it’s the former (4 directions + “Fire” button, same connector as Commodore 64 and Sega Megadrive/Genesis controllers) and that’s really awesome news Toodles’!
Now, if I wanted this board badly how would I go on about purchasing one of them (do you even sell them btw? The OP wasn’t clear about this, either that or my english comprehension just flat out sucks) and how much would it cost me, exactly?
I live in Italy however it doesn’t really matter if the shipment ends up being rather expensive and takes two months as long as the board gets here in one piece.
No problem Bencao, once the board gets here I’ll run a full test on both my Amiga systems (a 1200 and a 500) and post the results on this thread.
I do not have any UPCBs for sale, nor will I anytime soon.
There is a link in the first post to the Trading Outlet thread (In the ‘How can I get one?’ question) where you will find a couple of people who might be able to sell one to you. In fact, I think bencao also has some he can sell as well.
As an Amiga fan, you can probably get access to better information about the joystick port than I can. Read through the ‘neogeo.h’ and ‘cd32.h’; you should be able to use the information in either of them to create a cable.
I should also mention that a UPCB may be overkill for what you are trying to do. If you just want a single stick that can play on the Amiga, you don’t need ANY pcb at all. If you want to add Amiga support to your existing Cthulhu stick, you can do that as well.
So I made my USB button cable and got around to soldering my 16 pin ribbon cable to the DB-15 female end and tried plugging it into my computer to make sure that the UPCB and everything was recognized. Windows gave me the bird and said that it only saw it as an Unknown USB device, although it did say something about installing something else while it was hooked up. While the connections on my USB button cable aren’t that hot, the tests I’ve run on it with my multimeter seem to show that it looks like it is okay and there are no shorts and tests from the solder cup connections to the pins on the outside look solid. I’ve also double checked the way I wired the ribbon cable going from the UPCB to the DB-15 and compared it to the schematic and it looks like all my connections match up. Any suggestions on where I might want to check next since Windows is at least recognizing that I did plug something in? Not sure if it matters, but I only had the ribbon cable plugged into the UPCB; no joystick cable, button connections or piggybacks. Thanks.
Edit: I’ve also taken my multimeter to all 16 pins on the IDC header and they are all showing a connection.
Edit x2: I think I may have found out the problem. It looks like I incorrectly soldered my wires to the wrong pins when making the button select cable. I will fix that tonight when I get home which should hopefully be the last thing to get me up and running. Then I can finally get to mounting the D-Sub on the back of my TE.
BTW, finally solved the mysteries of the “non-working” gamecube cables. For those of you using Wii’s, make sure you choose the right VC game. I had Sin and Punishment on mine, and it still says “You will need a Classic Controller” despite my gamecube cable working.
As for it sometimes not working, I’ve found that plugging the console cable into the console first while the console is on and then connecting it to the upcb will not work. Make sure when you connect the console cable that it’s already firmly connected to the upcb. (Or better yet, make sure that everything is plugged in and secure before you turn the console on) Sometimes when you’re frustrated, you tend to get impatient and not do things in the correct order because you forget. Just take your time to figure this stuff out…
Okay so I finished modding my TE with a UPCB, but I ran into a few issues that I was hoping you might be able to help me address.
While playing on the PS3, pressing Start + Select doesn’t bring up Home. Now, I have an idea why this may be happening, but considering you programmed the thing, you’ll be able to tell me if this is the case. For both the Start and Select buttons, I didn’t use the ground off the 20 pin connector. Instead, I ran a cable off of the ground on the TE lockswitch and ran that to the Start and Select, so the lock switch would cut off the ground and turn those buttons off. It also seems I am unable to load up the bootloader using Start + Select either. I am guessing they are tied to the same issue.
The programming button doesn’t seem to be working. I have tried both turbo and button remapping with no luck. Similar to the Start and Select, I am not using the ground off of the UPCB and, instead, I ran the button wire and soldered it to the TE’s Xbox guide button, pulling ground from the TE lockswitch area also. I’m guessing this issue is similar to number 1 as I am not using the ground off of the UPCB and instead am pulling ground off of the piggybacked 360 PCB. A note also that I can go into the bootloader using the programming button.
My 2 optional buttons are not working. I’ve tested the connection of the pin on the headers to the matching solder points and they are good. I have also tried shorting the pins on the header, and got no connection. I’ve also booted up holding all 3 kicks with no luck. Now, I tried to re-flash the chip using the BP version. I’m not sure if it’s properly flashing though. I know I should be getting an error regardless, but I was under the impression that it would still say something about a successful flash in addition to the error. I get a popup that says “USB Write Failed. Failed with error 6: The handle is invalid.” followed by the error
WARNING - Failed to program CONFIG DATA
MESSAGE - Programming CONFIG DATA…
WARNING - Failed to program FLASH
MESSAGE - Erasing and Programming FLASH…
So there you have it. Everything else so far has worked like a dream (haven’t gotten a chance to test XBOX360 piggyback yet.) Do you happen to have any suggestions on anything I can try? Thanks.
You havent been able to flash it, and didn’t mention what version it currently shows up as. If the version on the chip is just a BOOTLOADER.hex, that’s version 1.6 X I think. That may not have the PS3 home function working. Before worrying about this, get the firmware updated and then revisit it. Also keep in mind, the best way to test this when you get there is to check on a PC; the home button is #13. Hooking the ground up to the area controlled by the lockswitch shouldn’t be a problem, IF the 360 pcb is powered.
If your firmware version is 1.6 X, then that makes perfect sense; the version doesn’t support the program button. Because it does go into bootloader mode, you can rest assured it’s wired properly; you just need to get the firmware updated.
Ditto, if its version X, then there is no support for the two extra buttons. Firmware update.
3b. This is the important part. You need to get the firmware updated, obviously. You’ll notice that it failed to program the flash; that’s a problem. The failed to program CONFIG, that’s not a problem.
How was the chip programmed? Is it one gotten off of me? What file and version was used to flash it? Was it recompiled, or straight from one of my archives?
The PC doesn’t even show button 13; I am inclined to agree with you as to the firmware version on the chip, as I don’t believe I’ve ever successfully been able to flash the thing.
Where can I tell you the version? When I select “PICDEM FS USB 0 (Boot)” then try clicking “Read Device”, I get another one of those error about the handle being invalid, followed by “USB Write Failed. Failed with error 997: Overlapped I/O operation is in progress.” The error then shows
WARNING - Failed to read
MESSAGE - Reading Device…
The PIC is one I ordered off of Digikey then sent to you and requested to be flashed. You sent it back to me along with an Imp I ordered from you. This was probably 3 weeks ago.
So any suggestions on getting this PIC flashed? In the meantime, I am going to try another computer so I can rule out one more thing. Thanks btw for helping me isolate and resolve this.
Edit: I tried to flash the PIC on another computer and ran into the same problem. Both PC’s are running XP SP3.
If its from me, then it should have been flashed with bootloader.hex; that has the bootloader and version 1.6X (I think) on it. You can check by plugging it in for normal PC stick use; the version number is listed under the game controllers applet in control panel.
heh, 1.10. It’s properly flashed, and has a bootloader, so you’re actually in pretty good shape. It also is DEFINITELY before I did all of the USB code cleanup that led to proper PS3 working. Have you tried using the firmware update program on a second computer yet?
I know it’s not an aim of the UPCB project but do you think it’d be hard to use this to convert console pads to xbox 1? Specifically SNES, NES and Megadrive.
I’m guessing it’d require a mess of chips decoding the serial data to use it as-is but would it be fairly easy to implement the code to read these pads on the PIC then pipe it out to the xbox? The xbox has so many great emulators but next to no options on what pad/stick you can use.
Sorry if this post was totally irrelevant or if this was already covered.
Here’s some additional information. I tried to install the bootloader and test on a Vista x64 SP1 and Server 2008 machine. In both cases, I couldn’t even install the driver for the PIC so I could use the bootloader. Is there a different driver that I should be using for Vista/Server 2008 since they are using a different kernal than XP? Also, I still am having no luck with getting the bootload mode to come up by holding Start and Select. It either comes up as an HID compliant device, or Windows sees it as an Unknown USB device. Each time I’ve entered bootloader mode, I’ve had to do it by using the Programming button.
If there’s any other information I could gather that might help you, let me know.
I managed to get the firmware flashed to 2.5 just now. What I needed to do was go into the properties of the PIC while in bootloader mode and deactivate the setting for turning off USB devices to conserve power. Afterword, the thing flashed like a charm. I am going to take a few minutes and test out everything to make sure it is working as intended.
Okay so I got around to testing this morning, here’s what I got.
Home functionality works, surprise surprise. the firmware upgrade did the trick.
Start + Select = Bootloader on startup does not work still. All I get is a popup that says that an Unrecognized USB device was recognized. (I’m not losing sleep on this one with the Program button working just fine with the bootloader.)
Program button has full functionality as I’ve tested button mapping and turbo.
I still wasn’t getting the 2 additional buttons. Upon further testing though, the problem was related to my ribbon cable. I managed to get the triple punch button working, but I’m still having issues with the triple kick. I am thinking that I will just order another 20 pin connector and one of those multi colored cables off DigiKey. I know the cable’s kind of expensive, but it will match the cable going to the D-Sub, plus the cable is stranded. I have had nothing but trouble with the 26 AWG solid wires in the IDE cable that my buttons are currently using. I can’t remember how many quick disconnects have popped right off that I’ve had to replace.
Anyway Toodles, thanks so much for everything you’ve done in helping me out and just in general for making such a great piece of hardware.
I’ll admit I missed the part of the power management settings. I glazed over it while reading Vista this and that, and since I am running XP and haven’t really read of anyone having a similar issue on XP, I paid it little mind. If anything, this just proves that the power management settings are something that could be a potentially universal problem and not just unique to Vista as my situation proved.
Anyway, just glad to get this thing assembled and installed finally! Now I just need to find a 360 to test the piggyback and I can finally call this project complete.
Edit: I held down Fierce and Round and the PC was I was able to test the piggyback functionality. Everything works except for two directions on the joystick. It also looks like the TE’s turbo functionality still works which is great since the piggybacked controllers can’t use the programming button on the UPCB. Well, time to see if I can get those last two joystick inputs working now.
Haha, looks like you’re able to test everything out without too much help. Good to know that you’re making progress though, I’m still working on my DC piggybacks. Just takes more effort than I feel like doing all at once… the question is whether I can squeeze the DC piggyback into an SFIV SE stick (which I’m still trying to track down…)
