Hi guys. Today I got myself a new MSX, the HB-8000 from Sharp, that used to be sold here in Brazil.

As expected, it's much better than my Gradiente Expert, which has failed me a few times before (it not aways turns on correctly, the colors have been a bit weird lately), I guess that should be expected, since it was already not in great shape when I got it.

Thing is that the cassette cable I used with the Expert does not work with the HB-8000. Looking for an answer online, this page www.faq.msxnet.org/connector.html said that the expert indeed has a different pinout.

Now, how should I go about making a cable for my new MSX? Could I use one of those old PC keyboard connectors for that? I mean, do they even fit? And are 5 pins enough to make a connector for use with a PC? I'd guess so, since I wouldn't need the "REMOTE" lines for that.

I just want some kind of confirmation from you guys, before I destroy stuff for nothing! =)

Thanks for the help.

EDIT: Oh, and what about the other end? How do CMTOUT and CMTIN map to L and R? Thanks!

EDIT AGAIN: I was looking at those pinouts again and... is it possible that just inverting pins 4 and 5 (switch L and R) on my current cable will do the job? If so, I can just make a simple adapter, instead of a complete new cable.

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Could I use one of those old PC keyboard connectors for that? I mean, do they even fit?

For what i know its the same 5pin DIN connector as the PC-XT keyboard / MIDI cables / AUDIO DIN 5
its al the same connector.....

Greetz

Old keyboard connector itself fits 100%, I used such a cable to connect MSX cassette port to my DVD's sound output in order to load my MSX from WAV and MP3 files created by MicroWAVer.

Hum... I just tried the connector of a busted keyboard and it fits ok! I'll try to use it to make myself a new cassette cable. I was wondering if 5 only pins will do it. I guess so, since the "REM" lines aren't needed, right? Hope I don't fry anything.

Just for the record: I modified my cable so that I could switch Left and Right at will, and now it works in both my machines. Just tried with "The Cure".

BTW, that game looked a bit glitchy on my machine (the background was unstable when much animation was going on). Could that be because it was meant to be used on PAL machines and mine are NTSC/PAL-M?

Uh... guys, since the cassette connection now works, I was able to test some games on my new MSX.

However, some games would behave strangely. A couple of games (such as Adventure Island and Doki Doki Penguin Land) would show their title screens very quickly (as if the fire button was pressed) and would go straight to the game. Inside Adventure Island, I couldn't jump, only throw boomerangs.

Do you think there's something wrong with my keyboard? Somes games worked fine, and it doesn't seem to be any problems in the BASIC interface, all keys work fine.

Does anyone have any ideas of what could be causing this? Thanks for the help!

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Uh... guys, since the cassette connection now works, I was able to test some games on my new MSX. However, some games would behave strangely. A couple of games (such as Adventure Island and Doki Doki Penguin Land) would show their title screens very quickly (as if the fire button was pressed) and would go straight to the game. Inside Adventure Island, I couldn't jump, only throw boomerangs. Do you think there's something wrong with my keyboard? Somes games worked fine, and it doesn't seem to be any problems in the BASIC interface, all keys work fine. Does anyone have any ideas of what could be causing this? Thanks for the help!

Did you try a joystick yet? Do some tests with the strig and related basic command checking the keys of the joystick port. Perhaps the joystick interface is defective, telling the MSX that a key is permanently pressed.

In MCM magazine 22 is a joystick test program, it is on my Books and Magazines page, see MSX Club Magazine 22 Joystick tester.

I see... it makes perfect sense. I'll try reading the joystick from BASIC. I don't have an MSX joystick though. I could only check if the MSX thinks the button is pressed, not if the joystick works.

Is there any other controller that's compatible with the MSX? With little or no hardware changes? 'Cause there are many other kinds of controllers that are easier to find around here.

If the joystick port is busted, is there anything I could do about it? Do you think it would be hard to fix?

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Is there any other controller that's compatible with the MSX? With little or no hardware changes? 'Cause there are many other kinds of controllers that are easier to find around here.

MSX joysticks are not so special except for the second button addition.

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If the joystick port is busted, is there anything I could do about it? Do you think it would be hard to fix?

Depends on how it is done in your MSX. IN MSX 1 machines it is often a separate LS TTL IC and easy to fix (I had to do it more than once after experiments with my Toshiba HX-10), on the later MSXes, especially MSX 2 and up it is part of the MSX Engine and that is fatal.

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MSX joysticks are not so special except for the second button addition.

But they are very uncommon here. Plus I don't like joysticks, I prefer post-atari 2600 controllers. I there any chance I could convert a, say, megadrive controller (already have some of these hanging araound) to work with the MSX? Are there any guides online for that kind of thing?

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Depends on how it is done in your MSX. IN MSX 1 machines it is often a separate LS TTL IC and easy to fix

I see. Well, I am a noob with electronics, I sure can replace a chip, but wouldn't know how to find the problematic chip. Is there anyway I could try to "disable" the joystick ports?

Thanks again for the help!

Without modification, Megadrive joypads will work fine on MSX. MSX button 1=MD button B, MSX button 2=unmapped.

That's great! =D I imagine that with little hacking I could get the second button working then!

just reroute one wire IIRC
look here:
http://www.faq.msxnet.org/connector.html#joystick
http://pinouts.ru/Game/genesiscontroller_pinout.shtml

I checked it and it seems that my MSX thinks that button 2 is pressed at all times. That surely is my problem. Can anyone please give me any ideas of what could be causing this and how to fix it? I have no idea where to begin, since I don't know exactly how the joysticks work from the port to the inside of the MSX.

Since this is an MSX1, I'm hoping it can be fixed without much complication.

One question about STRIG: can it only check one joystick? Is there a way to read the other one?

Thanks very much again guys!

I can't help you on the hardware part.

STRIG(0): spacebar
STRIG(1): J1 B1
STRIG(2): J2 B1
STRIG(3): J1 B2
STRIG(4): J2 B2
returns -1 when pressed, 0 when not pressed