What You Need

  1. One of the following boards:
  2. USB cable to connect the Teensy to your computer
  3. An IR Receiver tuned to 36kHz or 38kHz, I used a TSOP38238
  4. Wires connect to the IR receiver, like these

Software

  1. The latest Arduino software
  2. Firmware for the Arduino
  3. RetroSpy’s fork of  IRremote that supports the CDTV, found here.
  4. PC software to connect to the Arduino and display the controller

#2 and #4 above are included in the release package of RetroSpy. The firmware is located in the firmware folder and is called firmware.ino. Just run RetroSpy.exe to launch the display software.

Instructions

Hooking it up

  1. Download and install the latest release of RetroSpy.
  2. Install the latest Arduino software, download the Windows Installer option.  If you are not programming your own board you can skip this step.
  3. Hook up the IR sensor to your Arduino according to this pinout.
    IR PinArduino Pin
    Data2
    Power5V or 3.3V
    GNDGND
  4. Plug the USB cable into the Arduino.
  5. Plug the other end of the USB cable into the display PC.

Software Setup

Once the wiring is done and everything is hooked up to your game system and computer, now for the easy part.

  1. Make sure the the USB cable between your Arduino and PC is connected and if you are not going to program your own board you can now skip to Step 10.
  2. Open the Arduino software that you installed above.
  3. You should see “Arduino on COMX” at the bottom right corner if everything is working. If not, you may need to restart and/or replug the USB connector.

  1. Install RetroSpy’s fork of  IRremote that supports the CDTV from here.
  2. Open common.h in the RetroSpy installation directory (by default this is C:\Program Files (x86)\RetroSpy\firmware) with any available text editor and uncomment the line //#define TP_IRREMOTE to enable the use of the library in the RetroSpy firmware.
  3. In the Arduino software select File->Open from the menubar and open the firmware.ino file from the firmware folder of the installed RetroSpy release (by default this is C:\Program Files (x86)\RetroSpy\firmware).
  4. Now uncomment the option for MODE_CDI.  Note that MODE_SNES is uncommented in this image.
  5. Hit the upload button (right pointing arrow) located just under the ‘Edit’ menu, this will upload and run the software on the Arduino. It should look like the following image. Once successfully uploaded, you won’t have to upload software again to the Arduino again unless you want to change controller modes.
  6. Power on the console.
  7. Run RetroSpy.exe.
  8. The selection here should be pretty straightforward, select the ‘COMX’ port that the Arduino is on, select the controller you are using, select a skin, and hit ‘Go’. If everything is hooked up correctly you should see your controller and inputs displaying.