Mystery dongle, what could this be?

[arnljot]

Found this in a box.

To me it looks like a PS2 mouse adapter. But it's it any way to be sure without plugging it in to the Amiga and potentially frying it?

 

[roy_bates]

if it was me,i would check where 5 volt and ground goes on the chip vs the connector on both ends

 

[arnljot]

Then I need to ungoop the chip, right?

 

[roy_bates]

i cant see another way,unlerss someone steps in and recongnises it,its probably hot glue anyway

 

[roy_bates]

it would be good to find out what the chip is anyway

 

[arnljot]

It was hot glue-

Chip is
PIC 16F627A
-1/S.... something

 

[roy_bates]

just see if there is ground on pin 5 and 5 volt goes to pin 14,but do it without power,just continuity test,vs the pinout of the joystick port,and ps2 port
i would assume power goes straight through from joystick to ps2

again,without power,just a continuity test

 

[arnljot]

The picture above is a snippet from the chips data sheet

This picture(above) is what I think I determined with my multimeter in continuity mode.

Below is from all pinouts website.

 

[roy_bates]

and that it does pass through to the ps2 port

 

[roy_bates]

joke of the day,all that hot glue looks like somethign amigakit made,sorry in advance

 

[arnljot]

and that it does pass through to the ps2 port

Yes, it looks like it.

joke of the day,all that hot glue looks like somethign amigakit made,sorry in advance

That's a good idea. I'll search through my AmigaKit receipts.

 

[roy_bates]

side tracking a little,the pin header is probably either a passthrough for joysticks or a programming header,ill go with passthrough
thats my gues,if it turns out this a ps2 adaptor for mice

 

[roy_bates]

only tyhing left now is plug it in and see if a ps2 mouse works

 

[roy_bates]

# rubs hands in anticipation

 

[arnljot]

side tracking a little,the pin header is probably either a passthrough for joysticks or a programming header,ill go with passthrough
thats my gues,if it turns out this a ps2 adaptor for mice

I've got a coin cell powered joystick tester. I can test this with it without using the Amiga perhaps? A pass through could be quite passive.

This patch wire worries/confuses me

 

[roy_bates]

i would only be worried that power goes to where its not supposed to at the moment

as for the coin cell tester,im not sure that would work anway,unless you have the connector and lead for the joystick passthrough

 

[roy_bates]

i wouldnt be bothered about a bodge wire,it not connected to power it seems,plsu its under the glue,so it was already there

maybe they didnt have room on the board for a trace to go whwere it needs that signal,who knows

 

[arnljot]

i would only be worried that power goes to where its not supposed to at the moment

as for the coin cell tester,im not sure that would work anway,unless you have the connector and lead for the joystick passthrough

Shouldn't I be able to map the pins on the header to the amiga port, plug this gizmo in to the tester and just short the pins I need to simulate various joystick actions?

Isn't the Amiga joystick basically just minimum of 5 momentary switches that are NO(vs NC)?

 

[roy_bates]

yes they are unless the joystick has autofire,but yes,its mostly passive

i would imagine the joystick passhrough is exactly that just pass through from the mouse port to that header,so reletivly easy to probe out

 

[roy_bates]

at the moment if it was mine i would want to know if a ps2 mouse works and go from there