Communication and/or networking between PC and Genesis?

[HardWareMan]

FTDI is much better than Prolific (PL-2303), I guarantee you. Prolific get unexpected hangs every time. BitBang mode is one more argument to FTDI. You can connect FT245 direct to IO pins and made 4bit transfer protocol, such Zero Tolerance does. And I think there are no problem with drivers.
http://www.ftdichip.com/FTDrivers.htm

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As for:

He took down the old page on it. You can find it on wayback here:
http://web.archive.org/web/201105210536 ... -unit.html
He's still got the software for the link unit on his support page. You'd have to ask him directly if he has any more of these.

Using 2 chips is too expensive (maybe it's just more familiar to him). I suggest to use one FTDI in BitBang mode or one Atmel AT90USB162. FTDI don't require to write drivers, but Atmel can implement custom transfer protocol.

[sega16]

Don't remember the name (Cxxx and Pxxx ?)

Maybe it has both a C and a P
http://www.silabs.com/products/interfac ... ridge.aspx
Were you thinking of the CP2103 it has 4 gpio.

[Chilly Willy]

I suggest to use one FTDI in BitBang mode or one Atmel AT90USB162. FTDI don't require to write drivers, but Atmel can implement custom transfer protocol.

Okay, that bitbang mode for the FTDI looks pretty nifty. In linux, the drivers are in the repo for Ubuntu/Debian, so I don't see any problem on that front. They have both proprietary and open source drivers - I just installed the open source ones. There's plenty of info and examples on using bitbang. So I change my mind - the FTDI232R looks like a good choice to try using for a comm cable.

[KanedaFr]

Don't remember the name (Cxxx and Pxxx ?)

Maybe it has both a C and a P
http://www.silabs.com/products/interfac ... ridge.aspx
Were you thinking of the CP2103 it has 4 gpio.

It should be this one (CP2103) and Profilic Chilly Willy's talked about

My problem is the need for drivers not the fact they didn't exist

[sega16]

It should be this one (CP2103) and Profilic Chilly Willy's talked about

My problem is the need for drivers not the fact they didn't exist

What is so bad about drivers? The only time I had an issue with drivers is when windows update insisted on a different wrong driver. I got it to work just fine after installing the driver on the cd. On linux I have no issues with drivers ever.

[Nemesis]

Speaking of the USB link cable made my Krikzz, has anyone actually got them to work? I bought what I think was his last one when he still had them available. I don't know if mine was DOA or not, but I could never get my computer to recognize I even had it connected.

[Chilly Willy]

Speaking of the USB link cable made my Krikzz, has anyone actually got them to work? I bought what I think was his last one when he still had them available. I don't know if mine was DOA or not, but I could never get my computer to recognize I even had it connected.

What OS? I can see mine in linux with lsusb, but I haven't done anything more with mine yet. In Windows, I don't think you ever "see" anything until there's a driver that matches the man/dev IDs loaded.

EDIT: Here's what I get from lsusb:

Bus 001 Device 027: ID 10c4:ea60 Cygnal Integrated Products, Inc. CP210x Composite Device

Make sure the board is plugged into a running MD, then connect the USB cable. I still get something with just the USB plugged in, but you never know...

[foobat]

Okay, that bitbang mode for the FTDI looks pretty nifty. In linux, the drivers are in the repo for Ubuntu/Debian, so I don't see any problem on that front. They have both proprietary and open source drivers - I just installed the open source ones. There's plenty of info and examples on using bitbang. So I change my mind - the FTDI232R looks like a good choice to try using for a comm cable.

libftdi is a pretty good interface for them if you're familiar with C: http://www.intra2net.com/en/developer/libftdi/

You can get a couple extra IO pins to bitbang by using the Data Terminal Ready and Request to Send flow control pins from the serial port. That plus the CBUS pins gives you 6-bit bidirectional data flow, limited more by how fast you can send USB frames than the chip itself. With Data Carrier Detect and Ring Indicator (read-only pins) you can get 8 bit parallel read.

[Chilly Willy]

Okay, that bitbang mode for the FTDI looks pretty nifty. In linux, the drivers are in the repo for Ubuntu/Debian, so I don't see any problem on that front. They have both proprietary and open source drivers - I just installed the open source ones. There's plenty of info and examples on using bitbang. So I change my mind - the FTDI232R looks like a good choice to try using for a comm cable.

libftdi is a pretty good interface for them if you're familiar with C: http://www.intra2net.com/en/developer/libftdi/

You can get a couple extra IO pins to bitbang by using the Data Terminal Ready and Request to Send flow control pins from the serial port. That plus the CBUS pins gives you 6-bit bidirectional data flow, limited more by how fast you can send USB frames than the chip itself. With Data Carrier Detect and Ring Indicator (read-only pins) you can get 8 bit parallel read.

Yep! Like it says on the page about the chip, it's really meant as a replacement for all those devices that used to use the parallel port on the PC. We don't have that many lines on the Genesis controller port, but if you were using a custom card that fit in the expansion slot, you could go with the full width.

[foobat]

if you only use tx and rx from the controller port, you could actually make an expansion device that connects to both and control both of them from one ft232

[KanedaFr]

What is so bad about drivers?

I don't see the need for drivers for something as basic as usb / serial
And I want to be able to use it anywhere and when (even in the future on Win10 if I want) without to deal with drivers not available

[djcouchycouch]

I have to admit I'm having trouble keeping up with the suggestion solutions! </not a hardware guy>

But it seems to me the suggested solution is using a Serial-to-USB UART plugged into the joystick port?

Would the whole chain of the solution look something like:

1. genesis software sends data to the joystick port
2. serial-to-usb uart sends it to the PC's USB port
3. some software (a terminal program?) is used to read and show the data

Is 1 possible? I wasn't aware you could send data to the joystick port instead of just reading it.

As for 2, the hardware suggestions seem to have some assembly required. Are there any solutions that would already have everything assembled?

[TmEE co.(TM)]

Controller ports are all 7 bit bidirectional general purpose parallel ports, you can do a lot of things with them.

[Mask of Destiny]

But it seems to me the suggested solution is using a Serial-to-USB UART plugged into the joystick port?

I personally think using a micro-controller with native USB device support like the Teensy or an appropriate PIC makes more sense. You can do a lot more with it and it will probably be faster than using the FTDI bit-bang mode (you can run the handshake logic on the micro-controller so you don't need to round-trip over USB, just send a packet with a reasonably sized chunk of data). That said, using the FTDI is a little simpler as you don't need to write a program to run on the micro-controller.

Would the whole chain of the solution look something like:

1. genesis software sends data to the joystick port
2. serial-to-usb uart sends it to the PC's USB port
3. some software (a terminal program?) is used to read and show the data

As has already been mentioned, the serial on the joystick ports is painfully slow, but otherwise that's the basic gist. If you're using a 4-bit parallel + 2-bit handshake, it might look something like this:

1. 68K program writes nibble + toggled handshake bit to joystick port
2. Micro-controller (or pc using FTDI+bitbang mode) notices the handhsake bit has changed and reads a nibble. It toggles its handshake bit to acknowledge receipt of the nibble.
2a. If using a micro-controller and we've accumulated enough data, send a packet to PC.
3. 68K program reads joystick port to wait for handshake bit from micro-controller/PC
4. Repeat

Is 1 possible? I wasn't aware you could send data to the joystick port instead of just reading it.

As TmEE.co says, the ports are bi-directional. This feature is actually used by all games to multi-plex the input pins. One pin is set as an output and is toggled to switch between two sets of inputs (that's for 3-button controllers, it's a little more complicated for other controller types).

As for 2, the hardware suggestions seem to have some assembly required. Are there any solutions that would already have everything assembled?

There are no zero-assembly options currently available, but using an FTDI breakout board or Teensy is just a matter of soldering 6-wires from a breakout board to a DB-9 connector. If you get one with headers, you can even hook it up without soldering.

[djcouchycouch]

Forgive me for my ignorance, but I kept wondering: why wouldn't a serial-to-usb adapter cable work? What would be missing?