Wow i’m an idiot…I think I scratched the Copper OFF completely in those points…
Hi toodles, I’m leaning quite heavily towards this PCB for use with my PS3 / PC, I’m about to place an order on lizardlick, but I am wondering about a few things.
I hope I didn’t miss the answer for my question in the past 17 pages I scanned through, but how does a PC recognize the USB input from this PCB without a driver of some sort?
What I mean basically is, say, in MAME when you go to controller config, you activate a button config, and press an input, and then it will show which input you pressed right next to the corresponding button, and then that input becomes mapped to that button, lets say I activate the “P1 start” line in mame controller config, and hit the button which I have wired to the “start” terminal on the cthulu, what will it say on that line? Will it recognize it without some weird tweaking / programming or some third party driver software? Does it even matter? Would it just say anything there and that would be enough for it to work properly?
Another question I had, maybe there is a better place to ask, but I’ll put it here anyway 
Will my happ P360 joystick blow up my PS3/PC? It hasn’t blown up my dreamcast yet, but I’m just wondering if anyone has had trouble using the optical sticks on newer systems.
The Cthulhu is fully HID compliant. Technically, there is a device driver that gets loaded in the OS to handle the communication between the OS and the device, but its the HID driver that is already built into the operating system. In short, it doesn’t need a separate device driver for the same reason your mouse and keyboard don’t. They’re already built int.
Probably something like ‘Joystick Button 9’.
Yep (well, in MAME you have to specifically tell it to use a joystick. For command line mame, there is the ‘-joystick’ switch, and there is a checkbox in the MAME32 options for it). Nope. That depends on the program.
Just try it. It’s as absolutely headache free as possible. There is a reason no one has asked any questions about a driver; no one has had any problems with it.
Nope, works fine.
Another possibly silly question. I would have to solder the psx pad to the Cthulhu board, or can I somehow use a terminal strip. I ask for two reasons:
1: The pad may be screwed up, either thanks me trying to solder, or neglect from the previous owner.
- What if I need to use a 3rd pcb?
I did read this in the “two pcbs in one stick- possible?” thread and then I looked at some of ZombieCPTs pictures. An additional Pad would have me de-solder the PSX pad , resolder it to the new board, then put the new board on the cthulhu. I put it this way, because my psx pad has glue all over the damn thing now…
I feel like I have some sort of mental block, stopping me from figurin gout how to use this Terminal Strip I have. Would It be : PSX pad to -> Terminal Strip to -> Cthulhu to -> Joystick and Buttons?
You might want to figure this out first.
You might want to get a second pcb connected and working first.
Welcome to reason #1 why I disagree with the whole ‘hot glue your solder points’ crap.
You connect left on one pcb to left on the other pcb. You connect ground on one pcb to the ground on the other pcb. You connect the power (VCC) line from pcb to the power line of the other pcb. Repeat for up, right, down, and all of the buttons. That’s it. That’s all. HOW you connect them is entirely up to you, but its just that simple.
You’re absolutely right.
I’m 100% ashamed at the job I did, trying not to spend too much more time and money + not knowing exactly what i’m doing. But this is something that needs quality tools and equipment. The billion hr work weeks don’t help either. I think it’s stress and fatigue getting to me, but on the bright side, I’ve improved alot.
I’ll try to put this mess together and not short out my systems, if not, I WILL be waiting until you get the time to finish your M.C Chip. Thanks Toodles, this project is yet another valuable experience.
- The soldering iron died. Is this a sign? I won’t be able to continue for another week now-
Probably, you could have busted the tip when grinding it but if the whole iron just stopped turning on then you’ll probably need a new one. Was it a cheap one from radioshack ($5-10)? If so consider investing a little more into a low end weller or other name brand soldering station. Ultimately, I think you get what you pay for.
If you are soldering a surface mount connection (no hole in pcb) you might need to change up your style a bit. If you check out the site that made that video (curiousinventor.com) they have some guides on surface mount soldering techniques. It wont be for soldering a copper wire to a surface but you can adapt the techniques as you see fit. You might need a little flux beyond the solder core.
Check your connections, if they don’t look like a little peak /\ and look more like a crater or flat lump /u\ then you probably aren’t doing something right. Same thing if you find that the connections aren’t shiny (assuming you have a lead based solder). If you decided to buy lead-free solder remember you have to leave the iron on the parts a little longer to get the solder to melt properly. Be careful and seek advice before doing any DIY work beyond the solder connection (grinding, etc.) you could end up messing something up permanently.
Exactly. I don’t know why type of solder I have, but everything came in one kit…most likely not quality stuff here. This iron was 35w too, so i can get a better one that isn’t so hot. I expected my tip to be ruined, but hey…just another lesson. The ones that hit our pockets tend to be remembered more, eh?
As far as my job so far. I tried to build a solder bridge between the remaining copper points , on the pcb where i grinded/rippered the copper off. That and those narrow areas, where two different signals could be. Thanks for the tips Xero, I’ll check that site, and try again when I get some parts worth 2 cents.
No problem. Personally, I’d suggest seeing if you can get enough money together to buy an iron with adjustable temperature. I know weller makes an entry level iron with adjustable temperature for about $35 called the WLC100 (http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-Soldering-Station-Hobbyist/dp/B000AS28UC). After that their line hikes up to about $100. It all depends on how much use you will get out of it. There are other brands, but I’ve heard that weller is very reputable amongst experienced engineers.
Toodles referred me to ladyada’s website where I found a helpful guide on what to buy: http://www.ladyada.net/library/equipt/kits.html Of course which tools you should get and what quality all depends on how much electronics work you are interested in doing.
A couple of questions about the Cthulhu board
Hey guys,
So I have absolutely no experience with modding sticks or anything like that, so I’m glad that the preassembled board will make things as easy as possible.
I pre-ordered the 360 SFIV TE stick because i’ve read it will be easier to mod to work with the ps3. I’ve done a lot of looking around and the two strongest options I have for me are the XCM Battle Cross adapter and the Cthulhu board.
I was just wondering what the response time, or the lag that comes from the Cthulhu board and if it would effect the gameplay at all. I just have a strong feeling that the lag from the board will be less than the lag from the adapater.
Also, I was reading through the forums and apprently there is no way to connect the xbox home button to the ps3 home button? I don’t know if I misunderstood the description I read in the previous posts.
Much Thanks!
If you’re using a TE stick, you’ll be fine as long as you keep the Guide button intact. Just wire that button to the Home port on the piggyback portion of the Cthulhu. I only asked because I was putting a Cthulhu into a HRAP2 and wanted to know if I could use the Start + Select option to activate Home (you can’t). Obviously, the HRAP2 doesn’t have a Home/Guide button so I had to mount one to the backside of the case.
I know nothing of the adapter, so can’t comment on it. The only thing I can comment on is the Cthulhu and Sixaxis are neck and neck with no consistent latency one way or the other. There was an argument about whether or not wireless controllers lag, and I did some testing to check, and one of the tests of directly comparing the Cthulhu and a Sixaxis, with no winner either way. If you want to check the details of the test, let me know and I’ll post a link to the thread if you can’t find it.
I think you misunderstood. If you have a button set aside for guide/home, and have the Cthulhu dual’ed with a 360 pcb, that button will activate the home button when connected to a PS3, and activate the Guide when connected to a 360.
Umm, you can use Start + Select to activate Home just fine, assuming you short the ‘Disable Home’ jumper or use a wire to short the Home button and Ground on the Cthulhu.
The only thing you CAN’T do is disable home with the ‘Disable Home’ jumper or use a wire to short the Home button and Ground on the Cthulhu, AND dual the Cthulhu with a 360 pad. If you do that, Then Start + Select will still bring up Home just fine on a PS3, but if you connect the Home button and Guide button on the Xbox 360 pad, then the Guide button will always appear pressed when connected to an Xbox 360.
Damn, there I go getting all confusing with specifics. So, I’ll make it short:
If you are going to dual the Cthulhu with an Xbox 360 pad, you MUST have a dedicated button for Home/Guide.
Oh yeah that was my bad. I’m using a piggybacked 360 PCB
I’ll take your word on the latency isssues, Toodles, as you seem to be extremely knowledged about this.
So here are my final two questions about this board: If I used the Cthulhu board in my 360 TE edition stick, I’d be able to use the stick on the 360, PS3, and PC with virtually no lag?
Also, the xbox home button will be able to be used as both the xbox and ps3 home button, because I am assuming that is the dedicated button that you are talking about?
On a side note, Toodles, your work is a Godsend!
Hopefully.
Hopefully.
I say hopefully because the stick isn’t released yet, it hasn’t been done, and all signs say it can, but I’d rather cover my ass because I haven’t done it yet.
As soon as I get my hands on one, I’ll be doing exactly this, taking pictures and putting up an Instructable on how to do it. In fact, I plan on putting up two Instructables; one for a soldered installation, and one for a solderless installation.
Now, the soldered installation, if everything goes to plan, should do everything you described just fine, including the guide/home button working as expected on both. A toggle switch will have to be installed to select whether PS3 or Xbox 360 is to be used.
Now, the solderless installation, if things go has I expect they will, will have a couple of key differences; there will be two USB cables coming out of the stick, one for each console, and the Guide button will only work for the 360; you’ll have to press both Start + Select to bring up the PS3 in game menu. That’s the drawback of the solderless method I have planned. If you can solder or know someone that can, I highly recommend the soldered installation.
Last time, this is all conjecture at this point, but that is what I am expecting has of right now.
Ah, yea, I did read from the forum that you said it wasn’t 100% sure of how the sticks would work with the Cthulhu board.
The TE edition has a compartment for the chords, so I wouldn’t care too much if there were two cables coming out.
Though, I will take your advice and look for someone who can solder to make things easier on me. I wouldn’t dare try it myself to ruin the stick seeing as I am a total noob at these things.
On a final note, if this does work, you can expect my business, Toodles. You’re the man!
Much thanks on your hard work.
Well, the PSX fight continues. Before the long rant, the short version: Great news on the converter support; I have it working peachy on the Pelican adapter, Innovation DC adapter, and an old Radio Shack converter. I have a Magic Box to test as well, but that’s upstairs from my work area so will have to wait, but I’m very confident that this will work great on the vast majority of converters out there. On the two PS2’s I have, it works great on one, doesn’t work in the P1 side of the other, and sometimes works on the P2 side. So, progress in ongoing.
Now, long technobabble rant.
WHAT THE FUCK!?!?!? The code that works on the converters? It’s how the code SHOULD be. Uses the SPI module by itself, no shenanigans, and works just bleeding awesome. Exactly the way the PSX and PS2 should, but don’t. Connected to a PSX/PS2, it missed the first bit of each byte, so I have to do some shenannigans to catch it and put it back. But I shouldn’t HAVE to. It should work just like it does on the converters; flawless and simple.
Maybe I’m getting closer to finding the problem with the PS2. Maybe I can use the notes on how the converters transmitted, compare it to how the ps2 transmits, and nail down the problem and hopefully figure out a way to do it right. But so far, damn, I just don’t see it.
On the bright side, it should be pretty damn easy to detect whether it needs to be in shennanigans mode or not, so it should be seamless to use on real hardware or converters.
The good news is that I finally got my arduino talking to the controllers again (damn pull up. grrrr) so at least I’m now 100% confident in the controller’s response to oddball commands. So even though the implementation is pretty short, it remains completely true to a real digital controller’s response.
Now if I could JUST figure out what causes the intermittant disconnects on my single PS2 port that is giving me trouble, I’d have this sucker in the bag.
So, great news on the converter front. Much pain and suffering and frustration on the PS2 front, and continued slow progress towards getting playstation support completely done.
Yea for progress. I know you will figure it out man. On another note I need to pull on your ear sometime for some help. Nothing pressing just hit me up via IM sometime.
Thanks,
Michael
I think you should hire the R&D department that makes these converters in china and ask them wth they’re doing to get these things to work!!!