USB Saturn Pad Mod

[NFG]

If you've got any questions, suggestions or observations regarding the Saturn pad USB mod please jot 'em down here.

NOTE: Requests for guides based on other controllers, or 'please show me which line is which on this PCB' will be ignored, deleted or ridiculed.  Or possibly all three.  You've got a brain, use it.

[fragment]

on that website it states that the controller can be used on a PS2. Do all USB controllers work on a Playstation 2 or just one wired this way? That would be awesome!

[NFG]

That's actually a bit of a stretch, as far as I know (Since I don't own one of the accursed things) the hardware supports the USB pads, but the SOFTWARE generally does not - at sony's behest all standard controllers have to use the PS port.  Strange controllers, like keyboard, Densha, racing or vibrators use the USB port.

[benzaldehyde]

And so, you have created the greatest PC pad ever. Cool.

<Begins ordering parts...>

[kaioshade]

would an xbox controller work?

I dont know how feasible it would be, but since xbox controllers are usb, and there are usb drivers for the pc, would it be at all possible to use the encoder chip from an xbox controller?

[kaioshade]

never mind. i just took a look inside the controller and its nothing like the diasgrams.

im problably just retarted but i dont understand a single thing about that tutorial. well some of it i do get. but some things are a mystery, such as where do you know where to place the resistors, etc?

[Guest]

I am going to attempt this with a ms sindwinder pad. how would i go about knowing where to place resistors, etc?

[kaioshade]

Ok here is a question. how do you know components to pull out along with the encoder chip?  

[kaioshade]

Alright i have read the guide over and over for 2 hours now.

ANY help would be greatly sppreciated. There are some things i dont quite understand and any suggesstions would help.

[Vertigo]

What don't you understand? It's a step-by-step guide written in English and WITH PICTURES!!!  

[Guest]

Here is what i dont understand

How does he know WHICH components to remove in addition to the encoder chip.
How does he know WHERE to place each of these components?  

[NFG]

This isn't brain surgery, boy.  You look at the old controller - it has (in this case) 2 resistors, 2 capacitors, a crystal and a chip.

Look at it.

You see how it looks?

That's how it's connected.  That's how it works.

When you remove it and put it in the new pad, make sure it looks the same (electrically speaking).  The part connected to pin A now should be connected to pin A later.  That's how I know how it goes together, 'cause I know how it was when I took it apart.

As it says in the guide, in fact:  

It's a good idea to make notes as you go, in case you forget where things were after you've removed parts. I also take pictures as I go, so if my notes are wrong I've got photographic proof that I'm an idiot.

I mean, I even included pictures!
http://www.gamesx.com/controldata/usbsatpad/4T.jpg
http://www.gamesx.com/controldata/usbsatpad/2T.jpg

What more do you want?  You want me to hold the soldering iron for you?

[kaioshade]

Never mind. I knew that when i did get a response it would be something like this.

I will try to understand this a bit better.

Thank you.  

[atom]

Basically, you remove everything from the usb controller except the buttons (which are most likely unremoveable anyways) . All the buttons of the usb controller connect to the chip, you simply just connect the buttons on the other controller instead. Its more simple then it sounds.

Edit - Lawrence i think you should make a disclaimer that if you dont know how to at least put together:

battery
on\off switch
led\flashlight bulb

into a workable circuit then you should not try this mod\tutorial\whatever nor are you allowed to ask questions on it. There is a difference between a new-be and a knows absoluteley nothing oo-be.

Im sorry, but you cant ask for directions to build a house without knowing how to use a saw, a hammer, know what a nail is, and know what type of nails you need. You know what im saying?

[Emi]

Great job Lawrence!

Just out of curiosity, which Elcom controller did you use?

Thanks!

Emi

[NFG]

Elecom sells a pad that looks just like a US 1st-gen Saturn pad (ie: ugly) with the perfect amount of buttons, and it's only about $12.  

[kaioshade]

Basically, you remove everything from the usb controller except the buttons (which are most likely unremoveable anyways) . All the buttons of the usb controller connect to the chip, you simply just connect the buttons on the other controller instead. Its more simple then it sounds.

Edit - Lawrence i think you should make a disclaimer that if you dont know how to at least put together:

battery
on\off switch
led\flashlight bulb

into a workable circuit then you should not try this mod\tutorial\whatever nor are you allowed to ask questions on it. There is a difference between a new-be and a knows absoluteley nothing oo-be.

Im sorry, but you cant ask for directions to build a house without knowing how to use a saw, a hammer, know what a nail is, and know what type of nails you need. You know what im saying?

Dont insult me. I know basic circuitry, i was just having some trouble following the guide a bit.

No i am not some advanted technical electronics person, but i am not a moron. So please do not treat me as such.

[erkan]

I appologize, I am always afraid to post on this forum because of harsh tone here but anyways I feel the need to point out that I to had a bit of a hard time following the guide when I read it. I read it for fun only I didnt want to build my own.

But you clearly pointed out here that you just connect the new joypad to the same circuitry from the old pad and it makes perfectly sence.

[NFG]

I have posted an official rant on the newbie bashing that goes on here; please move this conversation to the other thread, and form here on stick to the USB mod ok?

[Guest_Martin]

Elecom sells a pad that looks just like a US 1st-gen Saturn pad (ie: ugly) with the perfect amount of buttons, and it's only about $12.

I remmeber once.. a shop near me had a batch of PC pads that were exactly like Japanese/US second generation pads.. man how I wish Id bought onw now.. oh well *does mod*
that guide is really great.
good job  

[Guest]

The USB mod is goob, but is valid for the Wheel?

[NFG]

The USB mod is goob, but is valid for the Wheel?

Well, I'm speechless.

[atom]

Haha!

[Adeptus]

What USB pads do people know of, that have those nice, easy to work with, non-surfacemount chips in them? <_<

I bought a couple of Thrustmaster Firestorm 2's based on recommendations from other modders... but they were just soldering wires onto the old circuit board (making a big arcade stick).

I want to do it "properly"

[NFG]

I used Elecom pads, they've proven to be very mod-friendly with large components and no surface-mount bits.

[atom]

Im with you adeptus, certainly no elecom pads here. I tried an axispad by interact  but the chip was part of the pcb as you said, and a thrustmaster which had way too many diodes\resistors\capacitors and many too small as well.

My friend has a gravis gamepade that his dog chewed through, but we are unable to locate it. A new gravis around here costs 20 bucks, which is not worth it to me.

[Guest]

Where can Elecom's be bought online, from places that do international shipping, & how much are they?

I did a quick Google for them without much luck... mostly Japanese sites and/or Elecom USB hubs...

[Adeptus]

OK... I'd like to get a couple (at least) of these Elcom pads, but they seem to only sell them in Japan. Can anyone recommend an online store that I can buy them from (must be in English, because I don't speak/read Japanese) or can someone buy a couple & mail them to me?

[Darklegion]

Have you considered just wiring up to the parallel port? USB is nice but you could easily hack on at least 2 different pads to the same cable(different consoles also) and you don't need to pay the money to hack apart a controller.....not only that you won't be sacrificing your consoles controller as it will still be usable on the real thing,as long as you can get hold of some extension cables for the female connectors.The best thing I can see about usb is the fact that most recent PC's have a shitload of usb ports,but you'd be paying through the roof to hack that all together to get 4-plus multiplayer.

[Adeptus]

Found an alternative...
www.codemercs.com sell USB encoder chips - they have a range of joystick, keyboard, & general I/O chips.
Only problem is, they're in Germany, & German international parcel post is damn expensive. But I managed to arrange something

[Darklegion]

just had a better look into this and have found you can only use 1 saturn pad per parallel port because of the way the sega pads are designed(TTL-based buttons).PSX and snes pads support up to 5 at once on 1 parallel port(with linux drivers anyway).That could be another option,rip the chips off old psx pads and run your saturn controllers into them....in any case the usb mod is still quite cool,if I find a cheap pad to hack up with enough buttons I will for the sake of it.....smt doesn't really bother me either that much if thats what it comes down to.

[Endymion]

Dare I say it, anybody with a Mac would rather have a USB pad.

[Guest]

The USB mod is goob, but is valid for the Wheel?

Well, I'm speechless.

 You know you want to....

[Josh]

Hello, I recently attempted to Mod My Saturn Contoller, I have a problem, I used the Usb encoder chip from a DUAL PS2 USB converter for playstation contollers to convert to USB.  When I Plugged it all in, it acted as it did before, when I used it for PS2 controllers, it showed TWO MP-8866 DUAL USB JOYPAD with 12 buttons.  IT never would respond to any button pressed on the saturn controller.  The IC is identical to the one used in the tutorial, could it possible be different because it was used for 2 playstation 2 controllers.  Please help me ASAP. I would appreciate it some one would enlighten my knowledge at jnw_eclipse@yahoo.com. -THANK YOU VERY VERY MUCH-JOSH

[kendrick]

Josh, not to be dense about it, but does the chip from that device even accept individual button inputs? I would think that the encoder from a Playstation convertor box would be expecting to receive the serial output from a Playstation controller chip. If there was a separate decoder in the box that processed the output from the Playstation controllers, then I expect that you would have had to map the output lines from that into the USB encoder chip. If you documented what you did, can you post your notes (or a picture of the circuit you built?)

Keep in mind that the appearance of a chip has very little to do with its operation. Just because your USB encoder looks like the one Lawrence used doesn't mean that it's the same chip. Apart from Sony, I can't think of a semiconductor manufacturer that puts any thought into the appearance of their chips as an outward indicator of their function. They're all big, black ceramic boxes, and it's the guts inside that are important.

-KKC, hacking his N-gage. I should add this stuff to the wiki...

[NFG]

The IC is programmable, that you have the same chip doesn't mean you have the same program on that chip.  You've got a chip that talks to a PS2 controller, decodes the PS2 data and re-encodes it for USB.  That's not even remotely similar to a chip that checks the status of 12 buttons (no decoding at all) and encodes a USB signal.

[o-o]

What about using an unmodified saturn controller with a Joy Box or similar USB adapter?