Topic: CD-i 210 input issue

Looking for some technical help with a CD-i 210.

So a few months ago I found a Philips CD-i 210 for cheap in a local pawn shop, with digital video cartridge! And without controller! Naturally I bought it.

After a searching on eBay for a while for a decent priced controller, I bought a a CD-i Thumbstick, the wireless one with the analog stick on it.

Putting in batteries, pointing it at the console l, and, wiggling the stick did nothing. I put it down to the weird incomparability with certain players and controllers, so the search continues.

Recently I won a CD-i Touchpad on eBay, the Gravis Gamepad/SNES looking one. Plugging it in, still nothing. Tried both input ports, and flicked that unmarked switch on the top of the controller to see if that would do anything. It didn't.

I don't know if it could be a problem with the CD-i player, or if I have the worst luck with controllers on eBay or what. Any help would be appreciated, I have Hotel Mario ready to go and need my fix. (Look, I managed to tie this topic to Nintendo in the end! Hooray!)

Cheers.

@TheFineLens it's quite simple. The thought of playing some of the worst Mario and Zelda games ever has caused it to self destruct.

@TheFineLens Personal questions and sentiments about why the heck someone would want to buy, much less own such a device (edit: only half-serious, so I'm kidding. But, having said that, as you might have guessed/known, the CD-i isn't the most popular of devices in Nintendo fan land), I'd suggest the AVForums tech support forums to you. It's a site that hosts one of the biggest, if not THE biggest audio and video devices forums, and there's many, many experts on there, such as people that test or repair audio or video devices for a living, so if anyone could help you out, you will surely be able to find him or her there.
https://www.avforums.com/
Subscribing is free, and once you've joined, you can basically copy your forum topic from here to there. Of course, you could also search in the forums for CD-i related topics, but I'll leave that up to you.

You'll find the site's forum in the upper left on the menu bar on the home page.

Good luck!

EDIT:

Here's another pretty good tech forum:
https://www.videohelp.com/

@TheFineLens From what I can gather, wired controllers go into the front port of the 210. As for the "touchpad", one video shows the switch as being a toggle for left and right-handed use. You may have run into two separate issues. I've heard of issues on CD-i infrared remotes. In at least one case, the roller control, I heard that the IR emitters get weak or stop working. On that particular one, the buttons may still work when the trackball doesn't. You can see if that's the same for your stick controller, even though it's different. As for the gamepad, I saw one video on troubleshooting the same issue. Unfortunately, it seemed to be a bad cable. I don't know if you can or want to troubleshoot that and check for electrical continuity, but that may be it. Perhaps there are replacement cables available. Here is the video title on youtube if you wish to see more about this(the controller troubleshooting is around the mid point): "Philips CDi 210 - Drive Repair & Gamepad Repair (Part 1)"

@sdelfin Alternatively, you could have just posted the video itself...

@ThanosReXXX I forgot that was possible or allowed. I'm used to commenting in places where links require extra moderation, so I tend to provide titles like I did here. Thanks for putting it up.

@sdelfin You're welcome, and don't worry about it. As for posting videos: as long as you're don't advertise any channel, or your own channel, any video is allowed, if it is for the purpose of supporting your comment. Moderators over here are pretty lenient, and will give you a heads up, whenever you're out of line.

@ThanosReXXX Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, gonna copy the thread to both sites.
On the subject of why I bought the thing in the first place, it was purely because of it's infamy.
How could someone not want a console so hated, so despised, and so utterly useless! Anyway, if I can't get any controllers to work with it, it'll make a great stand for my Virtual Boy. 😉

@sdelfin Thanks for the tips, the video could come in handy.
Looking at the IR emitter on the stick controller with the camera on my phone, it's still producing the signal, so it might have gotten too weak over the years or, the receiver on the console has gone bust. Gonna see what people on more tech forums say.

@Tasuki I tested Rise of the Robots in it yesterday so it might be beyond saving at this point. 😂 I've put Tetris, Pac-Panic, and Namco Arcade Classics next to the console to try and say sorry. 👍

@TheFineLens You're welcome. Hope you find the answer.