Is it possible to initiate a reset through the controller ..

Is it possible to initiate a console reset through the controller ports (using any of the 7 pins) on an Unmodded console?

No you can't. The games that reset via a controller input combination are software driven.

So could a micro controller initiate a generic reset through the controllers with some sort of input code? Or is that game specific? Maybe a better way to ask is --- what would I have to do to make the console reset with only using the controller inputs (without modding the console Itself)

Thanks!

You'll have to either modify the console or the cartridge. No way about it.

A cartridge modification can either be some extra code inserted into the game's keypad handler, or a microcontroller listening for reads from the keypad registers.

The microcontroller in the Super Famicom Box hotel system is looking at controller input, and resets after 5 seconds of holding L+R+Start+Select.

Ok. I was hoping to not have to modify any hardware.... Just do a reset with the available controller pins with some sort of code or sequence. Thanks for the answers.
I'll have to go the hardware route. I'll just grab the reset pin from the cartridge.

But that would require modding the console in the same way. I wanted to steer clear of modding the console (if possible).

Thanks

Ps. I actually own one of the hotel boxes ! Neat! I converted the carts over to English roms but the menu is still in Japanese. Would LOVE it if someone could change the menu to English!

The closest thing would be briefly shorting 5V and Ground. Please do not do this.

Couldn't you mod a Game Genie, a region converter or a copier to watch for input and reset as necessary? That would keep the console and the cartridges unaltered.

I know the Game Doctor SF7 has "Super Mode" where button combinations let you save and load state. One could change the code in the EPROM to do a reset instead, but IIRC, that mode isn't available when running a cart.

I can attest to the fact that this works (I recently made a SNES controller on a breadboard: http://instagram.com/p/lQjHxEP9S- ) and was trying to modify the buttons to work a different way and accidentally touched ground and 5V, and it reset the console.

Obviously proceed with caution or not at all.


There is no way for the controller to get data FROM the console, it's simply not built that way. Not sure what you are trying to do, seems like you have things figured out already, but if you want to get data from the console seems like the best way would be to add something to the cartridge, or to use the EXT port which I don't really know about enough to tell you how to work that out, but seems like it would be another avenue.

Even with a regular cartridge, I've been trying to wrap my head around how the addresses and mapping plays out in reality (trying to get a HiROM demo to use 0000-FFFF or a fully 64K bank), but it is still a bit confusing.

Well... it only works because you're completely shorting out the 5V supply going to the entire system! When you release it is a cold boot, similar to flipping the switch off then on quickly. Doing this is very bad for the 7805 regulator inside, the small ribbon wire going to the front controller PCB, and possibly the ICs contained within. Please, nobody short out 5V and Ground - it was a joke!

ha yeah I wasn't trying to advocate shorting the console out.

I think it should be possible to do something like a "pass through cart" with a switch attached. The passthrough cart could find the header for the cart and then make it so the game will go to the reset vector when pressed. It could be problematic with something like Mario Paint where it has long periods writing to SRAM, but a well written game that is aware of what values need to be set/cleared will probably be fine most of the time.