Hacking 360 pad - OMG easy

[Slippyblade]

If you've ever wanted to hack a 360 controller I've got a recommendation for you.  Get one of the MadCatz Street Fighter IV fightpads.  I got one for free from my work (video game store, it had a shredded cable so was unsellable - I take home - fix - yay).  I've been thinking of using hacked gamepads in my MAME cab for a bit now and hadn't tried it.  Then I stumbled onto this gamepad hack tutorial bu HarumaN and it seemed like a chore.  No common ground, scraping terminals, etc...

Well, after opening up the fightpad I realized the board looked VERY simple.  Looked closer and had an epiphany!  The contact pads are all bare metal!  They are all common grounded!  No analog sticks to clutter stuff up!  Not to mention that if you are using this thing on a 360 and not a cabinet it has the "Left Analog, Right Analog, D-pad" switch" on the board.  This thing is just screaming MOD ME PLEASE.  

Just got a good pic of the board.  It's very different from a normal 360 controller due to the six button layout.

Below is a pic of the pad I am talking about.

[northerngames]

are you saying you can use the D-pad as D-pad but toggle a switch and have the D-pad mimmic the left or right analog stick?

your last sentence in the first paragraph needs to be edited too common ground  

[Slippyblade]

are you saying you can use the D-pad as D-pad but toggle a switch and have the D-pad mimmic the left or right analog stick?

That's exactly what I mean.  Granted, it's 0% or 100% since it's a d-pad but still, better than nothing.

[shateredsoul]

nice i would love to see a pics of this (as someone who has never soldered I would love to try it if it seems easy enough)

[fjl]

If you've ever wanted to hack a 360 controller I've got a recommendation for you.  Get one of the MadCatz Street Fighter IV fightpads.  I got one for free from my work (video game store, it had a shredded cable so was unsellable - I take home - fix - yay).  I've been thinking of using hacked gamepads in my MAME cab for a bit now and hadn't tried it.  Then I stumbled onto this gamepad hack tutorial bu HarumaN and it seemed like a chore.  No common ground, scraping terminals, etc...

Well, after opening up the fightpad I realized the board looked VERY simple.  Looked closer and had an epiphany!  The contact pads are all bare metal!  They are all common grounded!  No analog sticks to clutter stuff up!  Not to mention that if you are using this thing on a 360 and not a cabinet it has the "Left Analog, Right Analog, D-pad" switch" on the board.  This thing is just screaming MOD ME PLEASE.  

Just got a good pic of the board.  It's very different from a normal 360 controller due to the six button layout.

Below is a pic of the pad I am talking about.

That sounds awesome! Can you post some High Def pics of the electrical board, front and back?
And does this pad also work on a PC?

[Slippyblade]

Yes, Xbox 360 corded controllers work in Windows out of the box.  At least XP and up.  Not sure how they are seen under anything else but should work there as well.  I'll get some high def shots up probably tomorrow.

[fjl]

Are the LS and RS buttons removed from this controller? Those are the analog stick push down buttons. There are certain xbox live Arcade games that make use of them.

[Slippyblade]

This is exactly the case, no analog sticks or L3 or R3 buttons.  That's the same result with any 360 pad hack though.  I've never seen a hack that was able to capture those buttons.

[versapak]

This is exactly the case, no analog sticks or L3 or R3 buttons.  That's the same result with any 360 pad hack though.  I've never seen a hack that was able to capture those buttons.

Well...

The L3 & R3 are pointless buttons to hack, as they are not needed in any kind of arcade like game.

That being said they are extremely easy to hack.


These SF4 pads definitely seem like great candidates for arcade hacking.


I still want to pick up a couple of them just for gamepad gaming on stuff like the Sonic Collection and some arcade games like the recently released Earthworm Jim HD.

[fjl]

This is exactly the case, no analog sticks or L3 or R3 buttons.  That's the same result with any 360 pad hack though.  I've never seen a hack that was able to capture those buttons.

Actually Haruman's hack did include the Joystick push buttons... eventually.

I've been messing around with my Wired Xbox360 controller and I figured out how to hack all the buttons, including those Joystick push-buttons. I even figured out the analog sticks. Of course, the analogs will only be functionable as either 0% (off) or 100% (on).

I'm trying to setup a switch similar to the Madcatz arcade sticks where you can change the Joystick input from the d-pad to analog sticks. Problem with that is the analog controls seem to use two different kinds of grounds that are not compatible with the common d-pad ground.

Setting that up through a multi-integrated switch has proven to be a bit of a hassle.

Also, still waiting on those HD pics

The L3 & R3 are pointless buttons to hack, as they are not needed in any kind of arcade like game.

L3 & R3 are Sony controller buttons. On the 360 they are called LS and RS.

N-Plus and a few other X-box live arcade games do in fact use those buttons, which is why I need them.

[versapak]

L3 & R3 are Sony controller buttons. On the 360 they are called LS and RS.

N-Plus and a few other X-box live arcade games do in fact use those buttons, which is why I need them.

Whatever. Same thing.

I was actually talking about LS & RS buttons though. They are very basic hacks, and are no more difficult than any other buttons on the pad.

I don't remember what you need them for on n+, but I have been playing that with my arcade stick without LS & RS since it came out, and haven't had any problems at all.

10 action buttons for an arcade controller is ridiculous though. If you really need that many, then just use the game pad. 

[fjl]

Since the 360 controllers are PC compatible, I also plan to use it on the PC. And as everyone knows, you can never have enough buttons when it comes to MAME.  

If I do add all the buttons it will actually be 12 buttons total. Logitech Dual Action also has 12 buttons and I have made a Joystick out of that but it'd be nice to have a Joystick that works both on the PC and 360.

The LS button for N+ is to zoom in and out of the screen. I know there are other games that use the joystick buttons but I forget which ones.

[jimmy2x2x]

I pad hacked one of these sticks



into this



there is another yellow button on the hidden side, this gives me 13 buttons + the digital stick, although the guide button is of limited use on the pc as its not recognised as a standard button and only seems to be used to Games For Windows shizz.

[Slippyblade]

Very nice.  Love the carbon fiber look on the panel and the green ball is neat!

[fjl]

I pad hacked one of these sticks



into this



there is another yellow button on the hidden side, this gives me 13 buttons + the digital stick, although the guide button is of limited use on the pc as its not recognised as a standard button and only seems to be used to Games For Windows shizz.

Which button is which? And what do the switches do on the un-modded joypad?

[jimmy2x2x]

LSH/RSH = shoulder buttons
LT/RT = triggers
LS/RS = when you click in the analogue sticks

Unmodded stick is just like a normal 360 pad really
the tall stick is an analogue
dpad is digital
spinner is a shoddy clicking effort that uses the analogue mechanism underneath
buttons are the same as a normal pad

Oh, I found out something tonight and managed to get it working with a little jiggery pokery!
I installed the XBCD driver on my xp cab, this allows you to reconfigure what the 360 pads stick report to windows as (at the driver level) - so the POV on that stick pictured now reports to windows as left analogue - many more games work without the need for extra utils like dostokey or xpadder etc..

Had to change the inf in the driver as the device ID wasnt recognised (5 year old file!) but it now works great, with no lag

[northerngames]

jimmy2x2x what was the make and model of the stick you used?

[jimmy2x2x]

Sega Saturn Virtua Stick.

The parts used in the original stick where horrible, cheap nasty stuff.



There is also a PC/Mac usb version with all seimitsu parts, its quite rare but an excellent stick



its quite a nice shell to work with and looks a lot like a stubbier version of the Hori real arcade pro (another excellent stick)

[northerngames]

after reading what I posted I guess I was not very clear what I had meant I was trying to ask what was the white 360 stick's make and model that you had used the pcb from to put in your custom black one.

my original post above made it sound like I was asking about the actual joystick itself when I meant the white one as a whole so I apoligize for not be more clearer on that.

[jimmy2x2x]

haha np

here are a couple of links to the stick

http://www.iguk.co.uk/products/arcade-game-stick-madcatz-5297.aspx

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000MCHETQ/ref=s9_simh_gw_p63_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_r=10473GFTXVES1R1AGHJ6&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=467128473&pf_rd_i=468294



If you are considering padhacking, have you seen the JOYTRON PAEWANG REVOLUTION pcb?

It fully supports PS3 PC and Xbox360 with 8 action buttons, 8 way joystick, back, start and home (or guide) along with autofire support

you can get the raw pcb here
http://www.etokki.com/Joytron%20Paewang%20Revolution%20PCB%20Only

Or buy the full stick at these two locations (the datel one is just a rebadge - same internals)
http://www.etokki.com/Joytron%20Paewang%20Revolution%20arcade%20stick
or
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0037LX380/ref=s9_simh_gw_p23_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=10473GFTXVES1R1AGHJ6&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=467128533&pf_rd_i=468294

and here is a comprehensive thread about wiring up the PCB and modding the shell it comes with
(if you are not a member of SRK - join now! its THE best resource for padhacking / modding and making sticks - among many other things!)
http://shoryuken.com/threads/222925-Paewang-Revolution-(Mayflash)-Modding-Tutorial-ver.-Laugh-Lots-of-pictures?highlight=paewang

[stiffpeter]

Have you used the Joytron Paewang pcb or know anyone who has?  I am currently using a dual modded stick I made with a madcatz 360 pad and cthulhu/imp combo, but for my next one this looks much simpler.

- Pete

[jimmy2x2x]

I haven't used one personally, but I know of lot of people in the fighting game community who have them - they work flawlessly with all supported systems and have no lag on any of the systems.  Unless you already have the pcb's - this is the way to go.

[carnage77]

nice!! i have a hori real arcade pro, and the wire that connects to my xbox from my hori tore, u think that pad wire can be usefull? cuz i cant find that cable anywhere

[northerngames]

I cannot find one of them madcatz retro arcade sticks you posted here in the states the uk amazon has them but not the us amazon nor ebay.

were they a certain regional type release?

[jimmy2x2x]

US amazon has them right here

http://www.amazon.com/Madcatz-Arcade-GameStick-Xbox-360/dp/B000MCHETQ/ref=sr_1_8?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1280280466&sr=1-8