Wireless matrix controller won't turn on..

[cumbsie]

Does anyone see any obvious problems with it? It's missing the triggers.. and their pads but it was turning on without them at one point. Sorry for the glare, I have a lightbox and a tripod coming in the mail.

Are there TPs for the D+ and D- on this version?

Sorry for the double-post but I finally figured out there was a blob of solder on C10 that was shorting out the controller. :/  I'll update again when I fix the traces for the triggers.

Please use edit button.

edit: I was somewhat successful in southpaw modding this controller. But for some reason I couldn't get the guide button working of all things. Well and I don't think you could use batteries with it either and it would only work with PnC cable. Are those two things maybe related? Is the IC the only way to go as far as rerouting the left stick XY?

I went a little bit crazy with the glue and I'm sure that will be problematic to closing the controller case.



On an unrelated note, can you route 30awg through a via? How do you unclog a via should you make a mistake? I can only seem to get the speaker wire copper strand through them. :/


 

[RDC]

Lot of things there..

Yes too much hot glue, just a dab back from the solder joint, not on it, is all you really need, and it's more of a routing thing than a security thing, because of the soldering is done right, it's not really going anywhere.

You don't have to solder onto the MCU leads to do a SP on that version board. There are 2 Vias that can be used for the LSX and LSY instead of the MCU leads.



You only need 2 wires for the LSC/RSC swap, not 4 like you have there, as they both use the same Matrix line for one of their connections. Only the top/right connections need to be swapped, or the White w/Red and Orange traces at the LSC and RSC respectively.



The controller not working on batteries and the Guide button inoperative are most likely related. Install a jumper wire from the far left PNC Battery connection, top side of the board first in the row of 4, to the bottom of the board at TP1 and see if the Guide button and battery pack work then. If it does, there ya go, if not, then it has an issue I haven't seen yet but is identical to one that I have.

The short answer to the Via and 30awg wire thing is yes, but you shouldn't ever try to 'unclog' a Via as that will in most cases ruin it as it removes all of the plating in there, then you're left with just a hole that doesn't conduct, so it's not a Via anymore. If the Via is that damaged that it doesn't work anymore, then go ahead and drill it out, but you'll have to repair that connection from the top/bottom of the PCB or whatever it was connecting isn't going to work anymore.

[cumbsie]

Thanks. I understand what you're saying about one wire for the stick clicks. That makes sense to me now.

I'm using the left stick vias. I meant to ask are there no right stick vias for the left stick to tap into or any other place other than the MCU. Sorry, this is mildly confusing. Doesn't help that you really can't see what I've done for all the glue I have on there. I'll try to get some better pictures. I was expecting you to just say, 'bin it.'

 

[RDC]

For the RSX and RSY the only spots to use are the traces or the leads on the MCU. The traces are preferable as you can botch that up a time or two before making a real mess, once the MCU has been frakked up that's it, but if you can solder to them with no issues then they're just as good to use.

[cumbsie]

Yeah, that wireless board is pooched. I got pretty comfortable with soldering to the IC pins though.

OK so I'm working on a wired matrix now and am wondering how to swap LSC and RSC. Do I just sever the traces leading to the transistors on the two top left pads and then use TP29 and TP6? Also for RSY, do I need to solder to the MCU? I'd rather do the MCU if I have the choice between that or those thin traces.

[RDC]

Those are Diodes, not Transistors, and no you don't want to sever that side.

For swapping the LSC and RSC on the wired Matrix it's pretty much the same deal as the wireless Matrix. Only the top/right connections need to be swapped, or the Red and Blue w/White traces at the LSC and RSC respectively. But, it ends up being 3 cuts and 3 wires as you have to rebuild the RSC line since it runs thru that RSC connection there. If it's not reconnected, then you get a dead A and X button. 






RSY on the Wired Matrix goes directly to the MCU and stays on the bottom of the PCB, so it's the MCU lead (pin 19) or the trace for RSY that needs to be used.

[cumbsie]

So for the stick click swap, would it look something like this?

[RDC]

The 3 trace cuts are correct.

The Yellow and Violet wires are correct.

The Blue wire and exposed trace are not. What you've mocked up there is what the trace is already doing, so you'd still have a dead A and X if that were done. What you need to do to rebuild that trace is just make the Blue wire connect Via 1 and Via 2.

[cumbsie]

OK, I got everything we talked about working, then I decided I'd like to swap the bumpers and the triggers. I'm stuck on swapping the bumpers. I thought it would be the same principle behind swapping the stick-clicks, but it seemingly is not.

This is how I initially thought it should be wired:



And that wasn't working for me, so I tried a few other things and I now am at a loss and in need of some help.

I haven't tried the triggers yet, but I theorized this's how they would be wired:



Will this work?

Here's how things look so far:

[RDC]

The LB/RB do not share a common line like the LSC/RSC do, you need to swap both lines from each side, so 4 wires total to swap them.

That's exactly how you would swap the LT/RT. You may run into an issue where after the swap one Trigger doesn't register a full pull, or might not release when you let go of it. If that happens, you'll need to adjust the tilt of the POT a bit to correct it as the voltages are slightly off between the Triggers, and swapping them around has caused them to get stupid. That's only an issue 1% of the time, but it can happen.

http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?/topic/552406-rt-on-controller-stopped-working/#entry3688718

[cumbsie]

Thanks again, RDC. Anyone else is welcome to chime in too.

I'm sure you know but xbox-scene is back up and I've been reading a lot of your old threads lately. Do these pictures belong to any threads on there? Would love to read the annotations that go along with them:

http://s50.photobucket.com/user/RDCXBG/media/360%20Controller%20180/10-BRACE_LOCATIONS_1.jpg.html?sort=3&o=45

http://s50.photobucket.com/user/RDCXBG/media/360%20Controller%20180/D_padtoABXYPhysical092.jpg.html?sort=3&o=16

[RDC]

They're both pics from my Sinister SouthPaw controller thread. It ended up going to Brazil IIRC.

http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?/topic/554324-the-left-stuff/

[Modded Matt]

very similar to a few I have done.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6x3dh7je5ut1u75/IMG_3309.JPG?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8g677zn5boyilfu/Soulbanner.jpg?dl=0

[cumbsie]

I want to do a case mod like that after I finish with this project. Maybe put a lo-fi speaker like the one in the Wii-mote where the d-pad is for Live chat or something. I can't say as a lefty that I'm really affected by where the buttons and d-pad are presently but it looks very cool nonetheless.







Okay, I sorted the bumpers and now I'm stuck on this rapid-fire kit. Can I use a kit like this: http://www.advancetek.org/uploads/9/9/6/6/9966477/installation_tutorial_for_xbox_360__old_board_style_.pdf with a wired controller? The way it's hooked up now it just seems to jitter the analog sticks. And the player 4 LED blinks slowly.

I duffed a via trying to add an auxiliary left-stick click. But I was able to wire a via from the back to the trace on the front. 

The 100ohm resistor on the USB power is for a couple of LEDs I put in the guide button:

[RDC]

Lovely, yet another crap tutorial that's ripped off a pic of mine.

Technically it could work, as both controllers Triggers go Lo to fire, they use the same AN+ voltage and a close enough power source voltage spot has been used. From what I can follow in your pics, it's a bit of a nest in there man, you don't even have it wired correctly according to the tutorial, and the more concerning part from the looks of it, you installed it dead bug style (upside down) but wired it up according to the pinout when looking at it from the top, in which case it couldn't ever work as nothing is going where it's supposed to and I'm not surprised that it's spazzing the controller out. Tear it all out and redo it following the directions but pay more attention to that pinout when rewiring it, when you flip the chip over they don't still stay in the same layout, that gets flipped as well.


When wiring multiple LEDs in parallel each should have it's own Resistor, especially if they are different as the forward voltage is going to be different for each one and the lower fV (forward voltage) one will either burn up or be the only one that works. Even if they are 'identical' they still should each have their own Resistor on them.

[cumbsie]

Well I re-wired it and it still only affects the movement of the character, just making them jitter randomly. It occasionally actuates the trigger as well. What works is it goes through the modes with the push-button as it should with the corresponding blinks for each mode. The chip seems to affect the controller even when it is off, causing the player to drift backwards ever so slightly. They are brand new analogs and were showing 100% across the board in Slow-turn checker so I don't think it is them.





I know I'm getting ahead of myself here, but the way the chip affects the movement of the character as it is now, would it be possible to make like an anti-idle script with a PIC? Like the character strafing back and forth randomly, shooting and so forth, while one is away from the controller. Can a PIC controller control the digital out-puts as well, like the buttons? 

[RDC]

If the controller works fine without the chip in there, then toss the chip.

The buttons are Digital, as Digital is either on or off, there's no middle ground. The Sticks and Triggers are Analog as their value varies.

You can code up a PIC/AVR to do almost anything with Digital circuits, but you'll need a PIC/AVR and also a DAC (or a PIC/AVR with a DAC built in) to do anything properly with the Analog lines. You're also far better off doing sometime like that on the CG or even CL version controller, as that Matrix is a mess to do the buttons, unless you also want to go wiring up some 4066 switch ICs in there for the buttons, in which case you can make it work like a CG/CL as far as the coding will be concerned. You could even use the 4066 in place of the DAC, but you'll just be tossing the Stick/Triggers to their min/max values in that case, but for what it sounds like you're after there that wouldn't matter at all.