Joystick modding questions

1. Common ground is preferable, because then you only have to wire (number of switches + 1) connections to the xbox pcb, instead of (number of switches * 2 ) connections. Basically, in that pad diagram you posted, you'd replace all of the ground points with a single point. It's also an issue because many joysticks ( I mean the actual joystick unit like a JLF, not the whole controller ) use a common ground setup, so if you want to wire it to a non-common-ground xbox pad, you have to cut the ground traces on the joystick pcb. The only xbox360 common ground pad I'm aware of is the gamestop microcon, which is a rebranded madcatz. If you cant get them down under, I'd be willing to buy & ship you one at cost.

2. Yes, that's the basic idea. For a common ground setup, you can chain 1 prong of all of the buttons together onto a single ground, then run the other prongs to the individual contact points on the xbox pcb.

3. I'd imagine at minimum you'd probably want 3 action buttons ( wire one of them to the confirm button ?A? ), the start button, and the xbox guide button.

4. Yes, that's the idea.


Also note that you have to either disconnect the ps2 pcb, or make sure it's getting +5v & ground at the same time the xbox pcb is.

 

all hori sticks use a common ground setup except for the ex2/doa4 series sticks.

hrap series sticks that use sanwa jlf or seimitsu ls32 use a 5pin connector that require a common ground setup. all other hori sticks like the ps2 evo sticks grounds are wired individually (1 ground for each direction) even though the stick pcb uses a common ground setup.

you can wire any stick with a one to one ground scheme. if it has a 5pin connector pcb, you must break the traces that connect each ground trace. (something like how laakira had to on his 360 setup)

wiring up any 360 pcb one to one for each input/ground trace is the safest way to do things if you don't know if the 360 pcb you are using is using a common ground.

good luck with your project.

 

Today on a whime I went out and looked at Best Buys for the Mad Catz Arcade pack stick that comes with Frogger, Astropop and Time Pilot, in hopes that they'd have one on clearance for $10 US (they did) and popped it open to see how the PCB is wired. As far as I can tell, from how the microcon PCB looks, it too uses a common ground for everything, so I'm going to try wiring it to the inside of my Tekken 5 stick for PS2, thus making a bulkier stick that works on both PS2 and 360 (and PC! ) and gives me far more room for an actual mod with Sanwa parts.

I'll post a pic of it if anyone wants one (and also if they might be able to confirm for me that it uses a common ground) and let everyone know if it can be used like this.

 

i'd like to see a pic. i have a hacked gs microcon i'm looking at right now and can tell if they are the same. i think the easiest way to tell though would be the version b imprint on the top right in white.

 

You'll have to bear with me, these were taken on my phone (1.3 Mp) and are kind of blurry, plus I resized them since 1280x960 didn't really matter at the crap quality these have.

topside
underneath
where the d-pad goes
face buttons go here

As you can see I still need to remove the two sticks from it and clip the motors for the vibration (I should be able to just clip them off at the board and not cause issues, right?), but the PCB itself looks doable for modding, even if it doesn't use common grounds.

 

i can't really tell from the pics if there is a common ground since it is kind of blurry. i guess the sure way to tell is to see if each ground has a trace going to it making them not common or if there is a big area of nothing that connects each ground to eachother seamlessly. (sorry i can't explain it any better. if anything you can try wiring to one ground and daisy chaining to see if all your inputs work individually and if not for sure it is not common.

as far as clipping off the rumble that should be fine. just cutting off the analog sticks might make your directions go crazy though. you should be able to just pop off those grey tops making them shorter though.

 

I clipped the wires for the rumble without any problems, I wouldn't worry about it.
I did leave the analog sticks on also because if they're anything like the triggers, they will fire randomly if removed. Instead I just used a pair of tin snips to take them as far back as I could and reduce the profile.

 

Looking on the underside for each button I see one hole going to a line for connection and the other is usually on dead space and as far as I can tell they all connect to dead space with nothing between them.

I might go out a bit later and pick up a multimeter, which I've been meaning to do for a while now anyway, and test them to see.

edit: for stupidity when posting tired

 

Hey, I'm looking to make a stick and I just opened up a Gamestop brand 360 controller-- the contacts on the PCB look huge and easy to solder to, plus it's cheap.

My main problem is where to find a proper box/control panel since I don't have the tools or skills to be able to make one (I can drill holes, though). Does anyone have recommendation on some cheap stick I can buy and mod, or what to use as a project box?

 

Don't you know anybody who would be willing to knock you one up out of wood? If the aesthetics of it aren't too much of a worry, then it shouldn't be too hard.
I'm lucky enough to work with a CNC router, so I machined it out of 10mm white acrylic. It turned out quite bulky, but it looks decent for a first attempt. On the plus side, it's extremely solid and heavy enough not to shift easily on surfaces.

I'll be making one for a friend in the near future and will be looking into reducing the dimensions some.

 

Borrowed a camera from a friend so I could take some better pics. These are a good deal sharper and you should be able to see the holes that would make it oh so useful for soldering wires to.

Again, this is more for confirmation of the d-pad being a common ground so I wouldn't have to break traces on a JLF for a mod.

top of PCB
buttons
d-pad
under the PCB
under the d-pad

 

I can certainly confirm the common ground of EVERYTHING on this PCB since I have now tested and even soldered everything to my Tekken 5 PS2 stick with all but the analog buttons and only used one ground wire for them all. It works superb, but I sure as hell need to get the Sanwa parts I want, now.

Anyone know who would be cheapest while being the most reliable and having a reasonable color/size selection? There are about a dozen sellers on SRK.