We connect joysticks from Dendy to PC via Arduino. How to connect a game console to a computer monitor Description of the joystick protocol

Dendy (Dandy) - the legendary console, which, in fact, was a hardware clone of the Famicom console from Nintendo, assembled in Taiwan from Chinese components. Naturally, 20 years ago no one was interested in these details: the very fact of owning a console with several cartridges was considered the greatest happiness. Dandy has become a household name, the dream of children and adults.

Today, other consoles are popular, but sometimes there is a desire to return to the years when Super Mario was the main character of games, and Mortal Kombat was not yet so colorful and realistic, but it was already drawing young gamers into the web of deadly battles. To return these feelings, you just need to figure out how to connect Dandy to the TV.

Connection

As standard, the set-top box comes with an RF cable that connects to the antenna connector on the TV.

Remember that you can connect and disconnect the antenna only when the device is turned off!

The connection itself is made as follows:

After that, the game should appear on the screen, the cartridge with which you installed in the console.

AV cable

If you want the best picture quality, use an AV (low frequency) cable instead of a standard RF cord. With its help, the set-top box is connected to the TV not using the antenna connector, but through the video input.
In this case, additional equipment setup is not required: you just need to connect the two devices using a cable, and then switch to AV mode on the TV.

If the TV does not have an AV-out, but there is a SCART connector, use a special adapter.

Everything has its time

Remember that Dandy is over 20 years old, so your favorite game can look very unattractive on a high-resolution screen. Therefore, it is better to buy and connect a PS3 to a TV, and run Dendy games on a computer by downloading an emulator.
Of course, you won't be able to achieve a complete feeling of immersion in the past, but if, for example, you connect a gamepad to a computer, you can spend an unforgettable evening in the company of your favorite childhood games.

For reference - connectors are "dad" - with pins and "mom" with holes for pins, where such analogies came from, one can only guess ...

So, if you have already found a pair of lying around the joystick, the necessary spare parts, tools and stocked up with enthusiasm, then you can proceed.

Let's look at the LPT port in more detail first.

If anyone has not seen him, I show a couple of such outputs:

To be honest, I did not find this on my back panel and climbed deeper. The LPT port still appeared on the motherboard.

In my "collection" of glands, I dug out the necessary plug, which I connected to the motherboard. If you find yourself in a similar situation and you do not have an LPT output on the back of the system unit, but it is present on the motherboard, a similar plug can be found on some radio market or at second-hand computer spare parts dealers. On many, especially old, motherboards, it is not rigidly soldered, but is carried out with just such a plug, so it should not be difficult to find it:

If you are lucky and you have such a way out, or you nevertheless found this plug, then you can start assembling the circuit.

In order not to load the diagram, I did not write on the picture itself, but marked all the contacts we needed with colors. The individual pins on the parallel port serve different purposes, some for input and others for output. We will not go into the intricacies of the computer and LPT ports. I think it will be enough to explain only those that we need. So:

• Yellow- Clock
• Orange contacts - from them we power the joystick (about 5V). Necessarily only through diodes, otherwise you can burn the LPT controller on the motherboard or the entire mat. fee !!!
• Blue- Land
• Green- Latch
• Blue- Control contact (10 for the first joystick, 11 for the second, 12 for the third, 13 for the fourth, 15 for the fifth). Keep in mind that pin 14 not used since it is not a parallel port input.

IMPORTANT: This circuit and all of the following show the outputs when looking at the holes, i.e. the main wire comes out "from the back".

If you're interested, Clock and Latch are the two input bits that control serial transmission.

In view of the fact that there were a great many clones of the NES (Dandy) set-top box, therefore, there were several connectors for connecting the joystick to the set-top box. The colors of the contacts are indicated according to the colors in the LPT Connector Diagram. It differs only in the replacement of orange contacts with one red one, tk. power is taken from 5 contacts, and is supplied to the joystick through one. The 3 most common are presented:

For these, the most common connectors, I give three similar diagrams, respectively.

Everything should be clear enough on the diagrams. But, I cannot leave the scheme without comments. First, let me remind you that you need to power the joystick through diodes. What it is? These are, roughly speaking, current rectifiers, i.e. they pass the current in one direction, but not in the other. Thus, the current flows from the LPT port, and the diodes do not give back to it through these contacts. You can check the diode in your hands or not with a conventional multimeter. The current must flow from the LPT to the joystick, not the other way around. If you do not have a multimeter, you can trust the hint on the diode - a strip or a schematic representation of a diode is applied to them. In the picture below, the arrow indicates the direction of current flow and the corresponding position of the diode.

Thus, there are markings on the diodes, and they should be soldered with a stripe upward, as in the figure below. You just solder the wiring according to the scheme to the LPT and that's it.

The second important point is the connection of two or more joysticks. NES / SNES joysticks have a Data line, above it is called a control contact and is indicated in blue on the diagrams. It is unique for each device (if you have several) and each controller has its own Data pin.

(pin 10) -----> Pad 1 data - for the first gamepad
(pin 11) -----> Pad 2 data - for the second gamepad
(pin 12) -----> Pad 3 data - etc.
(pin 13) -----> Pad 4 data
(pin 15) -----> Pad 5 data

Note that pin 14 is not used as it is not a parallel port input.

After all the manipulations, I got this:

I did not find 5 identical diodes, I had to take one different from the others. Better, of course, if all 5 are the same. If there are no identical ones, then in terms of parameters they should be approximately the same, i.e. it is necessary that their resistance is not very different.

The DB25M connector can be taken from the null modem cord or from an old printer cable (Centronics "a). If only it was collapsible. Although, of course, you can cut the cable itself and ring with a multimeter. Where did I get such a connector? All from the same" collection "computer junk. On the other hand, my connector did not have stubs of wires on the other hand, but a quite decent connector, which I did not disassemble, but" poked "the wires into the corresponding" holes "and connected them to the joystick connector. As a result, it turned out very neatly :

Sometimes, especially greedy manufacturers, connected joysticks to the console not with an external connector, but with an internal one, or even worse - they soldered the console to the board. But even from this situation, I offer you a way out. We disassemble your joystick. In the photos below, I have circled the contacts we need with cups of the corresponding colors. These two photos are essentially the same joystick from different sides for clarity. The two photos below can be enlarged by clicking on them. Next, we call these contacts with the other ends of the wire and connect according to any of the schemes above, as in the case of the track connector. Only this time we do not have a connector, but pre-marked wires.

That's all for the hardware. Read the second part - software or how to properly configure drivers for dendé joysticks [will appear in the coming days].

The construction is very simple. But, before checking the interface you made, twicemake sure all wires are properly soldered and that no bare wires are touching anything. I highly recommend using a case for these interfaces to reduce the risk of short circuits.

NES and SNES have different connectors. Also, there are a lot of NES analogues (among them our Russian Dandy, Kenga, etc.), and since Nintendo used proprietary connectors for their branded cars, the clone manufacturers could not repeat them and used standard D-Cannon connectors. Anyway, if you have a gamepad, and it has buttons A, B, Turbo A, Turbo B, Select and Begin (the last two may not be there) and communicates via 5 wires, then it is either NES or an analogue of NES and will work if you do everything right. SNES gamepads also use 5 wires, but have more buttons, so they connect a little differently. You can find out in more detail through the search engines ...

Now a small FAQ

Today's youth can hardly be surprised with anything in the field of computer games. They have not bothered with the question of how to connect "Dandy" to the TV for a long time, but play on super-powerful computers. The most realistic graphics, believable characters, incredible musical accompaniment - all this is quite familiar to the modern gamer. But even a couple of decades ago, all this was not, but there was something that won the hearts of millions of people - one of the first consoles - the Dandy prefix.

A little bit from the history of "Dandy": the game of our childhood

Those born before the nineties will surely remember the excitement around the incredibly "cool" console with the elephant logo on the panel, which appeared in the early 90s. Then the game cost incredible money for a Soviet citizen, but this did not stop the developers from making millions in this market.

In fact, "Dandy" is the first in the domestic market, but not the first in production. Before that, Nintendo managed to release dozens of other versions of consoles, but only "Dandy" was able to win the hearts of domestic gamers. At that time, there were 4 dealers from the Stapler company in Russia who were supplying. Unfortunately, this company has curtailed its activities by the 94th year.

Of course, even now you can find the long-forgotten "Dandy" on the shelves of some stores and on specialized sites, but they are all far from the original, and are nothing more than a fake from China.

Cartridges and the most popular games on "Dandy"

The set-top box and joysticks by themselves were not of interest without special cartridges, they were the carriers of the basic information. One such cartridge could have both one game and 999! But the most valuable were considered those in which there were from 3 to 10 different games. The youth were constantly changing, buying and selling cartridges to each other. Even in our time, you can meet people who have entire collections of original and rare games.

It is thanks to the huge assortment of high-quality and interesting games that were released for the Nes operating system that this console has become so in demand among Russian game lovers. Such immortal creations as Mortal Kombat, Pacman, Super Mario, Tanks, Adventure Island and many others will forever remain in the memory of people who survived the cult of the nineties.

How to connect "Dandy" to the TV?

This is the question that many happy consoles buyers of that time asked themselves. In fact, there was nothing complicated about it, it was enough to connect the a / v plugs of the set-top box and the TV, and then start searching for the channel - everything is simple!

But the fact is that in those days TVs were also simple, that is, they had appropriate connectors, but how to connect "Dandy" to a modern TV model that supports HDMI?

If you haven't found an audio / video output on your TV, you may find a SCART output, which is essentially the same as A / V. In this case, you will have to buy an adapter or the SCART cable itself, it is a wide connector on one side, and tulips on the other. Thanks to this cable, you can solve the problem of how to connect the "Dandy" to the TV.

How to connect the Dandy set-top box to the latest generation TV?

Unfortunately, in recent years, manufacturers have increasingly begun to produce TVs that do not have connectors for component connections, due to the fact that modern receivers have a high-definition interface.

Let's say you decided to plunge into the past and play retro games. For this purpose, a set-top box was purchased, but later it turned out that your TV does not have A / V and SCART outputs. What to do? How to connect "Dandy" to a Samsung TV, which does not have the necessary connectors (however, this applies to any brand).

Getting out of this situation is not easy, but possible. You will have to purchase a special device - an A / V to HDMI converter. Such converters are sold in online stores and on popular Chinese sites.

So, before connecting "Dandy" to your LG TV, make sure that the set-top box is turned off and disconnected from the power supply. Then, using a cable with "tulips", connect the attachment to the converter. On the other hand, the converter connects to the TV using an HDMI cable. It remains only to insert a cartridge with your favorite game into the console, connect it to the network and turn on the game. You may need to search for channels in order to reach the required wave.

Find the right monitor. If you have several monitors to choose from, determine which one works best with your game console. Different models of set-top boxes have different screen requirements. Try to choose the most suitable monitor so that the game displays on it the way its creators intended.

I am sure many have seen joysticks for computers in stores, for example from Sony PlayStation.

Unfortunately, they are very expensive, but why not make one yourself? There is a very real possibility to play with such a gamepad / joystick on a PC - a compatible computer, not even the most powerful one. Most games and programs will not be able to distinguish your device from a branded joystick for a few $ 100. (for some reason, it is considered that once some gadget is connected to the computer, then it should definitely cost fabulous money) The trick is that this joystick can be used in any game, just assign them to the joystick buttons when assigning keys.

In general, the GamePad is a device very similar to an analog joystick. The difference between a typical joystick and a GamePad is in the axis characteristics. Joysticks usually have two axes - X and Y. Continuous movement of the lever along these axes using two potentiometers is converted into analog electrical signals, which are then converted into digital signals using an ADC, on the basis of which the X and Y variables are calculated. GamePad has non-proportional the deviation from the center of the X and Y values ​​for nine positions (including the center), it is much simpler in design, and therefore more reliable.

The construction is very simple. Just double-check before checking the interface you made to make sure all wires are soldered properly and that no bare wires are touching anything. I highly recommend using a case for these interfaces to reduce the risk of short circuits.

Let's start with a joystick for Dendy or NES.

If you have a gamepad, and it has buttons A, B, Turbo A, Turbo B, Select and Begin (the last two may not exist, I strongly recommend not to take them) and communicates via 5 wires, then this is either NES or an analog The NES will work if you do it right.

However, it's time to get down to business. All you need is an LPT port connector (it's parallel, it's from a printer), a soldering iron, 5 1N914 or 1N4148 diodes, and, in fact, the joystick itself. Let's get started.

Here is the joystick connector itself (though it looks like COM)

Everything is soldered according to the scheme, if you want to connect two joysticks, then all the wires are also soldered except for the 8 and 7 contacts on the NES, they must be soldered to the 11 and 12 contacts on the LPT.

To solder the wires according to the scheme, you need to open the connector, but I suggest making everything much easier. You can just make a kind of extension adapter adapter.

In addition to LPT, we also need a COM connector (dad).

Another very important detail. The diodes are marked, they should be soldered with a strip up. You just solder the wiring according to the scheme to the LPT and that's it.

It turns out very much even.

I will tell you how to set it up at the end of the article.

To get the most out of it, I downloaded the Dendy emulator. Briefly what an emulator is.

Such a program that completely emulates any game console, games for it are also loaded separately, any game can be downloaded to the Internet.

Here's Suprer Mario for you.

And here is the black cloak.

Only a true gaming gourmet will appreciate this.

Now joystick for Sony Playalert alert-infoion (PSX)

You can also use joysticks with two mini joysticks at the bottom, it is called with six axes. You can also connect joysticks with feedback, that is, those that vibrate. Here's a diagram.

The diodes are the same as for Dendy. Joysticks with six axes and feedback require a 9 volt power supply. For simple joysticks like mine, you don't need to do power. But if you really want, then I recommend buying a Chinese small 9v power supply for plugging into an outlet, they cost no more than a dollar.

I want to note that the diagram shows the reverse side of the PS port.

Just cut off the Sonya connector and solder the LPT.

In order to connect the second joystick, you need to solder all its wires as well, but pin 9 from PSX should be soldered to pin 13 on LPT, and 1 pin from PSX to pin 15 on LPT. That's all.

Now specifically about the setup procedure, although the matter is even simpler here.

First you need to download DirectPad Pro firewood ( where to download, google, original sources no longer exist)

In the Windows control panel, select game devices (joystick icon) and press the "Add" button. In the window that appears, press the "Add" button again, and then "Install from disk".

Next, find the directory into which you unpacked the driver archive and select the line that appears DirectPad Pro.Inf. After that, click OK a couple of times and add the DirectPad Pro Standard And Force FeedBack device.

Then you can select DirectPad Pro Controller and DirectPad Pro Force FeedBack Controller from the list of game devices. We select the appropriate driver and our controller appears in the "Game devices" window.

Now we press the "Properties" button and get into the driver configuration window. Select then select the ID of the joystick (written in the middle at the top) and put the number in the list next to the Conroller Type (it may not be 1, if other joysticks were installed in your system before).

After that, select the correct address of your LPT port (you can see it in the System: Devices - COM and LPT ports are usually 378).

That's all! Ultimately, you have a DirectInput compatible joystick, i.e. can be played in any windows game that supports the joystick via DirectX drivers. You only need to select DirectPad Controller in the game settings.

The following were tested for performance: NFS Undergraund, Max Payne2, Worms 3D, GTA 3, GTA Vice city, etc. The schemes are 100% functional. Enjoy.