MiSTer FPGA Forum

I just got a Daptor-2600 D9 and was hoping to use 2600 paddles with them, but I can’t figure out how to configure the paddle. When I try to map the joystick, the paddle button registers and I can register “right” but that’s all I can do. Does anyone know the trick to getting these to function correctly in the 2600 emulator and perhaps for things like Pong and Arkanoid arcade cores?

When you first power up / connect the daptor 2600 you are suppose to take an action on the plugged in controller (I use mine for intellivision controllers .. for that I need to push 0 on the keypad).. You might want to check on the daptor site and see if there is something special you need to do with paddles .. I can check with mine later once I find my paddles..

ericgus09 wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2020 5:14 am When you first power up / connect the daptor 2600 you are suppose to take an action on the plugged in controller (I use mine for intellivision controllers .. for that I need to push 0 on the keypad).. You might want to check on the daptor site and see if there is something special you need to do with paddles .. I can check with mine later once I find my paddles..

I do hold down the button on the paddle and The MiSTer does recognize it, it’s just that there doesn’t seem to be a way to actually configure the dial.

ItalianGrandma wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2020 2:06 pm

ericgus09 wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2020 5:14 am When you first power up / connect the daptor 2600 you are suppose to take an action on the plugged in controller (I use mine for intellivision controllers .. for that I need to push 0 on the keypad).. You might want to check on the daptor site and see if there is something special you need to do with paddles .. I can check with mine later once I find my paddles..

I do hold down the button on the paddle and The MiSTer does recognize it, it’s just that there doesn’t seem to be a way to actually configure the dial.

the question is, is that the right process for paddles? you might have to do some other action.. and the daptor 2600 "remembers" the last mode it was in when powered backup, that said mine has sometimes forgot it was in intellivision mode so I would have to go thru the whole thing again.. it might be in the wrong mode.. IDK might have to check the website and see if there are specific instructions for paddles..

Also check the DIP switches on the daptor .. I think if I recall they were really inverse to what the website said .. or something like that .. but you want to try to verify they are set right as well.I think I have mine on autosense..

The Daptor-2600 D9 makes the Atari Paddle controllers register as a single game pad.
The two dials are the two axises on what would be the left analog stick, as well as two buttons.
Windows would see the Daptor-2600 D9 with the Atari paddles as a single Left analog stick with 2 buttons.

When setting up on the MiSTer you need to Treat one paddle as the X axis and the other as the Y Axis.
I got similar issues with the Astro-Daptor on the MiSTer as well, I had to treat the turn knob as the Y Axis as per the Astrocade core.
It took me some trial and error to get it right.

darksakul wrote: ↑Fri May 29, 2020 6:35 am The Daptor-2600 D9 makes the Atari Paddle controllers register as a single game pad.
The two dials are the two axises on what would be the left analog stick, as well as two buttons.
Windows would see the Daptor-2600 D9 with the Atari paddles as a single Left analog stick with 2 buttons.

When setting up on the MiSTer you need to Treat one paddle as the X axis and the other as the Y Axis.
I got similar issues with the Astro-Daptor on the MiSTer as well, I had to treat the turn knob as the Y Axis as per the Astrocade core.
It took me some trial and error to get it right.

Thank you for the suggestion. My problem is that when I go to define “Stick X” and “Stick Y” in the MiSTer Define buttons option in the main menu, neither dial registers for those inputs. It registers one dial when I initially define “Right”, but after that it doesn’t register anymore.

ericgus09 wrote: ↑Fri May 29, 2020 5:37 am

ItalianGrandma wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2020 2:06 pm

ericgus09 wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2020 5:14 am When you first power up / connect the daptor 2600 you are suppose to take an action on the plugged in controller (I use mine for intellivision controllers .. for that I need to push 0 on the keypad).. You might want to check on the daptor site and see if there is something special you need to do with paddles .. I can check with mine later once I find my paddles..

I do hold down the button on the paddle and The MiSTer does recognize it, it’s just that there doesn’t seem to be a way to actually configure the dial.

the question is, is that the right process for paddles? you might have to do some other action.. and the daptor 2600 "remembers" the last mode it was in when powered backup, that said mine has sometimes forgot it was in intellivision mode so I would have to go thru the whole thing again.. it might be in the wrong mode.. IDK might have to check the website and see if there are specific instructions for paddles..

Also check the DIP switches on the daptor .. I think if I recall they were really inverse to what the website said .. or something like that .. but you want to try to verify they are set right as well.I think I have mine on autosense..

My dip switches are right. On the site, it just says (paddle button 1) in regards to auto sense. I’ve tried holding the button and just pressing it. I even tried plugging in a regular 2600 joystick then swapping with the paddle (since they use the same mode). MiSTer recognizes the controller, it just won’t let me define the dials as Stick X or Stick Y.

The site also mentions a driver for linux-based systems...perhaps this needs to be installed?

Thanks again for your help with this!

Alright, some success now!

I noticed a line on the 2600-daptor’s site that mentions that the paddles need to be centered and not dialed all the way right or left when the adapter detects them. I did that and MiSTer allowed me to map the paddles to Stick X and Stick Y.

I tried Arkanoid and while the paddle works, it seems like it isn’t sensitive enough to play the game well. When I try to set control in the OSD to “Spinner”, the paddle doesn’t register.

Now my new problem is that while ONE paddle works great in the Pong arcade core, the other paddle isn’t recognized (yes, I set one paddle to control on X and one on Y. I’m guessing it has something do with the fact that MiSTer sees both paddles as a single controller). I’ll have to try some more tweaking to see if I can get that to work.

Happy to help.. glad to see you sorted it..

ItalianGrandma wrote: ↑Fri May 29, 2020 6:01 pm Now my new problem is that while ONE paddle works great in the Pong arcade core, the other paddle isn’t recognized (yes, I set one paddle to control on X and one on Y. I’m guessing it has something do with the fact that MiSTer sees both paddles as a single controller). I’ll have to try some more tweaking to see if I can get that to work.

Please let us know if you find any solution. I was going to buy a Daptor-2600 D9 specifically to play with my Atari 2600 paddles. But now I'll hold until this issue is fixed or there is a workaround.

I bought two 2600daptors. There is no way to make them work with paddles in the Atari 2600 core. Mapping them is painful and the map won't work inside the core anyway.

How did you solve it?

I did some tests with the 2600daptor D9 and this is what I find out so far:

We know that when a joystick is connected to the real Atari 2600, the D9 port has 5 pins for digital input (the 4 joystick directions + button). When a paddle is connected, two extra pins are used for analog input, one for each paddle wheel. The paddles use the same digital input of the joystick left and right directions for their buttons.

I was expecting that D9daptor in Atari 2600 mode would present itself as 5 digital inputs + 2 analog inputs as the real hardware, or that it would identify the paddles and present them as two independent controllers. Neither was the case.

Actually, the D9daptor presents itself as 2 analog axes + a bunch of digital buttons, no matter if the joystick or the paddles are connected. So, the joystick directions are registered by analog axes, even though it is digital. Weird, but ok. Most Windows joysticks do that anyway. The button activates the first digital button.

When paddles are connected, their wheels control the same analog axes as the joysticks. One paddle controls the X-axis (horizontal), the other controls the Y-axis (vertical). The buttons are assigned to digital buttons #1 and #2.

With that in mind, it just easier to map MiSTer using a joystick instead of paddles. Move the joystick to left and right, as if it were the paddles. Use the joystick button as if it were the first paddle button.

Now the problem is that, apparently, the Atari 2600 core doesn't accept paddle input through X or Y axes. It works with a Dualshock 4 touchpad, but not with the Atari paddles. To get them to work properly, the core would have to recognize the input through the joystick axis. More than that, it would have to map the X-axis to the first paddle and the Y-axis to the second paddle, even though they present to MiSTer as a single controller. The map function inside the Atari 2600 core lets us choose the paddle button, but not the wheel.

Regarding arcades, Breakout actually worked fine with an Atari paddle. That's why I think with proper Atari 2600 core support, it would work too. On the other hand, Arkanoid has some weird delay with the Atari paddle, which makes it unplayable.

This video from 2014 shows the paddles working flawless with Mister. I wonder if the current version of the 2600 core is somehow "broken"?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyR-TPYOdvU

It is broken in the current version. Confirmed by Kitrinx on the official Discord server.

I have a SNAC enabled Atari 2600 core and it works perfectly with paddles. You need the Atari SNAC adapter and an ADC input to get it to work. I am hoping this can be added to the 7800 core at some point (2600 support and SNAC using the Atari SNAC adapter).

I bought two daptors

skooter wrote: ↑Sat May 08, 2021 11:59 pm It is broken in the current version. Confirmed by Kitrinx on the official Discord server.

thorr wrote: ↑Tue May 25, 2021 11:31 pm I have a SNAC enabled Atari 2600 core and it works perfectly with paddles. You need the Atari SNAC adapter and an ADC input to get it to work.

I'm confused… what would the ADC input plug into?

paddle0 wrote: ↑Sat May 29, 2021 8:51 pm

thorr wrote: ↑Tue May 25, 2021 11:31 pm I have a SNAC enabled Atari 2600 core and it works perfectly with paddles. You need the Atari SNAC adapter and an ADC input to get it to work.

I'm confused… what would the ADC input plug into?

There is an headphone jack on the Atari SNAC adapter. There is also a switch on it that needs to be in the Paddles position. There is also a requirement for SNAC support in the Atari core. I have an older core that works with SNAC, but for some strange reason, it is not part of the regular core. In the core menus, you need to tell it to use the paddles as well in the SNAC configuration.

Thanks for the reply!

thorr wrote: ↑Sun May 30, 2021 12:22 amThere is an headphone jack on the Atari SNAC adapter.

So one end of the 3.5mm audio cable plugs into the headphone jack on the Atari SNAC adapter… what does the other end plug into? An Audio Tape Input Board, or the ADC input of the digital version of the IO Board, I guess?

paddle0 wrote: ↑Sun May 30, 2021 3:08 pm So one end of the 3.5mm audio cable plugs into the headphone jack on the Atari SNAC adapter… what does the other end plug into? An Audio Tape Input Board, or the ADC input of the digital version of the IO Board, I guess?

Correct.

Thanks!

thorr wrote: ↑Tue May 25, 2021 11:31 pm I have a SNAC enabled Atari 2600 core and it works perfectly with paddles. You need the Atari SNAC adapter and an ADC input to get it to work. I am hoping this can be added to the 7800 core at some point (2600 support and SNAC using the Atari SNAC adapter).

Hello Thorr, I posted a comment on your https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/Atari26 ... /issues/20 GitHub issue, perhaps this will get your attention also:

Hello @thorr2 I looked at your repositories and do not see a fork for this "unofficial core"? Can you please share how we can get a look at it?

edburns wrote: ↑Mon Jan 03, 2022 11:32 pm Hello Thorr, I posted a comment

Hopefully this link still works:
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=3497&p=35889&hilit ... nac#p35889

Thanks, but is there a GitHub fork from which that core was built?

edburns wrote: ↑Tue Jan 04, 2022 12:58 pm Thanks, but is there a GitHub fork from which that core was built?

The author is named "blue1". That is all I know.

Has anyone tried with the 7800 oore? That seems to be more up to date

Only one paddle can be mapped in the 7800 core.

Is there any way to adjust the sensitivity of the paddles?

Im currently using a SNAC with ADC and this core : Atari2600_SNAC_20200726.rbf

Does anyone know where someone in the UK can obtain one of the working adapters mentioned without shipping from the US?
Are these devices open source?