Using a Using a MadCatz 360 TE/SE stick on a Macbook Pro

Tech Talk
1

Hello everyone!

With the PC version of SF4 coming out, there’s been a lot of talk regarding TE/SE compatibility. Here’s my experience with hooking both my SE and TE sticks up to my Macbook Pro (Non-Unibody).

After installing Windows XP w/ SP3 onto my Macbook Pro via Bootcamp and installing the necessary drivers needed for the system to work properly, I plugged my SE 360 stick into the port nearest the MagSafe adapter. The computer automatically recognized that it was the fight stick but it would not work with SF4.

So I wen’t on MadCatz website and followed a link to install drivers for the Xbox 360 controllers. After installing the controller drivers, the SE stick was fully recognized and working like it was supposed to. Portable SF4 FTW!

After a few hours of playing, I shut my computer down and rebooted into Mac OSX and did my thing. Wanting to play SF again, I booted back into Windows and plugged my SE stick into the same slot. This time, the computer recognized the stick but wasn’t able to power it. I plugged the stick into the other USB port on my Macbook Pro and it worked like a charm. Yet, from there on I was unable to get my stick working on the original port next to the MagSafe adapter. I checked out the device manager and it said something to the sort of “Device is recognized but is not turned on.”

So I went and got my TE stick, plugged it in, same issue. I booted back into OS X and opened up my system profiler and checked out the USB tree with the stick plugged into the port nearest the MagSafe adapter. Sure enough, it shows up and is listed. I plugged it into the other USB port and got the same result. So the computer sees it on both ports, but doesn’t give it enough power on the MagSafe USB side.

The I noticed something in the USB tree. The USB port on the MagSafe side also powered and provided connection to the built in bluetooth adapter. So I booted back into Windows XP, opened the device manager and disabled the bluetooth adapters and turned off “discovering” in the bluetooth control panel.

Plugged in my SE stick hoping for the best and WALAH! It detected it and worked flawlessly in SF4.

So to summarize, if you’re having issues with the USB port next to the MagSafe adapter follow these steps:

1 - Right Click on My Computer and open the "Properties"
2 - Click on the “Hardware” tab then click on "Device Manager"
3 - Locate the Bluetooth Adapter at the top of the list and disable any devices located under it

Not sure if everyone has this issue, but it’s definitely a fix. I’ll try to get some screen shots up of each window if people really need em.

P.S. If you’re wondering how SF4 is running on my computer, here are the specs:

Macbook Pro 2.4gHz Intel Dual Core
nVidia 8600M GT 256mb with latest drivers from nVidia installed
2GB RAM

Running SF4 at a constant 60-65FPS
FPS display: ON
AA: Off
Full Screen: On
Display Resolution: 1024 x 768
Refresh Rate: 60
V-sync: On
Frame Rate: Variable
Aspect Correction: Auto
Brightess: 75%
Parallel Rendering: On
Texture Filter: Default
Model Quality: Mid
BG Quality: High
Soft Shadow: Off
Motion Blurr: Off
Particles: Mid
Extra Touch: Off

I could increase the resolution, but the character intros and cinematics start to slow down and the Ultras during gameplay drop in frame rate as well.

2

hey thanks for the info… I’m going to get the 15" MBP myself soon… mostly for work but I want to play SF4 on it too.

A tip though, I messed around with the settings yesterday with my PC at home. I also got horrible frame rates on the intros and ultras (~20-30 fps) then I disabled v-sync, set the refresh rate 60 and the frame rate to fixed. and I had constant 60 fps with all settings at max @1080p. My computer spec is about the same as the MBP 15" the only thing that differs is the graphicscard (mine is HD3870) but looking at tomshardwares charts the 9600GT and HD3780 is about equal. So I’d think that you can max it out on your MBP with v-sync disabled.

edit:
I’m curious though… can you play versus with 2 TE/SE sticks on the same computer?

3

@zhaf

thanks for the tip, I’ll run those settings through the benchmark and see what I get. As for hooking up multiple sticks, I haven’t tried it yet, but I don’t see why not. I’ll update you once I get around to trying.

4

Here’s another update:

I had a friend come over and we plugged in two 360 TE sticks into the Macbook Pro. When we started the game up, there was NO SOUND.

It turns out because of the headphone jack, the computer will want to use the headphone jack as the main audio output driver. Here’s how to fix it:

  1. Open up Control Panel
  2. Open Audio control panel
  3. Click on the “Hardware” Tab
  4. Change the output device back to your default audio driver.

Hope this helps!

5

so ur saying i can play on my mpb 2.5 v512mb. how did u get the game already? can i use vmware instead of bootcamp? will i be able to play online? u sound smart, so i thought u could answer.

thanks

6

PgruvR, I haven’t tried it myself, but I think it’s very likely that you will lose quite a lot of performance if you run the game under VMware. Bootcamp allows you to run Windows natively, which is the better solution of the two in this case, I’d say.
No guarantee on this, though, as I haven’t tried it myself. Just a thought. :slight_smile:

Did somebody try to do the same thing (connecting the TE stick to a computer) with the PS3 version of the stick?

Edit: Sorry, should have read Madcatz’ FAQ first before posting:
http://madcatz.com/faq/default.asp?Action=Q&ID=207

7

I wouldn’t try playing it through VMware since your system resources will be hampered dramatically. And you can most definitely play it if you boot to windows through bootcamp. The computer will easily handle 60fps if you match the settings I provided in my original post.

Feel free to ask more questions.

8

I play on a Macbook Pro as well with the same specs.

Turn off v-sync. It’ll boost performance a lot and let you run a higher resolution. :smokin: