The official Cthulhu and ChImp thread - Try our new Dreamcast flavor!

Tech Talk
3181

I’m not sure if this is the proper place to ask, but… is this a miracle, or should I be concerned?

I paid someone at a local tourney to install a cthulu in my xbox360 te so that it would work on 360 and ps/3.

The stick was set up so when I was on LS/DP it worked on the xbox360, and RS worked on the playstation3

Everything went fine until one of the buttons stopped working in ps/3 mode.

I opened the stick, and saw that one of the wires was hanging off the board, so I decided, 'fixing this can’t be that hard, and bought a soldering iron and such, and set off to work. A few hours later I had managed to make a mess with solder connecting pins that shouldnt be connected, and accidentally unsoldering three more wires, and possibly soldering things to the wrong places.

So I got discouraged, and put it back together with this crazy wiring set up, and tested it. I had some of the buttons connected or something because when I hit :lp: it would do :lp::lk: and when I hit :hp: nothing happened, and :mk: would press start, and the xbox button didnt work in xbox mode.

Needless to say, I felt like an idiot, and was even more discouraged, so I let it sit for a week.

Last night, I tried it again, and really took my time, and tried following the wiring picture in the first post. When I redid everything last night, I tested it, by plugging it in to my roommate’s PS/3 and EVERYTHING WORKED! I was so proud of myself that I ran to my xbox360 plugged it in and here’s the part I’m wondering about… I forgot to toggle to xbox mode with the switch, and booted it up and started playing marvel. Everything worked except the xbox button. A few minutes in, I realized that it was still in playstation mode, but working on the xbox…

So I have a stick that automatically works on both consoles, and I have no idea how I did it. The xbox button functions on the ps/3 but not the xbox, though. Should I be concerned, should I care, is this a normal happening?

3182

Marcus,

Would something like M K L is suggesting work? With a 24 pin connector we can just ignore the extra two pins or even plug them up. Pin 2 can also be clipped and the hole in the connector plugged up to act as a key. At least with this kind of setup there is no need to rework the soldering on this part of the board. It is much easier to resolder at the 360 pad anyway.

Michael

3183

new chimps will be delivered today, so I should have an update tomorrow if the new start + select code works!

3184

No idea.

Sure. The holes are spaced with a 2.54mm (0.1") pitch. A set of unshrouded header pins like he describes would go in nicely, and a 24 pin IDC connector would fit on it fine.

3185

If you really want to use pin headers, you could always crimp single connectors to each wire end. That way you don’t have to worry about crimping all of them in a permanent spot in a multi-pin connector.

use this for the PCB, or find a right angle header like it to make it a little nicer looking:
http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-store/item/DHS-12/2-X-12-SNAPPABLE-HEADER-0.1-/-/1.html

then utilize these for each wire on the pad:

You’d need to find terminal pins n’ whatnot to crimp to be able to use those 1x1 pin housings.

of course you could use something like this that’s already got everything crimped, you’d simply have to solder the free end of the wire to whatever button you want it mapped to:

3186

Thank you for this info, this is exactly the kind of stuff I was looking for! :tup:

3187

Who do i pay for a chImp board? I want one right now, cash ready. Someone please pm me, i am not on this forum often. Have a 360 TE that needs dual modding badly.

3188

this is gonna be my first build. dug around and saw that you could mount your pcb with Glue gun? im assuming to apply glue where the screw holes are right?

3189

Why use glue. Somewhat permanent and messy. You could use mounts, and zip tie them in place.

Just an idea being you should always be thinking about your next build and making sure whatever you do can be removed. So, if you happen to make a mistake or want something placed elsewhere there’s not a lot of excess work to be done.

3190

How secure are zip ties? I just took a drill and mounted my Cthulhu and imp in my TE by making some screw holes and mounting them there. If zip ties are practically as secure, then it’s something I’d definitely consider for my next job.

3191

i was thinking about using whatever i have in my house. Glue gun was it. maybe if i find a small enough screw laying around, i might do the screw + the plastic ink tube way. (i think i have some left over from my previous computer build. hmmm). but yeah, now that i think about it, ziptie and mounts seems more logical in the longrun

3192

When I first started doing dual mods, I was using hot glue to secure the boards in place. At first it was doing the job, but soon enough, you’ll end up making a mistake and will need to take the board out of the stick. It makes it so much more complicated having things glued down. I’ve switched to using zip ties and mounts and will NEVER go back to using glue. They hold the boards in place very well and if you need to take the board out all you do is snip the zip tie.

3193

The last order I placed I included some 1/4" standoffs to put the board(s) up on in cases, just got them yesterday and they’ll work beautifully. I think that using glue to secure any PCB is a bad idea in general. Even if everything goes smoothly… what happens in the future if something needs to be fixed up and it’s necessary to remove/move the board?

3194

wow im an idiot then, shouldve gotten it when i got my parts. do you think local hardware stores sell ziptie mounts? i think i still have some leftover zipties in my house

oh well. atleast i learned my lesson for next time

3195

Yeah, any local hardware shop, even radio shack will sell 1" square zip tie mounts.

3196

dont by them from RS. Its really expensive there when you can get them in larger quantities (and more varieties) at places like Home Depot or Lowes for cheaper.

3197

hey, thanks for the heads up. :slight_smile:

3198

Question:

I’ve got a 360 TE, MC Cthulhu, and an Imp. I’m planning on doing an RJ-45 mod over the holidays. As of now I’m obviously using the standard USB cable that came with the TE for both 360 and PS3s. If I connect a RJ-45 jack to the Cthulhu can I continue to use the stock USB for PS3 and only use the RJ-45 jack for custom cables?

I’m asking because I’ve seen people install USB jacks as well as RJ-45 jacks. Is this optional or mandatory? Gut feeling is that it’s optional :stuck_out_tongue: Only stipulation would be to never plug in the USB cable AND a custom RJ-45 cable at the same time because it’d blow the PCBs out or something.

3199

That’s optional, RichL. Feel free to have the stock USB cable attached to the Imp.

3200

Nice. Thanks :slight_smile:

btw I used your guide a couple months back. You the man!