NES, the other way SNES. Also, I forgot to mention that the chips I have would only support a single controller. It would take two chips to use two controllers at once. If you're still interested, let me know. I went ahead and started working on it. I'll get it done as quickly as I can. At the most by the end of this week, but I'm not promising that, because work keeps me pretty busy.

[mvsfan]

digikey has these ICs in stock. theres no need to ruin a good controller.