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MAS arcade stick on PS2 slim

Hmm, not sure what to think here.

I've had a mas arcade stick since the VF3 came out for the dreamcast, and it's never given me problems.

Until now....but I don't think the stick is the problem.

I (semi)recently got a PS2 slim w/ GT4 and Tekken 5. I thought I would be able to use the stick with tekken 5 but it turns out I was wrong. I figured it was just that game, and didn't put much thought into it.

Well, fast forward to right now, I've recently been craving some VF4 lovin, and was considering picking up evo. Just to make sure, I tried out my MAS stick with FF8, figuring it would HAVE to work with that. It doesn't.

I'm pretty sure it's not the stick, as I tried it with FF8 on the psone and it worked fine. This stick has also worked fine in the past with the larger PS2 systems(i used to have one and used this thing on the original VF4).

Did sony somehow break compatibility with this stick on the PS2? If so, is there any way around it?
 
I'll bet money that you inserted or removed the MAS while the PS2 was on, and this caused whatever part of the PS2 that handles voltage assignment or configuring 3rd arty PCBs to die.

I've been seeing this happen since 2000. I've gone through six or more PS2s and fucked up those of friends.

DO NOT HOTSWAP 3RD PARTY CONTROLLERS ON THE PS2

If I'm correct, then all Dual Shocks will work on your unit, but any controller without a Sony PCB will not work. I bet if you boot a game up with the MAS in, its menu scrolls by itself. That's how it always worked for me, when I was messing up controller ports with stcks and wheel, back in the day.

I don't know of a fix. I always took advantage of my in-store warranty until I wised up.

Note that not all 3rd party PCBs are dangerous, but enough are, don't take the risk.
 
I've actually noticed that two arcade sticks I've used won't work on PStwo. The Pelican arcade stick (the one that's actually almost decent) won't work on PStwo, and the Soul Calibur PS2 stick also won't work on PStwo. However, my Street Fighter Anniversary stick works on my PStwo perfectly.
 
ArcadeStickMonk, I just tried what you said, and while it didn't go flying through, i shut it down, and rebooted with it in the second controller slot, and it indeed worked. Would this make sense with what you were saying?
 
MarkRyan said:
I've actually noticed that two arcade sticks I've used won't work on PStwo. The Pelican arcade stick (the one that's actually almost decent) won't work on PStwo, and the Soul Calibur PS2 stick also won't work on PStwo. However, my Street Fighter Anniversary stick works on my PStwo perfectly.
Since not all 3rd partys PCBs seem to be dangerous, it's possible that some will continue to function. You may have damaged your PS2, with the Pelican I'd bet, but the SFAC continues to function.

Which SC2 stick? Nuby or Hori?

Describe the errors when the non-functional sticks are used. Does it just act dead or does the input go crazy?

My Pelican PCB works with my PStwo.



Also, I just plugged my DC\PS MAS into my PStwo (when the power was OFF!) and loaded up Tekken 5. No problems.
 
morbidaza said:
ArcadeStickMonk, I just tried what you said, and while it didn't go flying through, i shut it down, and rebooted with it in the second controller slot, and it indeed worked. Would this make sense with what you were saying?
Can't say ever I tested the ports against each other on a damaged unit, but it would seem logical that the un-used port would not be affected.
 
ArcadeStickMonk said:
Can't say ever I tested the ports against each other on a damaged unit, but it would seem logical that the un-used port would not be affected.

Great, thanks a ton. I'm applying for a job at the place I bought it from, so I suppose I'll wait and see if I get the job before exchanging it (can't imagine exchanging a $150 peice of equipment for a minor malfunction would help my job possibilities much). If the system is less than 3 months old, would sony charge me if I sent it to them?
 
I have no clue about Sony's policies.

While you have the unit though, test as many 3rd party controllers as you can on it. If you find some random pad, stick, or wheel that works on 2p but not on 1p, we'll know that my theory is correct.

You could also find the 3rd party PCBs that still function under these circumstances, if any.

I am truely surprised that this issue made it into the new model. Keep this in mind when you plug old shit into your new PS3 next year. (We did confirm that it has old controller ports right?)
 
Did sony somehow break compatibility with this stick on the PS2?

Don't blame Sony for MAS's shitty non-approved circuit boards.

Sea Manky and I have always warned people about MAS sticks. They're overpriced rubbish. What you describe is strangely similar to the problems customers had when Sony released the Dual Shock for the Playstation, and suddenly MAS's shitty reverse engineers circuit boards wouldn't god damn well work with any game that supported the Dual Shock. Tekken 3 was the big problem here.

My advice would be gut that bitch, get a FAQ on building your own arcade stick; and replace the rubbish MAS internals with an approved, or at least quality, third party game pad circuit board.

It's what we did after shipping our sticks back to MAS for service multiple times. Funny thing was those dumb cocks didn't even solder some of the connections in my stick. Removing their junk solved the problem, and I haven't had a complaint since.
 
MAS fucks up plenty. There's no arguement there.

However, my failures were mostly early Interact PS2 products and an X-Arcade here and there. There is a problem with how the PS2 deals with 3rd party hardware. It doesn't make sense not to blame Sony for this flaw (whatever the hell it really is) when the other two consoles of the same gen didn't get damaged ports from 3rd party devices.

There is something wrong in there, and if you plug the wrong controller in while powered up you face a risk.

I'm very interested if morbid does any further testing on his slim. I've observed several PS2s being hotswapped with Hori products like mad and was told that they never had a problem. I actually assumed that the issue I once dealt with had been corrected until tonight. Now I'm suspicious.

If you use a non-Sony device, just don't plug or un-plug it while the PS2 is on, and you shouldn't have any problems.
 
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