Clone SNES joypad compatibility

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danboid
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Clone SNES joypad compatibility

Post by danboid »

Amazon (UK) sell SNES gamepads by a company called TRIXES. I sent the first TRIXES SNES pad back as it was defective then I received my second TRIXES pad today. Unlike the first, I was able to fully insert this gamepad into my Uzebox but apart from that I'm having the same issues as with the previous pad in that not all of the buttons work and it causes my Uzebox to restart randomly. I bought a couple of clone SNES gamepads pads from Zed labz a few years ago that work fine.

I don't have a SNES to test them on but it seems these TRIXES pads aren't Uzebox compatible, if they properly work at all.

Beware - it's a TRIXES!
Last edited by danboid on Thu Mar 09, 2023 8:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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danboid
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Re: TRIXES gamepads - avoid

Post by danboid »

Those TRIXES pads from Amazon looked exactly like the clone pads I bought from Zed Labz. Unfortunately I neglected to open them up to take a pic of their innards but I suspect they're exactly the same as the pad I received yesterday from Zed Labz which has all the same problems as the TRIXES pads.

Later I will post pics of the guts of my working clone pad and of this new, non-working pad.
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danboid
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Re: TRIXES gamepads - avoid

Post by danboid »

Uzebox compat top
Uzebox-compat-clone-SNES-pad-PCB-top.jpg
Uzebox-compat-clone-SNES-pad-PCB-top.jpg (217.87 KiB) Viewed 2133 times
Uzebox compat bottom
Uzebox-compat-clone-SNES-pad-PCB-bottom.jpg
Uzebox-compat-clone-SNES-pad-PCB-bottom.jpg (346.21 KiB) Viewed 2133 times
Non Uzebox compat top
Non-Uzebox-compat-clone-SNES-pad-PCB-top.jpg
Non-Uzebox-compat-clone-SNES-pad-PCB-top.jpg (153.85 KiB) Viewed 2133 times
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danboid
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Re: TRIXES gamepads - avoid

Post by danboid »

Non Uzebox compat bottom
Non-Uzebox-compat-clone-SNES-pad-PCB-bottom.jpg
Non-Uzebox-compat-clone-SNES-pad-PCB-bottom.jpg (380.71 KiB) Viewed 2133 times
rv6502
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Re: Clone SNES joypad compatibility

Post by rv6502 »

I'd hazard a guess that the cable is cheap, has too much capacitance, and can't clock as high as the Uzebox demands.
An SNES does very slow reads.

The other possibility is the chip glitches when clocking in the button data bits and the SNES reads slow enough that the glitch is over but the Uzebox captures the glitch.

It'd be interesting to see the signals on a scope.
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danboid
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Re: Clone SNES joypad compatibility

Post by danboid »

As it happens I ordered a couple of SNES extension cables recently. One is going to get butchered to make the PS2 keyboard adapter and then I can try using that cable to replace the one on my non working pad. I'll be sure to test the extension cable works first.

It'll be great if we can get this pad working because I suspect it'll be the same as what I got from Amazon (it looks the same out the outside) and you're paying at least 3x (if not 6x) more to buy a genuine SNES pad.
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uze6666
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Re: Clone SNES joypad compatibility

Post by uze6666 »

Are those detected by the controller test tool? You say some buttons doesn't work. For the same controller, it's always the same buttons that doesn't work or it's button presses registers randomly? I bough a lot of different unbranded knock-offs from Ali-Express for my kits and tested them all systematically. I found that about 10% would not work correctly and had to be discarded.
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danboid
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Re: Clone SNES joypad compatibility

Post by danboid »

I had forgot that there was a controller test app. I'll have to try that.
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danboid
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Re: Clone SNES joypad compatibility

Post by danboid »

There are some vendors that sell clone SNES pads in single piece orders on Alibaba such as these:

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/ ... 01433.html

Has anyone purchased any SNES pads off this vendor and confirmed they work on the Uzebox?

It's only $1.80 per controller but I don't know about how much shipping to the UK costs yet.

Ordering from adafruit is $30 shipping to the UK, minimum.
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Artcfox
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Re: Clone SNES joypad compatibility

Post by Artcfox »

danboid wrote: Sat Jul 08, 2023 4:11 pm Ordering from adafruit is $30 shipping to the UK, minimum.
Ouch! Adafruit's shipping can be high because the company has been bitten by packages not arriving so they only ship through some shipping services, however Adafruit is also a manufacturer, so other places like DigiKey often stock Adafruit's things, so that may be an option if you can find the Adafruit stuff through an electronics retailer.

Using the second search box on Adafruit's page on DigiKey:
https://www.digikey.com/en/supplier-centers/adafruit

and searching for SNES, brings me to those same controllers:
https://www.digikey.com/en/products/det ... 31/5029404

but shipped from DigiKey, which has cheaper shipping options for me (in the US). If DigiKey's shipping is still too high for you, you might be able to do the same with a UK-based electronics retailer that stocks her stuff.
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