Atari 5200: all controllers have same intermittent problem

[ubersaurus]

So, I've got two 5200 controllers, refurbished and rebuilt, and they work just fine most of the time. However, every now and then the system will simply just not detect either right or down directions on a controller. Swapping it for the other controller will accomplish nothing; the same directions will still be out of whack. Eventually the directional control comes back - usually after I spin the stick around a few times, though I don't think that has any actual bearing other than giving me something to do while I wait around - but until then I'm stuck with left and up.

I've read online that it could be a problem on the motherboard itself, something that needs to be adjusted. Could someone shed some light on that, assuming it sounds like that's the problem?

[maxwatts]

Could be just a bad/dirty/something pin on the port or going into the MoBo. AFAIK the 5200 isnt too picky which controller port you're using so try the one of the other ports and see if the problem persists. I cant imagine that 2 controllers are having the EXACT same problem at the EXACT same time.

[maxwatts]

Could be just a bad/dirty/something pin on the port or going into the MoBo. AFAIK the 5200 isnt too picky which controller port you're using so try the one of the other ports and see if the problem persists. I cant imagine that 2 controllers are having the EXACT same problem at the EXACT same time.

[maxwatts]

Removing double post :(

Also does this happen with any game? or just one? Are these OG Atari brand 5200 sticks or 3rd party?

[FABombjoy]

Since it affects 2 different directions, appears across multiple joysticks, and is unpredictable and intermittent, I would suspect the POKEY or something in it's immediate neighborhood.

It could be related to the centering pot on the main PCB as well, but I don't remember if that affects both directions at once.

[ubersaurus]

Well, last night it happened with Mountain King and Pac-Man. I know offhand I've had the same problem in other games, like Gyruss and Adventure II.

Next time it starts acting up I'll test it in a different port. I should mention that it's a 4-port machine, if that matters at all.

[ubersaurus]

double posted.

Though if it's the POKEY, is there anyway to test that or fix it?

[FABombjoy]

Assuming that it's socketed, you could try pushing down on the POKEY while the console is on, freezing it, heating it, etc., to try and trigger the symptoms. Try tapping on the centering pot, too.

Unfortunately, the combination of "weird" and "intermittent" means the troubleshooting path is not always clear. I've never troubleshooted a problem like this before so I might be missing something that someone with more 5200 experience knows about.

[ubersaurus]

Well, I'm fairly certain I have to adjust the internal pot anyway, based on my experiences playing games like Super Breakout and Missile Command (and the cursor not reaching all corners like it should). When I do that I can check to make sure the POKEY is situated properly, and poke it a bit to see if it glitches the thing out. I believe Best still sells the chips, if it is indeed bad.

[ubersaurus]

Reviving this, since I recently hooked my 5200 back up and had this problem come up again.

I was playing Berzerk when it started up by not letting me go right, but then I swapped controllers and it worked fine. Well, I popped in Mountain King next and the right direction just crapped out on me completely. I decided to test this on the second controller port as well so I put in Mario Bros, and it worked fine for a couple seconds before the right direction crapped out on both controllers at the same time.

So yeah, it's definitely something going wrong in the system itself. Could it be the pot, or the POKEY, or something else? I haven't cracked open the console yet, but I'd like to know what to look for (it's a 4 port, as previously stated). And yes, these are both rebuilt but original 5200 controllers.

Another thing I should point out: I keep my 5200 unplugged when it's not in use, so I plugged it in to run Berzerk. The other day when I had it plugged in to play Gremlins and Choplifter it was working just fine. Could that be part of it?

Edit: Yeah, it's still not going down either while the right direction is out, just tested it with Adventure II.

[tpugmire]

Start by reflowing the solder joints on the controller port. I've never worked on this particular system, but this has fixed similar issues I've had with other consoles.

[ApolloBoy]

Sounds like a problem with one or more of the 4051 logic chips near the controller ports. Those sometimes have a tendency to go bad, try replacing them and see if that fixes it.