The unit comes with all the parts you need except the case and solder. you will need to 3D print the SDL file, assemble the parts, and solder the components. The Firmware is already loaded so you do not need to load any firmware.
Step 1
Insert the Pro Micro controller daughter board into the main board and solder all the pins.
Step 2
After you solder the pins, cut the pins so they don’t stick out. Add the rest of components and solder them all.
Step 3
Place the colors caps on the switches as shown. Note the Red cap on the daughter pro micro is a stand for the screen.
Here is some code that will help you create all the RGB values needed for generating a RGB Rainbow gradient. The code steps through 6 sets of transitions from one color to another in 256 steps each .
Red to Yellow
Yellow to Green
Green to Cyan
Cyan to Blue
Blue to Magenta
Magenta back to Red
With 6 transitions, each in 256 steps provides 1536 total colors and here is the result from the code below:
const canvas = document.getElementById("myCanvas");
const ctx = canvas.getContext("2d");
var x;
for (x=0; x<1536; x++) { // 6*256
ctx.fillStyle = rainbow(x);
ctx.fillRect(x, 0, x, 200);
}
// Accepts values 0 through 1535 and returns the one of 1536 colors in rainbow.
function rainbow(x) {
let r = Math.trunc(x / 256); // 0-5
let c = x % 256;
if (r==0) {
value = rgb(255,c,0); // red to yellow transition
} else if (r==1) {
value = rgb(255-c,255,0); // yellow to green transition
} else if (r==2) {
value = rgb(0,255,c); // green to cyan transition
} else if (r==3) {
value = rgb(0,255-c,255); // cyan to blue transition
} else if (r==4) {
value = rgb(c,0,255); // blue to magenta transition
} else if (r==5) {
value = rgb(255,0,255-c); // Magenta to ren transision
}
return value;
}
// simple function to convert rgb decimal values to #RRGGBB hex color string used in html
function rgb(r,g,b) {
return "#"+(r).toString(16).padStart(2,'0')+(g).toString(16).padStart(2,'0')+(b).toString(16).padStart(2,'0');
}
The Atari driving controller uses a 16 position encoder that sends pulses to to pin 1 and pin 2 of the game port. These pulses can be deciphered or decoded to understand if the player is spinning the controller in the left or right direction.
Here is how the spinners encoder works. If you look at the photo below, imagine point A is connected to Pin 1 and Point B is connector to Pin 2. As you spin the encoder the will make contact with the C blocks which are connected to common ground. So at the position shown, pin 1 (A) and Pin 2 (B) are not touching ground (C). but is you spin right, Pin 1 (A) will touch ground first but if you spin left, Pin 2 (B) will Touch ground first.
So if you are in the middle where A and B are not touching ground. you go from BA being 00 to 01, and if you spin a bit more you get to where the black pen is where the value becomes 11. Then if you keep going, you go to 10 and then back to 00.
Now if you spin left, you go from being 00 to 10, then 11, then 01.
All the programmer has to do is read the state of pin 1 and pin 2 continuously and compare it to its previous values to determine the direction the play turned. Here is a table that tells you if the player turned right or left based on the current and prior readings of pins 1 and 2.
With only 2 pins there are 4 possible combinations of values that Pin 1 and 2 can produce, like a 2 bit binary number.
Pin 2
Pin 1
2 bit Value
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
0
2
1
1
3
Previous Value
Current Value
Direction
0
1
Right
1
3
Right
2
0
Right
3
2
Right
0
2
Left
1
0
Left
2
3
Left
3
1
Left
Now we have all the logic we need to develop the pseudocode
Get state of pins 1 and 2
For current value, combine the pin values like binary bits and convert to decimal
compare the current value to old value
if the value has changed from perivious value,
Use table above to determine if you will move left or right
update the previous value to current value
go back to step 1.
So all we need to do is connect pin 1 and 2 to pulled up IO ports of a micro controller. For the fire button, use pin 6 and connect it to a pulled up IO port. When the player presses fire button, pin 6 will go low. When the player spins, you can figure out easily if they spined right or left now!
Here is some sample code assuming you have used GPIO ports 1 for Pin 1, 2 for pin 2 and 3 for pin 6 (fire):
bool A;
bool B;
bool F;
int P=0;
void setup() {
pinMode(1, INPUT_PULLUP);
pinMode(2, INPUT_PULLUP);
pinMode(3, INPUT_PULLUP);
}
void loop() {
A = !digitalRead(1);
B = !digitalRead(2);
F = !digitalRead(3);
int V = A+B*2;
if (V != P) {
if ((P==0 && V==1) || (P==1 && V==3) || (P==2 && V==0) || (P==3 && V==2)) {
// Moved right code goes here
} else if ((P==0 && V==2) || (P==1 && V==0) || (P==2 && V==3) || (P==3 && V==1)) {
// Moved left code goes here
}
P = V;
}
}
iCode retro gaming USB adapters get a major upgrade with the release of its latest update, iCode Firmware 9, on Sunday, March 5th. This version brings a lot of new features, which should delight fans of retro video games!
On the hardware side, Firmware 9 is now compatible with the iCode USB models including the UNO, DUO, and QUAD. There are different Firmware 9 downloads specific to each hardware model and revision.
Among the most important new features, version 9 of firmware introduces a new menu navigation system to control all aspects of the device. Once configured, the device remembers all the changes and the last mode of operation, and it will return to the exact state even after a power cycle. This allows the device to be imbedded into arcade cabinets without having to have regular access to the device’s controls.
There has also been a variety of optimizations done which now deliver ultra-low latency play including use of paddles and trackballs.
Below is the list of changes for the release since the prior major release 8.
Plus editions now support Sega Genesis 3 button and 6 button Controllers. Also supports Start and Mode buttons. Must set settings menu “Console” to Genesis to activate. For Quad, H12 required. For some Duo Plus & Plus Pro H10 and below, special hardware mod may be needed. See iCodeCommunity forums for details.
Device now remembers the mode you were in, even after a power cycle.
You can now see mode you are in even if display activity is turned off.
Device now remembers if your display was off even after a power cycle.
Optimized trackball and paddle mouse operation to provide much smother control. Keep display off for best experience when using mouse mode.
Device turns display always off when in trackball mode for optimized smooth trackball operation, unless you specifically turn on after in trackball mode.
Device no longer switches back to mode 1 when you access the menu system
When you switch target of where joystick or paddles to be reported to, system now correctly clears all gamepad values from prior target
Fixed buttons on paddles 3 and 4 on port 2 as they were reversed
Optimized auto paddle detection
Optimized screen display
Optimized Paddle auto calibration
Support for iCode Quad adapters
Full and Half duplex Paddle Modes
Added ColecoVision mode for Plus editions
New settings for paddle detection mode. OFF setting is useful for ColecoVision controllers
Added Keyboard on/off mode for Plus editions
Added compatibility with most recent update of MiSTer Atari 7800 core which changed paddle buttons. In MiSTer mode, Paddle buttons now register as button 3 which works correctly as fire button on Mister. In regular mode, paddle buttons on dual paddles connected to a single port will continue to register as button 0 and 1.
Fixed bug with mapping and display of buttons 8 through 32
Swapped default button maps for buttons 0 and 1. Red is now button 0, and Green is button 1 by default.
Revamped entire settings menu. You now have menus for paddles settings, main menu, and other settings.
Moved mister mode toggle to other settings menu
Removed mode 2 and common from UNO Devices
Improved auto-paddle detection when in MiSTer mode. Pressing yellow button.
Added status T indicator on display when in Mister mode
Fixed display not showing all inputs correctly after auto paddle updates
Fixed port 2 to report correct paddles order for dual paddles on the port.
In mouse mode, paddle buttons now correctly report to as mouse buttons.
When in mouse mode, paddles and trackballs now correctly only report as mouse and not gamepads
Added ability to set destination target as left / right or hat switch for Joystick and paddles data
Moved default paddles data to be reported as right hand stick instead of left to avoid conflict with joystick stick data which defaults to left hand.
Added developer menu that allows paddle data views. paddle sensor control, and more.
Configuring RetroArch Stella 2014 core or Stella desktop emulators to work properly with Atari Paddles can be quite confusing. This guide will help you quickly configure both emulators iCode Duo retro adapters. I recommend Desktop Stella as it will be more responsive and easier to configure.
Stella (Desktop) Configuration
Coming Soon.
RetroArch Configuration
RetroArch has multiple cores that can emulate the Atari 2600. If you want to play paddle games, only the Stella 2014 core will work for you because its the only core that supports absolute positioning that is needed for paddle games. This feature was added to Stella 2014 core starting with version 3.9.3. Here is how you can load the right core and make sure you have the correct version:
From the main menu, select Load Core option.
Select “Atari -2600 (Stella 2104)”. If this is not present, you can use the “Download a Core” option to get it.
Once the core is loaded, you will see it loaded in the bottom left corner of the screen with the version shown. If your version is lower than 3.9.3 you will have to use the Online Updater option from the main menu to download the current version.
Now that your core is loaded, lets make sure RetroArch sees your iCode Duo device and is setup properly.
Connect your paddles and turn on the iCode device. Move your paddles fully to right, then full left, then move them to center. This calabrates your paddles on the device.
On RetroArch, go to the Main Menu and on the left meu navigation, select Settings and then select Input menu option in the main screen.
Scroll down and select the menu option named “Port 1 Controls”
Make sure your Device index is set to the iCode device First gamepad. Also Analog to digital must be set to None as shown.
Press enter on B Button and system will wait for you to press the paddle 1 button. This should set the B button value to 0.
Go to the Select Button menu item and press enter. When system waits, press the yellow button on the iCode device. If you have the wireless Duo , this will set the value to 3.
next is Start, map it to White button.
Next is Right Analog X+, Spin paddle 1 clock wise
Next is Right Analog X-, Spin paddle 1 counter clock wise
Next is Right Analog Y+, Spin paddle 2 clock wise
Next is Right Analog Y-, Spin paddle 2 counter clock wise
X button to Blue button on the iCode Device
White you are still in this area, turn off the iCode device and connect the Joysticks and then turn the device back on so its in Joystick mode.
Now map D-Pad Up, Down, Left, Right to each of the 4 directions
Flashing and Booting from an EMMC module on an Odroid XU4 can be tricky. This is because you need a bootloader placed on a hidden Partition of the eMMC memory module. When you clean or flash an EMMC module with normal tools like Etcher or Rufus, you might delete the hidden partition that had the bootloader and the XU4 will simply not boot from your image even if the image you flashed is bootable.
While there are recovery images you can download that have the bootloader needed on it, most images you flash after that will still not contain the bootloader and you would be back to square 1.
The best was found to create a properly bootable EMMC is as follows:
If your EMMC module does not boot, its best to first do a recovery process as described on https://wiki.odroid.com/accessory/emmc/recovery_xu4, then see if your EMMC boots to android. You might be able to skip this step 1 but its still recommended. Then go to step 2.
Flash the image your want to boot from on to your EMMC module and see if it boots. if it does then you are set. if not, go to step 3.
Flash the image your want to boot from on BOTH an SD card and your EMMC module.
With the XU4 off and switch set to boot from SD, insert both them flashed EMMC and SD card on your XU4
Turn on your XU4 and let it boot from SD
SSH into the XU4 or get to a terminal window on it and login
At the prompt type: ls /dev/mmc* and hit enter
Your will see all the partitions on both the SD and the EMMC device. Both will start with mmc so don’t get confused by that. Almost always, your EMMC module are the mmc words that have blk0 and blkboot0 in them and your SD card will be the other one, probably the ones that have blk1 or blk2 in the name. In the Batocera environment I was testing, my SD card happens to be the one with blk2 in them. This will be important as it will get used in steps below
What we are going to do now is use the linux dd command to copy the boot partition from your SD card to the appropriate area on the EMMC. Your EMMC device we want to write to is typically mmcblk0boot0 and it will be protected. So we first have to unlock it, then use the dd command as follows:
Type echo 0 > /sys/block/mmcblk0boot0/force_ro and hit enter. This will unlock and give us access to the partition.
Now type dd if=/dev/mmcblk2 of=/dev/mmcblkboot0 bs=512 skip=1 seek=0 count=16381
The last step might take a few seconds or minute. Once you see no more activity, you can now lock the partition again.
Type echo 1 > /sys/block/mmcblk0boot0/force_ro and hit enter.
Now shutdown your XU4 and remove the SD card and flip the switch to boot from your EMMC!
This is what worked for me. Here is a screenshot of my session after step 4 of the first part.
Atari Paddle Jitter elimination with Auto and Manual Calibration
See how you can eliminate Paddle Jitter by using the full spectrum of your paddle range on your games. Unlike all other adapters on the market, the iCode duo adapters have auto range calibration plus they give you the ability to you fine tune your device to match your specific paddle range based on the specific game you want to play.
This video walks you through all the calibration settings to help you do this quickly.
Configure Retropie on Stella 2014 Retroarch for Atari Paddles
Learn how to configure your Retropie to work perfectly with Atari Paddles to play paddle games like Breakout and Warlords, with perfect precision!
Windows Configuration for Paddles on iCode Atari USB Adapter using Stella Emulator
Learn how to connect 4 original Atari paddles to your PC running Stella Emulator. You will see all configuration steps needed for 4 Paddles. Video walks through configuration needed to play 4 player Warlords with 4 paddles on your PC.
Atari CX-80 Trackball
Configure iCode Duo plus to connect to an Atari Trackball CX-80 for games like missile command
This video shows you how to configure your iCode Duo Plus USB device to use an Atari Trackball to play Missile Command running Atari 8 bit emulation on your PC or other systems.
MiSTer FPGA configuration
MiSTer FPGA with Atari paddles and joysticks using iCode Plus Adapter
Walkthrough on how to setup your iCode Duo Plus USB Adapter to work flawlessly with MiSTer FPGA. The updated firmware even support 2 player paddles with ease. Let me know if you have any questions and check us out at www.icode.com where you get one.
Atari 5200 Controllers
Atari 5200 Controllers on Mac OS with Analog games like Super Breakout & Missile Command on Emulator
This video shows you how to configure your Mac running Atari 8 bit emulation to work with your Atari 5200 controller using the iCode Duo Plus 5200. The videos shows examples of hot to play Missile Command and Super breakout with precision control!
RetroPie
iCode Wireless Bluetooth adapter with Raspberry Pi 4 and RetroPie
Learn how to connect 2 original Atari joysticks wirelessly to your Raspberry pi 4 running Retropie. You will see all configuration steps needed.
Retropie Configuration for iCode USB Adapters
Walkthrough of how to configure iCode usb adapter with Retropie, Retroarch, Stella, and lr-Stella. Video covers Paddles and Joystick configuration.
Atari Driving Controllers
Configure Atari Driving Controllers on Stella emulator
Learn how to configure your iCode USB adapters for Atari Driving Controllers to play multiplayer games like Atari Indy 500. Video shows how to Connect multiple Atari Driving Controllers to a single USB port.
Post navigation
Analog to Digital conversion with RC circuit in microcontroller projects
Analog to Digital conversion with RC circuit in microcontroller projects.
If you were to take the knob or dial off of an electronic device, you might find a potentiometer underneath it. A potentiometer is a variable resistor, and the kind shown below changes resistance as the knob turns. This particular one has a resistance range from 0 ohms to 10,000 ohms.
RC circuit use combination of a resistor (R) and a capacitor (C) to control charge rate of a capacitor. One of the applications of RC circuits is to use a potentiometer as the resistor (R) and this allows you to control how it takes to charge the capacitor (C). The higher the resistance, the longer it takes for the capacitor to charge.
These two components together form an RC (resistor-capacitor) circuit. When the switch is turned on, the capacitor begins to charge. The charge rate always follows the following standard RC charging curve.
The amount of time it takes for charging the capacitor to 63.2% can be calculated using the formula T = R*C in seconds. So for above T = R*C = 100k x 22uF = 2.2 Seconds to get to the 1T line.
TTL circuits on micro controllers typically have a threshold voltage of 1.6V before they recognize an input as HIGH.
So what you can do is connect a digital port to the + side of the capacitor (Vc). Set the port to INPUT mode and force it to LOW. This will discharge the capacitor and immediately the capacitor will begin to charge. Now in a tight loop, just count up from zero and read the PIN till it goas high.
pinMode(pinVC, INPUT);
digitalWrite(A0, LOW); // this will discharge the capacitor
Int i=0; While (! digitalread(PinVC)) { i++; }
The value of i will vary based on how you turn the knob!
To calculate how long it takes for the capacitor to get to a certain voltage you can use the following: t = -ln((Vs-Vc)/Vs)R*C
ln mean natural log or log base e, Vs is the supply voltage, and Vc is the voltage across capacitor
For example, an Atari Paddle uses a 1 Meg ohm resistor. Say we wanted to read the paddles at least 30 times per second using a 5v microcontroller board. What value of capacitor should we use? If you use a 1 Meg Ohm Pot and a 5v board with 1.6 volts being the TTL threshold voltage, a capacitor of 0.068uF, it will take 26.23ms for the pin to go high at the max pot value. – ln((5-1.6)/5)*1000000*0.000000068 = 26.23ms This means you can read it ~38 times per second (1000 / 26.23). Since NTSC frame rate is about 30 frames per second, this will allow you to read it at least once per frame! This is probably why Atari hardware uses a 0.068uF capacitor in its RC circuit
Flashing micro controllers with Arduino IDE or Platform.io are fairly simple when you have the source code of your sketch but there are times where all you have is the HEX file and you need a simple way to program your Pro Micro or other micro controllers quickly.
Both Arduino and Platform.io use a program called AVRDude in the background for flash but figuring our all the parameters and what come ports to use with AVRDude can also get quite complex standalone.
So, I found a much easier way to to use a minimal version of AVRDude and I created a simple command you can run at the command prompt to flash your Pro Micro.
Type PROG followed by your Hex file name and hit enter.
That’s it. You will see something like below and you are DONE!
How it Works
If you are wondering how this works or if you have trouble, here is a step by step details of what the PROG command does. PROG is a batch file PROG.BAT in the same folder that runs a series of commands. In short:
PROG looks for the Pro Micro attached to your PC by searching for a device called “USB Serial Device” to see what COM port it is. If you open up your device manager, you will see something like this. As you can see mine is on COM8.
If it was a Blank one, it would instead say “Arduino Leonardo” and why you need to use PROGB instead as it searches for Arduino Leonardo instead of USB Serial Device.
Now that it knows which COM port the device is on, it resets that port with command: mode COM8: baud=12 > nul
This causes the Pro Micro to go into bootloader mode for about 8 seconds. If you have device manager open, you will see the device change to something like this:
As you can see, it now in boot loader mode and its on COM4.
If for some reason it does not go to bootloader mode, you can manually force the Pro micro into this mode by shorting RST and GND pins for a quick second while its plugged in.
Force Update without Bootloader using PROG
In some cases, the bootloader may not be present and this means we cant reset the device with com ports.
To manually force the update:
Type PROG followed by your Hex file name and hit enter.
Type 0 and hit enter to Skip
It will ask you to reset the device manually. Press Reset/Firmware update button on the device or Short the RST and GND pins and then 1 second later type 1 and press enter. this will list the COM port for the device.
Type the COM port number, press reset again, and press enter.
Force Update without PROG – Command Line Only
When it all fails, you can just directly force the firmware update as follows.
Use this command to find and list all come ports:
wmic path Win32_SerialPort Where “Caption LIKE ‘%%COM%%'” Get Description, DeviceID
Now, Reset the device using the firmware update button or shorting RST and GND pins, and run the command again:
Notice for me COM5 is the new item that showed up so i know the device is on COM5
if your find your port, skip to step 6
Another way to find the port is Go to device manager, manually reset the device with RST/GND or firmware update button, and quickly locate the Ports (COM & LPT) section. you will see it appear there for about 8 seconds. It will then disappear.
Now type the following command replacing the COM5 port with your number and replacing the hex file name with the one you want to flash.
1 Commenton Atari 5200 USB Adapter for your PCPosted in Retro By Ali JaniPosted on
Couple of weeks ago, I received a request on if I could make my retro joystick adapters compatible with Atari 5200 controllers, so I decided to give it a go. So I got myself a controller on eBay for $30 so I can begin the project. I knew right away that i would likely need to design a whole new adapter, given Atari 5200 controllers use 15 pin connectors compared to 9 pin connectors of most of their other consoles.
With some googling, I located the schematic below showing the controller has two potentiometers that control the x and y coordinates and couple of switched for the two fire buttons, and then a 4×4 keypad matrix. So thats total of 12 input lines needed for each joystick. 8 lines for 4×4 matrix, 2 for the stick position, and 2 for the fire buttons. To handle 2 joysticks, I would need at least 24 input ports.
I decided to use a Pro Mirco micro-controller along with a 16 port PCF8575 I/O expander and created the schematic below.
With some modification to my core code I had for the Atari 2600/XT/ST/8Bit Adaper, I was able to get it to work!
Atari 5200 USB Controller Proof of Concept
For a while I had trouble getting the buttons to work, but with some trouble shooting, I found out the controller I purchased had a bad flex circuit.
Luckily I had a conductive ink pen and it did the magic, at least for my testing. I ordered a new flex circuit for the controller for long term fix but I suspect the ink patch I did will last for several years.
I had 6 ports to spare, so I added common buttons on the unit dor things like Start, Select, etc.. I then designed the PC Board, and cleaned up the code to get it to professional quality, designed and printed a case and success!
Check out my video above to see it in action and give me a thumbs up. If you want to purchase one, you can get them here as well.
