*Solved* Diy Controller with debug bios

chromesphere

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hey guys. I have just finished wiring up a controler (re purposing a Mame controller for AES to be specific) and have ran into a bit of a strange problem.

In port 1 all buttons work fine. In port 2 all buttons work fine as well except when i hit select + C for the debug bios menu things start getting strange. Normally in the menu up and down and A + B are to navigate and C to select. That swaps around (a = up, b = down, up = select etc). If i swap the controller for an official controller (that normally works) the problem remains (buttons remapped all over the place) and i have to switch off to get the buttons back to normal. I have a feeling this is something to do with the debug bios not liking directly switched buttons with no circuitry, i tried adding diodes to Select and C buttons but didnt make any difference.

Any ideas? I can just use the controller on port 1 and have another official controller on port 2 for bios menu but it would have been nice to only have to use the one controller

Photos are probably not much help but i've added anyway.

Cheers for any help
CS
 

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BanishingFlatsAC

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Are you pulling D from pin 9? IIRC, that makes the debug bios act wonky. Try pulling the qd's off of the D button and see if that still does it. If the menu functions properly, then pull D from pin 5.
 

chromesphere

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Thanks for the reply Decepticon! I'm not totally sure what you mean though, the debug bios needs select and C combo to enter the bios. Select and D doesn't work (I tried this morning just to be sure). I tried using pin 9 for C and it makes the bios reset lol
 

J-P

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That sounds weird - I just wired up a couple of controllers using the standard Neo (d-sub 15) pinout:

Pin#AES Wire ColourButton / Function
1BrownGround
2NO CONNECTIONNONE
3RedSelect / (next game)
4OrangeD Button
5YellowB Button
6Dark GreenRight
7BlueDown
8NO CONNECTION5v / NONE
9NO CONNECTION (or light green)NONE / alt-D Button (un-needed)
10NO CONNECTIONNONE
11PurpleStart
12GreyC Button
13WhiteA Button
14BlackLeft
15PinkUp

What pinout did you use?

If you start up with the official controllers does it do the same thing?

Jamma Nation X has a nice page on wiring it up too. Use the 'Neo Geo Plus' wiring for if you want to wire up Kick 1, 2 and 3. Not sure if that helps you though.
 
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BanishingFlatsAC

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Thanks for the reply Decepticon! I'm not totally sure what you mean though, the debug bios needs select and C combo to enter the bios. Select and D doesn't work (I tried this morning just to be sure). I tried using pin 9 for C and it makes the bios reset lol

Pin 9 is an alternate D input. For some reason on the homecarts system that I used to have if the controller had that pin connected it would cause the system to bug out. If you have nothing coming from pin 9, then that isn't your problem.
 

chromesphere

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Thanks guys, nothing on pin 9 decepticon unfortunately :(

J-P - I have 2 official controllers and they have no problems and work properly. I used the below wiring diagram. I've checked the wiring and cables 10 times and I'm definitely sure its not my wiring job. The controller works fine for everything else except accessing the bios and also I think adding a credit (Select + A or B). Select pauses without a problempinoutaes.png
 

J-P

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That diagram looks fine - I'd be tempted to try wiring pin 9 to D (as well as Pin 4) That's how the original AES controllers are wired. You don't have anything hooked up to pin-8 do you?
 
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chromesphere

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Tried connecting 4 and 9. Bang, we're in business. Working as it should with no weird debug bios funkiness. J-P gets a prize! Thanks for your help mate would NEVER have known to do that, your a star :D
 

BanishingFlatsAC

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Glad you got it working. I've never heard of both D pins needing to be hooked up at the same time, but as long as it works, that's great.
 

Neo Alec

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I wire both pins for the D button. That way it mirrors a real console.
 

J-P

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:-J no prob - It was actually fortuitous that you posted this when you did. I was asking myself the same question (re: pin 4 / 9) and I just wired up my sticks. I mainly use my sticks on an MVS; and I had wired just pin-9 (not pin-4) to D. After this little discovery, I'll change it back.
 
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