Adding Xbox 360 Controllers to a Slik Stick!

[JRoz]

Hey guys,

I currently have a Slick Stik Quad control panel and i'm thinking about adding hacked xbox 360 controls to it.  I'm turning my showcase cabinet into a 360 platform so I need to get these in.   Instead of going and getting a new control panel I want to add them to my slik stick, so I plan on just keeping them in the case and wiring them up.   This is my question though....

I have all of the leads hooked up from the IPAC directly to each push button...I'll be getting the hacked 360 controls all wired up to a small lead box with which I can wire to each of the push buttons.  Instead of running the new xbox leads to each push button, can I tap into each of the existing leads with wire taps from the IPAC?  So basically Instead of going directly to the push button I will tap into each wire that is already there basically sharing the connection?   Let me know if this is possible, or if I'll need to connect to new push button terminals directly and disconnect the existing Ipac ones.

thanks,
Jason

[SNAAKE]

first you need a set of hacked pads(I can do those too PM I have 2)

then all wires from each buttons and direction can go on your ipac "socket" thingy. then you'll need to wire ground and 5+ from the xbox 360 hacked pad to your ipac pcb. now both should work but you dont wanna use both of them at the same time(like running computer and xbox360 together)

[JRoz]

that may actually be a better idea instead of tapping into each existing wire with those plastic wire taps.  So you suggest just going to each terminal that is on the ipac with an existing wire in there (connected to the push button already) and just run another wire now to the xbox controller?  So for example in the IPAC 1SW1 terminal I have one wiring going to the push button itself and now add a wire into that same terminal that goes to the xbox controller A button (just as an example)  Yea I definitely won't have both running at the same time however this is my only other question...

the joystick balls glow when I have the control panel plugged into the computer when its on..I do have a USB to AC adapter that I'd like to use that has 5v power source that would light up these joysticks.  So I could literally plug this into the USB to AC adapter I have which would light them up...only problem is I think its all connected to the actual IPAC so it would be plugged into the wall, but not into the computer.  Would this be bad for it to be running at the same time?  The IPAC wouldn't be plugged into the computer at all so it wouldnt be trying to communicate with it.

[SNAAKE]

hmm...I really dont know. someone else can answer your question about the ac power and glowing stick.

[Donkbaca]

If its getting power from the Ipac, its probably 5v.  There is a 5v wire on the xbox pads you can tap into instead. 

[JRoz]

ahh sweet!, yea I checked and its using 5v for the glowing joysticks...so basically I can find out what terminal the joystick is plugged into on the IPAC and run a wire from the IPAC terminal to the xbox controller 5v source?...or should I run it separately from the joystick directly to the xbox 360 controller?..i think i'm going to draw a pic to make sure i'm on the same page as you guys..let me know what you think

[Donkbaca]

If the xbox controller is plugged in all the time, just tap that.  It draws a constant 5 volts, even when the xbox is off.

[JRoz]

Hmm, not sure if thats ideal for this then...The wired controller will always be plugged in..if it pulls a constant 5v source and is always on than I don't want the joysticks to be lit 24/7..only really when the controller/system turns on

[JRoz]

I think i'm going to wire the 5v joysticks to an atx power supply because I need to still power my two cabinet fans and also the marquee light.  I probably have an old power supply laying around but i'm thinking it may be too much to literally have 2 fans some 5v lights and some 5v joysticks being hooked up...do they have smaller ones, or should I just use an old one?  Does a power supply draw the same amount of electricity or power if its fully maxed out with devices as it would with a couple low powered ones? 

[JRoz]

One question, if I use the power supply...does it need to be a switched one?  I won't have it connected to a motherboard so its not going to get any type of wake up or pulse from it.

[Donkbaca]

yeah, I was just going to say that.

Just get a 5v wal wart

[JRoz]

yeah, I was just going to say that.

Just get a 5v wal wart

So I cut off the end and find the ground and power and I can wire up all of my joysticks lights, two fans, and a few led lights to one of these? 

[JRoz]

crap, thats not going to work either actually..both fans are 12v and the Marquee LED lights are 12v.  I have one of these power strips that turn on and off depending on one switch....so for example the xbox 360 is the main power, and I have my TV and a couple of other components plugged into the strip.  When I turn the xbox on, the rest of the components turn on.  When I turn off the xbox, the tv and everything else shuts off.  If I plug an a ATX power supply that has an on off switch and keep it turned on, and have it come on and off with the xbox, wont that work?

[Donkbaca]

ok let me back up.

Is this for a stand alone CP? or a CP that is getting mounted to a cab?

Is there a computer involved?

[JRoz]

I currently have a Slik Stick quad cab that has an IPAC4 currently in it.  Instead of using a PC, I have a jtagged xbox 360 and am getting 2 hacked 360 controllers to retro fit into my slik stick.  I plan on not connecting any part of the ipac to a computer or power supply and will just wire all of my hacked xbox 360s wires directly to the ipac, just so that I can use the IPAC as a terminal so I can use the existing wires to the push buttons already there and don't need to rewire everything.  In case I ever want to run the slick stick as a mame control panel I can simply just unplug the xbox 360 wired controllers and plug the ipac into a mame computer (I will make sure not to turn or connect both at the same time). 

So the 360 is obviously self powered, as well as the two wired controllers that will be in my slik stick CP and plugged into the 360. 

I have a marquee that has 12v leds, two cabinet fans, and the glowing joystick balls on my CP joysticks that I would like to illuminate that need to be powered by something. 

I have a power strip I plan to use that turns on and off based on the state of my xbox 360.  So when the 360 is on, it tells everything else to turn on and off.  What I need to figure out is how I can power the marquee lights, the joystick balls, and the cabinet fans. 

The idea is to use maybe an ATX power supply and have them all wired directly to it, and have it plugged into one of the outlets on my power strip that turn on and off based on the xbox 360.  I believe your idea before was to just run the joystick balls directly to the 5v source on the xbox 360 controller.  This wont work though I believe, because if the 5v power is constantly on, the joystick balls will stay on 24/7.  Let me know if I need to explain any other parts, and again..thanks a lot for your help!

[Donkbaca]

Sweet.

Quad panel?  Is it just sticks and buttons?

By quad, is it 4 players?

If yes, here is what I would do if I were you:

Sell the ipac 4, get 4 hacked controllers and a hub. Rewire the CP to the controllers, hook controllers up to a hub, hook hub into a KVM, hook KVM up to PC and xbox. Get a 12v wall wart.  wire all things to the wall wart. Get the appropriate resistors for the 5v sticks.  That way you could switch between the PC and the xbox whenever you wanted to and have both.

OR

If you just want the xbox. do the same as above except ignore the part about the KVM.
 

[JRoz]

Sweet.

Quad panel?  Is it just sticks and buttons?

By quad, is it 4 players?

If yes, here is what I would do if I were you:

Sell the ipac 4, get 4 hacked controllers and a hub. Rewire the CP to the controllers, hook controllers up to a hub, hook hub into a KVM, hook KVM up to PC and xbox. Get a 12v wall wart.  wire all things to the wall wart. Get the appropriate resistors for the 5v sticks.  That way you could switch between the PC and the xbox whenever you wanted to and have both.

OR

If you just want the xbox. do the same as above except ignore the part about the KVM.
 

I actually want to go the route i'm planning on because eventually I am switching around my set up.   Yea ts a 4 person control panel, 4 joysticks and 7 buttons each.  I am just getting 2 hacked 360 controllers because I am only going to use 2 players in the future, so I only care about having two of the controllers wired up.  I want to keep everything in tact so when I switch it around I can easily pull the 360 controllers out and put them in a 2 person control panel down the road.  That said, I just want to plug 2 controllers into the ipac 4 leads and use it as a terminal so I dont have to start tapping into existing wires or run all new leads to the push buttons.  So as far as powering my other things, do I just get a wall wart?  If I get this 12v wall wart, will it be able to power 12v stuff and 5v stuff?  Lastly, whats this hub you are talking about and what is KVM

[Donkbaca]

Just something to think about.
The 360 pads are recognized as joysticks by a PC if you download the drivers from microsoft.  That means that you could use the CP for both the Xbox and a PC.  You can get a KVM - Keyboard Video Mouse - switch to switch between the two.  Its basically a box that was originally used to allow people to use the same keyboard, mouse and monitor for 2 different computers.  You hook the box up the PC1 and PC2, then you hook the keyboard, video and mouse into the box.  Then you either run a script, or push a button and you can control either pc with just one set of inputs.  Now, they have KVM's with USB ports and sound ports so you can get one, plug your controls into it, your speakers into it, your monitor into it, then plug your xbox into it and your PC into it.  You boot up your cab, its a MAME PC, then, say, you want to play the xbox.  You push a button, everything switches over.  You hit a guide button on your cp to turn the xbox on.  Voila.  Mame PC and Xbox, in the same cab, controlled by the same controllers.
You dig?
That's what I am building

OK.  Why not sell the panel as is, and use the money to build a 2 player panel with 2 hacked 360 pads?  You can probably get a couple hundred bucks for the thing, a 2P CP will cost maybe 100 bucks to build TOPS.


Anywhow, back to what you were asking.  All you need is the appropriate resistor that will lower the voltage from 12v to 5v.  Just do a google search for "resistor 12v to 5v" there are resistor calculators all over the web.  Then head over to radioshack and buy a couple.  They are cheap.  Then solder the resistors onto the positive leads of your joystick. 

[JRoz]

Ah got it, sounds like a great idea.  I currently live in Manhattan so space is limited...right now I have a cocktail cabinet for all classic 80s games..and this big showcase cabinet.  When I move to the burbs i'm going to buy a regular cabinet, maybe soemthing like a Ninja Turtle Cabinet or a four player one...retro fit it with the slik stick and run all classic arcade games on it horizontal style games etc.  For the 360 I will go back to the showcase style 2 person control panel and dump the 360 controllers in that... so have the cocktail for classic, 4 player stand alone cab for mid 90s horizontal games, and the showcase cabinet for 360.

But anyways, check this thing out....would this solve all of my problems??

http://www.alltronics.com/cgi-bin/item/95E023/68/%2B12%2C--12%2C-%2B5VDC-Multi-voltage-power-brick

[JRoz]

hey Donkbaca,

So I got two seperate wall warts, one 12v and one 5v..both will come on and turn off with the xbox.  Curious about the actual xbox in your cabinet...are you taking the shell off and just having the metal cage?  I have the fan to 80% full time and have 1 120mm fan above it (inside the podium) pushing air out of the cab, and 1 120mm fan under the machine pulling cold air in.  Thats the overall plan, haven't tested or tried it yet but what are your thoughts..are you getting any extra heatsinks for it or just keeping the whole case on?  I have a xenon so i'm thinking I better do something for it!

[Donkbaca]

Mine is a RROD salvage, so I am not going to have the shell on for 3 reasons:

1) I think just having the electronic guts hanging out there is neat
2) I had to disassemble it to fix the RROD, and I am too lazy to put it back together
3) possibly more airflow.

I am still building, but my plan is to just vent with holes, I don't want a ton of fans in the cab.  If it starts to overheat, I will probably just put a silent 120mm fan in the back, blowing hot air out of the cab.

I don't like having a lot of fans, don't like the noise, so I am trying to avoid it if possible.  Having one or two big fans will be better than a bunch of smaller fans, larger fans spin slower so they aren't as loud.