thanks. possibly fixed in the chimp beta?
an updated version of the code in already en route to me now and i should have an answer if it is fixed shortly.
iām not sure if toodles will be sending out new chips for free if it works though. you might have to pay for shipping on a new chip if you need that functionality.
the way i wire to the top holes.
- wire up the 360 pcb you are going to dual mod to the chimp/cthulhu.
- line up the wires coming from the 360 to go in one direction to the chimp/cthulhu.
- cut the wires in a straight line to line up with the chimp/cthulhu.
- strip the ends of each wire so that they can clearly come out of the top row holes.
- start with hole #1 on the row 1-11 of unlabeled holes.
- find out what wire corresponds from the 360 pcb to the chimp/cthulhu
- insert the stripped wire into the hole.
- add some flux to the bare wire that is through the hole and then solder.
- repeat until you are finished with that row and move on to the a-h row.
cliffnotes version (could have been cleaner but iām lazy and donāt care once the case is closed)
- http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n5/akuma001/IMG_0795.jpg
- http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n5/akuma001/IMG_0798.jpg
- http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n5/akuma001/IMG_0799.jpg
i use the 22awg stranded wire from radiocrap. i think it helps to use something thicker that wonāt break from the trace as youāre moving wires around. after i strip the wires, i twist them so they go through the hole smoothly without stray strands. the covering around the 22awg is thick enough to stop the wire from moving further letting you free up your hands to not have to hold the pcb + wire + soldering iron. basically you insert and hold the wire and it holds the pcb for you while you solder. (dunno how to explain that better without pics but i got no pics)
flux helps alot in letting the solder flow straight to the contact and your soldering to be even with a strong bond, even with using the same cheapo 15w radiocrap iron i use.
most important is to make sure you have the right wire from the 360 pcb going to the right hole on the cthulhu/chimp. double check, triple check, quadruple check and save some headache later.
just one way of doing things.
This the way I would do it too. However I have made enough mistakes. Iād rather have this be a little more foolproof. Soldering to the 360 pad is easy it is just getting the wires in the right holes on the ChImp/Cthulhu. I also use 24-26 awg wire so it looks neater when done. Maybe a breakout board could be designed to plug into that series of holes. Something like the AXISdapter board would be ideal only smaller.
iām using 26 gauge wire and didnāt have too hard of a time, but most of my soldering experience comes from modding honda ECUās and there is very minimal room for errors there.
I assume the two 11-way rows have a 2.54mm pitch. In that case the best thing to do is to solder a 2x11-way IDC connector:
which is extremely handy and easy to work with. Crimping the ribbon cable to the female connector (there is a cheap tool for this) is a matter of seconds.
However, from the Chimp pics posted above the board has the mounting holes too damn close to the 11-way rows so that if you install the connector the plastic body will go over the mounting holes making them unusable. Why not make the board a little wider?
Toodles, how far are the ChImps from being greenlit for mass production? Iām fairly anxious to build my first brand new stick 
long thread is long.
I read the OP again, Toodles, and didnāt see this answered here, so I thought to ask quickly since I donāt have a lot of time for searching at the moment.
Iām planning on modding my 360 TE fightstick with a cthulhu board and an imp as well so i didnāt have to add a dpdt switch.
I know itās cramped but am pretty sure Iāve seen that an assembled cthulhu board with the screw terminals will fit in the fightstick caseā¦ the imp is the tight squeeze up by the main stick pcb, IIRC.
I was about to order from lizardlick.com when I noticed they offer an āassembledā imp boardā¦ whatās the deal with this? Whatās the extra $2 get me here, and if itās something great, will it fit in my case?
Thanks to anyone who can answer. 
Iāve done two dual mods to 360 TEs with the Cthulhu and imp, and I mounted the Cthulhu and imp in different ways for each one. Itāll fit just fine.
The first time I did it, the Cthulhu and imp were unassembled - the second time, they both came assembled. I used solder for the assembled Cthluhu anyways because Iām stubborn o_o.
The extra $2 saves you about 5 minutes of work - itās your call. It isnāt hard at all to assemble the Cthulhu or imp, though, so keep that in mind.
Thanks for the reply!!
The assembled imp board probably just saves me one part of the soldering, right? (Iād only have to solder the connecting wires TO the main PCB instead of PCB and Imp, Iād assume?) That sounds like itās not worth the extra 2 dollars or 5 minutes, since I have to solder some anyhow.
Hopefully, when I get up the gumption to do this, I do alright, since Iāve never soldered before ā are the connection points on either of these board super fine, or are they reasonably sized?
The only thing assembled about the imp are the two IC chips and the diode - either way, youāre still soldering the 360ās USB cable to the imp, and the two seperate data connections (D1+ and D1-[360 data points], D2+ and D2-[PS3 data points]).
The bulk of the work will be in soldering the button and directional leads from the 360 PCB to the Cthulhu. I never soldered anything before either when I did my first dualmod, and I did perfectly fine - you just need patience. Even a steady hand isnāt really necessary if you have the patience, but it helps.
The connection points on the Cthulhu are nice and large - very easy to work with; that being said, though, if you havenāt purchased a board yet, youāre most likely going to be purchasing an assembled board, as Toodles no longer sells unassembled ones. With the assembled Cthulhu, you donāt have to solder anything on the Cthulhu end - you just place the wire in the appropriate screw terminal and clamp it down (by screwing it in).
The imp, however, is a different story. The connection points are a bit small, and if youāre inexperienced with soldering, may be pretty difficult for you (it was for me - on both dual mods). I think Toodles may have made them larger since then, however. When you dual mod your TE, I suggest cutting back the sheath that holds the USB leads inside the TE so you can pull out and seperate the wires you need to connect to the imp.
Well I donāt have that kind of experience. Here is a picture of my ChImp as it sits tonight. :crybaby: As you can see it is a mess. I count 9 of the solder pads that have lifted. Once I get this tested as working I am going to slather some hot glue on there to prevent any shorts and keep things in place. There are some rather tenuous connections and I donāt want them coming loose. I need a better way to connect the 360 pad to the ChImp. Thankfully this is my own stick otherwise I would want a new board to make sure things would keep working. I may need one as it is.
Michael
Not trying to nit pick or anything, but itās a capacitor not a diode.
Seeing soldering work like that makes me cringe 
I hope you practice more and get better. At least its working right?
Kaytrim - ouch, my iron felt that oneā¦ that was done soldering, not desoldering?
Hereās a tip for tiny spots, it worked for me: Donāt try to heat the wire/spot and add the solder w/ the other hand like normal. Instead, put a tiny amount of solder (I use .015") on the ironās tip, then simply bring the tip to the pad and touch it to both the pad and the wire. Gently heat up the wire and contactā¦ the liquid solder will help that happen much faster, if you do so the solder thatās on the ironās tip will wick into the wire and pad. I did that for the entire end header as well as the Impās usb connections.
How much different is the chImp board from using the 2 separate boards? Does it fit better into the cases (TE Fightstick in particular)? Is the install any different or more difficult? I assume Iād have to buy one of those direct from Toodles?
Havenāt a chance to test it with the 360 pad. Need to solder some new wires so they reach the screw terminals.
I tin the end of the wire before I solder it to the board. This does almost the same effect as what you are describing.
The pic you see is the result of solder/desolder/solder/desolder. This is why I need something like what I have there now, a breakout board. I make enough mistakes getting the wires in the right place that I end up destroying the board. When something is not working right I have to tear it down to find the fault. If someone can give me a link to the IDE style connectors that will fit these boards it will make this whole process much easier for me. I get most of my parts from Digikey.
Michael
what steps to you take to desolder? maybe we can offer a few new methods to assist with it.
The reason all those pads are lifting is because of too much heat / heat for a prolonged period. Even if you tin the wires you should still have molten solder on your iron when you touch it to the board to solder. I have done a TON of soldering and that is the best way to ensure your iron is on the board for the least amount of time as the solder is able to wick around and create a larger contact area with the stuff you are soldering.
When I solder I follow these steps:
Tin the wire (or get the pre-tinned stuff, it may cost more, but itās normally better quality)
put wire in location
get solder on the iron
give the iron a sec to re-heat up (only if you have a cheap one like I do right now)
then touch soldering location
verify everything is molten (apply more solder at the molten point if required)
remove iron
make sure itās shinny (A buddy who interned with a Military Contractor during his EE masters stated that the contractor only allowed shinny contacts as dull contacts could be signs of oxidation issues, and this is the kind of place that would X-Ray there boards so I trust them).
Try it and trust me, once you get the hang of it you will be fine, and it will become automatic for the most part.
Soldering is not the problem. I can do a good job with that. The issue is desoldering when I make a mistake.
I have tried a few different methods and they all end up the same. I have a solder sucker and desoldering braid. First I heat the solder to remove the wire and then try to clean out the hole so I can put a new wire in place. I use the desoldering braid and/or the solder sucker. If all else fails I use a tiny drill bit slightly smaller than the original hole. You can see why the board looks like it does. My next major purchase is to get a variable temp soldering station.
Thanks for all your help and advice,
Michael
What worked for me on my first and second dual mod run was to lay the corner desoldering braid over the point and jaming the soldering tip into the weave of the braid. That way the tip never actually hits the board (still heat but not As bad) and the solder is instantly sucked into the braid before it has a chance to cool and reharden. Done this on the smaller pinset for the 360 holes and the the usb holes on the MC cthulhu with awesome results.