If you got input on a key combination to be used for ‘Select’, nows the time to say so.
I finally have my Inchworm+ on order, which means i should be able to start pumping out devices based on the UPCB shortly.
I was thinking for something like this, a dual-CPU option would be best. You’d have one CPU decode the input controller to seperate parallel outputs and have the upcb CPU encode to the other system. Have the chips run on the same clk as to make sure there’s a relatively close(within nanoseconds) sync with the timing…
If a second uC handled decoding the controller, they wouldn’t even have to be synced in any way if they used the same one-line-per-input the UPCB uses. For decoding anything PSX speed or slower, a normal 4MHz 1 MIP/sec internal oscillator PIC could do the job easily. Using a serial connection would bring us back to the same interfering interupt problem I fear.
Glad to hear about the Inchworm. Fun stuff.
Still more questions.
I am figuring I will go with Digikey since they do have that wire, but now there are two things left that I am not sure what to get. Those are the header pins for the extra buttons and the threaded hex bolts that I would mount the D-sub connector on the stick with.
The connectors that you used for the extra buttons were c-grid connectors, though I didnt see any regular header pins under that section. The only ones I saw were under the c-grid III section:
http://dkc3.digikey.com/PDF/T072/0167-0168.pdf
The one I was looking at was WM8121-ND, which is a double row with 6 pins total, so its just what I need. However on every c-grid III product it says that c-grid III does not mate with c-grid so will these still work or is there something else I should use?
Then for the threaded hex bolts, the only ones I see are for screws with threads of 4-40, which is one of what looks like two possible thread sizes for thumb screws. And looking at the picture in the instructions and what is in the catalog, the thumb screws that come with the D-sub hood you recommended look like they are the ones with M2.6 threads. The problem is that all of the threaded hex bolts I am finding are only for 4-40 and not M2.6, so what should I be using?
(This is the page I was looking at with the D-sub hood you recommended and the thumb screws themselves on it http://dkc3.digikey.com/PDF/T072/0262-0264.pdf)
If that was directed at me, I’d say left trigger (or maybe right trigger + start) is the best choice.
Finally got some db15 hoods, so I’m gonna wire one of my sets up in a VSHG this weekend . . .
C-Grid header pins, 2x3, through-hole: WM26806-ND
Image: http://dkc3.digikey.com/PDF/T072/P0160.pdf
Part #: http://dkc3.digikey.com/PDF/T072/P0161.pdf
I dont know why it says a C-Grid and a C-Grid III wouldn’t work together, maybe the pins are longer or thicker on one.
Datasheet for the hood says 4-40 threads on the thumbscrews.
http://rocky.digikey.com/WebLib/Norcomp/Web%20Data/972-XXX-0XSRXX1Rev1.pdf
It was. but since there’s plenty of pins on a 18LF4455; like the ones you left here, I made a dedicated output line for ‘L’. Im looking for specifically a button combination for Select. Up and Start, L+RL+Start, or A+B+C+Start, something like that, so its available but not accidentally pressed.
I saw my first VSHG yesterday, and that thing is begging for a UPCB in it. If you can just cut out a clean spot for the DB-15 on the back, it’d be amazing, since it already has the perfect number of buttons on it (two extras, programming, and select in the small yellow buttons)
Gotcha - L + R + start seems like a solid option in that case.
Yeah, the vshg is pretty tight . . . problem is, it’s pretty tight 
There’s plenty of room for the upcb just below and to the left of the jlf pcb, but little extra room for a piggyback pcb.
Maybe I’ll take pics once im at the stick installation phase . . . .
That’s why youd’ have it go entirely parallel first, then have it read the parallel outputs from the decoding uC.
It’d basically be replacing the buttons from the normal UPCB with serial->parallel data from the Controller+chip.
Got a troubleshooting question for you toodles -
I wired up a usb button select cable; before installing the upcb in my stick, I decided to test it out with a windows xp pc. The upcb doesnt show up as an hid device, instead i get a “one of the usb devices attached to this computer has malfunctioned” messages. Incidentally, other usb devices attached to the same hub, such as my mouse, stop functioning while it’s plugged in.
I double checked the connections on the usb cable before and afterwards; I also double checked the resistances on the upcb in step 13 and 17 of your instructable.
I noticed that on the female da-15 output cable you sent me, pin 9 is shorted to two of the pins on the idc header; is this normal?
My multimeter doesn’t test capacitance; any other suggestions?
You sure the short is in the ribbon cable to DB-15? I tested that out before sending it. If you redid the ribbon cable, let me know. If you do, the PIC will get hot to the touch in short order and its bad. The PIC should NEVER get warm.
If the short is in the cable, then the short should exist in the output DA-15 when the connector is removed from the UPCB. Check if the short is still there when removed and let me know. Also tell me which pins on the DB-15 are shorted. Pin 9 on the output DA-15 is supposed to be the Neogeo select pin. By itself, with no console cable attached, and not attached to the UPCB, it should not be shorted to anything else. With a UPCB console cable attached, it STILL should not be connected to anything else; it’s supposed to be left floating for every cable except a NeoGeo. When connected to the UPCB, it should should show 4.7kOhm resistance between that pin and VCC (output DA-15 pin 8). Let me know what it is shorted to, if anything, when the output cable is by itself, separate from the UPCB and console cable.
If I were troubleshooting it, the first thing I’d do is test the console cable by itself, the exact same ways described in the last multimeter test in the ‘Hot to build a UPCB cable’ instructables. Doublecheck.
If everything is exactly as it should be in the console cable, the next step would be to plug the console cable into the output ribbon cable, and plug ths output ribbon into the UPCB. We’re gonna check that all of the pins on the USB cable end are going where they should be. USB pin 1 should directly connect to the VCC test point. USB pin 4 should directly connect to the GND test point. USB pin 2 should directly connect to one of the 22 Ohm resistors, while USB pin 3 should directly connect to the other of the 22 Ohm resistors. If all of those are ok, them doublecheck that all four of these points (VCC, GND, and the two USB resistors) and NOT connected to any of the other three. Check GND to VCC, GND to one resistor, GND to the other resistor, VCC to each resistor, and finally the two resistors together. There should be NO shorts between these four points.
Feel free to scan both sides of the board and post them up to look at, but these tests above should tell us where the problem is.
I checked the other ribbon cable, and it isn’t shorted. I didn’t redo either one, one of them may have gotten damaged somehow.
There arent pin numbers that i can see on the IDC connector, but if you’re looking at the da-15 to 16-pin-idc cable, both from the female connector side (not the “solder” side), like this:
da 15
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
15 14 13 12 11 10 9
idc
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9
key tab side here
then one one of the cables, da-15 pin 9 has 0 resistance to idc pin 9, and no continuity elsewhere.
on the other cable, da-15 pin 9 has 0 resistance to idc pin 9, and 0 resistance to idc pin 2. This is consistent regardless of whether it’s plugged in to the upcb or not. It’s also repeatable if I just test resistance between wires stuck into da-15 pin 9 and da-15 pin 2.
With the USB cable plugged into the (good) output ribbon cable plugged into the upcb,
usb pin 4 goes to ground,
usb pin 1 goes to vcc,
usb pin 2 goes to the 22ohm resistor near pin 24 of the pic,
and usb pin 3 goes to the 22ohm resistor near pin 25 of the pic
I tested for shorts across those 4, and couldn’t find any.
I believe that’s all correct. With this ribbon cable, plugging it into a pc doesn’t give the malfunction message, but it just shows up as an unknown device, not an HID.
That pretty much settles it, that ribbon cable needs either adjusted or redone. You can see the tweaks I made to it on the da-15 side; every two wires are switched, and for the last two, one is cut. Unlike the end that plugs into the UPCB, the blue IDC da-15 CAN be disassembled without harm. The pieces do lock in place, but I usually use a small flatblade screwdriver to unlock it. I’d recommend you take the strain relief piece off, and the clamping piece, but leave the wires where they are. It should be pretty obvious where the problem is once you can see the wires and the IDC teeth. The pin 9 wire is the one that isn’t connected in a pair; the other one that is in that pair is cut because the da-15 can only hold 15 wires. If the colors are as they usually are, the pin 9 wire will be brown, with the red next to it cut. If not, it’ll be blue with the paired green cut.
With the teeth exposed, you should be able to see any problematic wires, lift them up out of the teeth without disturbing the others, and place it in the groove for the tooth it should go in. Don’t try to to squish it down, just rest it in the notch. Leave the squishing to the clamping piece. Once the wires are resting in the notches they should be, place the clamping piece on and press it down until it makes contact with the wires. Doublecheck the wires are where they should be, then squish it down hard and test.
Give it a try. If you mess something up, I’ll make another for you and send it.
As for it showing as ‘unknown device’, the only way that could happen is if the program button was pressed (or accidentally shorted) or the start and select buttons were pressed or accidentally shorted. Try to install the drivers for the bootloader to see if it takes. If it already shows as unknown device, you may need to go into Device Manager and ‘reinstall driver’.
I’m building a cabinet for a modded xbox and ps2.
Is there anyway I can have both systems connected to this pcb at once without damaging it? I don’t mean having them both on at once, but just having the controllers in the sockets.
Ask me when the UPCB supports Xbox.
Unless you’re extremely careful and know exactly what you’re doing, having something plugged into two systems (and thus two power sources) is a very bad idea.
Hope I can get some help from this guy.
http://henzenmann.blogspot.com/2006/11/playing-with-maple-bus.html#links
I was working on making the cables for my UPCB today and while making the PSX cable I noticed that there are 8 pins but 9 wires. There are two wires(black and grey for me) are for the single ground pin. Should I connect both of these wires to the D-sub pin that is meant for the ground or can I connect just one and cut the other one short?
Chances are one is for the ground pin, the other is for the ‘shielding’ (the metal piece above the middle pin).
If one is connected to the ground pin, and the other is the shielding, what I’d recommend you do is use the ground pin one as your main ground (UPCB pin 1), daisy chain the low system select pins as normal, and add the shielding ground to one of the low connected pins. Make sure they’re all connected.
If you’re sure the black and grey grounds are connected inside the cable, then feel free to clip one and use it as your only ground (UPCB pin 1)
I am pretty sure they are both connected. When I was testing the wires I clipped one end of the multimeter to the pin using an aligator clip and then tested each of the wires with the other pin of the multimeter. I also made sure each time that only one pin was clipped and made sure to test every wire at the end regardless of which ones I knew were already used. The only time the black and grey were used was when I was connected to the ground, and I even tested this a second time when I was done with everything else. Because both wires tested each time I tried it, I am pretty sure they are connected.
Really I already finished off the cable with one of the wires clipped and then tested it on my PS2. But it was only for a short time and was thinking that maybe the way I did it was okay for a short time but might damage something in the long run so I just wanted to check and make sure what I did was okay.
Edit:
Also, now that I look at my cable, there is no way one of those wires was connected to that metal plate for the sheilding. The ground is the fourth pin while the sheilding plate is above the fifth pin and set slightly inside of the plastic in such a way that I dont even think that the aligarot clip would be able to contact it.
If they were connected, what you did just fine. Hell, even if they werent connected, as long as the one you used is the one from the ground pin, you’ll be fine.
I take it everything worked ok? You try out the button remapping yet? 
Well, I now have everything finished, the UPCB is fully built including header pins for the extra buttons and programming button, and I have both a USB and PS cable built. The only thing is that I havent built my new stick yet, and since its going to be better than my old stick I am just going to put the UPCB in the new stick and maybe convert the old one somewhere down the road.
So I havent been able to test the progamming button at all. I tested the USB cable by plugging it into the computer and seeing if it got recognized, which it did. Then I tested the PS cable by loading up a guilty gear game and going into training, navigating the menus with a JLF that I plugged in and jumpering the pins for the buttons to see which button was set to what. This way I could set the default configuration to the GG formation when I wire the buttons.
Still even though I havent gotten to play around with everything yet, I am very happy with the UPCB and cant wait to get the stick built.