ControlBlock reset button

moch

I just added the ControlBlock to my setup yesterday.
At the moment the setup is as follows:

Nes 1985 case
Raspi 3 with the latest retropie image and controlblock driver
Gamepad block with genesis controllers
Raphnet Dual Nes to usb
Controlblock (v2.1)with led attached (wires go straight to the led), Nes powerbutton attached, Nes reset button attached. (snes ports will eventually be wired to the controlblock) the controlblock is in snes mode
2500mah psu wired to controlblocks micro usb port

The power button works as to be expected as does the.led.
Sadly I cant get the reset.button to work.
It's connected to P1 ground and P1 b-button. But nothing happens when I Press it.

I also tried connecting P1 gnd and P1 b-button with a jumper wire (tapping and holding), but to no avail.

Any idea what my problem could be?

Thank very much in advance!!

petrockblog

How does the configuration file /etc/controlblockconfig.cfg look like? Currently, the reset button function is only implemented for gamepad type "snes".

moch

@petrockblog

It's in snes mode. I'll post the output in a minute

moch

@petrockblog

Here's the output:

 .***.     Saturday, 30 December 2017,  8:44:57 am UTC
 *****     Linux 4.9.35-v7+ armv7l GNU/Linux
 `***'
  |*|      Filesystem      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
  |*|      /dev/root        15G  2.5G   12G  18% /
..|*|..    Uptime.............: 0 days, 00h04m49s

.*** * *. Memory.............: 577724kB (Free) / 750632kB (Total)
@@ Running Processes..: 138
*****@@**' IP Address.........: x.x.x.x ' Temperature........: CPU: 41°C/105°F GPU: 42°C/107°F
`"""' The RetroPie Project, https://retropie.org.uk

GNU nano 2.2.6 File: controlblockconfig.cfg {
"controlblocks" : [
{
"enabled" : true, // Enables (=true) or disables (=false) the ControlBlock
"address" : { // The address information of the first ControlBlock
"SJ1" : 0, // The hardware address solder-jumper SJ1. Options: 0, 1
"SJ2" : 0 // The hardware address solder-jumper SJ2, Options: 0, 1
},
"gamepadtype" : "snes", // Sets the gamepad type. Options: "arcade", "mame", "snes", "none" "onlyOneGamepad" : false, // If true, registers only one gamepad instead of two "powerswitchOn" : true // Enables (=true) the power switch functionality. Options: true, false
}, {
"enabled" : false, // Enables (=true) or disables (=false) the second ControlBlock
"address" : { // The address information of the second ControlBlock "SJ1" : 1, // The hardware address solder-jumper SJ1. Options: 0, 1 "SJ2" : 0 // The hardware address solder-jumper SJ2, Options: 0, 1
}, "gamepadtype" : "arcade", // Sets the gamepad type. Options: "arcade", "mame", "snes", "none"
"onlyOneGamepad" : false // If true, registers only one gamepad instead of two
}
]

moch

For some reason the reset button now works...

Only thing I did was power down the pi for a couple of days.

petrockblog

Strange.Sounds like a

But glad that it is working for you now.

moch

@petrockblog
It must be a wiring issue, I'll redo the wiring to the reset button tomorrow.

Strange though that it also didn't work with the jumper wire trick...

moch

@petrockblog
Sadly the button has stopped working again. When I run JSTEST I see that it does register inputs, but it just doesnt do anything.

I checked everything with a multimeter and the button itself works flawlesly. I'm thinking of a few things that could be causing this:

A config problem, as in I need to set something in a .cfg file to make it work
the fact that I haven't wired up the snes controllers yet, nor that I've configured the snes Controlblock controllers.
My PSU isn't passing on enough current to make it work correctly. ( I noticed that I do get the occasional lightning bolt)
or
I'm cursed

Any help would be greatly appreciated

moch

@petrockblog

Well I finished my christmas project for 99% (see pic).

I configured the correct controller for each emulator using this method: https://github.com/meleu/RetroPie-joystick-selection/blob/master/README.md
The only problem I have now is that the reset button still doesn't work. It issues a two button command and the escape key as stated in the description. Sadly this doesn't close the emulator.

I can work around this in (s)nes games but for megadrive/genesis games, the only solution is to reboot the pi...

Very annoying. I'm now 99% certain that this is a configuration problem as pressing the escape key on a keyboard also doesn't close the emulator.

Any help would be greatly appreciated again.

(I also started from scratch today with a new retropie image)

moch

Anyone...?

moch

Well I think I've solved it..
I did a full reinstall and it still didn't work.
I configured my raphnet nes controllers first and the edited the retroarch config file setting the hot btn to "nul" and the exit emulator key to "escape"

Then I setup my megadrive controllers conected to the gamepadblock and the snes controllers connedted to the controlblock.

I edited those configs as well, deleting the save- and load state entries while I was in there ( setting the hot btn to "nul" eliminates the need to press two buttons at once, making it so that when you pres left for example, it saves the game).

I now have a working physical reset button for all my systems :)

petrockblog

Glad to hear!

shukuyen

@moch said in ControlBlock reset button:

@petrockblog

Well I finished my christmas project for 99% (see pic).

Hi @moch, this looks amazing and exactly like I imagine my build. You don’t have a Tutorial online somewhere by any chance? (I know, it’s a year later ;))

Best,
Shukuyen

moch

Hi @shukuyen ,

Sorry, I didn't make a tutorial but it was all pretty straightforward in the end.
I gutted an old Nes and dumped everything in :)

Parts used:

Rpi3 + microsd
Raphnet dual nes to usb
Petrockblock's controlblock and nylon posts
Wiring

The hardware part was the easiest part tbh.
If you get it all wiredup i can make an image of my sd. That way you shouldnt have to configure anything :)