1 Linux Joystick parport drivers v2.0
2 (c) 1998-2000 Vojtech Pavlik <vojtech@ucw.cz>
3 (c) 1998 Andree Borrmann <a.borrmann@tu-bs.de>
5 $Id: joystick-parport.txt,v 1.6 2001/09/25 09:31:32 vojtech Exp $
6 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
10 Any information in this file is provided as-is, without any guarantee that
11 it will be true. So, use it at your own risk. The possible damages that can
12 happen include burning your parallel port, and/or the sticks and joystick
13 and maybe even more. Like when a lightning kills you it is not our problem.
17 The joystick parport drivers are used for joysticks and gamepads not
18 originally designed for PCs and other computers Linux runs on. Because of
19 that, PCs usually lack the right ports to connect these devices to. Parallel
20 port, because of its ability to change single bits at will, and providing
21 both output and input bits is the most suitable port on the PC for
22 connecting such devices.
26 Many console and 8-bit computer gamepads and joysticks are supported. The
27 following subsections discuss usage of each.
31 The Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Nintendo Entertainment System
32 gamepads are widely available, and easy to get. Also, they are quite easy to
33 connect to a PC, and don't need much processing speed (108 us for NES and
34 165 us for SNES, compared to about 1000 us for PC gamepads) to communicate
37 All NES and SNES use the same synchronous serial protocol, clocked from
38 the computer's side (and thus timing insensitive). To allow up to 5 NES
39 and/or SNES gamepads connected to the parallel port at once, the output
40 lines of the parallel port are shared, while one of 5 available input lines
41 is assigned to each gamepad.
43 This protocol is handled by the gamecon.c driver, so that's the one
44 you'll use for NES and SNES gamepads.
46 The main problem with PC parallel ports is that they don't have +5V power
47 source on any of their pins. So, if you want a reliable source of power
48 for your pads, use either keyboard or joystick port, and make a pass-through
49 cable. You can also pull the power directly from the power supply (the red
52 If you want to use the parallel port only, you can take the power is from
53 some data pin. For most gamepad and parport implementations only one pin is
54 needed, and I'd recommend pin 9 for that, the highest data bit. On the other
55 hand, if you are not planning to use anything else than NES / SNES on the
56 port, anything between and including pin 4 and pin 9 will work.
60 Unfortunately, there are pads that need a lot more of power, and parallel
61 ports that can't give much current through the data pins. If this is your
62 case, you'll need to use diodes (as a prevention of destroying your parallel
63 port), and combine the currents of two or more data bits together.
66 (pin 9) ----|>|-------+------> Power
68 (pin 8) ----|>|-------+
70 (pin 7) ----|>|-------+
74 (pin 4) ----|>|-------+
76 Ground is quite easy. On PC's parallel port the ground is on any of the
77 pins from pin 18 to pin 25. So use any pin of these you like for the ground.
79 (pin 18) -----> Ground
81 NES and SNES pads have two input bits, Clock and Latch, which drive the
82 serial transfer. These are connected to pins 2 and 3 of the parallel port,
88 And the last thing is the NES / SNES data wire. Only that isn't shared and
89 each pad needs its own data pin. The parallel port pins are:
91 (pin 10) -----> Pad 1 data
92 (pin 11) -----> Pad 2 data
93 (pin 12) -----> Pad 3 data
94 (pin 13) -----> Pad 4 data
95 (pin 15) -----> Pad 5 data
97 Note that pin 14 is not used, since it is not an input pin on the parallel
100 This is everything you need on the PC's side of the connection, now on to
101 the gamepads side. The NES and SNES have different connectors. Also, there
102 are quite a lot of NES clones, and because Nintendo used proprietary
103 connectors for their machines, the cloners couldn't and used standard D-Cannon
104 connectors. Anyway, if you've got a gamepad, and it has buttons A, B, Turbo
105 A, Turbo B, Select and Start, and is connected through 5 wires, then it is
106 either a NES or NES clone and will work with this connection. SNES gamepads
107 also use 5 wires, but have more buttons. They will work as well, of course.
109 Pinout for NES gamepads Pinout for SNES gamepads
111 +----> Power +-----------------------\
112 | 7 | o o o o | x x o | 1
113 5 +---------+ 7 +-----------------------/
115 | o o o o | | | | | +-> Ground
116 4 +------------+ 1 | | | +------------> Data
117 | | | | | | +---------------> Latch
118 | | | +-> Ground | +------------------> Clock
119 | | +----> Clock +---------------------> Power
123 Pinout for NES clone (db9) gamepads Pinout for NES clone (db15) gamepads
125 +---------> Clock +-----------------> Data
126 | +-------> Latch | +---> Ground
128 | | | ___________________
129 _____________ 8 \ o x x x x x x o / 1
130 5 \ x o o o x / 1 \ o x x o x x o /
131 \ x o x o / 15 `~~~~~~~~~~~~~' 9
134 | +----> Power | +----------> Latch
135 +--------> Ground +----------------> Power
137 2.2 Multisystem joysticks
138 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
139 In the era of 8-bit machines, there was something like de-facto standard
140 for joystick ports. They were all digital, and all used D-Cannon 9 pin
141 connectors (db9). Because of that, a single joystick could be used without
142 hassle on Atari (130, 800XE, 800XL, 2600, 7200), Amiga, Commodore C64,
143 Amstrad CPC, Sinclair ZX Spectrum and many other machines. That's why these
144 joysticks are called "Multisystem".
161 However, as time passed, extensions to this standard developed, and these
162 were not compatible with each other:
165 Atari 130, 800/XL/XE MSX
168 +---------> Right | +---------> Right
169 | +-------> Left | | +-------> Left
170 | | +-----> Down | | | +-----> Down
171 | | | +---> Up | | | | +---> Up
173 _____________ _____________
174 5 \ x o o o o / 1 5 \ o o o o o / 1
175 \ x o o o / \ o o o o /
176 9 `~~~~~~~' 6 9 `~~~~~~~' 6
178 | | +----> Button | | | +----> Button 1
179 | +------> Power | | +------> Button 2
180 +--------> Ground | +--------> Output 3
183 Amstrad CPC Commodore C64
185 +-----------> Analog Y
186 +---------> Right | +---------> Right
187 | +-------> Left | | +-------> Left
188 | | +-----> Down | | | +-----> Down
189 | | | +---> Up | | | | +---> Up
191 _____________ _____________
192 5 \ x o o o o / 1 5 \ o o o o o / 1
193 \ x o o o / \ o o o o /
194 9 `~~~~~~~' 6 9 `~~~~~~~' 6
196 | | +----> Button 1 | | | +----> Button
197 | +------> Button 2 | | +------> Power
198 +--------> Ground | +--------> Ground
199 +----------> Analog X
201 Sinclair Spectrum +2A/+3 Amiga 1200
203 +-----------> Up +-----------> Button 3
204 | +---------> Fire | +---------> Right
205 | | | | +-------> Left
206 | | +-----> Ground | | | +-----> Down
207 | | | | | | | +---> Up
209 _____________ _____________
210 5 \ o o x o x / 1 5 \ o o o o o / 1
211 \ o o o o / \ o o o o /
212 9 `~~~~~~~' 6 9 `~~~~~~~' 6
214 | | | +----> Right | | | +----> Button 1
215 | | +------> Left | | +------> Power
216 | +--------> Ground | +--------> Ground
217 +----------> Down +----------> Button 2
219 And there were many others.
221 2.2.1 Multisystem joysticks using db9.c
222 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
223 For the Multisystem joysticks, and their derivatives, the db9.c driver
224 was written. It allows only one joystick / gamepad per parallel port, but
225 the interface is easy to build and works with almost anything.
227 For the basic 1-button Multisystem joystick you connect its wires to the
228 parallel port like this:
231 (pin 18) -----> Ground
237 (pin 6) -----> Button 1
239 However, if the joystick is switch based (eg. clicks when you move it),
240 you might or might not, depending on your parallel port, need 10 kOhm pullup
241 resistors on each of the direction and button signals, like this:
243 (pin 2) ------------+------> Up
245 (pin 1) --[10kOhm]--+
247 Try without, and if it doesn't work, add them. For TTL based joysticks /
248 gamepads the pullups are not needed.
250 For joysticks with two buttons you connect the second button to pin 7 on
253 (pin 7) -----> Button 2
257 On a side note, if you have already built a different adapter for use with
258 the digital joystick driver 0.8.0.2, this is also supported by the db9.c
259 driver, as device type 8. (See section 3.2)
261 2.2.2 Multisystem joysticks using gamecon.c
262 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
263 For some people just one joystick per parallel port is not enough, and/or
264 want to use them on one parallel port together with NES/SNES/PSX pads. This is
265 possible using the gamecon.c. It supports up to 5 devices of the above types,
266 including 1 and 2 buttons Multisystem joysticks.
268 However, there is nothing for free. To allow more sticks to be used at
269 once, you need the sticks to be purely switch based (that is non-TTL), and
270 not to need power. Just a plain simple six switches inside. If your
271 joystick can do more (eg. turbofire) you'll need to disable it totally first
272 if you want to use gamecon.c.
274 Also, the connection is a bit more complex. You'll need a bunch of diodes,
275 and one pullup resistor. First, you connect the Directions and the button
276 the same as for db9, however with the diodes inbetween.
279 (pin 2) -----|<|----> Up
280 (pin 3) -----|<|----> Down
281 (pin 4) -----|<|----> Left
282 (pin 5) -----|<|----> Right
283 (pin 6) -----|<|----> Button 1
285 For two button sticks you also connect the other button.
287 (pin 7) -----|<|----> Button 2
289 And finally, you connect the Ground wire of the joystick, like done in
290 this little schematic to Power and Data on the parallel port, as described
291 for the NES / SNES pads in section 2.1 of this file - that is, one data pin
292 for each joystick. The power source is shared.
294 Data ------------+-----> Ground
298 And that's all, here we go!
300 2.2.3 Multisystem joysticks using turbografx.c
301 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
302 The TurboGraFX interface, designed by
304 Steffen Schwenke <schwenke@burg-halle.de>
306 allows up to 7 Multisystem joysticks connected to the parallel port. In
307 Steffen's version, there is support for up to 5 buttons per joystick. However,
308 since this doesn't work reliably on all parallel ports, the turbografx.c driver
309 supports only one button per joystick. For more information on how to build the
312 http://www2.burg-halle.de/~schwenke/parport.html
317 The PSX controller is supported by the gamecon.c. Pinout of the PSX
318 controller (compatible with DirectPadPro):
320 +---------+---------+---------+
321 9 | o o o | o o o | o o o | 1 parallel
322 \________|_________|________/ port pins
324 | | | | | +--------> Clock --- (4)
325 | | | | +------------> Select --- (3)
326 | | | +---------------> Power --- (5-9)
327 | | +------------------> Ground --- (18-25)
328 | +-------------------------> Command --- (2)
329 +----------------------------> Data --- (one of 10,11,12,13,15)
331 The driver supports these controllers:
335 * Analog PSX Pad (red mode)
336 * Analog PSX Pad (green mode)
342 All the Sega controllers are more or less based on the standard 2-button
343 Multisystem joystick. However, since they don't use switches and use TTL
344 logic, the only driver usable with them is the db9.c driver.
346 2.4.1 Sega Master System
347 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
348 The SMS gamepads are almost exactly the same as normal 2-button
349 Multisystem joysticks. Set the driver to Multi2 mode, use the corresponding
350 parallel port pins, and the following schematic:
365 +----------> Button 2
367 2.4.2 Sega Genesis aka MegaDrive
368 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
369 The Sega Genesis (in Europe sold as Sega MegaDrive) pads are an extension
370 to the Sega Master System pads. They use more buttons (3+1, 5+1, 6+1). Use
371 the following schematic:
384 | | | +----> Button 1
387 +----------> Button 2
389 The Select pin goes to pin 14 on the parallel port.
391 (pin 14) -----> Select
393 The rest is the same as for Multi2 joysticks using db9.c
397 Sega Saturn has eight buttons, and to transfer that, without hacks like
398 Genesis 6 pads use, it needs one more select pin. Anyway, it is still
399 handled by the db9.c driver. Its pinout is very different from anything
400 else. Use this schematic:
402 +-----------> Select 1
413 | | | +----> Select 2
418 Select 1 is pin 14 on the parallel port, Select 2 is pin 16 on the
421 (pin 14) -----> Select 1
422 (pin 16) -----> Select 2
424 The other pins (Up, Down, Right, Left, Power, Ground) are the same as for
425 Multi joysticks using db9.c
429 There are three drivers for the parallel port interfaces. Each, as
430 described above, allows to connect a different group of joysticks and pads.
431 Here are described their command lines:
435 Using gamecon.c you can connect up to five devices to one parallel port. It
436 uses the following kernel/module command line:
438 gamecon.map=port,pad1,pad2,pad3,pad4,pad5
440 Where 'port' the number of the parport interface (eg. 0 for parport0).
442 And 'pad1' to 'pad5' are pad types connected to different data input pins
443 (10,11,12,13,15), as described in section 2.1 of this file.
452 4 | Multisystem 1-button joystick
453 5 | Multisystem 2-button joystick
455 7 | Sony PSX controller
456 8 | Sony PSX DDR controller
458 The exact type of the PSX controller type is autoprobed when used so
459 hot swapping should work (but is not recomended).
461 Should you want to use more than one of parallel ports at once, you can use
462 gamecon.map2 and gamecon.map3 as additional command line parameters for two
465 There are two options specific to PSX driver portion. gamecon.psx_delay sets
466 the command delay when talking to the controllers. The default of 25 should
467 work but you can try lowering it for better performace. If your pads don't
468 respond try raising it untill they work. Setting the type to 8 allows the
469 driver to be used with Dance Dance Revolution or similar games. Arrow keys are
470 registered as key presses instead of X and Y axes.
474 Apart from making an interface, there is nothing difficult on using the
475 db9.c driver. It uses the following kernel/module command line:
479 Where 'port' is the number of the parport interface (eg. 0 for parport0).
481 Caveat here: This driver only works on bidirectional parallel ports. If
482 your parallel port is recent enough, you should have no trouble with this.
483 Old parallel ports may not have this feature.
485 'Type' is the type of joystick or pad attached:
490 1 | Multisystem 1-button joystick
491 2 | Multisystem 2-button joystick
492 3 | Genesis pad (3+1 buttons)
493 5 | Genesis pad (5+1 buttons)
494 6 | Genesis pad (6+2 buttons)
495 7 | Saturn pad (8 buttons)
496 8 | Multisystem 1-button joystick (v0.8.0.2 pin-out)
497 9 | Two Multisystem 1-button joysticks (v0.8.0.2 pin-out)
500 Should you want to use more than one of these joysticks/pads at once, you
501 can use db9.dev2 and db9.dev3 as additional command line parameters for two
506 The turbografx.c driver uses a very simple kernel/module command line:
508 turbografx.map=port,js1,js2,js3,js4,js5,js6,js7
510 Where 'port' is the number of the parport interface (eg. 0 for parport0).
512 'jsX' is the number of buttons the Multisystem joysticks connected to the
513 interface ports 1-7 have. For a standard multisystem joystick, this is 1.
515 Should you want to use more than one of these interfaces at once, you can
516 use turbografx.map2 and turbografx.map3 as additional command line parameters
517 for two more interfaces.
519 3.4 PC parallel port pinout
520 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
521 .----------------------------------------.
522 At the PC: \ 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 /
523 \ 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 /
524 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
526 Pin | Name | Description
527 ~~~~~~|~~~~~~~~~|~~~~~~~~~~
529 2-9 | D0-D7 | Data Bit 0-7
530 10 | /ACK | Acknowledge
533 13 | SELIN | Select In
534 14 | /AUTOFD | Autofeed
536 16 | /INIT | Initialize
538 18-25 | GND | Signal Ground
542 That's all, folks! Have fun!
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