Fire button 2

[magmadragoon]

Can it be added? MegaSwitcher64 has the option.

[Hojo-Norem]

Short answer - Yes, but needs work.

Long answer - Yes.
Bodging in the needed resistors into a already built unit is easy for anybody half competent with a soldering iron.
Next the firmware needs to be altered so it actually works, not difficult for somebody familiar with AVR LibC.
To complete the package the C64 configuration software needs to be updated to allow the new buttons to be user mapped.

[magmadragoon]

But there are no planned 'official' firmware updates?
I could do the soldering part but unfortunately the programming is out of my pay grade.
Oh, well, I'm happy with my unit and it's only a few games that use Fire 2, recently released SNK vs Capcom made prompted me to ask, I'll live ;)

[Hojo-Norem]

Actually... not too long ago I decided to have a go at implementing the protocol for the upcoming ProtoPad. Took that as an excuse to redesign the PCB, add FIRE2 and FIRE3 capability and re-write the firmware (make the configuration protocol more NTSC friendly). Heres the current prototype:

I've been working on it on and off and once it's done I should be able to back port it to the original PadSwitcher64 PCB, with the understanding that some soldering will be needed to make it work.

There's no ETA at the moment as there's many other things vying for my recreation time currently, but seeing interest helps. ^_^

[magmadragoon]

Alright, looking forward to it, whenever it comes out.
Thank you for creating this.

[magmadragoon]

Just a friendly reminder that I'd love to see this done one day :)

[Hojo-Norem]

Funny you should say that... I was just plugging away at it some last week. Working on the Protopad compatibility mode has been driving me mad. I've managed to get it working 100% as far as I can tell with the tester application that was bundled with the first revision of the Protopad dev guide and with the Protopad mode in the 'Joyride' joystick tester.

Now, with the two games I could find and download that have Protopad features, 'Muddy Racers' works fine at the title screen and menus, but then proceeds to act as if a Protopad isn't plugged in when actually playing, only to start working again when paused and then stop working when unpaused...

The other game, 'Deathflood', fares much better somewhat but is far from perfect.

I'm spending as much time as I am on this because... well just how many different multi-button pad interfaces, each having their own protocol, are there for the C64? How many are supported by more than one or two games? The scene needs to stop re-designing the wheel and I think by supporting the Protopad protocol, which has at least two commercial games supporting it even though the actual Protopad hasn't been released yet, then there may be more impetus for games makers to add support.

Anyhoow, here's a WIP image of the next and probably final revision of the PadSwitcher64Plus PCB.

When I finally do release, I'll most likely create a new repository for it.

[magmadragoon]

Gotta admit this is the first time I've heard ot the Protopad, I see it has a ton of buttons. Most other new C64 sticks/pads or adapters only have 2, and I doubt any game needs more than that. There is a person working on adding 2nd button support for a bunch of old games by changing one game at a time.

I'm very happy to see progress here. Will I be able to modify the original padswitcher board to support this?

[rainisto]

Any updates on this one? :)

[magmadragoon]

I'm also living in hope it will be done some day.

[rainisto]

protopad is not that widely available and cant seem to be available for puchase anywhere. I would be more happy to see instructions for making the 'normal' second fire button on port2 pin9 to work. Most likely it would something like connecting resistors/diodes to pin9 and connecting it to unused atmega pin and rewriting firmware and software side to support that. Of course this is open source, so there is alway an option to learn atmega avr coding and DIY it :)

[rainisto]

As a small update, I figured that why not try DIY approach, so I was playing with deepseek this evening to learn atmega avr, and now I have working fire2 button event to pin9. My approach was to add one more 'matrix'-line (by default R-button would launch space (for example Commando grenade), so with SELECT+R you can rotate to virtual matrix line where R-button triggers PIN9 FIRE2/(FIRE B). That approach was the cleanest that I could figure out as it doesn't break the current .prg (didnt change prg as I have no need for mapping, for me is enought to switch between space and fire2. Someone else might want to add mapping to eeprom.) and only requires to solder one wire to PIN9 in existing boards. So the next question would be that is anyone interested about the changes so should I put it available to my fork

[magmadragoon]

I am definitely interested in getting fire 2 working if possible, but I'm a complete noob when it comes to these things so I will need detailed instructions if I need to change code or solder something.

[rainisto]

Published soldering and flashing instructions, changes and modified .hex in my forked repo: https://github.com/rainisto/PadSwitcher64. Let me known if instructions are clear enough of not.

[Hojo-Norem]

I'd say that I haven't forgotten about this... but I'd be lying.

So~, after a little thought here's the current WIP of what I'm going to call the 'final' form of the PadSwitch64Plus:

Changes from above:

Mainly SMD design, with most parts relocated to the computer facing side of the PCB. I'm finding that I prefer soldering SMD to through-hole and somebody out there made a SMD version of the first PadSwitcher. (I only found out about that while googling...)

Dropped the diodes for the 'hack' to make ProtoPad mode work in my design. I'm dropping ProtoPad support for now, seeing that the only games that support it use the 'old' protocol and may not even work with the ProtoPad if it is ever released.

Additional current limiting resistors for control port pin protection in the event of any possible malfunction.

---

The mistake I've made is that I was wanting to write a new mapping editor before releasing the PS64P and I never got past that. This time, once I've verified the PCB and re-written the firmware for the umpteenth time (I am in no way a 'good' coder) I shall release. I should be able to figure out the comms protocol first and write the editor later. With the new features and the need to make a more NTSC (urgh) friendly comms protocol the old editor won't cut it.

This design represents what I want in the PadSwitcher64Plus - Fire button 2 and 3 support, forward facing control pad socket and a effort made toward protecting against malfunctions.

[gillham]

I also modified my PadSwitcher64 and the firmware and then I just noticed this issue.
I have a fork here if interested: https://github.com/gillham/PadSwitcher64/tree/c64gs

This does fire on 'A', fire2 on 'B', fire3 on 'X' and UP on 'Y' in the default. Mostly for consistency with other uses of the SNES pad like PETSCII Robots UserPort and whatnot. Oh and select sends UP&DOWN (button 4/ select in the 5 button setup). It does the same extra buttons on port 1 & 2. (hence the 4 bodge wires)

This is my prototype, I ended up using a socket and short bodge wires in the final mod. It works really well with what I've tested so far and I made a couple for some friends. I would definitely like to see a "Plus" version available with the crystalct/5plusbuttonsJoystick mods. I didn't try to get button 5 / start since that is used to swap ports right now.