Mad Catz Xbox controller hack

[PCC]

I finished hacking a Mad Catz Xbox controller.


It's a little sloppy, but all the connections are working.  I think the 22 gauge wire was a little big.  I never did anything like this before; it was more work than I anticipated.  However, I discovered that a good soldering tip makes a world of difference.

After I was finished I was told that it's easier if you: first cut all the wires to length, tin them, lay them out, and (most importantly) use drops of epoxy to glue the wires to the circuit board before soldering.  However, don't use any glue on the conductive points. Epoxy allows you to route the wires and holds them in place while soldering (for solid connections).  An added bonus is that the epoxy helps prevent the wires from being pulled from your connections.

[mj147]

It's a little sloppy

Where? Its one of the cleanest hacks Ive seen.  

Good job


mj147

[hyiu]

wow.... nice job !!!... very clean hacking job !!!...

I have a question....
(I'm thinking of doing the same thing also... hee hee..)

do they share the same ground ??...
or they have separate ground ??...

(cos for my stick... I believe I looped all grounds...)

actually... I'm thinking going 1 step forward....
(but not sure if this is possible...) I'm thinking hacking the pad... but after hacked... the pad is still good.... (I mean all buttons and stuffs.... ) just wires came out from the bottom....

also... did you hack the 2 analog trigger buttons ??

thx....  

[PCC]

Thanks, the small jpg picture helps too.  

I haven't seen that many write ups on this hack except that they are relatively easy to do.  One thing that I found, is that the analog buttons require two wires; the digital buttons (like the dpad, back, and start) have a common ground.

I did hook up the analog triggers and sticks; however, I haven't played any games with it yet.  They work as either fully pressed or released.  I expect you'll lose precise control with some games.

I'm thinking hacking the pad... but after hacked... the pad is still good

I've seen someone do a nice job with a ribbon cable.  He connected the buttons and ran the ribbon out the bottom (keeping it fully operational).  Sorry, I can't seem to find that link.

[JLR2000]

Wasn't there someone looking for someone to hack a XBOX controller for his handicapped friend some time back?  

[SNAAAKE]

Wasn't there someone looking for someone to hack a XBOX controller for his handicapped friend some time back?  

No...he was looking for an analog arcade stick that works with x-box pad's analog input(I dont think its that easy).
I guess he had no luck with it.

[originalself]

I have a question. Did you keep the usb output in tact? Im just guesing that that would make it easy to hook this thing up to a mame computer. Or maybe i got the wrong idea about a hacked board. Also this could be awsome because the controller has an onboard usb hub wich is what the mem cards plug into. I guess you could wire other components such as mouse, ect, ect into this board if you felt the need to. But this is just spectulation on my part. I have only wired an xbox controller to my computer to use it as the game pad and have never hacked it.

[hyiu]

sorry that I kinda steal this thread..... but its also about pad hacking....

Hi snaaake:
you hacked madcatz ps2 controls before ?? or just ps1 pad ?? (or did anyone did it before ??)

does those pad also has analog trigger buttons and do they have different grounds ?? or same ground for everything ??

thanks...

[SNAAAKE]

sorry that I kinda steal this thread..... but its also about pad hacking....

Hi snaaake:
you hacked madcatz ps2 controls before ?? or just ps1 pad ?? (or did anyone did it before ??)

does those pad also has analog trigger buttons and do they have different grounds ?? or same ground for everything ??

thanks...

Never hacked any ps2 dual analog but did ps1.Same ground.
I can't remeber correctly but I am bout 90% sure that the analog trigger had same ground with the other inputs(it was looong time ago).
Only pads I know that has different grounds are PC USB pads.Hacked 5 different onces and every one of them had different ground.Like "trustmaster USB" pad had different ground EVERY single input .

[Dave_K.]

I've seen someone do a nice job with a ribbon cable.  He connected the buttons and ran the ribbon out the bottom (keeping it fully operational).  Sorry, I can't seem to find that link.

That was my hack :-)  here is the pic again.  The goal was to hack the pad, but still make it remain usable until I started work on the control panel.

I haven't dont anything with it yet, as I'm still working on the PS2 control panel.

BTW: PCC that is a nice clean looking job you did.

[hyiu]

damm !!!.... that is what I want to do !!!!!!.....

Holy cow !!!.....