Hey Phreakazoid, are you going to include a ribbon cable with both ends ready for a Dual Strike board? Or is that something the end user will have to make? Just curious, i’m interested in your product and it’s promise of no soldering.
Could you point us to a guide on creating the usb B cable like you did in the video? It not necessary though is it, I could just buy a usb B to A cable and discard the original cable right?
Well, nothing is set in stone just yet, but my initial idea was to have it “built to order” so-to-speak. Basically the user tells me when they order one whether they want a single ended cable, or double ended cable. I will make the cables myself, and include the one the user requests along with the other parts of the kit. The single ended would be for ChImp uses and other mods that require a peel-able ribbon cable end, whereas the double ended would be solely for Dual Strike purposes.
The only reason I did it the way I did was because the stick I’ve been modeling the board from and testing with isn’t mine. Basically all I did was cannibalize an old USB A/B printer cable, and spliced the stock USB lines to the B end, putting shrink wrap over the whole thing. Theoretically, you could simply discard the original cable, and opt instead for a long, store bought A/B USB cable, and simply drill a larger hole where the stock cable comes into the case. That way the B end will fit into the case, and you could simply run it to an assembled board.
The other options include
- Soldering the USB lines to the controller board (for those comfortable in doing that, but still want the reduced time my board will offer)
- Wait for revisions of the controller boards to include the possibility of USB line screw terminals so the stock cable can simply be routed and screwed down. I believe Toodles has something akin to that in the SMD version of the ChImp board he’s mentioned briefly.
For those wondering about updates, it’s taken longer than expected to get my hands on a TE-S stick, so I didn’t want to make any more changes before I knew what I was in for. Technically I have one on hand, but I can only poke around a little bit with it as it’s not mine, I’ll have my own TE-S in my hands today or tomorrow so that I can complete my design. In the mean time I’m finishing up making some minor alterations to my current design that works on Round 1/2 sticks.
As it stands, it looks like I may need 2 boards to accommodate the different sticks. That’s not really THAT big of an issue, but I’m mulling over how to make a universal board, even though I’m almost certain I can’t.
One minor update though to v1.2:
Addition of through hole spots for VCC and GND to allow smaller screw terminals to be added. Purplearms has requested this option, and I’m going to finalize their addition to the board tonight. Basically they would be an additional tap point if the user wants to incorporate LED mods or anything of the sort.
It sucks how they revised the board and screwed up your measurements like that Phreakazoid187. It’d be nice to have a universal design, no doubt, but nothing’s perfect, right? I’d say just make orders in suit of demand, though for a single person making boards, this is probably easier said than done. :xeye:
I’m liking that idea that Purplearms pitched to you about having two extra screw-terminable VCC and GND points. That’s a nice suggestion, especially for those wanting to throw an optical joystick in there since I don’t believe the Dual Strike PCB has a VCC terminal.
One question I’ve got is about dual-modding this with the ChImp via the 20-pin serial ribbon cable. I noticed in Toodles’ recent versions of the ChImp (or maybe they were there all along?) he’s got 20-pins free at the back of the board. Forgive me if this is a stupid question or one already answered, but does the ribbon cable terminal on the ChImp match up to the one you’re putting on the TEasy Mod Board? Or will you have to manually connect the TEasy Mod Board to the ChImp via screw-terminals? For that matter, and I’m sorry that this is the wrong place, but I’d figure someone would know, does the ChImp include the secondary ground for the USB jack on the 20 pins at the back of the board? What about the TEasy Mod Board? It may be a useless addition, but I figure extra grounding can’t hurt, can it?
I do have a question. What is the pinouts for the ribbon cable connector? I’m almost tempted to see if this will work with a UPCB (if Toodles or anyone still produces any) just so I can have a nearly solderless Multiconsole stick without having to try to force the wires to stay in the screw terminals (a losing battle that forced me to use the top soldering points on all my cthulhus).
Awesome work! This is going to make dual-modding my TE stick incredibly simple. I will be purchasing one when it is released.
Well, the burden of adjustment always falls to the modder, so I was kind of prepared to have this issue, it’s not a big deal. Keeping track of the two boards shouldn’t be terribly difficult (I think/hope 
). Eventually I may be able to come up with a universal board, but for now, I don’t have enough time to deal with it, so I’ll stick with 2 boards. You’d be surprised at the minute details that are different too, although this whole project has been about itsy bitsy changes, so I’m used to it now, and know what to look for
The Dual Strike boards does have VCC and GND screw terminals, but the placement on my board may help to alleviate a bird’s nest if the user has LED mods, or is using my board in conjunction with a hacked PCB that doesn’t have screw terminals for those spots. Either way, it was a small and not terribly tough addition, but may prove to be an incredibly useful one; so thank you purplearms for that suggestion.
The ribbon cable will not work pin for pin with the ChImp board. I had to make a decision on which board to accommodate, and unfortunately the sheer amount of pins on the ChImp’s end header didn’t make for an ideal case. He’s got 2 rows of 11 pins, which is kind of an odd size for headers/ribbon cables, which would end up costing extra to find and apply. I opted for a standard pin sizing, 20 pins, which is exactly what the Dual Strike has since Bencao74 designed his with a ribbon cable in mind as well. For now, the screw terminal option is the only way that I see to interface with the ChImp board. It’s still very easy to do that, but it’s not quite as plug and play as with the Dual Strike.
Pinout has been added to the first post. To my knowledge, it’s identical to the UPCB since I had to copy what the Dual Strike had. bencao74 has stated that he bases most his projects from the UPCB, so adapting that pinout was the natural cause of action.
edit:
Forgot, big update. I hunkered down yesterday and used the TE-S that I had on hand to complete my adjustments to, what I think and hope are 100% correct. I’ve sent my designs to the fab house for quote, and will hopefully hear back today and will be able to place an order for boards. The good thing about that is if I place an order today, I’ll have boards very soon to send out to folks for beta testing :tup:
Great stuff, Phreakazoid. I have to say i’m nervous about cutting the original USB cable, as I’ve never modded a stick before. I have plenty of experience building PCs and even did some internal mods to my PSP, just i’ve never had to learn to solder before. I think I should be able to handle this mod though. I assume i’ll have to drill holes to mount the Dual Strike pcb, but that won’t be an issue.
Wouldn’t it be possible to not cut the original usb cable at all? Just keep it sitting inside the shell never to be plugged in? I know its not very economical but at least that way, if you change your mind, you could always revert the TE back to its original form. Of course you would have to make a bigger hole in the cable compartment in order to get a standad usb B-A cable in there instead.
Am i right in saying this would be possible?
Ah, thanks for that information Phreakazoid187! I’m glad that you’re still able to keep your chin up despite the problems you’re encountering in this development process. :bgrin:
I’m definitely liking the idea of your pinout matching bencao74’s which means they match the Universal PCB that Toodles started. In fact, I’ll throw out that this project has pretty much just sold me on getting a Dual Strike PCB over a ChImp. Though I won’t lie, I do like the feature set on the ChImp better. However the Dual Strike definitely has all that I need to game on a PlayStation 3. I’m so glad it has pins for VCC and ground though. I never knew that before! :lol:
So this mod is only for the 360 sticks?
Yeah, though if you can replace your PlayStation 3 version’s innards with an Xbox 360 version’s, that would work perfectly fine as well.
Phreak, I just want to say- awesome work!
I saw the blog a while ago, and I thought the idea was great (but there was nothing at the time that I needed it for), but this actually fits the bill pretty perfectly for what I want to get done (This makes wiring so much more neat- I COULD solder a whole bunch of wires, but this just looks so much more organized).
Sign me up for one or probably two when you get these rolled out.
My only two questions are a.)Could we see an example of this hooked up to a Cthulhu? and b.)When the hell can I get my hands on this?
I am wondering if this is possible too.
BTW great work definitely in for one when you release it.
a. Absolutely, when I get my next batch, I’ll have a more formal example for the Dual Strike, as well as an example of a ChImp. I have my TE-S now, so the ChImp will be used in that stick, while the Dual Strike will be used in the Round 1 I’ve had for a while now. I’ll also ask one of my beta testers to possibly use this in an MC Cthulu set up, to showcase the work this board could save in that mod as well.
b. I hope (really, really hope) soon, I sent out for a quote from the fab house, but since that was the end of the week and it’s memorial day weekend, it’s likely that the rep took Friday off or couldn’t get to my request. I’ll probably hear from him Tuesday and will go from there. Again, I’m shooting for my first official release at EVO this year. Unfortunately this is the part where I have to do a lot of waiting around for stuff to get done/made >.<
Thanks, and yes… since the pins only “tap into” the solder joints already in place, it’s entirely possible to widen the hole where the stock cable is, and just bring the thing back into the case, leaving it there and still connected to the PCB. Then you would only have to run a new USB cable into the case and to the controller board. If you did it that way, it would be possible to return he stick to stock conditions (minus the bigger hole in the USB compartment).
If you need a guy, I modded my best friend’s Mad Catz Arcade FightStick Tournament Edition Round 1 with a Multi-Console Cthulu and RJ-45 plug. You’re completely right though, this board would’ve saved me an assload of time should this have been out back then. :wasted:
I’m rooting you on for that EVO 2010 deadline you set, Phreakazoid187! It’ll be a lot of work, but I’m 100% confident it’d be worth it. :tup:
Would this mod work with the MVC TE pcb since the MVC TE uses a different button layout.
Normal Xbox 360 TE:
X Y RB LB
A B RT LT
Marvel vs. Capcom Xbox 360 TE:
X Y LB LT
A B RB RT
I say to hit the EVO deadline you sell a small limited amount of boards as “Beta Testers” with the understanding that there might be something wrong with the boards, and try to only sell to some experienced modders.
So is there going to be 2 boards? a “TEasy” and a “T.E.-Sheezy” board?
The MVC2 TE uses the same pcb as the other TEs. The way it has a different button mapping is the order th quick disconnect wires are connected to the buttons.
That’s pretty much what I’m going to do, for the most part it depends on what the guy quotes me for prices. Depending on what he says (and also what my pogo-pin contact has in stock) I’ll decide on how many to order. I was going to do a small run of beta boards to hammer out any last details, where I was only going to hand them out to experienced people so that they can thoroughly critique things.
With any luck though, perhaps I can simply order a lot of boards (fab house pricing is weird, a few boards costs almost as much as a lot of them ). Then mail out a small amount for beta testing, if they work like they’re supposed to perhaps I can put together as many others as I can to bring with me or something.
And yeah, right now I’ve got 2 boards:
TEasy Mod v1.2
TEasy Mod S v1.0
Such slight differences, but perhaps I can merge the designs later on or something.