CDI Gamepad Adapter.

I found a good deal on a CDI box which didn't have a gamepad. So I'm looking around and there is just nothing available. Paul "Hackmann" has created a cool project which takes the pulses from a PC gamepad and converts them to serial for the CDI. I found his old website via the archive.org http://web.archive.org/web/20060312121154/http://www.alpinecom.net/phackmann/cdiadapter/

I was expecting to have to do some more work but he's really laid everything out.
I've compiled his code
made an order on aliexpress for the obsolete PIC16C715 chips
and designed up a board that should fit in the casing of a d-sub 15 head.

I'm going to be documenting the steps needed to build one of these guys.

Here is my design:




Attached is the original schematic made by Paul. His code will not work with listed PIC you must use the PIC16C715-4Mhz. I may rewrite part of the code to work with newer PIC's or AVR. As the PIC16C715 is an old tired chip. Nothing like the picKit 2/3 programmers will work. You are going to have to use a JDM serial programmer or similar. And use older software like IC-Prog

I'll post more as I get parts and boards in.

EDIT. I just found another cool project.

https://github.com/anarterb/SNEStoCDi

I wonder if I could stuff an arduino into an SNES pad...

 

What kind of CD-i player did you score? A "console type"? I have one of the "VCR type" models, which have the controller ports in the back, so that's where I'll be hiding my SNEStoCDi once all the parts have arrived...

If the pad is too tight a fit, how about hiding the Arduino inside the console instead, splicing it inbetween the controller connector and the PCB, and only change the plug on the SNES pad?

 

I grabbed a DVS VE-200; made an offer and got a pretty good deal on it. It boots up but has some laser trouble. Hoping I can bring it back to life. I can't find any internal pics of the guts on of it online. So should be a fun time whether I can fix it or not, and if it supports RGB.

You've got some pretty good ideas going.

 

You might want to consider making a few extras and selling them on eBay. I bet a lot of people would appreciate this, as CDi controllers are ridiculously expensive these days.

 

I wasn't even aware this model exists*. PAL/NTSC toggle out of the box? Noice, I had to retrofit that into my 220. And the printer and modem ports should come in handy with all, lemme check - ah yes, zero titles that support them :b
Hope yours doesn't have the SRAM battery integrated (as in, embedded within the same IC) with the RTC, replacing those is a huge pain in the behind. Unfortunately this seems to be very common...

* so maybe before tearing into it, check if selling it to get a cheaper model is the way to go. I found one for sale, and the asking price is a whopping ~33 times what I paid for mine. No idea if it's actually worth that though.

 

I'm only getting 3 PIC's from china. So i'll have at least that many available. I think the SNES pad might be more popular. I may see what I can do with that.

 

Yeah, I completely agree. PC Gamepads have the advantage of looking just like CDi gamepads, but they're getting expensive as well. Most people who would play a CDi already own a SNES anyway and (in my opinion) the controller is more comfortable anyway. LOL, if you make them, I'll buy one of each

 

Just a heads up, make doubly sure you're ordering the right connectors for the CD-i side. Those "8 PIN Mini DIN cables for Genesis" from China, for example, are cheap but useless. For starters, they have 9 pins in their "8 pin" plugs (apparently not all asians are good with math), and they're a bit too thick too (so no MacGyvering them either). Whelp. Time to order a different batch...

Also, turns out my 220 also has its controller port in the front - the back only has RS232. Looks like I'll have to try and actually make it look nice for a change.

 

Thanks for the heads up. I ordered this exact one a few days ago: https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/cui-inc/MD-80/CP-2080-ND/96920

 

The Super Nintendo controller adapter that uses an arduino Is amazing. Click here and also here for anyone wanting to learn more. I like it a lot better than the genesis cable.

 

I plan on it, I mentioned it in my first post at the end. I found it after I had already purchased the PIC's. I plan to build both. My intentions are to make a barebones ardunio pcb qsb that is soldered directly to the SNES PCB. When I get something going I'll keep posting updates here.

 

Sooo.... anyone try that SNES adapter sketch yet? Because mine's giving me no reaction whatsoever on most buttons, but 'B' moves the cursor to the bottom right very fast while apparently clicking like mad (i.e. "all buttons pressed at once").

edit: I think the included, modified SNESpad library might be to blame, since it only shifts out 12 bits instead of the necessary 16, so the button layout gets shuffled around with every cycle. Will have to look into that tomorrow.

 

Yep, it worked great for me.

 

Huh, weird. With the included pad library and everything? You don't happen to remember which git commit it was that worked for you?

 

I haven't the slightest clue what a git commit is. I just opened the sketch and made sure I had the snes pad library installed. After that I just uploaded the code to the arduino.

 

Whelp, turns out that if you don't connect the 'latch' wire (mine came off without me noticing, derp), the B button suddenly becomes every button because it's the first to be queried and the pad won't know when to switch to the next one. Working fine now, though I guess I'll lower the sensitivity a bit. No more cruddy thumbstick-ir-remote for this guy!

Oh and for the record, a "git commit" is basically the "version number" of the project repository.

 

Neat, prior to this adapter I had never used an arduino.

 

@rso Do you agree that this adapter is better than any cdi controller ever made? I mean for me the difference is mind boggling.

 

This is the only one I ever had, so really couldn't tell ya, sorry. It was an improvement for me but certainly isn't the perfect solution. For example, I did notice that everything using a cursor (like Monty Python Skyron, one of the titles I originally got the system for) has me changing the sensitivity all the time. That gets old fast, so maybe I'll look into adding SNES mouse support at some point. And I think Hotel Mario needed the sensitivity turned way up before reacting, but that may have been an user error.

 

I'd like to see how this preforms when I get the PC gamepad adapter going. I'm wondering how the analog stick will function. Paul does say it works with analog joysticks.