Well I just tried dual modding my PS3 Madcatz SE Stick with a 360 Madcatz arcade gamestick (Retro Stick). When the stik is set to PS3 it works fine. But in 360 mode I get nothing. I still have the back off an when on 360 mode if, I hit the stick, all 4 guide leds flash and keep flashing as if it’s looking to pair with a 360. Typically the gamestick would get assigned a number when I plugged it in.
On the SE fight stick which row of connections is the common ground? I’m thinking the PCB isn’t actually grounded and I hooked up the common ground wire and the signal wires to the wrong rows. I tried using a multimeter before hand to be sure of what i was doing, but I’m such a novice I may have figured it out wrong. Any help would be appreciated.
I’d post pictures now but i don’t have the time right now, I’m just wondering if the PCB symptoms are indicative of something known.
Is there any easy way to tell If Ive killed my retro Gamestick PCB? I’ve checked and resoldered my USB wiring. I get the plug in noise in windows when I swith to PS3 mode, but I get nothing when switched to 360 mode. If I can’t even get that I have no idea what to try.
Really quick noob question - If the 360 PCB in the diagram is NOT COMMON GROUND, but is wireless – that is, I do not need to hook it up to the single USB, can it still work?
Could someone please help me? I know some with a mad catz pad had issues with having to flip D+ and D- but i’ve color coded mine and they should be straight. Here’s a ton of pictures.
The Soldering for the USB was alot nicer before but it didn’t work so I disconnected them and soldered them to this side just to see if it made a difference.
The Black wire from left is my ground point.
Here’s some pics of my SE stick connections, i used the solderles Quick disconnect trick where ever I could.
I just resoldered the USB Ground wire across both ground points on the SE PCB just to be safe and I still get nothing. I’ve checked with my Multimeter and I get 5v from the 5v to the ground on both the SE stick and the Retro PCB.
fairly new to the site, i have been doing some reading over the past two weeks. my 1st post so i hope i don’t get flamed. i bought a cthulhu board from chat at LL to mode my XBOX 360 SE SF4 MADCATZ FIGHTSTICK and i was hoping to have some direct me to readings that could answer some of my questions. i am not very good with electronics and i get confused sometimes with the english on the site. i just do not want to be confused by the information i am reading.
so far i know i have to remove the terminal strip. Then sodder the buttons to their appropriate place on the cthulhu boarded and then daisy chain the buttons together and sodder the end to one of the ground points on the cthulu.
I dl’d a pdf and it said that points A-h/1-9 on the cthulu board are where I sodder the corresponding wires on the 360 pcb (vcc from the usb, the joystick inputs, etc). This is correct?
Next i know i have to some how wire a dpdt (dual pole dual terminal?) switch to regulate the data between the two boards? Do we have a resource on the site that can help me do that? I do not understand this at all. Must I use a specific dpdt? Can someone recommend?
Lastly, after the dpdt is in place and wired, is this all i need to run the joystick on both the ps3 and xbox360?
I am sorry if this is a question asked already. I hope my English is understandable. I hope someone can direct me to the pages I need to answer my questions please. Thank you.
I finished reading the entire thread and i think i have a better understanding now. I think i understand how to wire the dpdt switch.
I have a question directed to toodles or if anyone else can answer that would be great! Also, i would like to again say that I have a SF4 SE Madcatz fightstick for xbox360. I have a build in mind that i would like to use where i keep the exsisting terminal strip. If what i think is correct, id like to use Velcro to secure the board somewhere on the top of the case near the turbo button.
Am i allowed to use wire, connect it to the ribbon cables located on the madcatz pcb, and then sodder the other end to the cthulhu board?
If question one is yes, where should i sodder these lines? Does it go to the top of the board labeled A-H/1-9 or do they go on the sides of the board that go with the corresponding input?
Is this planning easier to do than to remove the terminal strip and wire the buttons directly to the cthulhu?
i will try to make a picture of what I am trying to say and post it.
Allowed? Sure. It’ll work fine as long as you follow the other guidelines (both boards much be powered)
Whereever is easiest for you. Any point that is directly connected to that signal line is fair game.
I don’t think so. On my TE, I’m planning to remove that distribution block and mount the Cthulhu in it’s place. I’ll take the ground wires for all of the buttons and daisy chain them together, ending in a single ground wire that screws into the Cthulhu. I’ll cut the two small ribbon cables that originally when to the distribution block, and solder them to their matching points in the small unlabelled holes (check the welcome doc for the pinout; this includes all of the button and Ground). I’ll then splice wires for the directions (or solder directly to the main madcatz pcb; I havent decided) and the Guide button and run them to the unlabelled holes. Last, I’ll run a wire from the unlabelled VCC holes to one of the USB VCC points labelled on the main madcatz board.
Crap, you have an SE. In that case, it seems better to splice the existing direction and button wires, because the best place I’ve found to mount the pcb is under the turbo PCB. In the TE, you can remove the distro block and mount with bolts without anything coming out of the stick. Can’t really do that with the SE. You could remove the distroblock and mount the board with hot glue or by model glueing pcb standoff feet to the case and screwing the cthulhu down on it if you like.
So, use the way I described in 3 if you’re mounting the Cthulhu where the distribution block originally was. If under the turbo, might be better to just splice everything and run it to the cthulhu.
thank you very much toodles! my english isn’t so good so i had trouble understanding at first. now that you tell me what to do step by step, i feel very confident now.
i hope you do not mind, hopefully this my last question. when i am wiring the dpdt:
i am to remove only the D+ and D- lines from the sodder point on the madcatz pcb or am i removing all connections and creating some from of y connection for the vcc and the ground?
Rag, even with all those nice and clear pictures, it’s hard to tell what exactly went wrong. The only thing I can tell you is to check your wiring again and to make sure everything is where it should be.
I recoldered the original madcatz cord to the Retro PCB and plugged it in and my computer detected a new device. SO I know my PCB isn’t dead. I reconnected it to the SE USB cable and I got nothin. I’ve checked power across 5V and Ground and I’m getting 5V, I’m truly stumped.
Is there something special with the Madcats 360 USB cord I’m not taking into consideration?
Is there some kind of encryption built into 360 USB cables or something? They all seem to have a bulge at some point along the cord and that detachable part. After dinner I’m gonna try hooking up the Madcatz cord in place of the stock one on the stick and see if that makes a difference.
NO. Big No. If the resistance between the VCCUSB and GND is less than, say 1k ohm, there is a problem. If there is a resistance of 100 ohms or less, there is a big problem that needs to be located and fixed before plugging in.
That bulge is just for the disconnect, and maybe a ferrite ring. There are no electronics at all in the cable itself. But feel free to swap cables if you like.
I’d rather not switch but when I resoldered the original cord to the PCB and plugged it in It was recognized as a new device, so I know the PBC isn’t fried,
