Problem with Genesis/MegaDrive USB adapters (RetroUSB and Mayflash brand)

Dochartaigh

Has anybody had good luck with ANY Genesis/MegaDrive USB adapters?

I bought the 2-port Mayflash from Amazon, and it only recognizes maybe 4 out of the 7 controllers I've tried it with. These are all authentic Sega controllers which work on my Gen 1 and a Gen 2 Genesis console perfectly. Errors include not recognizing a controller at all, or only half the keys when I'm mapping it. Or things like I get it mapped and down has to be hit twice (or VERY hard) to work (where again, it works perfect on the console itself).

2nd up is a RetroUSB.com Genesis to USB adapter. Plug in my favorite Sega MK-1470 6-button controller with Turbo and it maps left to right, and right to left. Even when I re-map the keys the opposite way it STILL has them switched somehow....rebooted and it did it again. Re-mapped another controller, then switched back to the 1470 and remapped it and it finally works... My 2nd 1470 mapped fine after that... When I tried the standard 3-button Genesis controller the left and right works in the emulation selection screen, and when I hit Start for that menu I can go Up AND Down. But if I enter an emulator's ROM menu only down works, and in that same ROM selection menu if I press left it's as if I hit Start (where the Start menu comes up with scraper, sound settings, quit, etc.).

This happens on two different Pi's, on two different brands of 2.5 amp power supplies, with 2 slightly different Micro SD cards (a Samsung Evo+ 128GB, and a Samsung Select 32GB). I have 3 other Pi's in-hand I'm building for friends right now but I'll guarantee it does similar weird things on those as well...i.e. this definitely isn't a problem with my Pi hardware. Also tried this in RetroPie 4.0.2., I think a small version up after that 4.0.3?, and the newest 4.1.

Also, on both of these USB adapters, at the "press any button to configure controller" screen, it likes to flash "OK" and freeze the system...likewise likes to freeze on occasion if I unplug the USB adapter when I'm trying to shuffle around which controller is Player 1, Player 2, etc.

Genesis is my favorite system I think so this is driving me a bit crazy...

hansolo77

This is disheartening because I planned on getting something like that for my own build. I know it sounds stupid to ask, but are you sure your controllers are working? Have you tried connecting those adapters to your computer and seeing if they work there?

Dochartaigh

@hansolo77 said in Problem with Genesis/MegaDrive USB adapters (RetroUSB and Mayflash brand):

This is disheartening because I planned on getting something like that for my own build. I know it sounds stupid to ask, but are you sure your controllers are working? Have you tried connecting those adapters to your computer and seeing if they work there?

I haven't tested these on my laptop or desktop (as I'm on Mac and don't really have any emulation software setup there), but I know each and every one of these controllers works on my personal Genesis Ver 1, and my buddies Gen 2 Genesis console.

In the end, with the Mayflash I initially bought (and with the RetroUSB I just got today), I got my two favorite controllers (the MK-1470's with Turbo) to work, + a regular 6-button for a backup (I believe this one is the model sold with the Genesis 3?)....but I literally had to order I think five 6-button controllers (at the crazy eBay price of like $20/each) to get this set to work...so it's just not worth it (unless you're a little crazy like me and ONLY want to play a certain system with it's original controllers ;)

To confirm all this (and just to quantify my own sanity) I just ran the below tests again and took better notes....all the below is going to be confusing as shit, but here's what I just tried:

On the MAYFLASH:

Right now I have 2x 1470's I'm returning because of lackluster D-pads (not broke, just not working like-new). One mapped buttons fine, the other isn't recognized at all.

Of the two "confirmed working" 1470's I'm keeping, I just remapped them on the Mayflash for this little informal test, and the first one froze the system like I described before. After a reboot both work fine, as does the MK-1653 Gen 3 model I'm keeping.

My 3-button Genesis 1650 controller maps up/down/left/right, won't map Start button (which maps on the RetroUSB adapter), maps the physical C and B buttons, but not the A button (which likewise works on the RetroUSB adapter).

After this test I deleted the controller .cfg and rebooted to then try the next adapter:

On the RetroUSB adapter:

On the 2x I'm returning, BOTH mapped now...(which the Mayflash didn't recognize one...).

Of the two MK-1470's I'm keeping, one works fine, the other (when at the "hold a button on your device to configure it") gives me super light colored text, barely readable, saying "RETROUSB GENESIS RETROBOX" when I press A, B, or C....can only hold Start to get it to let me start mapping the buttong....again, super weird. The Gen 3 1653 I'm also keeping works fine.

My 3-button Genesis 1650 controller is totally jacked up like I talked about before...

So basically out of the 6 controllers I have on hand now, with the Mayflash 3 out of 6 worked like they should (4/6 after reboot). On the RetroUSB 4 out of 6 worked (and 5 out of 6 after a reboot)...so I think I'm keeping the RetroUSB and sending back the Mayflash to Amazon.

There's also two other 1470's I already mailed back, and I believe 1 mapped and 1 didn't map on the Mayflash. I didn't have the RetroUSB before I returned those.

I only just tested this on my main Raspberry Pi 3 right now, running RetroPie 4.1, but as I've had similar problems all along on a couple other Pi's it's not even worth it to redo this test again on another Pi...and as I'm having problems on BOTH brands of USB adapters, I'm pretty confident I didn't receive TWO bunk USB Adapters...so where the problem lies I just don't know. Something else that's weird is my first set of tests with the RetroUSB I did about 2 hours ago had slightly different results and different errors than what I did 10 minutes ago....just totally nonsensical.

One last thing: in opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch-joypads, I'm only ever seeing one "RetroUSB.comGenesisRetroBox.cfg" file, and one "MayflashLtdMayflashMDUSBAdapter.cfg" file. I think it updates every time I re-map, but these are 3 different kinds of Genesis controllers, one is 3-button, the others 6, one doesn't have a Select/Mode Key at all, the other has the "Mode" (select) key on the side of the controller vs. next to the Start button like the others....shouldn't I be getting different .cfg files? RetroPie seems to remember each controllers configs if I unplug one and plug another different one in without re-mapping...

hansolo77

That is strange behavior for sure. I'm having my own controller problems right now with my Xbox 360 controller and some NES pads. I'm still curious if those devices work correctly on a computer. My guess is they don't, which suggests the problem is with either the controllers or adapters. If they work perfectly fine in the original Sega consoles, the finger is most definitely pointing at the adapters being faulty. If you can afford it, and don't mind having a couple extra, I would recommend maybe buying those adapters again and seeing if they work any better. Maybe return the ones you have. If you feel interested, you might look and see if you can take the adapters apart and see if maybe there is a loose solder connection or frayed wire, etc. Other than that, maybe somebody else here has better knowledge of things. Hope you get it figured out!

Dochartaigh

@hansolo77 said in Problem with Genesis/MegaDrive USB adapters (RetroUSB and Mayflash brand):

If they work perfectly fine in the original Sega consoles, the finger is most definitely pointing at the adapters being faulty.

My other topic I recently made has a list of every adapter I tried for every system I own. For example NES I bought 2 adapters and have a similar percentage of Nintendo controllers working (just thankfully without some of this Genesis craziness I posted about!). SNES I was lucky with (but TONS of people on Amazon aren't - with the same exact SNES controller models I have). PS1/PS2 I bought I think 6-8? different dongles (usually buy in pairs for Player 1 and Player 2) and only 2 kinds worked.

...so what I'm getting at is I'm extremely confident even if I bought 4x of each RetroUSB and Mayflash Genesis USB adapters I'm pretty positive I would get the same exact results (or even worse: different kinds of strangeness with each individual dongle). I'm also trying these on multiple Pi's, on a couple recent versions of RetroPie, and trying multiple controllers of each type (minimum of 2 per system)...thus eliminating most of the common variables we could possibly point our fingers at.

Plus, I've already sent back 2x Genesis controllers, 2 more are packed up right now, and I simply don't have the time or money to re-acquire and re-test a bunch of stuff...just want 1 more working Genesis adapter so I can use two at once for 2 player fun!

I honestly have no clue where the problem lies though. I'm FAR from an expert, but the only thing I can think of is how I commonly see different chips inside controllers, even when they're the same exact controller model number on the outside (probably due to different subcontractors producing them, design changes, or availability of a certain chip changing through time). It could also be that we're using controllers that are from 1985 to ~2000 at the newest for the most part (PS2), so these are no spring chickens, and USB on a "modern" computer (well, as modern as a $35 Pi gets you at least) probably picks up more of the faults/interference? inherent in something 15-31 years old than the consoles themselves do.

hansolo77

Would you be against buying a 3rd party controller? That's what I did with my NES pads. I considered buying original NES pads, but they're not cheap if you want them new. Used, and you run the risk of them being discolored, smelling like smoke, not working, etc. So I bought a 3rd party controller that looks 99% like the original. The only thing they're missing is the (C) Nintendo logos. They also have longer cables than the originals did. They're even ranking as the best 3rd party replacement as far as response times and feel compared to the original. So perhaps going 3rd party for Sega might yield some better results? If you're planning on dedicating their use to the Pi, it wouldn't hurt. You could even skip the whole adapter and get some USB ones.

Just a suggestion. I'm eager to see what your final outcome is, because I want to have Sega (or 3rd party) controllers for my build as well. I also plan on finding some old Atari Joysticks (they use the same pinouts).

edmaul69

@Dochartaigh the genesis controller compatibility is an issue. I have seen it many times where some work on some adapters and not others but work fine on a real system. Couple issues ive found. The controllers have had several renditions with different chips and boards. But the biggest issue is the cables are crap. When testing continuity on the wires most of them have quite a bit of resistence. I can take one and use about 6 inches with the connector and it wont work. But worked fine on a real system. I have tons of modified controllers and i was originally using the cables from genesis controllers but they are such garbage i ended up buying all new genesis extension cables and threw about 30 genesis cables i was using out. But there was about 25 i through out before that.

Dochartaigh

@hansolo77 said in Problem with Genesis/MegaDrive USB adapters (RetroUSB and Mayflash brand):

Would you be against buying a 3rd party controller?

I'm a stickler for the originals I must say. I've had bad luck with pretty much every single after market controller I've ever tried going back even to the 80's. Even had bad luck with 2x 8BitDo's everybody seems to love. Only lately, ~20 years later, am I having problems with the real console controller brands for the first time (and even that's not their fault as they're now antiques, and I'm using them on a computer and not a console).

@edmaul69 said in Problem with Genesis/MegaDrive USB adapters (RetroUSB and Mayflash brand):

the biggest issue is the cables are crap.

I'll deal with re-wiring them if I have to, in like another 20-30 years when the controllers are going for $100+ each because they're so rare ;)

Right now I have working properly: 4x+ NES controllers, 2x SNES, 3x Genesis, 2x PS1, 2x PS2, and a bunch of Xbox 360 wireless controllers....so even though it took me a ton of trial and error I have at least a set for each proper console I emulate so I'm just leaving it at that. It was just a shame that it took so much trial and error to get to this point. I want to have a 2-player set of controllers for each console, and a backup or two so I'll probably pickup another SNES and Genesis controller, but that's about it.