Retro-bit's Sega controllers

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it290
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Re: Retro-bit's Sega controllers

Post by it290 »

Attempted to give the controller a proper run on my US Model 2 Saturn tonight and encountered some showstopping issues. Essentially the controller will pair flawlessly with the receiver or but then drops the connection in a second or two rendering it unusable for gameplay. I'm going to give it another try tomorrow but I'm rather disappointed as this controller has been great over the USB connection. There's nothing really unusual about my Saturn setup so I'm hoping this is an easily fixable issue.
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it290
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Re: Retro-bit's Sega controllers

Post by it290 »

Going to have to post a retraction here because after a bit of charging and rebooting everything the controller worked flawlessly. Must have been a battery issue or intermittent connection problem. I'm hoping I don't have too many of these going forward, but as long as everything works as expected this a great solution for playing DDP or the likes.
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BrianC
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Re: Retro-bit's Sega controllers

Post by BrianC »

Did you press start on the Saturn controller after the light on the receiver started blinking (without keeping the button held), or use the method listed in the manual? The former worked for me, but the latter didn't.

I'm loving the controller, though. I tried it on Saturn, Genesis mini, and PC. Texture isn't exact to the original, but the controller feels nice and responsive. Telling from the manual, the controller is compatible with the MD/Genesis dongle that comes with the 2.4G Genesis controller? I would love to try the Saturn controller on Genesis and vice versa.

Edit: Forgot to mention the L and R buttons. They feel nice and clicky and are a massive improvement over the earlier Retro-Bit Saturn controller.
moltomolto
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Re: Retro-bit's Sega controllers

Post by moltomolto »

Retro-Bit wrote:
moltomolto wrote:Got mine from Amazon last night, and it is a really lovely controller. Feels great and I can't sense any lag on my Saturn via PVM.

I did see one problem when trying to use this on my HAS Supergun though. Not sure if this is fixable via firmware or what the issue is exactly, but it doesn't really work properly as it keeps spamming one of the buttons without any input on my end. Works fine though with standard wired OEM pads.
Excuse my ignorance here, does the HAS Supergun take USB input? Have you tried it in D-Input mode? On testing with arcade emulators, we noticed the default X-Input mode would cause problems. Let us know and so we can investigate. :)
Thanks for the feedback but I think we're referring to different products...I am using the controller with Saturn inputs not the USB. The HAS does take USB through the Undamned USB adapter but I am trying to go through the Saturn to DB15 adapter in this case.
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Re: Retro-bit's Sega controllers

Post by opt2not »

moltomolto wrote:Got mine from Amazon last night, and it is a really lovely controller. Feels great and I can't sense any lag on my Saturn via PVM.

I did see one problem when trying to use this on my HAS Supergun though. Not sure if this is fixable via firmware or what the issue is exactly, but it doesn't really work properly as it keeps spamming one of the buttons without any input on my end. Works fine though with standard wired OEM pads.
Are you powering up your HAS with the Saturn-to-DB15 and Retro-bit's dongle attached? Or are you connecting it, post power-up?

I ask because I've found powering up with everything connected works more reliably than connecting controllers when the Supergun is already powered up.
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Re: Retro-bit's Sega controllers

Post by moltomolto »

opt2not wrote:
moltomolto wrote:Got mine from Amazon last night, and it is a really lovely controller. Feels great and I can't sense any lag on my Saturn via PVM.

I did see one problem when trying to use this on my HAS Supergun though. Not sure if this is fixable via firmware or what the issue is exactly, but it doesn't really work properly as it keeps spamming one of the buttons without any input on my end. Works fine though with standard wired OEM pads.
Are you powering up your HAS with the Saturn-to-DB15 and Retro-bit's dongle attached? Or are you connecting it, post power-up?

I ask because I've found powering up with everything connected works more reliably than connecting controllers when the Supergun is already powered up.
I had the adapter and dongle all plugged in prior to bootup, I'm a bit paranoid about hooking up anything to a supergun after boot up honestly...

Did it work for you with no issues? I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong with the pairing, but it works great on my Saturn so IDK.
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Re: Retro-bit's Sega controllers

Post by opt2not »

moltomolto wrote: I had the adapter and dongle all plugged in prior to bootup, I'm a bit paranoid about hooking up anything to a supergun after boot up honestly...

Did it work for you with no issues? I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong with the pairing, but it works great on my Saturn so IDK.
I'll give it a try tonight and report back. I just received my controllers in the mail, but I'm at work right now. I'll check it out later today.
Last edited by opt2not on Wed Nov 13, 2019 10:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Retro-Bit
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Re: Retro-bit's Sega controllers

Post by Retro-Bit »

it290 wrote:Going to have to post a retraction here because after a bit of charging and rebooting everything the controller worked flawlessly. Must have been a battery issue or intermittent connection problem. I'm hoping I don't have too many of these going forward, but as long as everything works as expected this a great solution for playing DDP or the likes.
Yep, low battery will do that. You may notice the LED on the controller will blink and/or turn purple as it gets close to empty.
DJ Kevgeez
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Re: Retro-bit's Sega controllers

Post by DJ Kevgeez »

Yep, low battery will do that. You may notice the LED on the controller will blink and/or turn purple as it gets close to empty.[/quote]

I thought a low battery was the problem with my genesis retrobit pad.
I charged it fully and it pairs perfectly.
But the only way to exit out of the Master System games is to turn the power off...which is fine but turn it back on and the Pairing is lost.

If i go into the Master System games and have to exit out, or reset, the pad unpairs itself for sure.
So i have to fiddle with EVERYTHING until it works again.
I've gotten to the point where i dont even go into the Master System section.

I cant tell if the Mega SD is the problem or not.
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Retro-Bit
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Re: Retro-bit's Sega controllers

Post by Retro-Bit »

DJ Kevgeez wrote:If i go into the Master System games and have to exit out, or reset, the pad unpairs itself for sure.
So i have to fiddle with EVERYTHING until it works again.
I've gotten to the point where i dont even go into the Master System section.

I cant tell if the Mega SD is the problem or not.
We will look at the Mega SD issues and see what we can do. That's very odd.
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Re: Retro-bit's Sega controllers

Post by moltomolto »

opt2not wrote:
moltomolto wrote: I had the adapter and dongle all plugged in prior to bootup, I'm a bit paranoid about hooking up anything to a supergun after boot up honestly...

Did it work for you with no issues? I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong with the pairing, but it works great on my Saturn so IDK.
I'll give it a try tonight and report back. I just received my controllers in the mail, but I'm at work right now. I'll check it out later today.
Looking forward to your results. Would love to be able to use this controller with my HAS.
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opt2not
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Re: Retro-bit's Sega controllers

Post by opt2not »

moltomolto wrote:
opt2not wrote:
moltomolto wrote: I had the adapter and dongle all plugged in prior to bootup, I'm a bit paranoid about hooking up anything to a supergun after boot up honestly...

Did it work for you with no issues? I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong with the pairing, but it works great on my Saturn so IDK.
I'll give it a try tonight and report back. I just received my controllers in the mail, but I'm at work right now. I'll check it out later today.
Looking forward to your results. Would love to be able to use this controller with my HAS.
Oh crap, sorry, slipped my mind. I've been knee deep in a cabinet restoration and forgot to fire this up this week.

I'll get to it this weekend for sure.
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Re: Retro-bit's Sega controllers

Post by Sargon »

Any thoughts on this negative review posted on Amazon?
I just purchased a SEGA Genesis® 8-Button Arcade Pad - 2.4 GHz Wireless - Black from amazon.com. The first game I tried to play was X-Men 2: Clone Wars on Sega Genesis. In that game if you have a mutant like Gambit that throws cards you can hold the A button and move the directional pad to point where you want to fire then release A button to throw the cards. With this controller if you hold the A button and press in any direction Gambit will throw the card as if you released the A button but the A button was not released. I tried to play it in 6 and 3 button configuration and I tried resetting the controller by the tiny hole in the back but it still does it. I have contacted Retro Bit customer support and will update this review if a fix is found.
There is only a single 1-star review right now, so that looks bad to someone browsing for a controller.
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Re: Retro-bit's Sega controllers

Post by Retro-Bit »

Sargon wrote:Any thoughts on this negative review posted on Amazon?
I just purchased a SEGA Genesis® 8-Button Arcade Pad - 2.4 GHz Wireless - Black from amazon.com. The first game I tried to play was X-Men 2: Clone Wars on Sega Genesis. In that game if you have a mutant like Gambit that throws cards you can hold the A button and move the directional pad to point where you want to fire then release A button to throw the cards. With this controller if you hold the A button and press in any direction Gambit will throw the card as if you released the A button but the A button was not released. I tried to play it in 6 and 3 button configuration and I tried resetting the controller by the tiny hole in the back but it still does it. I have contacted Retro Bit customer support and will update this review if a fix is found.
There is only a single 1-star review right now, so that looks bad to someone browsing for a controller.
We were just going to post about this. We have firmware that is almost ready to deploy regarding this issue that fixes the button misfiring. Please note this seems to affect a handful of games (Mortal Kombat, Pitfall, and X-Men 2 being a few). We are doing some final tests and should be posting firmware soon that fixes this issue.
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Re: Retro-bit's Sega controllers

Post by zarkFR »

Hi Retro-Bit, (sorry for bad English, not my mother tongue)

What about the "C" button being stuck while pressed on the upper side ? I swapped the button with one of an original Saturn controller an problem solved. Some people have the same problem on twitter :
https://twitter.com/Voultar/status/1195480461226717184

Also, it seems to have a problem with the "L" button too, sometimes being stuck too. The little notch on the right side grips the front shell (but more rare than the obvious C button problem). While trying some mods on the controller, I discovered that the L button is slightly different from the genuine controller (but not the R button, funny).
Is this problem identified ? Will you send replacement parts ?

(for info, controller was bought on Amazon France)
(Again, sorry for bad english)
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Re: Retro-bit's Sega controllers

Post by EmperorIng »

I only wanted to chime in with a brief first impression that I picked up one of these earlier this week, and I managed through a heavy play session to get a personal best in a Psikyo shmup (Sengoku Blade, nearly a 1ALL) using the pad. Given the amount of precision needed in the game, I thought this would serve as a decent stamp of approval for the quality and input.
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Re: Retro-bit's Sega controllers

Post by Retro-Bit »

zarkFR wrote:Hi Retro-Bit, (sorry for bad English, not my mother tongue)

What about the "C" button being stuck while pressed on the upper side ? I swapped the button with one of an original Saturn controller an problem solved. Some people have the same problem on twitter :
https://twitter.com/Voultar/status/1195480461226717184

Also, it seems to have a problem with the "L" button too, sometimes being stuck too. The little notch on the right side grips the front shell (but more rare than the obvious C button problem). While trying some mods on the controller, I discovered that the L button is slightly different from the genuine controller (but not the R button, funny).
Is this problem identified ? Will you send replacement parts ?

(for info, controller was bought on Amazon France)
(Again, sorry for bad english)
Heya! Ton anglais est bon! Yes we have had a handful of users who've reported issues. It doesn't seem consistent and it is a very small number of people who had this issue. We've already identified the issue with the factory and have been replacing any that has a problem with theirs. Please keep in mind that both the 2.4 GHz and Bluetooth controller shells are shaped differently from the original controllers as they had to accommodate the battery (and rumble for BT). If you have issues, please let us know via email at info@retro-bit.com.
EmperorIng wrote:I only wanted to chime in with a brief first impression that I picked up one of these earlier this week, and I managed through a heavy play session to get a personal best in a Psikyo shmup (Sengoku Blade, nearly a 1ALL) using the pad. Given the amount of precision needed in the game, I thought this would serve as a decent stamp of approval for the quality and input.
At Portland Retro Gaming Expo, we had our demo Saturn setup with our prototypes playing Parodius on a packed show floor with various electronics and wireless devices around us and didn't miss a beat... until the game got really hard!
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Re: Retro-bit's Sega controllers

Post by zarkFR »

Retro-Bit wrote:
zarkFR wrote:Hi Retro-Bit, (sorry for bad English, not my mother tongue)

What about the "C" button being stuck while pressed on the upper side ? I swapped the button with one of an original Saturn controller an problem solved. Some people have the same problem on twitter :
https://twitter.com/Voultar/status/1195480461226717184

Also, it seems to have a problem with the "L" button too, sometimes being stuck too. The little notch on the right side grips the front shell (but more rare than the obvious C button problem). While trying some mods on the controller, I discovered that the L button is slightly different from the genuine controller (but not the R button, funny).
Is this problem identified ? Will you send replacement parts ?

(for info, controller was bought on Amazon France)
(Again, sorry for bad english)
Heya! Ton anglais est bon! Yes we have had a handful of users who've reported issues. It doesn't seem consistent and it is a very small number of people who had this issue. We've already identified the issue with the factory and have been replacing any that has a problem with theirs. Please keep in mind that both the 2.4 GHz and Bluetooth controller shells are shaped differently from the original controllers as they had to accommodate the battery (and rumble for BT). If you have issues, please let us know via email at info@retro-bit.com.
EmperorIng wrote:I only wanted to chime in with a brief first impression that I picked up one of these earlier this week, and I managed through a heavy play session to get a personal best in a Psikyo shmup (Sengoku Blade, nearly a 1ALL) using the pad. Given the amount of precision needed in the game, I thought this would serve as a decent stamp of approval for the quality and input.
At Portland Retro Gaming Expo, we had our demo Saturn setup with our prototypes playing Parodius on a packed show floor with various electronics and wireless devices around us and didn't miss a beat... until the game got really hard!
Thanks for the info. I emailed you so I'll wait from now =)
Btw, swapping the "L" button with an original controller also fix this problem (button feeling is now 90% on par with the "R" one)

Keep up the good work, we are now waiting for a Tribute 64 2.4Ghz, a Snes 2.4Ghz controller, and a Gamecube one ! (what ? we all have dreams =D)
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Re: Retro-bit's Sega controllers

Post by bigbadboaz »

RB, a lot of reviews are saying the shoulders (on Saturn) feel improved from the wired releases. Can you comment on whether you changed out the microswitches, or more generally on what accounts for the improvement?
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Re: Retro-bit's Sega controllers

Post by it290 »

I've definitely had some button sticking issues, not just with the C button but with A also. Hoping those are a matter of wearing in as I'd rather not do a full button swap. The issue has been relatively sporadic but it does seem the tolerances are ever so slightly off.
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Re: Retro-bit's Sega controllers

Post by Einzelherz »

Sega controllers would stick buttons from the factory. They've always been more sloppy than Nintendo controllers.
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Re: Retro-bit's Sega controllers

Post by Retro-Bit »

bigbadboaz wrote:RB, a lot of reviews are saying the shoulders (on Saturn) feel improved from the wired releases. Can you comment on whether you changed out the microswitches, or more generally on what accounts for the improvement?
It's more of an aesthetic improvement. Originally, the microswitches we used were too quiet but still tested very well as far as performance. We've heard everyone's comments regarding the lack of feedback when pressing the shoulder buttons so we sought to improve the feel, which we were able to do by sourcing out different switches that have a bit more feedback to them and still perform very well.

it290 wrote:I've definitely had some button sticking issues, not just with the C button but with A also. Hoping those are a matter of wearing in as I'd rather not do a full button swap. The issue has been relatively sporadic but it does seem the tolerances are ever so slightly off.
If it becomes an issue, please let us know! We apologize for the button issue and we are more than happy to troubleshoot any problems.
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it290
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Re: Retro-bit's Sega controllers

Post by it290 »

Retro-Bit wrote:If it becomes an issue, please let us know! We apologize for the button issue and we are more than happy to troubleshoot any problems.
Will do, appreciate the responsiveness. It hasn't really been a major issue so far, just a once-in-every-several-thousand-presses kind of thing, and I've been playing a lot of Xeno Crisis with these guys, which is a game that demands a lot of jamming the buttons down from a sort of unconventional angle. Honestly I expect they'll improve as they're worn in, and I agree with Einzelherz's comment that the Sega originals do the same thing from time to time, so it's not a knock on Retro-Bit's quality at all.

Also, to echo EmperorIng's comments from earlier on, my best runs on XC have been on the Saturn 2.4 pad, which is a credit for sure—the crispness and low latency of these pads is great and at this point they're looking to permanently displace my wired Saturn pads and adapters. They might be the single best general purpose pad on the market for arcade style games in terms of quality and convenience for USB-capable devices on the market right now, and are a seamless solution to use on the Saturn at the same time. You guys have really done a great job with these.

The only other thing I might ask for in a future iteration is a slightly higher capacity battery. I love the current weight of the controller; it feels very light relative to some of the competition, but having used the Saturn pad daily for a while I think a little bit of extra weight would be a worthwhile tradeoff for a bit more battery.
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Re: Retro-bit's Sega controllers

Post by bigbadboaz »

Really great that you are making changes/improvements this quickly. I'm really looking forward to getting a 2.4G Saturn controller over the holidays.
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it290
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Re: Retro-bit's Sega controllers

Post by it290 »

Hi Retro-Bit,

I bought a second 2.4ghz Saturn pad to complement the first one. However, I'm having trouble updating the firmware on this second pad's receiver. What happens is this:

1. I open the firmware update tool.
2. I hold down the button on the receiver and plug it into my PC.
3. The light blinks for a few second and then turns solid.

At this point, I don't see any new USB device connected in the device manager nor is the receiver available from the dropdown in the update tool. The same thing happens if I plug in my other (already updated) receiver. When I did the process on the first pad, it was more or less flawless and installed the device immediately. This time there's no 'installing device' notification, so I'm wondering if Windows is intervening somehow because it thinks the devices are the same. In any case, I'm unable to update the receiver's firmware. Any advice?
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Retro-Bit
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Re: Retro-bit's Sega controllers

Post by Retro-Bit »

it290 wrote:Hi Retro-Bit,

I bought a second 2.4ghz Saturn pad to complement the first one. However, I'm having trouble updating the firmware on this second pad's receiver. What happens is this:

1. I open the firmware update tool.
2. I hold down the button on the receiver and plug it into my PC.
3. The light blinks for a few second and then turns solid.

At this point, I don't see any new USB device connected in the device manager nor is the receiver available from the dropdown in the update tool. The same thing happens if I plug in my other (already updated) receiver. When I did the process on the first pad, it was more or less flawless and installed the device immediately. This time there's no 'installing device' notification, so I'm wondering if Windows is intervening somehow because it thinks the devices are the same. In any case, I'm unable to update the receiver's firmware. Any advice?
That's odd. I will check with our developers about that issue. In the meantime, are there any other USB ports you can use on that PC?
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it290
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Re: Retro-bit's Sega controllers

Post by it290 »

Yes, same issue regardless of the port though.

edit—I eventually got it to work after some extensive finagling. Not sure what the issue was.
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Re: Retro-bit's Sega controllers

Post by lettuce »

What happened to the sega pad that had the twin analog sticks, are they not coming out anymore as cant see any mention of them at all on Retro-Bit's site!?
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Re: Retro-bit's Sega controllers

Post by Retro-Bit »

lettuce wrote:What happened to the sega pad that had the twin analog sticks, are they not coming out anymore as cant see any mention of them at all on Retro-Bit's site!?
It is in development but I can't share more information at this time. You can go back in this thread where we talk about this a bit more. We do not have an ETA.
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Re: Retro-bit's Sega controllers

Post by opt2not »

moltomolto wrote:
opt2not wrote:
moltomolto wrote: I had the adapter and dongle all plugged in prior to bootup, I'm a bit paranoid about hooking up anything to a supergun after boot up honestly...

Did it work for you with no issues? I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong with the pairing, but it works great on my Saturn so IDK.
I'll give it a try tonight and report back. I just received my controllers in the mail, but I'm at work right now. I'll check it out later today.
Looking forward to your results. Would love to be able to use this controller with my HAS.
Tried this out and I couldn't get it to work with the Saturn Adapters from RGB (creator of the HAS).

I read that RGB plans on updating his adapter firmware to account for this controller, once he gets his hands on one.
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