PSX to USB adaptor from RadioShack, and RealArcade.

[SuperShark]

Today, I picked up a PSX to USB adaptor from RadioShack for $11. After plugging up the adaptor, going through the new hardware wizard, going through the setup on the provided driver floppy disk, and plugging in a controller, it says that a USB joystick is detected. So, now I go to the control panle and go to game controllers. If I have a normal game pad plugged in, then it will detect (for the most part) properly whenever I push a button.

Now then, the main reason that I got this adaptor was to use it with the RealArcade joystick that is compatable with the XB, NGC, and PS1, PS2, and PSX. So, I plug the controller, the RealArcade, into the USB adaptor that claims 'you can use the adaptor with any and all of the various PS and PS2 controller', and when I go into properties in the game controllers part of the control pannle again, NOTHING reaspons on the screen. I know that it is plugged in right and getting power because when I press the mode button, the red light identifing if analog is on or not goes on and off.

So, can anyone help me? Can anyone tell me what's up with this!? Please!!?

BTW, I got this to use the controller in Mame32, and when I went into Mame32, started a game, pressed tab, went to controller configurations, and (using the keyboard) selected a button (such as P1 Button 1) and then held down a button on the normal PS1 controller pad that I used that appeared to be reasponding right in the control pannle testing, Mame32 would not identify it and I had to go back to some keyboard button. Can anyone help me out with this too, because if it wont work with the working game pad, why would it work with the currently non-working RealArcade pad? Is there any way to get this working? Is it even possible to use a USB controller in Mame32 (wait a sec, it has to be possible to use USB controllers, X-Arcade for example)? How do I do it?

Please help me with ANYthing here that you can.

Please and Thank You.

SuperShark

[InsaneDavid]

I haven't used the PS Family to USB2.0 converter you're talking about but I do have one. I bought one of the cheapy $9 Korean made "PS-USB Dual Player Convertor" boxes off eBay. Just a clear plastic box (mine is green, I've seen lots in blue) with a PS port on each side and a little USB2.0 dongle. It installed some plug and play drivers the first time and now windows sees it as a pair of 4 axis, 12 key gamepads. Even when a controller isn't plugged into the convertor it always reads that there are a pair of 4 axis, 12 key gamepads connected. In other words I can swap controllers on the converter without having to have windows change anything - it simply doesn't know. So it's almost like a passthrough, I've used PS1 and PS2 controllers both digital and analog (when analog is turned on the left control stick replaces the D-pad and the right stick can be configured for other movements - works GREAT for dual stick MAME games) without any problems. These converters really aren't an exact science, anyway, here's a picture of the one I use...

http://www.startoursinfo.com/junk/DP-PSconvert01.jpg

Sorry I couldn't provide you with much assistance.

[SuperShark]

First off, what I have is something almost EXACTLY like that, but with only one PS controller port. When plugged into the USB post, Windows goes through some plug-n-play stuff and then it always, as long as the adaptor is in, thinks that there is a "12-button Joystick" plugged in. If I go to controlle pannle and look at the properties of the controller, it looks on screen like a normal PS1 controller, and if I push a button, it picks it up perfectly, same with d-pad, and there are only minor problems with the joysticks that may be caused by my controllers.

So, David, if nothing else PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Tell Me how To Get My PS1 Controllers To Work IN Mame! If you could do that, that solves half my probs, I would just then have to figure out how to get it to work with my RealArcade joystick.

Please tell me how you got your controllers to work in Mame, then maybe I can At Least get a normal controller to function in Mame.

[InsaneDavid]

So, David, if nothing else PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Tell Me how To Get My PS1 Controllers To Work IN Mame! If you could do that, that solves half my probs, I would just then have to figure out how to get it to work with my RealArcade joystick.

Please tell me how you got your controllers to work in Mame, then maybe I can At Least get a normal controller to function in Mame.

Hmm.. let's see...

When using MAME32 as well as the good old command line flavor of MAME I simply hit tab in a game, go into the controls for all games (can't remember of the top of my head, you want to pick the controller define that is for EVERY GAME, not just the current one), select the control function, hit enter, press the button on the controller I want to use, and it changes. This should change the default controls for all games, I recommend using Select for P1 Credit. You may also want to go into MAME32, File, Properties, Controllers tab, and make sure "Enable joystick input" is checked. I still use MAME v0.76 so this may have changed a bit but it didn't give me any problems in MAME v0.95 during the DP MAME championship. There should be a default setting to enable joystick input for everything if you find that box isn't checked....

...........

...found it, Options, Default Game Options, Controllers tab, make sure "Enable joystick input" is checked, Analog joystick deadzone should be 0.30 - mouse, lightgun, and steadykey support should all be UNchecked, input layout should be Standard.

Sounds like your device is working fine (try it with a NES emulator or something just to make sure - don't select gamepad or anything, just in the controller redefine highlight the function and press a button on your control pad) but MAME isn't looking to see if a joystick is being used. If you can't get it to work with another emulator (such as NEStopia) the adapter is bad.

[SuperShark]

tHank you so much David. I now have Mame32 working with normal PS joypads. I am hopping that maybe if I can set Mame up with a contolls layout for a PS normal controller, that perhaps when I plug in the RealArcade joystick, perhaps Mame will read it as the PS controller that was previously in it and work. Who knows. I do know that the controller gets power when plugged into the adaptor because there is a little red light on it that is the same as the little red light on a PS controller to show if analog is on or not. It will light up, so it is getting power and swithching between analog and digital, but in control panle in the properties section for the adaptor, if I push a button, it detects nothing. Who knows, Mame just might work with it even if the test page in control panle doesnt. Heres hopeing.

Get back to you again after trying with the RealArcade stick later today.

[SuperShark]

Tried the normal PS controller on several games, works perfectly (excluding dule joystick in analog, but thats due to some funcky issues with the controllers themselves). So, I went to get and try the RealArcade stick in the USB adaptor. Go to test screen in c panle, no reasponses, go to mame32, no reasponses from preset PS controller controls, go to controls setup in mame32, not a thing. Either the controller is flipped up, or this adaptor has some weird issues and Radioshack lied. I guess I gotta hook up me PS or PS2 and test it out on the systems without an adaptor now, then ill know if it is the adaptor or the controller.

[LocalH]

Today, I picked up a PSX to USB adaptor from RadioShack for $11. After plugging up the adaptor, going through the new hardware wizard, going through the setup on the provided driver floppy disk, and plugging in a controller, it says that a USB joystick is detected. So, now I go to the control panle and go to game controllers. If I have a normal game pad plugged in, then it will detect (for the most part) properly whenever I push a button.

Now then, the main reason that I got this adaptor was to use it with the RealArcade joystick that is compatable with the XB, NGC, and PS1, PS2, and PSX. So, I plug the controller, the RealArcade, into the USB adaptor that claims 'you can use the adaptor with any and all of the various PS and PS2 controller', and when I go into properties in the game controllers part of the control pannle again, NOTHING reaspons on the screen. I know that it is plugged in right and getting power because when I press the mode button, the red light identifing if analog is on or not goes on and off.

So, can anyone help me? Can anyone tell me what's up with this!? Please!!?
You're in the exact same situation I was in, as I have the same PSX adaptor, and the same Universal RealArcade. I never got it to work through the PSX connector, either. I had to end up buying an XBox 4-port adaptor to get it to work. Once I did that, however, it worked awesomely.

[SuperShark]

WHERE CAN I GET A 4-PORT ADAPTOR FOR XBOX CONTROLLERS!? HOW MUCH DO THEY COST!? I would prefer using 4 Xbox controllers and playing with friends every now and then and being able to use the RealArcade stick instread of using one PS controller all of the time alone, heck Id even prefer a XB controller playing alone over a PS controller. PLEASE TELL ME HOW TO GET THIS ADAPTOR!

[LocalH]

I bought mine from Jandaman (http://jandaman.com/). Specifically, the Super Joybox 11 (http://www.jandaman.com/games.mvc?p=xboxsj11&Category_code=PC). They also have one and two port versions. Even though I only have the one controller, I recommend making small marks to denote which controller is 1, 2, 3, or 4, and then when you first start playing, plug each one up in order, so that the system recognizes them in the order you want them. That way, you should be able to simply set up each emulator as you need, and not have to worry about which controller is which.

[SuperShark]

SWEETNESS! Thanks for all of the help you two. I will proably see if I can return this PSX to USB adaptor and talk my parents into getting me this new adaptor for Christmas! And as for you IDavid, you too were a help telling me how to set up Mame32 to even recognize a controller plugged into the USB port.

Thanks a load you two, my problems should now be solved, and by getting that 4 controller adaptor I even got more than I hoped for! In the past, I have burned copies of Mame32 with roms to CD-RWs to take to friends houses for overnight events, and I kid you not, almost all night long there were 6, count them 6 hands on only 1 keyboard! We would have liked to do 4 player, but there was no room as it was with only 3! Our hands were overlapping causing our hands to sweat onto the keyboard. We did however have a blast! Now with this, I can do that with friends again, but we can finaly have 4 people, and they can each have their own controller in their hands with which to play!

This is totaly awsome! Thanks a buttload guys! You 2 really made my day, and I am sure you will again after I get that adaptor if it works right (it better work right).

SuperShark

[InsaneDavid]

almost all night long there were 6, count them 6 hands on only 1 keyboard! We would have liked to do 4 player, but there was no room as it was with only 3!

You'll also find not using the keyboard gives you FAR more responsive gameplay since you don't have to worry about button ghosting or commands being jammed since standard keyboards can't interrogate all that many button presses at once.

Your other option of course is to buy an I-Pac from Ultimarc and build yourself a MAME control panel. LOL That's what I'm doing for the MAME cocktail I'm building right now - hacking keyboards SUCKS, believe me... ahh the old days.

[SuperShark]

You'll also find not using the keyboard gives you FAR more responsive gameplay since you don't have to worry about button ghosting or commands being jammed since standard keyboards can't interrogate all that many button presses at once.

Your other option of course is to buy an I-Pac from Ultimarc and build yourself a MAME control panel. LOL That's what I'm doing for the MAME cocktail I'm building right now - hacking keyboards SUCKS, believe me... ahh the old days.

Yes, I know what you mean with the keyboards not being able to process to many buttons at the same time and therefor causing it the freeze up until you release enough of the right buttons. Now as for hacking a keyboard, I have never heard of trying that to solve any of these to many keys being pressed problems, and even if I found out how to do it, I proably wouldnt try anyways. And with what you are saying about making custom Mame arcade pannles, That Is A DREAM to me, but dude, I am a 15 year old kid and my parents wouldnt ever even give a real thought to paying the hundreds that thoose things can sometimes cost. Also, I have noticed how slow in reasponse a keyboard can be, say if playing something like Galaga, constantly hitting one button as compared to the arcade cabs control panle, and just using a PS1 controller and hitting one button over and over was much more reasponsive than that of the keyboard.

Now after all that talk, I have bad news in my progress of getting the RealArcade stick to work. Yes I mostly plan on using this on Mame in which I wont NEED the button, though I really want it, but I also wish to use the controller for console gaming every now and then as well. The problem is, after hooking it up to my Xbox to test it, the start button dont work :( . I am now going to try to contact the GameStop from which I bought the controller and see if it cant be replaseed, which I doubt they can because it was the one and only one that they had anywhere in their store or storage. If that start button dont work, then I cant use it on consoles and it wont look as good in Mame because that start button has the exact same art as a start button on an arcade cab.

I will get back to here whenever there is either something else to reply to, or I got some more info on the progress of everthing.

SuperShark

[LocalH]

He's talking about hacking a keyboard in order to use it as the backend of a MAME control panel. Very messy, and of course you have the same keyboard problems if you try to do too much through one keyboard.

Also, I never had any problems with mine. I installed the XBox HID driver that comes with the adaptor (as you may know, XBox controllers are electrically USB, so basically the adaptor is a USB hub with XBox connectors), and the stick appeared to the system. I've played many a game of both X-Men vs. Street Fighter and Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes. Games with 4-way joysticks can be a bit wonky when you hit the diagonals, but you should be able to correct for that by assigning the diagonals to press multiple directions - for example, when pressing lower-left, set up MAME to press both down and left on the emulated system.