How To Build Your Own (8 Way) D-pad...

[grahf]

hahaha,
classic

Actually i removed the old joystick. Came out pretty easy w/ some desoldering braid and a little flux. I still need to measure everything. I plan on putting the original piece of gamecube board directly over top of the original joystick location, and running the wires around the back to solder them. The only problem is that the surface mount resistors/capacitors seen are in the way. They sit about 1mm high, so possibly a piece of double sided tape could be used to both mount and raise the GC pcb.
Any ideas on that?

 

[grahf]

Update: finally canibalized a gamecube controller. I was sad to wreck such a nice controller It will be a tight fit, but should work ok. For those wondering, i just used a dremel to cut out the PCB. A dremel works well, but be careful not to breath the dust from the board!! After that its a matter of scraping off the coating on the traces, and soldering some suitable gauge wire. The plastic d-pad itself sits a little high as-is, but i think i'm going to shave it down on the bottom so that it doesnt stick out of the gp2x case too far. Comments or questions welcome.

 

[bacteria]

Grahf - nice work to date.

Rather than removing the joystick completely, how come you didn't just cut the legs from the joystick itself and use the reverse legs (as per my illustration) to solder the wires to it?

I would gauge that the GC D-pad is not only a bit tall for the GP2x but also a bit big as a D-pad too. You might like to consider as an alternative a GBA D-pad, or better still, an old GameBoy D-pad (you can still buy them in second hand places sometimes) - these are a bit smaller.

One way to raise the board above the transisters is to use sticky floor tiles! - adhesive and sticky, plastic (so no conductor), solid.

I look forward to your updates on developements. Keep it up!

 

[fishybawb]

Hey grahf, that's sounding really good. I wish I could Dremel without running the risk of limb loss, then I could give this a shot myself

Anyway, keep us updated!

 

[bacteria]

fishybawb - you could make your own, with card, tinfoil, wires, just as effective, can be mounted on the front of the GP2x (above hole), use the D-pad rubber keys, and mount a piece of circular card (over the rubber keys) to act as the D-pad. This works, looks reasonable, no Dremelling!

 

[FluffyPanda]

Bacteria, I get the feeling that you really like sticky floor tiles.

 

[bacteria]

FluffyPanda - everything has its uses!

 

[fishybawb]

It's a good idea, but I really don't like the look you get from sticky floor tiles and blu-tac. I've been looking at my old Gameboy's d-pad with murderous intent... Maybe I'll get brave with a Dremel and just hope I don't hit an artery

Edit: Typo

 

[Reesy]

I've been looking at my old Gameboy's d-pad with murderous intent...

​

me too

@grahf: Keep us updated, its looking good so far.

 

[DijiTao]

How will you handle center push if you use a hacked up GC gamepad?

 

[Reesy]

How will you handle center push if you use a hacked up GC gamepad?

​

We would loose the functionality, oh well no great loss to me. I never use the stupid thing anyway.

 

[grahf]

Bacteria, I opted to completely remove my stock stick because i wanted to save it. It actually works ok since its worn in. Well for a stock stick anyhow.

The cube dpad is a lot smaller than it may look in the pictures, its not much bigger (if not the same size) as a GBA dpad, and much smaller than a nintendo DS dpad. It is much taller than a GBA one though, but i will shave it down today (which actually should be quite easy since the pad is not solid plastic).

I had my doubts when i first started, but im almost positive this will fit ok. I much prefer using the GC controler over a GBA, since the contact pad is 75% self contained. Also all the traces come out at the same spot, unlike a GBA where they come out every which way. Besides, i'd rather not kill a poor innocent gameboy

This is going to be slightly off center from the stock stick hole. Its starting to like like I might be able to just cut the opening for the dpad in the gp2x case, instead of trying to mold in the cube plastic. I'll make some more progress after work today.

Also, i may add an additional seperate button to replace the joystick push. A lot of programs/emus use the push+button to access menu, so it may be needed.

 

[Loubear]

I think someone else mentioned this, but does anyone have a picture of a gp2x with the joystick taken off? I would like to see how it would a dpad or something would fit on it...

 

[grahf]

Page 3 of this thread. It will be a tight fit. The contact pad im using has to be raised a hair to clear some surface mount components.

 

[bacteria]

fishybawb - Sure, sticky floortiles may look "naff", but they are under 2mm thick, can be moulded into shape, and wouldn't be seen in your final unit (grahf) is going to mount his D-pad inside the GP2x, so the only point of the floortile piece is to put a non-conductive layer onto the motherboard to raise the level above the transisters, have something which won't move, and is flat. Doesn't really matter what you use as long as it conforms to this spec.

grahf - Yes, you will need a centre "push" button, as most programs use it in some way or another. This button doesn't have to be mounted as part of the D-pad itself, far from it. My earlier diagram shows the two pins on the joystick back which complete the "push" centre button circuit. You could make your own button, or buy one, and drill a small hole in the GP2x (anywhere there is a space available) to mount them.

Reesy - on a different note, any chance of making the "exit to menu" require centre "push" and right shoulder button please? When I play Psycho Pinball, I like to use the shoulder buttons for the flipper control; unfortunately if you accidentally press both at the same time it goes back to the emulator menu! Any news on version 4.4 of DrMD? (hopefully it will have overclocking mode!!

 

[Reesy]

Reesy - on a different note, any chance of making the "exit to menu" require centre "push" and right shoulder button please? When I play Psycho Pinball, I like to use the shoulder buttons for the flipper control; unfortunately if you accidentally press both at the same time it goes back to the emulator menu! Any news on version 4.4 of DrMD? (hopefully it will have overclocking mode!!

​

I suppose it would work but I would be buggered then if I went with the Dpad upgrade, at some point I'll be making the menu enter/exit key combination user defineable, so you can set it up as you like. Cpu over clocking is in DrMD now....as well as a little surprise.

 

[FluffyPanda]

Oooh, I like surprises.

Just out of interest, are there actually any games that don't run full speed in DrMD at 200 MHz? I don't think any of the ones I own struggle at all.

Personally, I like the shoulder buttons as return to menu, but fully redefinable controls would be cool too. I'd like to be able to use the center click to select roms, for example.

Could you add an option to insert sticky floor tiles into games somehow? That would be awsome.

 

[Epicenter]

Oooh, I like surprises.

Just out of interest, are there actually any games that don't run full speed in DrMD at 200 MHz? I don't think any of the ones I own struggle at all.

Personally, I like the shoulder buttons as return to menu, but fully redefinable controls would be cool too. I'd like to be able to use the center click to select roms, for example.

Could you add an option to insert sticky floor tiles into games somehow? That would be awsome.

​

Yes, most games run at 45-49 FPS with 0 frameskip at 0 FPS. At least most games I play. At ~250 MHz they stay at the proper 60 FPS.

 

[Epicenter]

I don't quite get how this works. You're suggesting pulling off the cap and putting a D-pad somehow on top of the shaft, then soldering leads to the back of the switch and somehow affixing the D-pad? Most pads are just a piece of plastic with some conductive material on the bottom that bridges 2 contacts to make a 'closed switch' and send a button-press signal to the system .. I don't see what good moving conductive material around on the '2x's shell or hovering in midair hanging on the stick shaft is going to do. Maybe if there were some sort of example of how this works, but it makes 0 sense to me. Maybe I just don't need to be up this late.

 

[grahf]

Finally got a chance to solder the wires. The contact pad is held in place with 3M double sided tape. Its extremely stable, and does not move at all. I cut the cross for the dpad in the front housing last night. Its not much to look at since i did it by hand with a razor and dremel (will post pics later). The actual dpad itself needs to be shaved down a little bit more before it will be perfect. As it is right now, its a little too tight with the case closed. I dont know when i'll have time to finish it, but will post up the results when i do.