Basic Electrical Question

[thund3rstruck]

 I got everything wired up, however my player 1 control do not work at all. The player 2 controls all work fine. I'm using the crimp connectors and I'm thinking about yanking everything for player 1 and just soldering it (which I should have done anyway). Before I do that, is there a way I can quickly identify where the problem resides?
 I'm not 100% sure how to use a voltmeter, would I touch the positive lead to the NO connection and the ground to the IPAC ground? I'm pretty sure the daisy chained ground is the problem since I get nothing from any of the player 1 buttons. If the ground was good wouldn't some of the buttons work and other not work?

Thanks..

[JoyMonkey]

If your ground is daisy-chained from P1 controls to P2 controls like this:
P1----P2----IPac
then the problem is more than likely the connection between P1 and P2. Check for a loose ground wire between P1 and P2, or solder the wire to the crimp connectors.

An easy way to check if this is the problem or not, set your multimeter to 'Continuity Test' and touch one end to a P1 ground connector (on a microswitch) and touch the other end to a P2 ground connector (also on a microswitch). It should beep or give some indication that the circuit is closed (ie no bad connections).

[thund3rstruck]

 The player 1 and player 2 buttons are in their own circuit (their own ground). The player 2 controls work fine and they're is no response from any of the player 1 controls. So I'm assuming I need to identify which ground connection is bad so I'm thinking that if I touch the ground connection on the IPAC (w/ the voltmeter) and touch the NO connector on the switch I should get a reading, right? The one that doesn't give a reading must be bad?

[Tiger-Heli]

The player 1 and player 2 buttons are in their own circuit (their own ground). The player 2 controls work fine and they're is no response from any of the player 1 controls. So I'm assuming I need to identify which ground connection is bad so I'm thinking that if I touch the ground connection on the IPAC (w/ the voltmeter) and touch the NO connector on the switch I should get a reading, right? The one that doesn't give a reading must be bad?

No - it sounds like you have a problem in the P1 Ground wiring loop.

Many multimeters don't have a "Continuity" setting.  Set the multimeter to the Ohms scale.  Touch the red and black leads together and the needle should deflect full scale (zero ohms or continuity).

Touch one lead to the I-PAC GND terminal that you used for P1, and the other in turn to the GND terminal on each of the P1 Buttons.  The needle should deflect full scale.  If it doesn't, you found your problem.

[thund3rstruck]

Tiger-Heli,

 I will definatly give that a shot this evening when I get home from work.

Thanks!

[thund3rstruck]

 To my total amazement, all the ground leads zero'd out correctly. So apparantly the wiring was correct from the start. So it must be the IPAC to XBOX converter. As a last ditch effort I lugged the control panel in the house and hooked it to a PC, and tested the buttons in notepad.exe (all of which reponded correctly).
 
 2 days of pulling my hair out over this and it was that converter the entire time.