Mayflash PS2/USB + Paewang Revolution duelmod?

[Satoshi_Matrix]

I have a Mayflash PS2/USB arcade stick modded with sanwa 30mm buttons, a JLF and a octagonal restrictor gate. It works really well, but when connected to the PS3, there's no home button, and it can't be used on the Xbox 360 at all.

I was thinking of buying a Joytron Paewang Revolution pcb and building a stick around it, but then I thought of the possibility of modding it into my existing mayflash in a sort of duel-mod - solder wires to the paewang, and then to the buttons that already have wires soldered to them in order to go to the Mayflash pcb and the paewang at the same time, thus having two cords come out of one arcade stick.

Although I do have soldering and arcade stick building experience, I've never preformed a duel pcb mod and am worried about it simply not working or the buttons going haywire.

First off, is what I'm purposing possible? Would I need to install a two state switch somehow to change between them? Is there different voltages I need to be concerned about? The idea sounds great, but I just don't want to end up destroying both pcbs in an ill-conceived attempt at combining them.

The two pcbs are nearly identical:


and


Any visually oriented help would be helpful, even ms paint diagrams.

Thanks for any assistance.

[CRTGAMER]

Can you get a PS3 game started with a regular PS3 controller then use the Mayflash PS2/USB arcade stick by a hot swap? If so then maybe a USB switch to select the regular PS3 controller when the Home Button is needed?

The other alternative is jumping each individual button from the PS2 PCB button pads over to the PS3 PCB button pads. One wire for each button and an extra for the common ground. Only have the PS3 controller plugged in when you do this to avoid a crosstalk and possible damage. To maintain the PS2 functionality, a disconnect cable between the two PCBs would work.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

well yeah, I plan on having the two pcbs connected to the buttons. both are common ground and they'd be connected only through the common ground, the rest would all be signal wires going to the buttons.

[CRTGAMER]

well yeah, I plan on having the two pcbs connected to the buttons. both are common ground and they'd be connected only through the common ground, the rest would all be signal wires going to the buttons.

Still a concern if one PCB might interfere with the other and the risk of damage. You can play it safe and completely isolate the two PCBs either with disconnect cables or a few multiple pole toggle switches.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

but hold on a minute there. They'd only be connected through signal traces and common ground, not VCC. As long as I don't have both cords plugged in at once, only one board should get power at once, which would mean the other one is not live, and would be the same as any other controller not plugged in.

Or am I wrong about this? I'm concerned about crosstalk, but the more I think about it the more I don't think that would happen in this case.

[fvgazi]

USB is 4 wires, right?
You could try a 4P2T switch if they even make them.

I'm having a hard time visualizing just a switch to direct the Vcc between the two boards. If only one has Vcc the other will not be getting power and won't be on?

//edit
I've made two sticks already with the 360/PS3 pcb. I'm not sure if it's 'backwards compatible' with PS2. I'll double check for you

If it was, you could just use that one PCB for 360/PS3/PS2/USB. No need for dual mod. *crosses fingers*

//edit again *sigh*
I also just realized I'm an idiot and PS2 needs a PS2 ADAPTER!

So you want to connect the USB from the most recent paewong into the existing PS2 Paewong and only have those cords coming out? You could just have all 3 cords coming out, but that might make for a mess. It also might be the "cleanest" way to take care of the internal wiring scheme, though.

[CRTGAMER]

but hold on a minute there. They'd only be connected through signal traces and common ground, not VCC. As long as I don't have both cords plugged in at once, only one board should get power at once, which would mean the other one is not live, and would be the same as any other controller not plugged in.

Or am I wrong about this? I'm concerned about crosstalk, but the more I think about it the more I don't think that would happen in this case.

There is that risk of crosstalk and possible damage due to different voltages. The electrical voltage creeping from the plugged in PCB to the other PCB when a button is pressed. You could use Diodes for all the wires, but even these may bleed some current back or have too much resistance if not matched to work on BOTH console and controller voltage requirements. The disconnect cables or multi-pole toggle switches are the safest and surest route. The isolation has to be for each button wire not the USB cable connection.

[skate323k137]

It's always been my understanding that if both PCB's accept the same voltage (i.e. both 5v or both 12v), and the common ground is connected, you need the VCC connected too, and then only plug in one at once. Yes, both boards would be powered, but only one communicating. If the other board isn't powered it's more likely to cause interference or drain power from the active board. see:

http://www.joystickvault.com/showphoto.php?photo=291

If both are USB you could use one USB cord and a DPDT switch like this:

http://cdnroot.cheapassgamer.com/forums ... ureid=5480

from

http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=6985

If thats too complicated just bridge the +5 and ground b/t the pcbs and just use one USB cord at a time.

tl;dr, hook all buttons and common ground to both PCB's. make sure the PCBs share the +5 in addition to the ground, and make sure only one set of data lines for the USB connection is hooked to a console at a time.

[AigisMSF]

Is it too late to chime in on this?
The answer for this is actually pretty simple. The golden rule is that both PCBs need to be common ground. Afterwards, all you need to do is connect the grounds, the vcc (In this case you shouldn't worry about the voltage to your current Mayflash, it accepts +5v from USB already), as well as the corresponding signals (left to left, (360) A to (Ps2/3) X or however you want your button mapping) and go from there. You could have two cables coming out, I would highly suggest you never plug in more than one cable at a time though.
You could accomplish this dual mod with a Paewang Revolution, it seems somewhat redundant to pay for two pcbs with ps3 functionality though. I would suggest checking around to see if you can pick up a 360 WWE Brawl Pad, which can be had for $12.99 from gamestop (http://www.gamestop.com/xbox-360/access ... -pad/89175).

From there, you have three options for cables. you could run two USB cables (plus the PS2 cable) out of the stick, you could use a physical switch like mentioned above to control the USB data lines, my personal choice would be one of Toodles ImpV2 (gdlk.co) which would allow you to control which pcb is selected by a button press. So you don't need to drill a hole or anything, and you can maintain the original cable.

If you have any other questions about the process I'm more than happy to answer questions, I've been wiring arcade sticks up for a few years now

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Okay great. Here's what I posted on shoryuken. Maybe someone here can help answer my questions and concerns as well.

Okay, so I've learned a bit more and would like some help from those in the know.

I have two possible Mayflash PS2/USB pcbs I can use - one from 2007 and one from 2009. Careful examination of them both seems to suggest that they are both common ground. The only difference between them is that the 2007 maps the joystick inputs to the PS2 dpad, whereas the 2009 model maps them to the PS2 left stick, which is a problem when using the adapter with the original Xbox running XBMC as the dash since you can't navigate the menu with the left stick, only the dpad.

If you guys would like, I can post images of all pcbs that will be involved.

I've never done a dual mod, but I DO have experience padhacking for building arcade sticks. I created a thread asking about this on racketboy and was told some interesting info. Here's what I've bee told:

"It's always been my understanding that if both PCB's accept the same voltage (i.e. both 5v or both 12v), and the common ground is connected, you need the VCC connected too, and then only plug in one at once. Yes, both boards would be powered, but only one communicating. If the other board isn't powered it's more likely to cause interference or drain power from the active board."

and also:

"The golden rule is that both PCBs need to be common ground. Afterwards, all you need to do is connect the grounds, the vcc (In this case you shouldn't worry about the voltage to your current Mayflash, it accepts +5v from USB already), as well as the corresponding signals (left to left, (360) A to (Ps2/3) X or however you want your button mapping) and go from there. You could have two cables coming out, I would highly suggest you never plug in more than one cable at a time though."

I then came across this diagram of how to dual mod a first gen PS1 controller and a wired Xbox 360 controller together



This would seem to confirm the idea that the VCC lines need to be connected, but I'm baffled by the concept that a 3.3v and 5v line should EVER been connected - would that blow the 3.3v PS1 stick?

Regardless, I don't think that I'll have to worry given that both the Mayflash and the Paewang both are the same voltage - at least to my understanding. I know the USB cord for the Mayflash pcb will of course be 5v, but I never plan to use that - only the PS2 port will ever be used.


Should I attach VCC from the PS2 cord input or the USB cord input or doesn't it matter? I'm not entirely sure what the PS2 voltage is - 3.3v, 5v or what.

Here are images of the pcbs I will be using, labelled.

Paewang:



Mayflash (although the labeling is probably not right for the 2007 pcb I have and plan to use - the guy who posted this said it was his 2009 model)



One final question while I think of it - is there any limit (becides physical space) to the number of padhacked pcbs that could be placed in a single arcade stick? If I am successful in getting the Mayflash and Paewang together in one stick, I'd also possibly like to put an NES MAX and a RetroDuo clone SNES controller in one stick. They too are both common ground and are both 5v.

Thanks for any help!