pulling my hair out with CD32 controllers!

[lord of time]

I have 3 of these now all with exactly the same fault and am starting to doubt my sanity - is it my 3 Amiga with a problem or are thes controllers just a steaming pile of crap? the all work as 1 button pads - i checked the cables using multimeter and no breaks, 2 of them are commodore pads the 3rd is the compertiton pro pad. tried on my CD32, my Amiga 600 and my Amiga 1200 all using Treasure Island Dizzy patched with CD32 support and I know that works because my usb adapter that I use works in CD32 mode as it maps the buttons correctly - start pauses, x picks up item, o jumps and start plus L1 and R1 quits back to Workbench (I use a psx mini controller) so I really dont think its my Amigas! please help as I love using the comp pro pad on Megadrive and Snes would be nice to have one on the Amiga too failing that Id just be happy getting one of the Commodore pads up and running!

[Daedalus]

If you're anyway electronically inclined, check out the connection of pin 5 to the controller's internals. Normally pin 5 will be close to 5V, but it will have lots of 0V pulses when it's in CD32 mode. If it's not pulsing like that, the pad will stay in 2-button mode. There could be some issue with the controller plug being worn or something and not making good enough a connection.

[FOL]

If I recall, CD32 pad buttons are wired odd.
5v powers the chip to give other buttons. Which will not work unless you have lowlevel.library.
So you do not even need 5v to use as 2 button pad.

[Daedalus]

If you don't have 5V available, only the D-pad will work. The fire buttons need to be routed through logic as the pins are reconfigured for CD32 pad mode, so the buttons can't be connected directly.

Many games bang the hardware directly instead of using lowlevel.library, so the controller will still work on pre-3.1 systems, but it's a fair point - if the games are using lowlevel.library, they could be limited to 2-button mode. The fact that the USB adaptor works rules that out though, but to be absolutely sure, try something like AmigaTestKit or a controller test program that doesn't use lowlevel.library.

[Puggsy]

The cable is absolute shit. I am having issues myself and I have to wiggle the cable for it to work as intended and not as a standard 1 button controller. Pin 5 as explained must be the wire going awry.

My recommendation is for you to get one of the new pads sold here or on Amibay, or that CD32 arcade kit on ebay and make your own.

[FOL]

Originally Posted by Daedalus

If you don't have 5V available, only the D-pad will work.

Could have sworn, I had mine working with 1 / 2 buttons with no 5v.

Originally Posted by Puggsy

The cable is absolute shit. I am having issues myself and I have to wiggle the cable for it to work as intended and not as a standard 1 button controller. Pin 5 as explained must be the wire going awry.

Or you could cut the cable and repair it. Nothing wrong with CD32 pad. My CD32 controllers are mint, never had one issue with them. So I feel sad when people say its crap. I have every console and controller I have ever bought (since I could work in 95) still working and looking brand new.

[lord of time]

The only reason I call them crap is becasue I have snes, megadrive, nes, master system controller and they all work - every CD32 controller I have purchased or been given so far have been faulty!