Project Box Controllers: A Guide to Modular Controllers

Tech Talk
41

On the MC Cthulu, you still have to solder the Ethernet cable onto the board to attach to the RJ-45 feedthrough jack. There’s no way around it as far as I can tell. The existing jack on the MC Cthulu is a carrier-over from the Cthulu which is a USB board. That’s the one thing I DON’T like about the MC Cthulu which is otherwise a great piece of hardware… Once that’s done, then it’s solderless.

Odd thing is that Toodles DID put an RJ-45 jack on the Kitty Boards for the 360 joysticks… Might get one of those if I decide to go through with a buy of an Asian-region 360 TE.

I’ll figure out this project box mod. I already have a decent idea of how to put the MC Cthulu into a project box and integrate the other components I’ll need there. The male DB-25 connector/cable would be in the project box. Female terminal end or a short DB-25 cable with a female end would be coming out of the joystick case I’d gather. This sort of thing would be easy to integrate onto an HRAP (Astrocade) case or a Mad Catz TE case… I’m looking at approaching this for the Agetec case, too. I just don’t want to have to buy an MC Cthulu or other PCB board every time I want to incorporate multi-console capability into refitted joysticks cases.

42

This starts to get expensive real fast before you even get the PCBs!
Checking around on prices the past day –

Radio Shack has project boxes that would fit an MC Cthulu-sized PCB plus an RJ-45 jack plus a DB-25 D-sub port (solder) nicely. The project box in question costs $3.79 a piece… (Doubt they’ll be much cheaper online… Remember shipping and being sure that the PCB’s, feeds, interfaces all fit inside the p-box). The D-subs themselves at RS are $2.29… D-subs are available online for $1.

I did find the DB-25 break-outs megaultrasuper mentioned on e-Bay. Yep, $6 still! Problem is that room inside the project box starts to get cramped with that. (Probably still room for this inside the $3.79 p-box plus the MC Cthulu and similar-sized PCBs BUT an RJ-45 keystone jack/feedthrough may have to be staggered/elevated so that the parts all fit in the box.) So, to avoid soldering completely for a case mod, two of these breakout units would be needed — 1 for the joystick case, 1 for the project box.

A DB-25 M/F adapter wouldn’t be absolutely necessary since there are plenty of M/M DB-25 cables out there… Man, that cabling is NOT cheap! I saw it in-store, 3ft for $12-$14. Even online, the best deal I saw was 1 ft of DB-25 cabling for $6.

So, altogether – assuming you have the wiring and tools needed we’re talking
1 Project Box $3.79 = $3.79
2 X DB25 Female Signals Breakout Board parallel port at $6 a piece = $12
1 1-ft DB-25 M/M cable = $6
PCB for the project box = free or up to $35
1 RJ-45 feedthrough or keystone jack = $8-$10

So around $64 for the total project with no soldering, or roughly $54 with soldering (D-B subs by themselves, no breakouts)… That’s within $8-$10 (low-end, soldering) of what I’d pay for the RJ-45 feedthrough plus the MC Cthulu… None of this includes tax and shipping, btw… those are raw parts costs.

Not really much difference there, honestly, excepting if you made the project box (or two) you’d only have to do that ONCE and then everything connects through a common DB-25 wiring setup from then on which isn’t bad if you go the online/e-Bay route. Then, that’s only $6 per stick mod (if you want multi-console useage from a legacy joystick).

Of course, another option is running a DB-cable straight out of your joystick case through the old system connector cord hole (widened a bit of course!). That would be an easier hole to make than carving the full indent for the DB-25 face itself… No difference in cost, either. The only thing that would have to be drilled/cut out for a DB-25 interface would then be the project box itself…
(I’d probably go for the DB-25 cut-out on the case… Extra work yes, but then you don’t have to pay $6 for a new cable every time per joystick mod. I like my existing joysticks with RJ-45 plug-ins. Too many horror stories of system connector cords getting ruined by squishing in tight box or case storage compartments).

Neat! Sometimes thinking through before you actually cut anything is more fun than the project itself!

Still, I have two questions —

Even with two female connectors, one of them would have to have the order of the wiring swapped?
In other words, my wires run 1-13 left to right on the DB-25 D-subs in my joystick’s case, BUT in the project box they must run 13-1 right to left to interface properly with the joystick case wiring?

Two, you can have more than one ground wire as long as they’re synced up like the rest of the wiring? I’m no wiring expert and frankly wasn’t strong on circuitry in physics NOR did I ever do personal wiring before 2009. I have done daisy-chaining for 6-buttons in my last finished (Agetec) case mod and it worked fine so I’m comfortable with a single common line for those… Daisy-chaining for the other buttons and joystick common is another thing!

I am concerned for the commons for the joystick AND the Select, Start, and Guide buttons. My concern is the potential exists to screw up the Common grounds for those and have a misfiring button or worse non-functional button/joystick. My understanding is that there are more than enough points on the DB-25 so that those can have their commons. In other words, we don’t need one common point on the DB-25 to cover ALL the common on the PCB… I figure I still have at least 7-8 open points on the DB-25 even if I keep extra commons for the joystick, Select, and Start.

I don’t know that this is a potential problem here for a DB-25 project box, but Toodles does have an option on the MC Cthulu where you can short a point on the board or wire-connect Home and Ground terminal positions so that Select and Start pushed together operate as a Home/Guide button. I wouldn’t have to wire for a Home button in that case as long as the shorting/wire-connection is in-place on the MC Cthulu itself? (Option works for PS3 only unless a dual-mod 360 owner can verify it works for them, too… I only own PS3 so the 360 option doesn’t concern me…)

43

I need to add pics later. As I am too lazy now to get my camera.

I added a DB 25 port to my Agetec stick (which is already Tri-moded) so I can add a MC Cthulhu or later other PCB to my stick.
I got a MC Cthulhu mounted in a clear Spark Fun project box and I used DB 9 serial connectors instead of RJ45 for my system cables.
DB-9 cost more than RJ45 in the long run but I feel DB-9 is more rugged. I already made system cables for NES, SNES, Game Cube and USB. I later going to add Saturn and PS1/2 cables. I am also intending to also do a similar set up so my Twin Stick mod can also accept a Project Box via DB 25 but Saturn/Dreamcast Support on my Virtual On Twin Stick isn’t a priority.

If your wondering I also followed rtdzign" DB 25 pin out minus the D+ and D- Lines. Looking at the free number of pins, sending out the G A B C D E F V lines from a Cthulhu would be possible. V would have to take the place of VCC, but I think its doable.

44

I guess I just have to sit down and do this once or twice.

Still undecided on the solderless approach even though I think the online pricing for a reversible terminal screw part isn’t bad. The “r” word is key here for checking on wiring. I really do appreciate the screw terminals Toodles put on the MC Cthulu!

This is a versatile mod job but I honestly see rtdzign’s point… This is one project where you have to lay down numbers and which wires go to each terminal post/D-sub terminal. You can really screw things up if you don’t. The fact that you have to reverse your numbers on the opposite D-sub terminal is key… there are tons of people on this site who can’t read or comprehend instructions to save their lives… sadder still, they don’t ask questions to clarify before they do something really stupid!

I think I would do pre-planning with notes first, and, after verification tests, type up those notes on my computer, save to a secure corner of a hard drive, and then print out the note(s) and stick in a zip-lock bag taped inside the joystick case for future reference. Dead serious… I know I’d forget without reminders just like I forgot how to do a few things with the MC Cthulu recently. Thankfully, I didn’t damage anything on the hardware or my body!

So far, there is nothing in most mod jobs short of vacuuforming that I think high school grads couldn’t handle with the right tools…

45

Leaning towards the project box mod more and more as I realize I’m having some serious problems with my remaining T5 PCB… An electrical problem has developed and I’m getting instances of signals not going through on the rightmost buttons. It’s weird and I can’t isolate the issue. Joystick signals fine but sometimes the R1 button doesn’t work. I’ve plugged and unplugged the QD’s but the issue repeats on both PS2 and PS3. Bad vibrations (electrical flow) or was installing the RJ-45 interface between the halves of a partly severed PS2 cord not such a good idea? (The cord halves interface through the RJ-45… The cords were done up correctly and the joystick PCB has worked perfectly in the past. Issues seem to be arising lately that I don’t think have to do with going with a more comfortable 6-button layout.) Does the black mini-wire actually do anything in the connector cord? That’s all I could figure for causing an issue since the PCB’s been fine in the past. On the other hand, I do like extending stick functionality and compatibility so losing/replacing the old PCB may not turn out so bad after all…

(If anybody asks, for costs of mailing I have two PS2 T5 PCB boards I can send sans PSX/PS2 connector cords if they want them for postage which I don’t think should be above $5.25 max. Can’t guarantee they both work, and one had a definite crack between the ground solder point and first directional signal point of the joystick in the PCB. Yes, it crack in half there but the main CPU chip on the board should still be fine…)

Every other joystick I have is happy as clams. Could be open to doing DB-25 project box mods to as many as 5-6 joysticks – empty cases or soon-to-be-empty that need new controller boards. Buying just 2 new PCB’s (likely MC Cthulus) for project boxes to spread among these joysticks would be much cheaper than 5-6 individual PCBs!

My wallet and desire to tackle a new way of doing mods like this idea better…

46

Have a few pics and posts been deleted from this thread…?

Is it my faulty memory or do I remember seeing pics of somebody using female header pins and some style of crimps on an MC Cthulu-style board in the RJ-45/Cat5e Row 1 soldering positions?

Something looks or feels like it’s been deleted…! (Or, I’ve fallen into a parallel universe. It happens. Ask The Flash.)

If at all possible, could somebody make a list of the style of crimps/pins and female header pins compatible with the MC Cthulu. I’m having a devil of a time finding this stuff online and need some measurements (spacing between pins, pitch, etc. – the same old shit we all had to go through when looking for METRIC screws to replace lost/damaged screws in our Hori and Mad Catz joysticks(!)) to make sure I don’t buy the wrong parts.

DB-25 interfaces – male or female – are the same everywhere… The only thing I’d be interested in knowing for those are the the kind/style of screws that you use to secure those to casing. These screws have hexgonal projections on the front that you can also screw DB-25 cable into as well. I’ve used something like those on computers for SCSI cables, too. (Darn things tend to twist and fall off after a while, too!)

Web links appreciated, too, but I definitely need to know what these parts are called and their specifications.

Every profession/job you can think of has its vocabulary you need to learn or ask questions about… It’s a headache we all have to live with.

47

Wrong Thread GeorgeC.

48

The long weekend plus re-directs confused!

A bit of the discussion has popped back and forth between threads and I had to re-sort things in my head…
An integrated MC Cthulu in project box adapter is probably in my near-future – once I had some spare money first, of course!

49

Thinking of doing this to my controller. ( http://i.imgur.com/47Qqr.jpg ). Have a ps3 Cthulu chip inside, so adaptability would be nice. The module part is pretty straightforward. But I want to add some sort of quick rebind thing. Since I have 6 attack buttons, I obviously can’t do the standard controller layout. Originally built it for mvc3 in mind, so Square+Triangle+Circle top, Cross+L1+R1 bottom. Works fine for A layout there, but then when I switch to SF4, it doesn’t fit A or B, so I have to change the layout to a custom thing. What I’d like is some sort of durable switchboard type setup, in between (or attached to) the controller and module, so I could change the layout in a few seconds, but also not worry about things coming apart. Ideally the buttons would be female connections, and the inputs male. (simply because all buttons should always be connected, which would prevent dirt from getting in empty slots). Any ideas on good ways to do this?

50

You can have physical switches that would toggle the Buttons to change the mapping.
Faster changing of Button Map than few seconds.

51

When I put together a supergun, one of the things that was requested was PS2 controller compatability with button mapping. Due to time constraints I built a couple of those. Not cheap, and not very fast to have generic button mapping. Bank switch type stuff can be made to work a lot better though.

…Or you could lobby Toodles to add button mapping to the FGWidget converter.

52

I don’t want to ask Toodles, when he already has other guy asking him.

53

Sorry to necro this thread but I didn’t know where else to ask this. I remember seeing a guy here with a project box controller with a built-in pcb and I just can’t find it again because that was like back in 2012 I think back when I was lurking here in high school so it is very buried. Anyone want to help me figure out how to do that?

54

That is surprisingly little to go on.
Project box controllers here tend to have PCBs put in it.

What are you trying to do?

55

Essentialy a multi mod with some PCBs outside the stick. Mostly cuase it yust wouldn’t make sense to connect a wfb in a separate box because that would require a cable for a wireless pcb.

56

There a quite a few project boxes i seen that all fits that description including something I have for myself.

57

So you’re looking for a joystick with a PCB inside for console-A, but where you can connect an external PCB in a project box so that it’ll also work for console-B?
Interesting concept, I rather like it. :slight_smile:

In terms of build, it wouldn’t be any different than combining the strategy of any dual-mod stick with the strategy of any project box stick. Except that the second PCB for the dual mod is external to the casing.

58

That’s what I was thinking.

59

Not sure how it would work if console b is one of Nintendo’s classic consoles seeing as those are 3.5v. I guess I would need to turn on the battery for the wfb for that so my 5v devices are happy.

60

Did it come in a clear acrylic Mini ITX/ATX sized PC case? I recall somebody messing with wireless for classic consoles and shoved 3 pcbs in the enclosure because the wireless board was something of their own making and they only had one of them