[Joystick USB] Speed-Link 'Competition Pro' issue

[SunChild]

Originally Posted by dirkies

will do a minireview of the USB dongle once I got it, have still 2 competition pro sticks to test with!
Will test with MAME, Winvice and WinUAE if I get the latter installed ok (never really used winUAE, still prefer my real Amiga 5000 & 4000 hardware!)

Nice of you, looking forward to that!
As for me I sent a message to Retro-Donald a few days ago but so far no reply... Is he still suffering from health issues or sth?


(PS. Dirkies, please enlighten me: what's an Amiga 5000? )

[rsn8887]

In case somebody is wondering about a second firebutton joystick with DB9 connector:

If you want two separate buttons in a retro DB9 Joystick, you can buy the Competition Pro Retro from Speedlink (the one with a DB9 connector) and mod it.

It is very mod-able! _All_ the wires from the DB9 connector are routed all the way into the Joystick case. Some of them are just not connected to any button - they are just dangling in there. So you can easily connect the right wire yourself.

Just open it up, de-solder or snip the signal (not the gnd) wire from the second button, and solder the right wire onto the second button. The "Fire 2" signal wire is the one connected to pin number 9 on the DB9 connector. I don't remember which wire color it is, so a multi-meter is necessary to check the connections.

As mentioned before, few amiga games support the second firebutton though...

EDIT: I can only speak for the two sticks I bought. Speedlink might have changed design since then...

[SunChild]

Originally Posted by rsn8887

In case somebody is wondering about a second firebutton joystick with DB9 connector:

If you want two separate buttons in a retro DB9 Joystick, you can buy the Competition Pro Retro from Speedlink (the one with a DB9 connector) and mod it.

It is very mod-able! _All_ the wires from the DB9 connector are routed all the way into the Joystick case. Some of them are just not connected to any button - they are just dangling in there. So you can easily connect the right wire yourself.

Just open it up, de-solder or snip the signal (not the gnd) wire from the second button, and solder the right wire onto the second button. The "Fire 2" signal wire is the one connected to pin number 9 on the DB9 connector. I don't remember which wire color it is, so a multi-meter is necessary to check the connections.

This is an _excellent_ tip man! Thank you for telling this, I'm likely to take advantage of it in the near future...

EDIT: I can only speak for the two sticks I bought. Speedlink might have changed design since then...

AFAIK they released only one version of it, but you never know, they could indeed have changed the inside design for production costs or sth... Might help to determine this to know exactly when you did purchase these CP joysticks and at what retro-store?
Plus, any owner of a DB9 CPro from SpeedLink care to unscrew and take it apart just a bit and confirm this maybe? (^_^)

As mentioned before, few amiga games support the second firebutton though...

Neat idea for a new thread -- which I'm gonna create right away I'm sure, he he...
(Besides, as I suggested previously, a 2nd button could prove useful in other emulators as well, such as MAME -- although admitedly the situation is reversed with Arcade games, in that a majority of them would usually support more than one button, and indeed more than 2 even)

Thx again man!

[dirkies]

Argh, got the package yesterday (I also ordered the iron casing);
I thought it would be assembled, but it are just all individual parts in a plastic bag, it was not clear from their website this was a DIY job, as they also sell parts seperately
...I have not even a soldering iron!
Will see if I find someone who has one, not gonna buy an iron just for this!

[SunChild]

Sorry man, I thought this "detail" was clear from the start and didn't even bother to mention it. ( ;-_-)

If that may reassure you a little (from a guy who doesn't know shit about electronics), the process is so well explained and illustrated by precise pictures on their site (as you've prolly seen by now anyway) that, although arguably a bit of a chore for guys like us to go through, it really seems to me a pretty easy (if dull) task to complete, for all unexperienced we may be!
Plus, provided you put the proper amout of dedication and care while assembling the parts, you're at least ensured to get as good and neat a result as you put efforts in it (or will have but uself to blame if it falls apart later on ^^)! That's the upside of every DIY jobs eh...

You may want to start by a couple of /test-only/ solderings before proceeding with the actual elements of the adapter if you're not confortable and familiar with the technique though, still there's nothing too tricky about it I guess...

[Retro-Nerd]

@dirkies

Yes, you should have asked Donald for a ready-made adapter. He mentioned that it's a "Bausatz" for 14.99€. Anyway, i'm sure he will restock some fully assembled apdapters soon.

[dirkies]

My dad will solder it all together tomorrow as he used to be an electrician. So expect the review soon

[dirkies]

ok guys; dad mopped it all together, and it works fantastic! no delays whatsoever, and playing MAME games (no VICE/winUAE yet tested) feels so good with a CP5000 (even better than my X-Arcade Tankstick, not due to delay but stick travel feel).

Someone refresh my memory, as Stick 1 in MAME is actually Donald PORT 2 and Player 2 is PORT 1, but I believe it was like that on the C64 & esp Amiga too, no?

However since there was only 1 button useable, and most MAME 80s classics need 2, I decided to go a step further and hack my precious CP sticks so the right stick is button 2.
The Donald USB adapter was the right tool to do it without ripping up the CP cable.

So I opened up my 2 CP sticks for inspection: QA sticker inside read "SUZO Rotterdam 8 84" (black handle model, big screws)) and "SUZO Rotterdam 4 85" (red handle model, smaller screws > I did buy this one indeed later).

However both only have 6 cables used and no spare cables in the main cable
Looking closely at DB9 plug indeed shows 3 holes are a bit bigger. 5, 9 and 7 are not used and not connected.

Now checking both the vintage sticks revealed they had the same coloured cables layout
(look from left to right on male DB9 connector to know what cable connects to which pin)

1-2-3-4-5
6-7-8-9

1 WHITE -UP (top left pin)
2 BLUE -DOWN
3 GREEN -LEFT
4 BROWN -RIGHT
5 - unused (analog Y)

6 ORANGE-FIRE
7 - unused (GND)
8 BLACK -5v
9 - unused (analog X) (bottom right pin)

I quickly checked shorting 8 and 9 and can confirm what was said here, that 9 is the 2nd fire/jump button in 2 button games.

So I needed to become creative here, only had some old electronics junk in a box I could cannibalize parts from!

Solution:
solder a wire on each DB9 pin9 connection on the PCB of the Donald adapter and let the wire come out of the iron Donald box. Both the outcoming wires end with a mini plug, similar plug to connect a wire on a single pin in a computer or external drive case (this one recycled from a led cable)

Then I unplugged the 2nd button in the CP which was not soldered as all connections inside the CP, it are clams instead, so easy to unplug. Isolated the existing plug to avoid shorts, and tucked it inside the CP.
Used a similar clam connector from an old broken PSU, plugged it on 2nd button connector, soldered a long wire onto it that is as long as the CP wire with DB9 plug at end, and at that end soldered a pin which fits nicely in the mini plug coming out of the Donald adapter.
I used some tape every 10cm or so to keep the extra wire wrapped around the main CP wire. Black wire for black handle CP, red wire for red CP. The wire is so tiny you can easly close the CP casing without deforming it.

I hope you understand what I did, so pics here. As I already bolted together again the Donald adapter the only pic missing is where you solder the 2 wires on each pin 9 of the Donald PCB, but I assume that is easy to understand.

Advantage is you can still put the CP back in its original config without having to desolder anything.

As I also have the USB retro CP stick, I noticed quite some differences internally which explain why this stick just does not feel right if you are used to the real vintage ones.
The buttons are not spring based like real arcades but same microswitch used for directional stick (thus can never fire as fast as the original design). And the original microswitches say "Swiss Design", the new LOUD one says nothing but I assume "made in China"

The screws are really tiny compare with the huge robust ones from 1984, and only 4 cables used in cable compared with 6 in original CP. Vintage wins hand down, happy to have them still around, in working condition!

I will also test 4 player mode in MAME games using Tankstick and Donald adapter with 2 CPs. 4 Player games like Simpsons or Turtles or Gauntlet come to mind

some PIX below








internals of the USB version

[dirkies]

other question: will the Donald DB9-USB adapter actually accept (Atari) PADDLES using DB9 for use with emulators (CLOWNS on WinVice or ARKANOID in Mame)?

[dirkies]

the USB version is really crap, 1 week of intense usage and the shaft came out, seems the C-clip at the end of the shaft to prevent this is simply not installed! (see last pic in my previous post), it is only kept together with the plastic cylinder. Made in China rubbish! At least the original Suzo ones are still perfect after 25 years of usage!
If you want to know how it should look, check this [ Show youtube player ] where they remove this C-clip.

[SunChild]

Good to know, thanks for the warning man!
Obviously after reading countless complaints about the poor quality of the reissue here I was already quite hesitant myself to order one and kept thinking about it only for the 2 distinct fire buttons feature...
Now I'm sure never to buy that crap and will rather look into rewiring the buttons in one of my old sticks instead.

[dirkies]

I just put an iron wire around the shaft end to mimick a C-clip, it holds now. But I still recommend to rework your original suzo CP sticks if you have them, they just feel a lot better and much less noisy.
Once you rewired, you can test for correct wiring with this little tool: JOYTESTER
http://www.mcrenox.com.ar/downloads/joytester.exe