Genesis (now SNES) pad to neo

Have these two genesis superpads that I really like the feel of and having two identical ones, thought they would be perfect to use with my cmvs. I've played around with them a bit to try and figure out the best way to wire them up but I'm not sure the easiest way to get around the encoding down to 2/3 of the number of outputs. Rather than destroy them trying to figure it out I thought maybe I would post some pictures and see what you guys thought and if anyone had done one of these. It doesn't seem to be a chip popout like for a saturn pad.

I'd do:

A = A
B = A
C = B
X = B
Y = C
Z = D

That way you have both faux-stick/and true pad layouts at the same time.

You can mod it just like any other pad, just cut all traces to the epoxy blob first.

Kyuusaku said:

I'd do:

A = A
B = A
C = B
X = B
Y = C
Z = D

That way you have both faux-stick/and true pad layouts at the same time.

You can mod it just like any other pad, just cut all traces to the epoxy blob first.

Click to expand...

Should I remove that blob? I guess for me it was weird because there are only like 9 solder spots but 12 (including dpad) inputs.

You will have a hard time removing it and there's really no point, just disconnect it entirely. Like a lot of pads, the MD 6 button pad multiplexes button data, you can't use the DB9 through holes because they are I/O to the custom logic chip underneath the epoxy; you need to wire directly to the button. Probably the best way to do this will be to scrape off some of the solder mask on the traces and solder directly to them, if you soldered directly to the pads, you might disrupt the button connections. Don't forget to pull up all buttons to 5V through 10K resistors, this board's chip must have internal pullups.

Okay yeah I will do that. Wanted to wire out separately and put in db15 connector in the top there anyway.

So I SHOULD run the +5v to the controller? Just add in +5v-> 10k res -> ?

btw thanks for the help here..

For Neo I would do:

A--C--A+C
B--D--B+D

The last 2 I would make the 2 buttons you press for strong attacks or whatever they are I think they are a+c and b+d. Also you don't need to run +5v to the controller for Neo use.

Xian Xi said:

For Neo I would do:

A--C--A+C
B--D--B+D

The last 2 I would make the 2 buttons you press for strong attacks or whatever they are I think they are a+c and b+d. Also you don't need to run +5v to the controller for Neo use.

Click to expand...

So just wire everything up to each button and then a gnd.

Hmmm yeah I like the idea of the combo button.

Thanks guys. Love the feel of these pads and having 2 identical ones seems pretty awesome for this use. Just have to get that video ironed out and I think things are gonna be all set.

Don't forget that you need diodes for the combos.

Yeah that went over my head a bit but I have kinda glanced over that kind of a thing for use in the multi-button pushes. Will search back for that again, thanks for the reminder.

May just try without the combo setup for now and see if it works out.

Seemed as though the one pad had a d-pad issue with the little pad sensor.

So to get something going to work with my cmvs build... i just went with a broken SNES controller I had (non-functional start/select) that I got a while back from someone. This one is much nicer as it has the chip as an actual chip and not the epoxy blob so I could just solder off the pins.... sorry no inside shots as I forgot... but here it is :


[Official XX cables there thanks dude]

Not a huge fan of the snes controller... but it's doing the job to use to test things out.

Looks good. You did it the smarter way. Instead of using 1 cable for 1 controller you used a female db15 socket.

Yeah I actually wish all controllers were like that.

But yeah also makes them easier to store, so on and so forth.

One thing I don't like about this one though is that the way i decided to seat the connector on there it leans towards the top of the controller a bit because of the pcb and the back of the connector pins. So i cut down the excess of the pcb on the top a bit but still makes it lean a bit. This is only really a problem with the cable on there it kinda puts the weight pulling the controller down away from you a bit.

If i do another snes for some reason (or fix this one) i will have to try and mount it more so the weight goes near the back panel more.

But yeah those ext cables are great man!

Nice mod!

Might try this for my MVS 4 slot cab since i cant figure out what i want to use either build a arcade controller or mod a console controller.

I have 2 Sega 6 button controllers and 2 of the offical small 6 button Saturn controllers.. Both are prob too nice to mod as there worth some cash.

I also have 2 old SNES controllers i could try but i'd need to see some inside pics of how you did the mod.

eclypse said:

I also have 2 old SNES controllers i could try but i'd need to see some inside pics of how you did the mod.

Click to expand...

Hmm yeah that was the plan but I ended up closing it all up before I snapped any.

Tonight when I get back from work, I'll try to remember and i'll open it up and take some pictures for you. It will look kinda messy as I used a fair amount of hot glue to secure everything down and make sure the joints don't get pulled. I have probably 100+ IDE cables I've hoarded over the years, so I just used a razor blade and separated out individual strands (really easier than I expected) and then used those to wire everything to the db15 connector.

Like I said, I'll post pictures tonight for you... but essentially with the official SNES controller (I'm not sure if there are more multiple revisions so this may vary a bit) there is an encoder right in the middle near the top of the pcb. All the inputs go to this chip and then out part of the chip to the cord assembly. So you can follow the traces to the pins on the chip to know what legs you can wire to correspond to the pin on the db15. GND and I think it was down or left on the dpad go under the chip so you will need to take your multimeter and probe a gnd spot (I just used a solder dip on one of the triggers) and tap the pins on the chip and you'll find the GND (for me I foudn the upper right most leg iirc). Then do the same for the dpad trace that goes under, just touch the pad spot and then the legs and you'll find it.

The hardest part was just fitting in the connector as the pcb goes to the top and it's slim profile makes it hard to nestle the back of all those pins in there on the db15. So I actually dremeled down part of the pcb at the top where there weren't any traces to hit and then some of the controller plastic itself. It isn't the best fit on this one, so if I do another I will make sure to situate it a little better, but it works.

I'll open it up and post pics tonight for you.

Thanks for the fast response! Sounds easy enough.. So you didnt have to use anything other then just wires right? No resistors or anything else?

I didn't do any combo buttons, so nothing but wires.

You could do a+b and c+d or w/e on the triggers using diodes, but I had to use my triggers as start/select as the actual start and select buttons on this pad were non-functional (which is why I had it in my scrap pile anyway).

I just use ide wire (which is like 24 awg or something super small) and wired from the pad chip legs to my db15 pins on a female connector. Once I knew all the connectors were good and played with it for 2 days to ensure it worked, I used hot glue to secure all the connections. I like the ben heck method of glue gunning it... i used it like i was injecting money into my bank account.

Dremel up the casing and pcb a bit for a good fit, then screw it all back together. Just be careful screwing the holes for the db15 connector as they are close to the edge of your cut case... so I used a bit small enough to not cause shattering of that edge, but large enough that I would crack it all screwing in the screws.

Again, I'll post pics tonight... but if as for a basic checklist it's just:

• high gauge wire like ide cable (as the pin legs you can solder to are pretty close) together and very tiny
• multimeter
• db15 female connector
• hot glue
• means of cutting the case a bit - (dremel)
• neo extension cable (see Xian XI)

Make sure you don't put too much solder on the legs or you will quickly jump them. So I just carefully tinned all my small wires and then soldered them right to the legs. One thing you can do if this frustrates you, is you can kinda alternate your attachements. The legs are L shaped rather than straight through, so you can do one on the horizontal part that is parallel to the pcb and the next on the vertical going to the top edge of the chip and so on. This made things easier to see and make sure things were staying clean and then check everything with your multimeter if you want to make sure you haven't bridged any pins.

Also, I just left the +5V pin unnattached. Everything else I just wired as you would expect.

Thanks xiao_haozi!

Great info.. yeah i got everything i need but that DB15 female connector.. I got 4 neo Geo Extension cables on the way from XX!

Hopefully i can find one of those DB15 connectors from Radio Shack but i would'nt hold my breath as they suck now compaired to years ago.

If not i could just cut the head off one of the cables and wire it directly to the PCB board but i'd have to figure out a good way to support the wire so it would'nt get pulled out.

I'd rather do it like you did so i dont have to trash the cable.

To support the cable you drill 2 holes on the PCB and run a zip tie through them.

Yeah get a connector... permanent cables to controllers suck ass. And then you have to do like XX and support it so someone doesn't kill your pcb if they trip over the wire.

With teh extensions you can then piggy back them and reach across your room even easier.

I actually stopped at a radioshack in center city here (first time in over 8 years) and it was utter disgrace. All crappy cell phones and no one there that knew anythign worthwhile. The only 15 pin d subs they had were the 3 row guys.... I wanted to pick up some extras myself.

You can find them online from radioshack (as I checked while i was searching for a store), but if you are going online just grab them from a place like jameco. I think they are 70 cents a piece for the standard ones. And then just grab a bunch of odds and ends to refill your parts stock to make the shipping worthwhile. For me, jameco stuff usually comes 2nd day...uber quick!

Okay... as promised, here are the pictures.... let me know if you need me to link you to anything bigger but i think these should be alright.

The model I'm using:

Opened up, you can see I just removed the original cable and you can then pop it back in later if you want to use this guy on SNES again:

Make some room by cutting out a bit of plastic:


The connector with lots of glue:


The connections are made to the chip and then I like to glue them down once they are good and tested:

Then I like to tape it up:

Hard to see but I cut the pcb down a bit, I couldn't really get a good shot of it...but just make sure you don't hit any traces if you do this... I also just used the cutting wheel... and caution as you will get a lot of particulate matter in your face:

Also you can see I used a little bit larger screws to hold the connector to the top as compared to those from the controller itself:


Hope that helps... let me know if you have any other questions.

Thanks for taking it apart for the pics! Dont look that tough but never would of thought you could fit a DB15 female connector in that controller . Nice work.

Oh and yeah, i love hot glue as well.. its an essential tool everyone should have just like duct tape!

Yeah, it's just a little time consuming.

Fitting it in there isn't toooo bad. Takes a little work and dremeling.

And yes, hot glue is great... until you drip it on yourself or have to deal with all those string/spider web pieces all over everything hahaha. But it's great for these uses to just kinda embed stuff. And unlike duct tape, you can usually get hot glue off pretty easily if you need to 'revert'... you don't have all that goo residue. haha

If you do it and have any problems let me know, I can recheck my pinout if you have issues, but it's all straight forward. Sorry you can't see the pins without the glue... but if you are trying to compare, please note that because I was using a somewhat broken controller that didn't have working start/select button pads, my start and select are the triggers and are therefore wired to the top left part of the chip. The botton ones are directional + start and select, so in mine I just have hte directional. The triggers go top left, and then the 4 buttons go to the middle top and then there is an empty and then the gnd on the top right. The bottom right of the chip are the outputs. All but like ground and one of the dpad directions you can just spot visually coming from the buttons to the pins, but those two have the traces dissappear under the chip so just recheck with your multimeter.

Heres my HUGE problem i found last night after taking apart my old SNES controllers.






I have 2 14 pin IC chips on my controller and not one like yours..

It didnt even dawn on me at first but as i tried to map out the connections i noticed that i could not figure out what pins went to what buttons.. then it dawned on me once i got fustraited enough and looked at your pics again.

I believe i've figured out the D-Pad its just the buttons.. I can follow them up to the point where the trace ends at the white areas but thats where they end?? Nothing on the back but the plug connector like yours.

lol.. Just seems wierd to me that theres only 5 wires to the cord and all these buttons..

Any ideas??

Sucks as i finally got a chance to make a long local trip to grab a few DB15 Female connectors and was all ready to get this done.

I've got my 4 slot and my jrok 4.1 encoder and that mod looks easy.. but i have no other controller to test the system out.

HELP!!

The 'white stuff' should be hiding links that jumper between the 2 'dots'. To pad hack I'd work on removing the 2 ICs, (ICA and ICB), should be able to do that pretty easily. Then use a multimeter to figure out which button goes where and wire up accordingly

li_gangyi said:

The 'white stuff' should be hiding links that jumper between the 2 'dots'. To pad hack I'd work on removing the 2 ICs, (ICA and ICB), should be able to do that pretty easily. Then use a multimeter to figure out which button goes where and wire up accordingly

Click to expand...

Thanks for the quick response.. So the prob is the 2 IC's? Once i remove them i should beable to get a clear reading and easily trace the buttons?