neo geo db15 controller standard and jamma,question about inputs and pinouts

[darkpolletto]

hello beatiful people of this wonderful forum,I have a question for you,I don't know if it is something that has already discussed before but I wonder How similar DB15 ports used on neo geo is with the jamma standard,like if I would use a psx/ps2 or even a ps4 controller to db15 on a jamma board (like the namco system ones) would even work,are they similar? are they different? can someone help me figure out? thank you!

 

[Mageta the Lion]

Sorry but your question is very unprecise and leaves a lot of room for misunderstandings. If you can be more concrete please do so.
That said, if you can connect a db15 Neogeo Port to a Jamma edge (Supergun) it would work for the the directions and button 1 - 3(4) and Start. Buttons 4 - 6 have to be connected separately (most superguns put those also on the db15 but that's not in the standard and you still have to connect buttons 4 - 6 to the Supergun)
About Adapters, i use a Brooke Ps4 to NeoGeo Adapter with my Supergun and it works, can't guarantee that it works with other Adapters but i would assume it does.
All the above is only relevant if you're actually talking about Jamma and not JVS (which Namco board where you talking about?)

 

[darkpolletto]

hi mageta thanks for the reply,I'm sorry,I was too unprecise,here's the deal:
i've been searching for a way to use modern controller or even psx/ps2 controllers on a namco system 12 board (tekken tag tournament)I've seen the undamned pcb board that converts those controller to analog signal and they are very ideal(but i cannot purchase them because in italy the shipping cost would be too much to handle) So I've found the same undamned board but they use this db15 standard that also the neo geo uses(but they are too expensive to purchase ,also the shipping cost it's insane) therefore I was doing a bit of a research and I've found that there a lot of these psx/ps2 or even ps4/xbox etc converter to neogeo db15 made by nekotec,chinese retailers from aliexpress and even brook themselves,I've researched a little bit and found out that the pinout of the neogeo (db15) looks very similar to straight jamma inputs (every pin is a single input command)except for the 5v,I was wondering if I could use one of those neo geo adapter on a normal jamma board like the namco system 12 I've got,also (on a another forum) someone suggested to use the nekotec one on a normal jamma and it would work fine

 

[Mageta the Lion]

How are you planning to get the board running? Do you want to consolize the Board or use a Supergun? If you consolize it (you propably shouldn't) you can use any pinout you like so the converter should work. If you have or get a Supergun it will most likely have a DB15 port with the pinout you posted which also should work with most Adapters (The brook PS4 -> NeoGeo does)

Is this your first Arcade Board?

 

[darkpolletto]

Thank again for the reply, this is my fourth board, I'll always had tekken ones, my setup right now consists of a pc psu hooked up to a cga to vga converter, all connected to a jamma harness,thank you really so much for the info you gave me, could you post a picture of the converter you have? So if i connect the jamma cables for input to the converter it should work...

 

[BroadwayJose]

@darkpolletto your approach is ok here. I can confirm because I do similar on some of my machines. In my case I have the control panel wired to a set of female DB15 plugs and either use the JAMMA wiring from the cabinet terminated to a set of male DB15 ends for P1 & P2 or swap to a pad hacked console controller also terminated to male DB15 for when I want to connect a console to the cabinet.

The approach should be similar for superguns, assuming you plan to go that route instead of a full on arcade cabinet. Sounds like you are hacking together a JAMMA harness setup if I'm reading that right and if that's the case, then all you need to do is wire your digital control signals to the appropriate pinout for your intended control device or adapter. Add in the +5v signal for anything that might require it (undamned USB for example) or don't if you do not plan to utilize it. My console padhacks don't need it so I did not wire it in for my own setup. I also have some Neo Geo pads that function perfectly in this setup as I wired up the DB15 ends on the JAMMA side to the extended Neo Geo standard. It's a quick swap whenever I want to use that instead of the control panel.

Some additional things to consider:

• PSX / PS2 controls have more inputs than the 15 available that you can wire up natively with a DB15 setup. You'll need to either not use a few or wire the extra ones to some place outside of the JAMMA edge + kick harness if you intend to use all of those inputs somehow. Similar applies for newer consoles ie: PS3, PS4, Xbox variants, etc
• I can't speak to the nekotec converter you have pictured in one of your replies but before going that route you should confirm how many inputs are active and what the pinout actually is on that DB15 plug. There are some Neo Geo converters which do not carry more than 4 active action buttons, since 4 is the total available for Neo Geo. You might be better off in general to just wire up your own solution in this case.

 

[darkpolletto]

@darkpolletto your approach is ok here. I can confirm because I do similar on some of my machines. In my case I have the control panel wired to a set of female DB15 plugs and either use the JAMMA wiring from the cabinet terminated to a set of male DB15 ends for P1 & P2 or swap to a pad hacked console controller also terminated to male DB15 for when I want to connect a console to the cabinet.

The approach should be similar for superguns, assuming you plan to go that route instead of a full on arcade cabinet. Sounds like you are hacking together a JAMMA harness setup if I'm reading that right and if that's the case, then all you need to do is wire your digital control signals to the appropriate pinout for your intended control device or adapter. Add in the +5v signal for anything that might require it (undamned USB for example) or don't if you do not plan to utilize it. My console padhacks don't need it so I did not wire it in for my own setup. I also have some Neo Geo pads that function perfectly in this setup as I wired up the DB15 ends on the JAMMA side to the extended Neo Geo standard. It's a quick swap whenever I want to use that instead of the control panel.

Some additional things to consider:

• PSX / PS2 controls have more inputs than the 15 available that you can wire up natively with a DB15 setup. You'll need to either not use a few or wire the extra ones to some place outside of the JAMMA edge + kick harness if you intend to use all of those inputs somehow. Similar applies for newer consoles ie: PS3, PS4, Xbox variants, etc
• I can't speak to the nekotec converter you have pictured in one of your replies but before going that route you should confirm how many inputs are active and what the pinout actually is on that DB15 plug. There are some Neo Geo converters which do not carry more than 4 active action buttons, since 4 is the total available for Neo Geo. You might be better off in general to just wire up your own solution in this case.

Hello there,thank you REALLY a lot for this wonderful reply,So...if I am correct...do I need a supergun converter and then buy a neo geo adapter that uses db15? or can i just wire the hamma harmness to an adapter directly? I'm fairly new to this kind of stuff,I always used cabinets with everything connected to jamma,I'm experimenting a little bit here,thank you really for all the explanation,it was really a pleasure talk to you all!

 

[BroadwayJose]

Hello there,thank you REALLY a lot for this wonderful reply,So...if I am correct...do I need a supergun converter and then buy a neo geo adapter that uses db15? or can i just wire the hamma harmness to an adapter directly? I'm fairly new to this kind of stuff,I always used cabinets with everything connected to jamma,I'm experimenting a little bit here,thank you really for all the explanation,it was really a pleasure talk to you all!

Considering this is a new thing for you re: playing arcade games outside of a cabinet, I would suggest making things easy and explore the pre-made supergun options. It just makes more sense for a lot of reasons. If you get one that's been made properly, chances are good that the control interface will already be wired correctly for extended Neo Geo standard. HAS is definitely done this way and that's just one of many great features for that solution. Further, a common setup is attaching the Undamned DB15 to USB adapter directly to the HAS supergun and having controls adapted for modern USB style devices.

If you're dead set on going the analog route and using PSX / PS2 or anything older than most USB control devices, then you will likely have some work to do. There are a few good PSX to USB adapters available if you want to try going with a multiple adapter situation (pair it up with Undamned USB adapter) but you will need to do some testing and research to see if it will work the way you're looking to use it. I don't know if anyone else here has done this or how successful they have been.

 

[darkpolletto]

Thank you for everything, you are really a life savior,i'm going to do some research about these super guns you've mentioned, my original idea was to hook up a usb or psx to neogeo adapter directly to the jamma harness, because i've seen that the undamned pcbs do just that, but I'm really questioning if that would work, I'm on a tight budget

 

[Mageta the Lion]

Even if you go with a self build solution instead of a "off the shelf" supergun don't wire the adapter straight to the Harness, wire in a db15 port and just plug the adapter in. The port is so cheap that there is simply no reason to "destroy" any adapter to connect it directly to the Harness

 

[darkpolletto]

Even if you go with a self build solution instead of a "off the shelf" supergun don't wire the adapter straight to the Harness, wire in a db15 port and just plug the adapter in. The port is so cheap that there is simply no reason to "destroy" any adapter to connect it directly to the Harness

Thank you! I'm gonna research these supergun a bit, can you give me an advice on which to buy? Like an affordable but good one that meets my criteria, And of course really thank you...

 

[Mageta the Lion]

People her mostly recomend the HAS and the Minigun.
The HAS seem to be very high quality but the price is also very high and it's basically never in stock when someone needs one.
The Minigun is also good and cheaper "but" DIY (Sometimes people sell pre build ones here but no clue if somebody does at the moment and what a fair price for one would be)
Personally i own a Supergun from Arcade Forge. Supposedly it has some problems and i had some boards i couldn't get running with it but most stuff just runs fine (Some of my Issues might have been the cheap China PSU I'm running it with)
Beside the ones mentioned you can get different Superguns from AliExpress, they are much cheaper but supposedly the quality is also supbar. But personally i would expect them to do the job for most Common boards

 

[darkpolletto]

thank you really kindly for the info and help,I've been tinkering a bit with all of these...and i've found out you can make psx to neo geo adapters your self with arduinos and some components,I've some parts laying around,when the rest i've purchased comes I'm gonna make it my self(if it works....i've made it with just literally 15 euros) of course I'm gonna document the whole thing here,if it doesn't work i'm gonna consider a super gun,really thank you for everything