madcatz controller help

[superbadd99]

i just bought new madcatz dreampad. i asked for some help on what exactly to do when wiring it up and i got a website that looked very helpful. i opened my dreampad totally different format. im pretty sure that all the hot wires are running all the way to the part right under the place where you stick mem card. and i also think i know where the ground is. but im not sure if i am correct. i dont have a tester to make sure it is the ground.

[Eddie_Fantastic]

Yeah, I've hacked the dreampad too, and the insides look totalluy different to the one on the website.
If yours is the same as mine there is like a ridge of presoldered pads,as you say, beneath the mem port which you can follow around the pcb to the related buttons, and use the c and z buttons as opposed to the L and R for the triggers.
As for the ground I actually soldered it onto the solder pad that leads to the black ground wire which goes back to the dreamcast.
It's a bit fiddley, but in relation to the sega pad I initially fried it's a doddle.

[Dave_K.]

Even if there is a slight difference in the PCB design, the way the dreampad works is exactly the same.  What you need to do is buy a Voltmeter, and test for where the ground, and all button connections are.  Link you posted shows how to hack the front side of the pad.  I hacked the backside (those small holes go through to the back and thats where I soldered to).  If you are not sure how to run a continuity test with a multimeter to trace the proper leads on the pcb, then you should probably get a book from radioshack on basic electronics (I'm not flaming...I actually learned most of my electronics from the rat shack...and I still have all those hand written books as reference).  :-)

-Dave

[Dave_K.]

I have never seen a dreampad that does not have those small holes.  Anyway, you could do what eddie says and just solder to the joystick connections.  Here is another site on hacking the original dreamcast pads.  Just look at how he solders to the joystick connections and you want to do something similar.

http://www.mameworld.net/pc2jamma/arc_dc4.html

(actually this link is currently down...server problems...but it has a page with diagram to help get you started).
-Dave