Finding "decoded" console controller leads inside

[martianviking]

I'm looking to find out if anyone here knows anything about where to find the "decoded" controller signals inside of a Saturn or PlayStation console.

I know that the signals are "encoded" inside of Saturn and PlayStation controllers (unlike the Neo Geo), so there aren't simple pinouts for Saturn and PlayStation controllers that can be converted directly to switches representing each button and/or direction.  (To make sense of the signals you would need to make a "decoder" circuit to make sense of the signals.)  I'm hoping that there is already a circuit inside of the Saturn and PlayStation consoles that decodes the controller inputs inside of the machine in some way that would allow direct access to the signals.

The reason I want this is to find a way to run the controller and RGB/sync wires from a JAMMA wiring harness into the back of a Saturn or PlayStation console machine, then solder those wires to the correct parts of the console's motherboard.  This would allow the resident RGB encoder to process the RGB signal into s-video and component video, and hopefully it would also allow the resident controller ports on the front of the system to accept the use of completely standard (unmodified) Saturn or PlayStation controllers to control the game.

This would, in essence, be a way to create a very cheap supergun system from not much more than an old Saturn or PlayStation gaming console.  You'd still need to supply power to the JAMMA board (and there would likely be a few other concerns), but this would at least cover the basics.

Possible?  Likely?  Am I dreaming?

[NFG]

What you desire cannot be done; the controller's signals are interpreted and handled internally in a fashion that is not compatible with your needs.

That said you can make a Saturn pad decoder for about $5 worth of parts using a microcontroller and some assembly programming.  

As an interesting aside I'm teaching myself assembly (with some help from a guru!) and the first program I wrote was a fully functional Saturn pad decoder.  Now to buy the programmer and a stack of chips...  =)

[martianviking]

...As an interesting aside I'm teaching myself assembly (with some help from a guru!) and the first program I wrote was a fully functional Saturn pad decoder. Now to buy the programmer and a stack of chips... =)

Oh, very nice.  Let me know when you've got some for sale.

[Madhatter]

You are not dreaming. I'm searching for decoders controllers too, for superguns systems.

I found in the net the Sega Genesis Decoder (lost link), and the Super Nintendo decoder  ( http://kaele.com/~kashima/games/index-e.html ).

The Sega Saturn pad decoder must be similar to the Genesis pad decoder.

Playstation? not found
Dreamcast? not found
X-Box? not in this world...

[phreak97]

there are adaptors for xbox to pc.. that means someone knows how it works out.. that means there is someone out there who could make a decoder.
iv seen playstation done from scratch too.. never dc tho:/

[martianviking]

I'm pretty sure that the Xbox controllers are USB devices, so to connect them to a PC, you would just need a plug adapter and not necessarily a "decoder."  At least that's my understanding of it.

I do know that you can buy adapter cables that will allow you to plug standard USB devices into the Xbox controller ports (and use, for example, USB flash drives as high-capacity memory cards).

[Martin]

I'm pretty sure that the Xbox controllers are USB devices, so to connect them to a PC, you would just need a plug adapter and not necessarily a "decoder."  At least that's my understanding of it.

I do know that you can buy adapter cables that will allow you to plug standard USB devices into the Xbox controller ports (and use, for example, USB flash drives as high-capacity memory cards).

Yup,
XBOX Pads are just USB pads with a funny shaped socket, so al you would need to do is create something to allow the XBOX pad to plug into the USB port on a PC, anyway.. I see no point in using XBOX pads for anything :-S

[martianviking]

...I see no point in using XBOX pads for anything :-S

I completely agree with you there.  They're not particularly cheap or good, so I have no real desire to use them.

Saturn and/or PlayStation pads, on the other hand, could be very useful.  With a controller decoder circuit wired to each of the stock control pad ports (and the RGB in to the CXA1645 chip), you've got a small, nicely packaged Supergun system (minus the power leads, of course).  Add an arcade power supply or an old computer power supply and you're up and running with standard and readily available controllers.