Can you use real Genesis controllers on your PC?

[7]

Have you ever noticed that Genesis controllers use the same hook up as the comunication ports(the one for older mouses,COM) on the PC, you can actually hook a Genesis controller to your PC with no problem its just too bad you can't use it. What about the emulators like Gens, they emulate genesis controller perfectly, why can't they support the real Genesis controller as well. Does anyone know how to make genesis controller work on a PC?

 

[Alexvrb]

I've been through that line of questioning before. You'd need a driver. I haven't found a serial driver for it, ever, and never got the generic pad stuff in windows to recognize it. You can build a serial-parallel interface for it and use it on the printer (LPT) port with some-or-another driver that I can't remember the name of. I wasn't really interested in doing that since I kind of use the LPT port. If it wasn't 20 bucks I don't have, I'd get that Magic Box converter and use one of my Saturn controllers on a USB port. However, I've heard that it doesn't support the analog stick on the 3d controllers, which kinda sucks. Even so, saturn pads would be great for a lot of emulators! Probably my favorite controller overall, if the DC controller had 2 more face buttons and used the Saturn's d-pad instead of its own (but still had the DC analog), then the DC pad would be ultimate. Whoa, im off track now...

 

[ExCyber]

Have you ever noticed that Genesis controllers use the same hook up as the comunication ports(the one for older mouses,COM) on the PC, you can actually hook a Genesis controller to your PC with no problem

Sure, if by "no problem" you mean "plugging a controller designed to use 5-volt signals into a port that uses 12-volt signals". The Genesis controller protocol is based on the Master System "protocol" (which in turn is based on the de-facto Atari / Commodore "protocol"); it has nothing at all to do with PC serial port standards, and connecting them to PC serial ports is a Bad Idea due to the voltage difference. Chances are nothing will be damaged, but it's still possible.

You can build a serial-parallel interface for it and use it on the printer (LPT) port

It's a multiplexed parallel interface. The Genesis controller ports support serial transmission, but the controllers don't use it. If you're interested in building this interface, you can use the NTPAD XP driver family to use it with Windows NT/2K/XP. Linux contains a joystick driver for it as well (though you'll have to load it manually or dedicate a port to it as the interface is too primitive to allow for reliable autodetection).

 

[Curtis]

I can verify that the NTPAD XP driver works very well with the Direct Pad Pro LPT interface - all you need to do it turn off the "force feedback" feature of the driver, and it works very well indeed.

 

[WiseMan]

speaking of the commodore protocol ExCyber i like to use my megadrive controller in the ol' Amiga sometimes. Although i can only use 2 buttons without getting some kind of hardware to recognise them all.

 

[THL]

Ditto

I used my Gennycontroller on my Commodere C64 and it really ruled, since there were hardly any pads available for that machine. Well, you could only use the b button, but since the c64 only had one trigger, that was ok.

Hey, I'm gonna turn on my C64 and play a game of Lazy Jones and School Daze

 

[maidtina]

i agree about plugging a megadrive controller in a serial port, bad news... its the electronic equivalent of putting bread in your video and expecting toast to come out

 

[Tindo@heart]

Originally posted by maidtina@May 29, 2003 @ 07:13 AM

i agree about plugging a megadrive controller in a serial port, bad news... its the electronic equivalent of putting bread in your video and expecting toast to come out

I suspect by 'video' you mean VCR.

If so, that's the best analogy that I've heard this year!