Madcatz Home Panel Replacement Board: Making UFB installs EZPZ

Tech Talk
1

The Home Panel Replacement board (HPR) is designed to make installing Brooks Universal Fighting Board (UFB) easier to install in Madcatz sticks that use the home panel like the one in the TE. It will replace the pcb in the home panel of any TE/TE-S/SE/KE/Brawlstick/Pro/VS regardless if it was for ps3, 360, or wii.
Features that remain are the player leds, lock switch, and home button.
Features that are lost are the stick mode and turbo.
Features that are gained are the touchpad, L3, and R3 buttons via the turbo button (now the Aux button). The stick mode switch (now Aux switch) will control which one of thosee three inputs the Aux button registers.

Pinout:

http://imgur.com/71xcUSt.png

HPR setup for 360 model or PS3/Wii models that don’t have player leds:

http://imgur.com/jo37LrF.png

http://imgur.com/aKQ7lCy.png

http://imgur.com/vrdhGwv.png

HPR setup for PS3 model that do have player leds:

http://imgur.com/96Q8jVz.png

http://imgur.com/SM8Uk8n.png

Some models have rubber membranes that have tiny little nips.

http://imgur.com/jRjHckc.png

If it does then there are tiny holes for them to squeeze through.

http://imgur.com/mHMzTKo.png

What the board looks like once the switch caps and rubber membranes are switched over:

http://imgur.com/VvuQ9x2.png

Back side view for the installed swap:

http://imgur.com/Ja8NgFu.png

Included with the HPR are three harnesses and two headers. The two headers are soldered onto the UFB J5 and J4 locations.

http://imgur.com/oyHi7Sq.png

If your UFB has one or both headers already preinstalled and they are shrouded then check to make sure they face the same way as the ones above.
If they are shrouded and face the opposite way then remove the plastic so that only the pins remain.

http://imgur.com/GbJDPRI.png

When the harnesses are plugged in they should be facing like this:

http://imgur.com/fwkrRmh.png

View of the HPR connected to the UFB. Two of the harnesses plug straight into the UFB. The third harness has just two wires. The red wire plugs into the screw terminal for the home signal (labeled PS/XBOX on the UFB). The black wire will require being soldered to the Kgnd wire that is part of the fightstick’s button harness. If the fightstick does not have a Kgnd then you may disregard this wire.

http://imgur.com/FnrOL9c.jpg

Example install into a Madcatz PS3 VS.

Strip the fightstick down and remove the home panel.

http://imgur.com/IlH5wTh.jpg

Swap out the pcb with the HPR board and reassemble the home panel. Place back into its original spot inside the case.

http://imgur.com/6zxhugh.jpg

Plug in the harnesses into the HPR and UFB. As seen in the picture, the harness with two wires has is red wire going to the home signal screw terminal and the black wire soldered to the Kgrd wire from the fightstick’s button harness. The rest of the UFB install involving the buttons and joystick is not part of this scope. That is left up to you, but using the screw terminals is a good start.

http://imgur.com/iIXcA2c.jpg

Finished view of the panel showing off the UFB in xb1 mode.

http://imgur.com/c74ymZf.jpg

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Reserved:

3

Looks like I’ll be heading to eBay for some “broken” sticks once these are for sale :smiley:

4

Very nice

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Can’t wait for mine to get here!

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I’m trying to put this on the front page. Excellent idea.

7

This is similar to what The_Real_Phoenix was working on. Did he drop that project or something?

8

There bound to be overlap. Anyways they are parallel developments and enough noticeable differences that I can tell they are 2 separate developments. I would like to get my paws on both boards.

9

Any chance of a @jonyfraze or @“GOGO.zippy” / @Brook_Engineer collab to test this with the updated PS4 with mic Brook PCB too?

10

They

Two different developments. I worked on making my te2ezpz first and then worked on this. I was aware he was making some sort of replacement board, but didn’t follow his progress. Didn’t even know he made a more revised version to connect to the ufb until I finished making mine.
He is actually thinking about giving up on making more of his to sell, which I think he shouldn’t quit. He should make a thread and let people have options. I would suggest you contacting him directly to give him support to do so.

Ive sent one to Jonyfraze. He can try it with that board if he wants to, which he may end up doing. I know he will end up soldering the harnesses to the board tho as it uses 2.5mm pitched headers now instead of the 2mm pitched on the ufb.

11

@Gummo @Feargus001100 I’m gonna use mine for a UFB install on a PS3 VS Stick. Couldn’t pass up the ease of use with the headers Gummo sent.

12

Awesome thanks for the write-up!

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I actually haven’t seen anything after the videos he posted. Either way, having two options gives a higher chance for us consumers to have the best options. This is a very interesting project as I’ve been looking for very easy ways of using the TE panel without touching the original pcb. I don’t have a UFB but anything that allows me access to my stick without permanent modification is welcome.

14

Count me in for one! I made a custom hitbox and the plexi I used had a cutout for the home panel. I left the home panel in but it’s dead so this would be a perfect replacement.

15

I’m seriously so excited that this is a thing. I love the original TE(-S)/FS Pro models so much.

16

I want one of these!! Got a Brook for my TE-S and this will make it SO much cleaner…

UPDATE: Just placed my order for one. Might order another IF I keep my other TE

17

Any idea what pricing will be?

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gunmo is $15 and phoenix is aimiing for $10 each. Got two from gunmo

19

would this work for a padhack? I’m getting a sfxt vs stick but I don’t wanna mess up the original pcb.

20

$15 plus shipping ($3 first class or $6 priority rate).

What kind of padhack? It’s pretty much designed for use with just the brook ufb.