Super Combo! (But No Ultra?)

It's done. Finally, I have a working wireless stick for the PS3 made out of the Sony BD remote controller PCB. I'm very pleased with the fact that I got it to work. The very last thing I had to do was to take out the common ground PCB for the Sanwa JLF, since the BD remote's PCB has different lines (kinda like grounds) for each direction. After that was all wired, the directions all seemed to be backwards, so the easiest fix was to just swap out the positions of the microswitches (up with down, and left with right).

Now the bad news...

Looks like something (either the PCB's design, my wiring/wires or the Sanwa buttons being very sensitive) is not making three simultaneous button presses register consistently/easily. I'm having the hardest time getting ultra combos to come out when I want. While I troubleshoot, I have temporarily solved the problem by mapping the R2 and L2 buttons to Px3 and Kx3. Focus attacks and other two-button moves work fine.

I'm tired. I need some sleep and then enjoy my new stick tomorrow. But, I have a feeling that once my MC Cthulhu comes (Still waiting, ModChipMan...), I'll put the wireless stick aside and just use a more reliable wired stick.

Cutscene

I spent most of yesterday cutting strands of a flex cable. Why? Because I figured it would be the best way to hack the Sony PS3 Blu-ray remote (can be bought for $20 or less) for my wireless PS3 stick.

I considered the solderless hack, but the flex cable connector used on the remote control didn't allow the wires to pass through to the other side, and was generally too difficult to ensure a reliable connection. So, I had no better idea than to order a 28-pin flex cable to extend the contacts onto a blank PC board...

You're still reading? If so, you must be planning to try this hack. I'm still not finished with it, but here are the pin assignments that I've tested. It should save you a step when wiring.

1: common line for 14 & 22
2: cl for 15 & 23
3: cl for 16 & 24
4: cl for 17 & 25
5: cl for 18 & 26
6: cl for 19 & 27
7: cl for 20 & 28
8: cl for 21
12: select
14: triangle
15: circle
17: square
18: x
19: home
20: L2
21: start
22: up
23: left
24: right
25: down
26: L1
27: R1
28: R2

The BD remote PCB does have tiny non-drilled copper contacts for each pin, but they are too close to one another to safely solder on all the necessary wires. So, I hope this helps some of you out there. Good luck!

10 Years Too Late

I haven't been posting regularly, so here's a catch-up post that covers some of the work that I've done in the past month...

I finally got around to painting the case using my Rust-Oleum Specialty Paint For Plastic Spray. I only gave it one coat, but the color seemed OK. I left it to dry completely, for a week.

Another thing I got done was putting in a spacer to correct the joystick height. I came across a set of chopping boards at Ikea that looked like it would give me about the right amount of spacing. Turns out the small board was just the right thickness! Now I have the joystick at the 23-24mm height from the faceplate. The chopping board was very easy to work with - I just cut it using a hacksaw and drilled the holes with my 15/16" hole saw and regular drill bit for the bolt holes.

Now, I'm waiting for my Multi-Console Cthulhu board to come in so I can make this work for my newly purchased PS3, also. So, come on ModChipMan, it's been about month (ordered May 10th) already!