MegaDrive gamepad as CD32 pad on A1200

[GearCross]

Hey everyone,

I have an 8Bitdo M30 gamepad that I use on my A1200 without any issues with a simple adapter I made following this post from Daedalus so that the M30 receiver gets the 5v from the proper pin on the Amiga.

Now, while this works fine for games that have native support for one or two buttons, for games released on the CD32 or games that have WHDLoad patches to take advantage of the CD32's pad layout, the M30 won't work correctly, only the "B" button will work.

After a quite a bit of a search, most that I found was this picture,



a finished listing on ebay, and a random forum post of someone that got one of those saying that these adapters do map the MD's 6 button pads to the CD32's layout, and that's about it. I can't find any other information, no clue who made them or if they're even open source.

Does anyone know any more information on these? Searching for "Megadrive 2 Amiga CD32" just yields results on the simple 2 button layout adapters.

Thanks for your help.

[kriz]

Also need this

[DanyPPC]

Some time ago I used a RysMk2 USB adapter with a MegaDrive USB wireless gamepad and it worked as CD32 gamepad on all WHDLoad patched games.

The gamepad: link

RysMk2 adapter: link

[kriz]

Would be nice to use the 9pin connector from those, also got that one working fine with the rysmk2 adapter but not working with the 9pin one..

[Retro-Nerd]

I have this "Megadrive 2 Amiga CD32" adapter and it works perfectly fine with my 8bitdo M30, using 2-button games or CD32 controller patched WHDLoad games. Got it from "Melbourne Console Reproductions" 3-4 years ago. But they don't sell them anymore. I don't know who built this adapter. Would love to buy another.

[GearCross]

Seems these were quite uncommon... I really like the M30, I bought it specifically to use on the Amiga and I wouldn't like to spend more money on another controller and adapter.

I thought about biting the bullet and get a RysMk2 adapter and use the M30 wired through USB, but not entirely sure if that would allow it to be used as a CD32 pad.

[Jpor]

Originally Posted by GearCross

Seems these were quite uncommon... I really like the M30, I bought it specifically to use on the Amiga and I wouldn't like to spend more money on another controller and adapter.

I thought about biting the bullet and get a RysMk2 adapter and use the M30 wired through USB, but not entirely sure if that would allow it to be used as a CD32 pad.

Sordan.ie still sell them:

https://sordan.ie/product/788/sega-m...-1200-adapter/

Based in the Republic of Ireland

[Retro-Nerd]

Not really if you try. Probably out of stock for years.

[Jpor]

Originally Posted by Retro-Nerd

Not really if you try. Probably out of stock for years.

Seriously? As they are listed to Buy on Sordan.ie website

[Retro-Nerd]

Click on "BUY NOW" and you get a "Chosen product is not available!" message above. Actual items "in stock" are marked in green (availability) too.

[Jpor]

Originally Posted by Retro-Nerd

Click on "BUY NOW" and you get a "Chosen product is not available!" message above. Actual items "in stock" are marked in green (availability) too.

That’s misleading okay take your word for it.

[kriz]

Alastair Robinson (robinsonb5 here at Eab) did work on a adapter and made the sources public: [ Show youtube player ] Info: http://retroramblings.net/?p=912 + https://github.com/robinsonb5/SegaToCD32 . 8 years since last update but a lot of info to get from those links!

Also this thread is good: https://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=22633

Looks like these adapters featured in the first post have used the same board, size of adapter seems to match this project

[GearCross]

Did some investigation and the Rys MkII seems to be the only thing that can actually allow a USB controller to work as a CD32 pad...

The M30 being a xinput device it should have similar configuration as the xbox controllers, so, I tried to compare with an actual x360 controller and confirm that most coincide.

The dpad is emulating the left analog (don't know how that'll affect Rys)
ABXY match the x360s ABXY
L is L bumper
Z is R bumper
- is Select
Start is Start
C and R are the L and R triggers

I wonder if anyone here with both the Rys MkII and an M30 can test it wired to see how it actually behaves.

[GearCross]

Originally Posted by kriz

Alastair Robinson (robinsonb5 here at Eab) did work on a adapter and made the sources public: [ Show youtube player ] Info: http://retroramblings.net/?p=912 + https://github.com/robinsonb5/SegaToCD32 . 8 years since last update but a lot of info to get from those links!

Also this thread is good: https://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=22633

Looks like these adapters featured in the first post have used the same board, size of adapter seems to match this project

How did I not notice your post before? I must've took too long to write mine, because I was looking around and doing some research on my own while I was writing that... Unfortunately, it seems that the microcontroller used in that project has been discontinued for a while. I found a newer version but, I have no clue if it works and it seems to be out of stock everywhere.

In any case, I ended up buying the Rys MKII to try it out and unfortunately it doesn't work with the 8BitDo M30 through USB, the adapter doesn't light up.

Tried with other controllers such as the DualShock 3, DS4 and xbox 360 wireless. None got the adapter to light up, aside the DS3, but it still didn't work, as no button presses were registered. The DS3 is quite the oddball of a controller.

Quite a bit of a waste of money.

[Retro-Nerd]

Rys MKII

What works is a SNES USB adapter combined with a real SNES pad. Make sure the installed Rys MK II firmware isn't too old.

There is also the mouSTer adapter which supports the CD32 mapping with the latest firmeware. But i didn't tried it yet (use it mostly for my C64 as a PC USB mouse adapter).

[robinsonb5]

Originally Posted by GearCross

Unfortunately, it seems that the microcontroller used in that project has been discontinued for a while. I found a newer version but, I have no clue if it works and it seems to be out of stock everywhere.

I think I still have a few of these boards if anyone's desperate to get hold of one. I'm not sure if I still have the (awful, Windows-only) PSoC Creator software though - you need a very specific version to program these boards using their built-in serial bootloader. If I do still have it, I can pre-program them with the firmware.

[GearCross]

Originally Posted by Retro-Nerd

What works is a SNES USB adapter combined with a real SNES pad. Make sure the installed Rys MK II firmware isn't too old.

There is also the mouSTer adapter which supports the CD32 mapping with the latest firmeware. But i didn't tried it yet (use it mostly for my C64 as a PC USB mouse adapter).

Considered getting one of those retro-bit pads that DanyPPC suggested, maybe even the SNES one, as from what I researched, they use the older dinput protocol instead of xinput that the 8BitDo and xbox controllers use, which might be the reason Rys fails to work with.

Originally Posted by robinsonb5

I think I still have a few of these boards if anyone's desperate to get hold of one. I'm not sure if I still have the (awful, Windows-only) PSoC Creator software though - you need a very specific version to program these boards using their built-in serial bootloader. If I do still have it, I can pre-program them with the firmware.

If you still have one of those boards and can program it, let me know the cost here, or through PM. I can solder the connectors myself, because I'd rather spend on a proper adapter and use the M30, which is a great pad and it works exactly like an original 6 button MegaDrive controller. I can just relegate the Rys to a mouse I guess... even though I have a rather good mouse already.

[robinsonb5]

Originally Posted by GearCross

If you still have one of those boards and can program it, let me know the cost here, or through PM.

It turns out that I do still have both the boards and the software to program them, so I've just programmed three boards. (I still have a few more unopened.)

I should mention that while the people who tested the project in the past had generally good results, it didn't work properly with Ultimate Body Blows. I don't have any (real) hardware capable of running the game, so never had the opportunity to investigate.

If anyone else wants one feel free to drop me a PM.

[GearCross]

Originally Posted by robinsonb5

It turns out that I do still have both the boards and the software to program them, so I've just programmed three boards. (I still have a few more unopened.)

I should mention that while the people who tested the project in the past had generally good results, it didn't work properly with Ultimate Body Blows. I don't have any (real) hardware capable of running the game, so never had the opportunity to investigate.

If anyone else wants one feel free to drop me a PM.

Absolute legend.

Maybe Kriz would be interested in one as well.

[Retro-Nerd]

Additional to the adapter in post #1 i got the Amega32 adapter today. Works perfectly fine with all Mega Drive pads (wired or wireless) i've tried. Not available anymore in their store, for now. But i'm sure they will restock at some point.


https://www.amiga-shop.net/en/Amiga-...ter::1175.html