Here's the summary of how to hook up the PG to a PC that I promised I'd post. Included: 1. How to hook them up using an external power source A. parts and aprox cost B. circuit diagram 2. How to hook them up using power from the PC A. parts and aprox cost B. circuit diagram Not Included: 1. Required software information maybe a second document when I get that far, unless someone else wants to write it up before I start asking a bunch of questions again - any volunteers? :-) Wouldn't it be nice if we clearly documented our work so that newcomers could quickly and easily be brought up to speed without having to take up a lot of everyone's time and net bandwidth? Obligatory Disclaimer: I am not an electronics expert of any kind. I don't understand most of what is included in this summary. This is only a summary of replies I got to several questions I asked on this particular topic as well as some information obtained from an article in Byte (July, 1990). I assume no responsibility for anything that happens if you attempt to use any of the information in this post. I don't care if you distribute, alter, copy, etc anything in this post. It would be nice though if you made your additions, alterations, comments, etc available to the glove mailing list at glove-list@karazm.math.uh.edu. Also, the contents of this post do not reflect any opinions other than my own, especially GE's. Introduction There may be many ways to hook a PowerGlove to a PC/clone. The following discussion describes two possibilities. I used the first method and it seems to work. A number of others have reported using the second method which is simpler and apparently works just as well. There may be errors in the methods, but I've tried to faithfully reproduce what I've done and what has been reported by others. The second method is the easier and cheaper of the two. However, it requires you to use another port on your PC (in addition to the printer port that both methods require) or tapping unused power and ground lines somewhere in your PC. That's no big deal if you know what you're doing and have an extra port or power source to tap. The first method requires no PC modifications. It only uses the printer port. However, it requires an external 5v power supply. The discussion in that method assumes you have a power supply, but that it isn't 5v. The aproximate prices shown are about what I paid at my local Radio Shack, execept for the glove and extension cable. You might be able to beat these prices by shopping around or rummaging through your basement. 1. Hooking them together using an external power supply Needed: Nintendo PowerGlove US$20-50 power supply (ac/dc, battery pack, etc) that produces in the range of 7 - 9 volts at around 300mA I bought one with adjustable settings at Radio Shack for about $13. I use the 7.5v setting. You might be able to get by with a 6v source, but the 7805 regulator might not produce a steady 5v unless you give it at least 7v. You might be able to get by OK with 9v or 12v, but you may need a heat sink at higher voltages. (2) 0.1 mF capacitors less than US$1 for ceramic 7805 +5vdc voltage regulator about US$1.25 DB25 connector and cover about US$3.50 heat shrink tubing and/or electrical tape soldering iron, heat sink, and solder wire Optional extension cable for the PowerGlove A package of two Curtis Super Extendo cables costs just under US$10. The only reason to get these is so that you can modify an extension cable instead of the one attached directly to the glove hardware. They also give you some extra length, if that matters. I think Nintendo makes extension cables, too, but I don't know what they cost. 2 female and 1 male connector My power supply had 1/8" (3.5mm) male phone jack connector on it. I mounted a female connector on a small box to plug the power supply into. I also used a pair of the connectors at the output side of the box so I could disconnect the box easily from the modified glove cable. I didn't want to chop up the power supply's cable, so the first connector seems like a good idea. The others are completely unnecessary. I only used this type of connector because my power supply came with one. The connectors cost me about US$3.00. box to house completed circuit Mine cost about US$1.75. The circuit: box +----------------------------+ +-----------+ male connector, tip - ?v | female, outside, ground | | 7 - 9v | outside - ground | +-------------+ | | power |====================||||--- ]]] __ | | | supply | ||___|-----+ | | +-----------+ | female, | | | | inside, | | | | ?v | | | | | | | | | | | | +-||-+ 0.1 mF | | +------+ | | | | | in +-+ | | | | | | | | | grnd +------+ | | | | | | | | out +-+ | | | +------+ | | | | 7805 | | | | | | | | +-||-+ 0.1 mF | male connector | | | | tip - 5v, | | | ground | outside - ground | +--------|----+ | +====+=======||||--- ]]] __ | | | | ||___| | 5v | ground | | 5v | +-------+ | | | +----------------------------+ | | | | | +---- to glove pin 7 ---+ DB25 pin 18 -------+--------- to glove pin 1 | DB25 pin 2 ----------------- to glove pin 2 |======== to glove box DB25 pin 3 ----------------- to glove pin 3 | DB25 pin 13 ----------------- to glove pin 4 ---+ NOTE: Connect the capacitors within about 1/4" of the 7805 for best results glove connector pin numbers /--------+ / o 1 | | o 7 o 2 | | o 6 o 3 | | o 5 o 4 | +----------+ glove pin number nintendo wire color curtis wire color 1 ground black orange 2 data clock orange red 3 latch yellow brown 4 data out green black 5 unused 6 unused 7 5v red white DB25 pins 2 data clock 3 latch 13 data in 18 ground 2. Hooking them together using power from the PC Ignore the circuit that provides the 5v and ground lines above. Instead, get the 5v and ground from either: 1. an unused disk drive cable in your PC or 2. 5v from pin 5 on a keyboard port and ground from pin 4 of the same keyboard port All the other connections from the glove cable to the DB25 are the same, including the ground connection. keyboard connector ----- / \ 1 | o o | 3 4 \ o o o / 5 ----- 2 Hope this helps. Feel free to add to and/or correct this information. Bill wgerlt@atl.ge.com 12/20/91