I just had a flawless install in one of my 360 R1 TEs. It took me about 2 hrs, but I’m pretty sure my next one will go quicker. Here’s some tips and observations:
-I mentioned this earlier, but if you don’t want to break the glue on your JLF (since the connector on it isn’t proper and may not go back on completely well), just remove the restrictor plate, and leave the connector attached to your microswitches. (As an aside, I’ve been messing with so many SE sticks recently that I’ve forgotten just how much of a difference there is between removing a JLF restrictor and a SE restrictor, the JLF restrictors come off SO easily in comparison.)
-My cheapo wire strippers could strip the red and black wires in the USB cable just fine, but not the white and green ones (which are a little bit smaller). So you need something that can strip 24AWG I guess, since my strippers’ smallest gauge is 22AWG. I ended up doing a ghetto way of stripping by putting the green and white cable into the wire cutter part of my stripper, squeezing into it just a little, and rotating the wire around. It didn’t go perfectly but it was quicker than using your teeth or using a knife.
-Try and have all your USB wires be the same length, or at least very close to the same length. On both parts of the USB cable, I had one wire about 3-4mm shorter than the others (due to doing a crappy job of stripping it, having to cut back, and try again). I should have cut the others to the same size. This was a hassle because the three longer wires were pushing the bulk of the cord away from the screw terminals, so I had to try a few times to get the wire in the terminal and have it tightened well.
-For putting some of the outermost cables into the Kitty, it was sort of hard to push them cleanly into place, so I carefully positioned a pliers so it was squeezing the connector into the PCB. They just pop into place if you do it right.
-I was able to get all 4 screws back on, what I did was put the Kitty in it’s place, then put the screws in their screw holes, move the TE PCB around until at least one screw gets partly inside a hole, screw that in about 2 turns, then move the PCB around some more and get another screw in, screw that in 2 turns, and repeat until all 4 screws are in a hole. Then tighten them of course.
DanAdomKOF, would you care if I put in those steps (removing the restrictor plate) into the TE Kitty installation guide? I do feel a JLF-TE is the proper thing to do, but I’d prefer they did that if they wanted to stick with the original cable.
Glad the install went well for you, tell your friends 
do you have any Toodles Imp Board Version 2.1 for sale? lizardlick doesnt have them in stock
Please do it. I don’t want anyone else to remove the glue and then possibly spend who-knows-how-long troubleshooting phantom input drops down the line.
As for friends, I’m actually installing a TE Kitty during UT Dallas’s Fighting Game Club’s meeting later today. I do mods and repairs for free for members of the UTDFGC that are current students, so if any of them see it and want one they’ll only need the $50 for the PCB.
edit: Forgot to ask this. There’s no indication on the button LEDs of Turbo being enabled when using the kitty in not-360 mode, other than observing the game for effects of Turbo. This is a limitation of how the LEDs are wired to the Kitty, right? Not a complaint, just pointing out.
That’s correct, there is no LED indication when turbo is enabled on TE Kitty consoles. On the 360, it’ll pulse (brighter and darker, but not off) when the turbo is on and the button is pressed. On the VLX the turbo LED works as normal.
My TE Kitty arrived in the mail a couple of days ago - thanks. I haven’t had a chance to play with it yet, but a couple of odd questions before I begin:
#1) To use the kitty-modded stick with a PS2, do I need to use the Ethernet port and a custom cable, or can I plug the USB into one of the PS2 USB ports? The PS2 is the only older system I have a strong urge to use this on
#2) If it turns out I do need to use the ethernet port, what’s the recommended method that -doesn’t- involve removing the Back button? I’m fully prepared to put holes in my case (Madcatz TE Round 2), but I’m not sure there’s ROOM for a 1" diameter hole anywhere on the front. How have other people approached this?
What I’ve done with two TEs now is put a 3rd 24mm hole right next to the start button and shift everything over (there’s room inside the case for a button there, but not the neutrik). So I put Start in the new hole, Back in the Start hole, and the neutrik in the Back hole.
Ah, so there IS room for another hole on that side. Excellent, that sounds like a great plan. What did you use to make the hole? (I have access to a lot of tools, but I may have to borrow depending on what I need, so best to know in advance.)
toodles,
just wanted to say this has been one of the best experiences of buying something outstide of Ebay or amazon. the product arrived 2 days after I ordered it. The installation took a few hours as for some reason I couldn’t get the green and white wires in the terminals correctly (appeared to be thinner in AWG size), but I fixed that by cutting the exposed wires shorter. also I plugged it up to a windows 7 computer so I didn’t get a “testing” tab in the properties but it did identity it as a joystick/game controller in xbox and non-xbox mode and the Led’s lit up correctly. I am also able to play it on Ps3 and xbox360 which was my intention from the beginning. So again, just wanted to say Thank you for the write-up and keep up the great service!
- You MUST use the RJ-45 jack on the Kitty. You could connect a console cable to the RJ45 jack on the Kitty and run it out of the stick if you’d like, but using a Neutrik or equivalent RJ45 jack on the case is preferred.
- Removing the Back button is the best way to do it. Way, way harder to mess up than any other method, cleaner, just all around the best way to do it I know of. Please remember that the Back/Select button is connected to the Turbo button by the Kitty; you’re not losing anything by using that hole, and you’re saving yourself a TON of trouble.
Glad ya like it, tell your friends
I used a 15/16" hole saw but now I actually regret it on this stick since I forgot about the turbo thing that toodles mentioned above. The other stick it was necessary for me though because it was a straight MC Cthulhu board as opposed to the Kitty.
Been at work all day, hoping I’ll be able to finish troubleshooting my install. I tried plugging it in this morning to check the voltage on that LED but the stick wasn’t getting any power (as opposed to last night, even though nothing had changed) a quick inspection showed that some of the usb lines going into the screw terminal had slipped out when I moved the stick so I’m guessing that contributed to it. Will update when I have a chance to get to it again.
EDIT: Okay, just tried again, same issue. Guide button/turbo buttons aren’t lighting up at all, computer isn’t recognizing it. I double checked all cables and screw terminals and they all seem secure. I’ve confirmed that when it’s plugged in there’s 5v across the “OUT” VCC and GND but 0 across the XBOX side. What else can I check to troubleshoot?
I’m having some issues with my Te-S install. PC and PS3 mode work fine and is recognized by the PC as TE Kitty Edition, but the 360 mode gives an unrecognized usb device error. I have the all the ribbons and Te-S harness installed properly and I did set the sliders to unlock and RS while holding down turbo. The original Te PCB has been tested and works. I’m stumped, any tips or tricks?
Here are a few pics:
Te-S board and Kitty
Close up of USB terminals
PS3/PC device recognition
360 mode error
Sent a PM, but I guess posting in here might just be better. If the bottom joint of the D10 component on the Kitty broke, can I just toss a little solder on it to reconnect it?
Woowoo!
Order of these steps is rather important.
Tear it apart.
Start with Kitty board and outgoing USB cable, nothing else. Test it shows up in the control panel applet.
Add the two ribbons from the button distro block to the Kitty. Test play buttons in control panel applet.
Add the joystick ribbon to the Kitty. Test directions in control panel applet.
Add the ‘V’ cable between Kitty and LED board. Test the direction of the sticks shows up in Guide LEDs.
Add the ‘R’ cable between Kitty and LED board. Test LS/DP/RS slider works properly with the joystick in the control panel applet.
Add the ‘H’ cable between Kitty and LED board. Test Guide button activates button #13 on the control panel applet.
Kitty is fully tested and working.
Connect the four USB wires from Xbox360 board to Kitty screw terminals. Test but plugging in with 360 mode forces (Slider on RS, hold down Turbo). Should show up in control panel applet.
Connect joystick ribbon cable between Kitty and Xbox360 board. Test in control panel in Xbox360 mode.
Connect both button ribbon cables between Kitty and Xbox360 board. Test all eight play buttons in control panel in Xbox360 mode.
Connect ‘V’ ribbon cable between Xbox360 board and Kitty. Verify upper left LED is on in Xbox360 mode on PC.
Connect ‘H’ ribbon cable between Xbox360 board and Kitty. Activate Turbo on a play button and verify it works in the control panel. LEDs may NOT pulse as normal, ignore.
Connect ‘R’ ribbon cable between Xbox360 board and Kitty. Move slider to ‘RS’. Test directions in Xbox360 mode on PC do show up in DP mode but dont show up in RS mode.
That’s it. Go through in order. If you come across any hiccups, describe them, and take some photos.
Why is there a ribbon plugging into the bottom middle 6 pin header? The ‘H’ one. I dont think there’s supposed to be anything in there on a TE-S install.
Easiest thing to do to verify the xbox360 board is to pull out the four outgoing USB wires in the ‘OUT’ section, and double them up in the ‘XBOX’ section of the screw terminals, so there’s two black wires in the GND screw terminal, two green in the D+, two white in the D-, and two red in the VCC (all in the XBOX botton half). Do that, and the xbox360 pcb is directly connected to the outgoing USB wires with no interference from the Kitty at all.
NO, do not do that. find the diode and put it back, or forget about it. If you bridge it, it could cause a problem in Xbox360 mode if you try to use turbo on that button.
Nice! Any tips? Did you add that white trapezoid on the left?
I did add that piece. In order to mount the kitty board I had to dremel underneath it for the wires. That white piece of plastic is holding the board down on that side. If the ribbon cables from te-s pcb to kitty pcb were a few inches longer no mods to the case would be needed to install.
Oh no I know, I think you misread my post. The diode is still on the board but only one solder joint is holding it there, the other end is disconnected,so I’d just be resoldering that joint.
That’s weird, but sure, if the diode is still there you can solder the other end down, sure.
I tested out the xbox 360 pcb with the method you provided and it works on the console and detects on the PC. I don’t know what you mean by having the 6 pin ribbon in that area though. The TE-S installation guide says to connect the 7 pin to the CN4 area and plug the other end into the Kitty on the inside header between V and R.