Reset button on Nintendo 64 controller?

Has this successfully been done? Getting up to reset the Everdrive gets annoying after a few games

 

You could get an extension cord with a switch or a switch cord that reaches the couch and achieve the same effect. Flick it off and on to restart the console.

 

That would stop the games from saving by cutting the power wouldn't it?

 

Only if you were in the middle of a save.

 

The games save when you hit reset, not during a game...

 

Well you have to get up to change original games so...

If you want to make something cool build in a IR reset using one of these
http://www.ebay.com/itm/5V-1-Channe...red-Remote-Control-DIY-8-Meters-/121624489537
Reset just pulls low so is very easy to do, one side of the relay will be ground, the other reset pin (tack to the bottom of the reset switch)..
Press "on" on the remote, pulls low (same as holding reset button in)
Press "off" on the remote, release reset, console reboots as normal..



Doesn't the flash cart patch in a IGR anyway?

 

What's your point? The whole point of this thread, is to know if it's possible to add a reset in the controller. It's probably better if someone who knows how the Everdrive 64 works to answer the thread.

Also, it's a pain when a cheat doesn't work, or if I forget to add them. physically resetting the console every time gets annoying.

The cart has no IGR

 

Only way to incorporate a reset feature on the controller is to change the cable to one that has 4 wires not 3, then wire the 4th wire to the reset button contact on the motherboard and then to a tact switch in your controller (using ground as other connector to the button of course). In the N64 controller there are 3 wires, black which is ground, red which is voltage and white which is data. That's why you need 4 wires. If you do this, you'd also need ideally change the standard N64 controller port to something with 4 connections not 3 (or modify the existing one with a 4th connection). Yes, a bit of work but nothing difficult - that would give you the connection then you need to have a reset button on your controller.

I included a reset button on my Unity system for this reason, however getting a v3 Everdrive, so don't really need it.

That is the other option of course, not a cheap option but you could upgrade to a v3 Everdrive, which makes reset redundant for saving.

 

I appreciate your input Bac, and explained very well.

 

Actually you could also add a microcontroller on the N64 side that monitors the data coming from the controller and triggers reset when a certain (hopefully unusual) button combination is held for a few seconds. There is a project out there that implements something similar for the SNES, but unfortunately the N64's controller protocol is closer to the one of the Gamecube than the SNES, so someone would need to write a bit of code to make this idea work.

 

Since you'd have to hook to the reset pin on the motherboard anyway, you could always just set up a non-corded IR device (like a clicker). Would save the trouble of drilling holes in ports and having to use a specific controller.

Would have the added advantage of pissing off your friends when they start to get a higher score than you and suddenly the console inexplicably resets ;*)

 

You can put an N64 reset switch on a long cable, and even wrap that cable around the joypad's cable, and sellotape the switch to the joypad if you like.

I did this, to save me having to get up to reset the N64 (I have an Everdrive 64 (it's permanently in my N64), and the ED64 doesn't write the game saves to the SD card until you reset the N64, if you just turn the N64 off and on, then you lose the gamesave, so you always have to reset the N64 to save the game*).

It's very easy to do, it's the one bit of soldering I've ever done, so anyone with more experience than me (i.e. anyone who's ever touched a soldering iron!) can do it.

Here's the thread with all of the advice and help I recieved. Be sure to read all the way through first, of course.

http://assemblergames.com/l/threads/i-want-to-add-an-external-reset-switch-to-the-n64.43538/

I bought everything from Maplins, including a soldering iron, some solder, two switches (one push-to-break, and one make-to-break, both only temporary switches, not toggle-able, as I didn't know which I'd need), and a few metres of ordinary wire (just ordinary two thread plastic wire, I think. I didn't use it all, of course - I can't remember how long the finished wire is now, maybe ten or twelve foot from switch to N64?). I found a Youtube video on how to strip the N64 down to the motherboard, kept a record of which screw I took from where (just draw a quick image of the N64, and use sellotape to fix each screw to the drawing), stuck the wire through a hole or air slot (I can't remember, and I'm not at home to check, but I think I just used a gap that was already there), soldered the wires to the motherboard, and when I'd done the soldering I tested it before I put the N64 back together.

I sellotaped the switch's wire to my joypad's cable at intervals, and sellotaped the switch to the joypad, and it worked great, but the wire made the cable stiff in parts, which I found annoying, so I took the wire (and so the switch) from the joypad, and connected it to the table next to my chair - the wire runs from the N64 across the floor, up the table leg, and the switch is on the side of the table, and it's really convenient. If I'd have bought more expensive wire (i.e. probably thinner and lighter), then it might have been a lot better to have attached to the joypad cable, but I didn't know, and I'm happy with it now so I won't alter it.

It was a very easy mod to do, even for a complete beginner like me. The only problem was getting the N64 stripped down, as it uses non-standard screw heads, and there's always one that refuses to come out, but everything else was fine, and it didn't take long to do.






* This only applies to games that save to their cartridge, as with the Everdrive 64 they are fooled into writing to the ED64's RAM instead of their (now non-existant) on-cartridge gamesave chip. Also, the latest ED64, the version 3, doesn't need you to reset the N64, apparently, since it has a battery to keep the RAM alive when the N64 is turned off, but my ED64 is v2, so I have to reset, which then makes the ED64 copy the save from it's RAM to the SD card. When you get used to it, you reset without thinking about, it's second nature, so it's no hardship.

Note that the above only applies to games that save to their cartridge. Any games that save to the controller pak just save to the controller pak immediately, as normal. There's no difference between saving on one of these games (say Duke Nukem: Zero Hour) whether the game is running from it's original cartridge or from an Everdrive 64, these games just save (and load) to the controller pak, not the SD card.

 

And also wrong and none technical, as per usual.

 

This seems like a simple solution, happen to have images of the final product? I'm a visual learner actually

This idea I also like, I still though wouldn't have a clue on how to get that to work though.

Could you possibly correct him then? I'm, not learning anything from either of you if that's the case :\

 

No, correct and non-technical; as always there are easy ways to solve an issue or an over technical one. Why the waspish reply, "as per usual"? I've no time for feeding trolls...

 

Because you always reply with matter of fact "the ONLY way" blah blah, when its very clear you lack technical expertise. However, somehow have a reputation of being the guy who knows something. Much like Drakon (well, thats not fair, you arent nearly as bad as Drakon).

I fully admit you have skill in the case fab for portables etc, but you know just enough electronics to make you dangerous and sound knowledgeable to the clueless - which is no good thing.

Maybe you are misreading miserable from "wont stand people peddling their lacking knowledge as gospel"? I have had to fix enough of drakons work or people who followed stupid advice on the internet.

He's already been corrected by someone with technical knowledge.

 

I take comfort in knowing that anyone who reads your post will clearly see how obnoxious your postings are (and been in the past too), and I have no intention to stoop to your level to give satisfaction; sorry: I have no intention to feed the troll, no matter how hungry it is. I am constructive, you are destructive.

 

I'm just telling you how it is, sorry if your ego is bruised.

Trolling me by calling me a troll to get a response is an interesting tactic though. I'm impressed.

 

Sorry, I didn't take photos, and I'm working away from home for the next eleven (and counting!) days. There wouldn't have been much to look at anyway, just some wire (plastic coated dual wire, so two lengths of separate metal wire, in plastic) soldered (badly!) on to the underside of the N64's motherboard, fed through the case (via the ventilation holes) and soldered to a press-to-connect switch.

I couldn't have provided the precision needed to solder on to the points in the first photo of the thread I linked to:

http://assemblergames.com/l/threads/i-want-to-add-an-external-reset-switch-to-the-n64.43538/

so I soldered onto the bottom of the motherboard, as in the second photo, the one that just shows the 'reset solder point' and 'ground' points, here:







Then I fed the wire through a hole in the N64's bottom half of the case (it might have been the top half of the case, but I doubt it, since the motherboard fits in the bottom, then it's more sensible to use the bottom of the case to feed out the wire). I probably would have double threaded the wire through the hole (I hope I did!), so that if the wire was pulled, then the case where the hole is takes the strain, and not the solder points (see the enclosed drawing, below).



It really is a simple mod to perform, just solder the two wires to two points on the bottom of the motheboard, and the other ends of the wires to the switch, and that's it. That said, if you are worried about the risks, then a spare N64 is dirt cheap now, so you might want to pick up one first. My N64 is PAL, but it matches that motherboard (which is NTSC) in the photos (at least regarding the reset solder point and ground point) so yours probably will too. If not, then post here for advice, though I won't be able to help, sorry, as I know nothing about circuit boards.

Off topic, there's a HDMI port for the N64 coming out soon (http://ultrahdmi.retroactive.be/) but I'll have to get someone else to solder that in for me, as it sounds like it will need some skilful soldering.

 

Thanks for that conker, that seems a like a pretty good solution. If the clicker option is deemed to difficult for me, I'll use that solution.

I was linked directly to your quote by the notifications, should've scrolled up. You get a free face slap on me for that.

What parts would be needed for the Clicker option Zoinkity mentioned?