Awhile ago I bought a toploader NES off of Ebay, knowing that the controller ports were broken but hoping that it would be an easy fix. Long story short, I've opened up the console and checked things out, and I don't see anything broken.
The only thing I can think of is that the IC that interfaces with the controllers is fried, based upon the condition the system was in when I got it who knows what the previous owner did to it.
The system starts and displays games just fine, and I've tried multiple controllers, all of which work on my toaster nes. Any ideas?