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José Manuel Barroso Galindo edited this page Nov 23, 2020 · 23 revisions

Extended Native Controller Compatibility

Extended Native Controller Compattibility (ENCC for short), is a feature that requires using a SNAC7/SNAC8-capable adapter to play with up to 2 native controllers simultaneously through the MiSTer User IO pins.

When a core has ENCC support, you'll see a new option in the OSD menu called "UserIO Joystick" that allows playing with joysticks of Mega Drive/Genesis (DB9) or Neo-Geo/Supergun (DB15). This new feature is disabled by default, therefore you must enter the menu (F12) the first time to activate it and save the config if you want to keep it on for the next time.

There are more than 100 cores with ENCC support already available. Jotego cores partially implement this feature too (DB15 only at the moment).

Cores with this feature are updated at the same rate as the official core, therefore, it preserves the same functionalities, and also adds the possibility of using DB9 and DB15 joysticks.

For using the UserIO Joysticks in the OSD menu too, you should also update the files MiSTer and menu.rbf from the root of the SD card. If you want to get them manually, here are the links for these (download the latest release):

MiSTer_Main: https://github.com/MiSTer-DB9/Main_MiSTer/tree/master/releases

Core Menu: https://github.com/MiSTer-DB9/Menu_MiSTer/tree/master/releases

Alternatively, you can get them automatically by just selecting the MiSTer-DB9 option in Update All's Settings Screen.

How to control the OSD from a SEGA Mega Drive Gamepad connected via SNAC8 / DB9

  • Start+C -> Show OSD menu
  • A -> Enter
  • B -> Esc

SNAC8 / DB9

The SNAC8 interface is like the official SNAC7 of the IO Board 6.1 but with an additional pin. Official IO Boards are not compatible with SNAC8 adapters at this time, a mod might be possible for that, but there are also custom IO Boards being sold with built-in SNAC8 interface implemented through a DB9 connector.

The adapters for Genesis and Neo-Geo/Supergun are open hardware and can be accessed here: https://github.com/antoniovillena/MiSTer_DB9/tree/master/Hardware

The 2xDB9 adapter requires SNAC8, but for the 2xDB15 adapter SNAC7 is actually enough. Thus, this adapter is also compatible with the official IO Board 6.1 when using a USB3 connector.

DB15 Splitter DB9 DB15 splitter compatible with SNAC7-capable connectors