1. N64 Controller Serial Protocol Tutorials

Controller - Experiment #1 -Voltage Test. Additional Equipment. Multi-Meter. Hypotheses. The power pins for the controller are 3.3 Volts (not 3.6 or 5V). Observation.

Use the analog channel of the Saleae Logic 8 Analyzer. Review community created Schematic for 3.3 Volt power rail. N64 label indicates required power supply is 3.3 Volts.

Results. LA analog channel: besides power on the voltage range is: 3.312 - 3.375. Assumption. The power pins for the controller are approximately 3.3 Volts.

Logic Analyzer Output - Download below 'N64-Controller-PowerPin-AnalogVoltage.logicdata'. At first this looks cryptic but from reviewing other web sites that have attempted this kind of decoding we can expect the following exchange. Console sends a Command with or without data. Console sends a 'Console Stop Bit'.

Controller Responds to Command. Controller sends a 'Controller Stop Bit'. Adobe cs3 serial number crack. We can also learn that each 'bit' is made of both a low and a high. First there is a minimum low of 1us. Then 2us of the bit data (either high or low). Ending with 1us of high.

Then starts again. The stop bits are a little trickier. I'll give you the first one. Here it is the whole thing marked up so it's easier to decode.

Yellow is the Console Command in this case it's 0000 0000 or 0x00. Red is the Console Stop Bit (The low 1 us and the 2.4 us high). Blue is the Controllers response broken up by the pink indicators into 3 bytes or 24 bits. Decoded it's 0000 0101 0000 0000 0000 0001 or 0x05 00 01.

Green is the Controller Stop Bit, this one is a little easier to identify because it's low for 2 us where all of the other low durations are either 1 or 3 us. Results. There is data of some kind of patterned data going across the wire.

There are tutorials out there for using an controller with an Arduino, but using the more complicated N64 controller and its analog joystick has a definite appeal. If you have an Arduino around and don't want to buy an Adaptoid, this instructable will make it possible to play emulated games in Project 64 with your Ardunio and an N64 controller. Is this hard?

/ Will it damage my stuff?This will not modify your controller in any way, and the wiring is extremely simple, so if you do everything carefully there should be no risk to your controller, and you can unhook it at any time to use with a N64 console. What you will need: - $30 - free - free3 pieces of wire - free (I hope)USB cable. The first thing you need to do is connect your Arduino to the controllerThe controller only uses three leads: +3.3V, signal, and ground.Looking directly at the plug, ground is farthest left, signal is in the middle, and +3.3V is on the right.

N64 Controller Serial Protocol Tutorials

Using the wire, connect ground and +3.3V to the respective pins on the Arduino, and connect the signal lead to the Digital 2 pin on the Ardunio. NOTE: If you have other code on your Arduino, you should disconnect the controller and upload the new code from the next page t o the Arduino before powering it up with the controller attached. Connect the ArduinoConnect the USB cable and the Arduino will have power. This code was written by me, with parts of the N64Arduino file based on assembly code written by Andrew Brown. ZIP Archives:The two Zip files below contain the code needed to run the Arduino and then to interpret the data it sends to the computer. The N64Arduino file needs to be compiled in the Arduino IDE, and the N64Controller runs in Processing 1.0. N64ArduinoThis PDE file should upload to your Arduino and run without a hitch if you have everything connected properly.

It simply queries the N64 controller for data on the buttons and Analog stick and sends it back to the computer over the serial port. It is easy enough to modify, for example, you could use the methods from this file to query a controller and use the data to run an Arduino robot instead of transmitting it back to the computer. N64ControllerThis is a Processing 1.0 project that takes the data transmitted by the Arduino and converts it into keyboard presses that you can map to an emulator like Project 64. You might need to change the line String portName = Serial.list1; to match the your Arduino, it should be either Serial.list0; Serial.list1; or Serial.list2; EDIT: Add'import java.awt.Robot;'import java.awt.AWTException;'import java.awt.event.InputEvent;' to the code if you are using Processing 1.1 N64Controllermouse This is the same as N64Controller, except that the analog stick controls your mouse, not the arrow keys. A and B are right and left click, respectively. To activate the mouse, press the start button on your controller.

Before you can use the controller, the Arduino needs to be connected and running the code you downloaded in the last step, and Processing 1.0 needs to be open with the N64Controller program running.Test it out in Notepad, pressing the A button should type an A, B should type a B, etc.So now you have a working controller (hopefully) and you want to play some games. Downl0ad PJ 64 Set Key Mappings Start PJ 64 and open the settings menu first (Ctrl+T). Change the input controller to N-Rage's direct input. Open the 'Configure Controller Plugin' menu and set the mappings using the controller. Start Playing!

You should be all set to go now! Download some ROMs and start enjoying your homebrew N64 adapter.

I have actually built on of the v-usb based adapters from raphnet.net I part of the way though porting his implementation into something more arduino friendly. I saw this link and spent a little time today to see how well it works. The code isn't very pretty but it does work. I modified it to read 2 n64 controllers at the same time and created a HID usb descriptor for v-usb for it to show up as 2 gamepads. No host software needed. Just a note, 2 of your links from above are dead.

Hopefully I can find the time to spin off a continuing instructable that shows how much more power you can get out of this set up. Thanks for sharing.

I've been trying to get Controller Pak support working, but it seems the timing of the sending/polling isn't accurate enough as getting the controller status and button state works fine (verified this by logging the data) but the mempak refuses to work. I don't know assembly so I can't convert the entire code to it, does anyone have any suggestions for optimizing my code and making timing more accurate? Arduino code can be found here: Project64 plugin source: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8225581/ArduiN64.rar.

Just saw your reply, in that code it uses COM4 but you can change it in Controller.cpp near the top at #define comPort. I never added a config window to allow changing the COM port since having it hardcoded worked fine for my own personal use and I was more interested in getting controller paks working. Still not sure why the Memory Pak doesn't work, it seems to transfer data fine but struggles with the 32-byte data packets and the data gets corrupted. Might be a timing issue.

It's a pity since the only adapter that works with paks to my knowledge is the Adaptoid and those are not easy to get anymore. Would be nice to have full pak support, add USB HID and maybe do a production run of some boards if people are interested.