Elevate your game!

Introducing... TashPad!


Elevator Pitch

It's a converter that makes a Super Nintendo/Super Famicom controller appear to an ADB Macintosh as a Gravis Mac GamePad. Used with the GamePad's control panel, it can be used to play all your favorite Mac games.

I made the PIC12F1501 firmware, @demik has made a PCB and case panels to make it fit neatly into the same Hammond case as the ADB Quack and TashTwenty so it can sit pretty right next to your Mac.


Project Status

Stable. It uses the same ADB state machine as my other ADB projects. It's been tested with a real Super Famicom controller, a clone (Hyperkin Scout Premium), and a Bluetooth 8BitDo SN30.


Code and PCB




Below information is from @demik :

ADB
TashPad is sporting two ADB ports on the back, so if even if your Mac only has one free port, you can still use TashPad by daisy chaining it, for example between your Keyboard and your Mouse

You will need an ADB or S-Video cable for that (the shortest the best, as usual. We tested with 2 meters S-Video cables without issues)

GamePad
Due to the surge in retro gaming, a lot Super Nintendo/Super Famicom controller clones are available brand new. You can find them easily online. Low quality copies cost around $10EUR, good copies are around $20.

Please note that you do need a controller with Super Super Nintendo/Super Famicom connection, not a clone with a modern USB

If you want an original controller, you may need to look at the used market. The Super Nintendo controller was chosen because it had the closest look to the original Gravis GamePad, and good electrical compatibility with our old Macs

Driver
You need to use the original Gravis GamePad available on Macintosh Repository or Macintosh Garden. The driver is very well done and you will be able to remap any button to most keyboard keys or mouse movement and click. It has also a decent preset of game profiles from back then





Bluetooth & Compatibility
We did test it with original Super Famicon Gamepad, and a few third party ones (Hyperkin Scout Premium)
You can push TashPad further by daisy chaining a retro bluetooth to Super Nintendo dongles with a Bluetooth controller of your choice

This combinaison successfully with a 8BitDo set





2.4GHz controllers were not tested but are expected to work as well!

Build
The build is pretty simple. @Tashtari PIC is doing the heavy lifting. Most of the other thing are a few pull-ups for increased compatibility, plus RT and short protections "stolen" from both old Macs and Super Nintendo consoles

Of course most of them can be removed to reduce the overall cost





The hardest thing to find is the controller connector, you will need the gray 90* angled ones. There is still plenty of them on AliExpress, that connector being used on a lot of current retro projects. Beware of the left/right ones, maybe the pin can be moved around

If the blue color put your off, you can build the same using black and light-grey (close to our Mac Platinum) opaque cases.
The front and back panels are made using PCBs

Caution
Remember that the ADB is not supposed to be hot pluggable. While we did add protections to TashPad such as a resettable fuse and a few inrush resistor protection, hotpluging everything is not recommended.

I tried to break it during testing and only ended up with the driver in a weird state, but better be safe than sorry

Building kits / Bying
If enough EU+UK people are interested, I may do a small prebuild or kit run this summer. As @Tashtari said, the design is OpenSource. We encourage you to build your own. As for myself, shipping to NA will cost more than the BOM, so will avoid doing that...

Interested in a kit! (I'm in France)

>> Francois said:

Interested in a kit! (I'm in France) Click to expand...

Thanks, will PM you when it's ready

This is straight-up amazing!

This is fantastic! This is basically exactly what I have been looking for, as I've been having a tough time finding one of those Gravis pads (especially locally), and already have a pair of 8Bitdo controllers for my SNES. If you'd be willing to consider shipping outside of the EU too, I'd love to throw my name in the hat too.

Either way, fantastic job! What a beauty.

>> jibsaramnim said:

This is fantastic! This is basically exactly what I have been looking for, as I've been having a tough time finding one of those Gravis pads (especially locally), and already have a pair of 8Bitdo controllers for my SNES. If you'd be willing to consider shipping outside of the EU too, I'd love to throw my name in the hat too. Either way, fantastic job! What a beauty. Click to expand...

I can do it, but it gets expensive. Group buy thread is here

During the group buy, a lot of people were interested for a color closer to our old gear (white/beige/light gray), here is what it looks like







Activity LED is orange-ish like the Mac II era HDD ones, whereas on the blue one LED collar is sea-ish blue

I still haven't built mine... :confused:

Had a building session this weekend... tashpads on the bottom. Fun build.

Nice! I like the look of the blue faceplates with the white case.

This is interesting :) It has '70s vibes