**install complete** broken SMD R29 within the, "B" button circuit on a 1708

[JohnMc123]

first of all I'd like to say, I'm very happy to find this group!  I thought I'd mod my daughters Xbox one controller and I used 22 AWG wire because, that's what I had on the work bench.  That didn't work out well for me.  I soldered up the chip and had issues with how bulky the wiring was; as a result I broke the R29 resister in two!  Not knowing much about the circuit I thought for sure I was desuetude!  I had no idea what the value of R29, so I started looking around on the internet and found this group and a thread (https://www.acidmods.com/forum/index.php/topic,44426.0.html).  not only did I find the value of the R29, the above thread had some on install a simple link between TP41 and R29.  When I read that the value was R29 is a 100ohm, 0402 sized.  I now had something to work with and had a chance to get my daughters controller up and running with the new mod installed.  I guessing that the 100 ohm resister is a pull down (or up) resister for the B button, after all it is just a switch.  I ordered some of these off  of Digikey (https://www.digikey.ca/product-detail/en/samsung-electro-mechanics/RCS1005J101CS/1276-7015-1-ND/7320657).  when these came they looked way too small.  I found some old 100 Ohm resisters in my parts bin and I made a jumper with the old resister in series.  I also ordered some 30 AWG wire (https://www.digikey.ca/product-detail/en/jonard-tools/R30W-0100/K397-ND/221682) that is way smaller and looks like I'll have a better chance of success.

I took this project on because, I have been repairing old arcade games for the last couple of years as a hobby.  This Xbox one, controller mod has been a enjoyable learning experience.  I'll post my success, or failures as I progress. 

I always say, "it all works out in the end, if it hasn't worked out it's just not the end".  I'm very happy to have found this group and hope to try some new projects like this in the near future .  I've already included
 in my last order to Digikey, I ordered some PIC12F675' I've been interested in playing with soon.

JohnMc123

[RDC]

The 100ohm is just in series with the B button line, like a current limiter, that would be a crazy stiff PU/PD value. That 0402 Resistor should have fit. It's when you order the 0603 (metric) thinking you're getting 0603 standard, you actually get the 0201 standard, and they can pretty much be covered by a drop of fly spit.

You'll find the 30awg a lot nicer to work with, just remember it's a solid single strand, so as long as it's not put into a position it'll be sharply bent over and over and use a drop of hot glue back from the solder joint to keep it from breaking off the board it works great. You may also want to get a wire stripper for that stuff, as it can be hit or miss with any other kind of wire stripper or Xacto blade.

Be aware that PIC will only run around 10MHz max if you plan to use it in an XB1, since you only have a 3.3v source in there. Looking for a PIC with LF instead of F or one that has a max voltage of ~ 3.6v will run faster in that environment. If they're for a 5v environment you'll be good up to the 20MHz they can run at. Also, depending on how many IO you're needing, on those smaller PICs keeping them connected to the programmer for easy reprogramming and debugging eats up 3 of the pins, leaving you with pretty much a 3 pin micro. You can get all 6 back, depending on how much you like to socket and un/plug the things every time it needs tweaked, but I found that to get old fast and always try to keep the programming pins free for just that.

[JohnMc123]

RDC, thanks for the feedback.  I'm calling it a night.  so far I've managed to clean/scrap the via just past R29 and connect up to T41 on the 1708 MCU BOARD BOTTOM.  I've also ran a few lines; however, that's good for now.  I'll try to get some more done during the week.


thanks for the info on the PIC, I'll have to look into that.

[JohnMc123]

I did a little work this evening.  I was doing well with the 30 gauge wire and then I decided to use the old 22 gauge for the 3.3 Volt, TP9.  Well I blew the pad right off of TP9!  2 questions come to mind, should I have just used the 30 gauge wire for the 3.3 volt TP9?  Now that TP9 is gone, I see that I can use J6, pin 4; however, I have no idea where J6, pin 4 is located.  I think I found another spot but, just guessing at this point, see the 2nd and 3rd pictures.









please help, John.

[RDC]

That damaged TP9 has caused no real harm, you can use pin 31 there that you have circled for the 3.3v now.

Yes you should use the 30awg wire for the 3.3v and Ground. You're not drawing amps of current with something like that chip there.

There is no J6 on that board, that is a 1708 version controller. It has J1 and J5, which are the connectors that mate the boards together. You'd have to pull the bottom board up there to get at it, but the aforementioned spot is fine to use.

[JohnMc123]

I've pretty much have the bulk of this done.  I have the rumble motors to hook up, wire the 3 back tactile buttons, and then perform a function test!   

[JohnMc123]

I have good news!!  last night I finished the install (picture of the back buttons below, I'm going to have to change them to the original buttons that came in the kit.  I thought these would be cooler but, again I was mistaken..lol) and this evening my daughter tried it out.  It was a big hit!  I learnt a lot and had a lot of fun.  I'm very thankful for finding this site with all the excellent post and having RDC reach out so fast and help.  My main troubles were using that 22 gauge wire.  It was too big and when I soldered it to the pads, just the weight of it moving it around would rip the pad right off the PCB!!   I won't do that again.  buying the 30 gauge was so nice to work with it was almost like cheating..





The scary part is, I put out a ISO/wanted  ad in the local buy and sell looking for broken XB1 controllers and I found 3 for $40 (pictured below).  I have to get back to my arcade projects right now; however, I can pick away at these here and there.  I'm excited to start working on them.

[Lazarus65]

Awesome job on the project. This forum is such a huge help for us that like to tinker with our controllers. $40 for 3 XB1 controllers is a pretty good deal depending on what's wrong with them. I use sites like Ebay and an app called Mercari to get used controllers for cheap. I've found some as low as $5 that just needed a good cleaning.

[JohnMc123]

Thanks Lazarus65, I really feel like this site and the people here is the reason I have taken on more controller projects.  I've fixed 2 out of the 3 controllers so far.  I've just cleaned them, re-flowed some suspect joints, replaced the analog joysticks, that failed testing.   I've noticed that the joysticks were damaged and the D-pad skips 2 items when trying to navigate through menus.  does anyone know why the D-pad would be doing this ?  After taking apart the 2 PCB's  and just function testing/cycling the D-pad membrane pad, putting it back together, it works!  why is this?  I see that you can buy an analog joystick on Digikey (https://www.digikey.ca/product-detail/en/sparkfun-electronics/COM-09032/1568-1526-ND/6823623)  I may order some of these if I'm putting in an order, in the near future.  I've ordered over 30 joysticks on ebay so, I'll be stocked up for a while.  The only question I have at the moment is, does anyone have the Digikey part number for the 10 kOhms potentiometer on the side of the joystick, there's 2 of them and it seem to be a weak spot.  if anyone knows where to get these, please let me know.  I'm going to spend some time looking and if I find out I'll post it here.  Thanks everyone

[RDC]

Switch bounce most likely. The D-pad on the XB1 controller isn't like the buttons. It has a domed metal piece, like a Tact switch, that bends and 'snaps' into the closed position, then 'snaps' back to open. When that metal gets worn out it can act a little funky or there could be something crept it's way under there and has started to work on the contacts.

Some of those eBay sticks are knockoffs and they will cause you nothing but headache. They're pretty easy to spot once you have a closer look at them as the details are just all wrong in how the ALPS is stamped and the frame is shaped.

Don't think I've ever seen just the POTs alone anywhere, and anyone that is selling them like that most likely took them from existing sticks anyway. You could probably find a pile of the knockoff ones, but again, headache.

Sooner or later when replacing sticks you'll run into stick drift. The controllers are calibrated after they are made with the stick that it was built with, and depending on how off the replacement is, because they always are as the electrical and mechanical tolerances there aren't crazy tight, you'll eventually put one one in there that will drift on you. Even if just the POT on it it is replaced it can still happen, and if the POT is worn out then the mechanism in the stick has seen it's share of use as well and it's just best to replace it as a complete module, most times.

[JohnMc123]

RDC, It's funny, I took the controller apart and pushed the D-pad contacts a few times each switch.  Later when the controller was resembled, hooked back up the game, and used for a few hours the D-pad worked  fine so far.

Ya, the joysticks I bought might be total garbage..lol.  I'll let you know how that turns out.  I thought I might be OK when I ordered them because, before I installed the new ones, I bench tested them by checking both legs on either end of the pot for total resistance and then I alternated left leg and center, and then right leg and center leg of the pots, while rotating the joystick for full range/functionality.  the pot were not fantastic; however, they looked OK on the bench.  I found the new pots that I used ended up working OK  so far.  With the poor/OK bench test, I did wounder what could be done for calibration though. 

When you mention,

Sooner or later when replacing sticks you'll run into stick drift. The controllers are calibrated after they are made with the stick that it was built with, and depending on how off the replacement is, because they always are as the electrical and mechanical tolerances there aren't crazy tight, you'll eventually put one one in there that will drift on you. 

I wondered about these controllers being calibrated again because of the sloppy readings I was getting on the bench and it prompted me to do a little digging and I found the, "Joy.cpl" on Windows 10 (ref: https://youtu.be/YjZrUnHC_Wg).  That sounds awesome being able to perform a full technical survey of the functionality of the controller; then with that information, doing an overhaul and then again testing it to ensure the controller has been back to, or as close to zero hours as possible!  I'm going to try this right now...  let me now what you think?  Has Windows 10', "Joy.cpl" had lots of success, or is there something out there that is way better?

sincerely, John

 

[RDC]

That's been in Windows for awhile, and it's only going to calibrate the controller to that PC. It doesn't save back to the actual controller in any way, so if it's wonky a little bit that can straighten it out for use on the PC that you calibrate it on, but it's not going to do a thing for when you connect it up to any other device.

There currently is no way to recalibrate the controller that I'm aware of, so we're left with tweaking the POT on them for now.

I use a CronuMax for seeing what is going on with the Analog values when I need to tweak one, but there are other apps like the HTML5 that works pretty well for seeing what is going on. It doesn't show you the Sync or Guide button presses, but those are pretty XB1 specific anyway and need to be tested there, and the CM only shows the Guide button press. https://html5gamepad.com/