I'm Baaaack! My Gp2x D-pad Mod And Paintjob - Finally Done&#3

[BobBorakovitz]

Thanks to everyone for your compliments! B)

The parts I ended up using were a chopped down NES controller circuit board & membrane and the d-pad from a gameboy pocket. I didn't really think of anything myself, I just followed others' examples. It also took me a lot of parts that didn't work right or I screwed up by oversoldering or something.

A lot more info about how I did it is in this link.

QUOTE

Nice dpad mod, but I don`t like the paint job.

Any tutorial around (or how about making one?) for a dpad mod.



no real tutorial out there, but all the info is in my old link here.

about the paint job - what is it you don't like? the color or the quality?

QUOTE

Only one question: how are the diagonals now?



most emulators already cater to the dpad users, I haven't found one yet that didn't work right.


QUOTE

This is a really cool mod.

it could be total cool if you posted a toturial/pictures on how you made it



thanks! check out my old thread above, it has links to wiring connections and plenty of ideas! No pics there though, but there are on other links from there with lots of pics!

QUOTE

How did you get the paint to stick? How chip-resistant is it?

And welcome back!



Thanks! The exact brand is "ColorSpray" Premium Enamel it says "SURE GRiP" on it on the side. It was bought at Wal-Mart apparently because the color on the label on the back says "walmart cobalt blue"
I just roughed up the surface of everything I wanted painted with a light sandpaper so it had something to grip to better. Just make sure it's really clean of dust before you paint!

QUOTE

How is the D-pad compared to the stick? I don't have a GBPocket, but I do have a GBColor, that might work? And like conopio asked: How are the diagonals?
Oh, and what tools did you use, could you write a tutorial?



Yeah, the GBColor should have the same D-Pad as the GBPocket. Actually, someone used a NES D-Pad I linked to in my older thread that inspired me to do this.

Diagonals are fine in everything I've tried so far, and that's most of the emulators and some of the homebrew. And......it's MUCH nicer and more responsive than the stock stick.

Tools/ Parts Needed...
Philips Screwdriver
Drill
Dremel Cutting/Sanding/Cleaning Kit (without dremel) $20.00 i think
Soldering Iron, Solder, Flux
An old donor IDE Cable for wiring
Wire Cutters (AKA "Dikes")
Wire Strippers
Razor Blade (Xacto Knife)
Sandpaper
Paint
Double Sided Tape
Donor D-Pad
Donor D-Pad Membrane
Donor D-Pad Circuitboard (trimmed to fit in that tight position)

I think that's it..... :rolleyes:

QUOTE

Impressive, how the D-Pad Cross seems to perfect fit into the Case. smile.gif
By the way, do this Mod also support Stick-Click?



Thanks a lot!
No, I didn't put a button in for stick click yet, I probably will in the future, but there's not much out there that requires stick click that I'm aware of yet. I'm sure if I'm wrong someone out there will correct me! :rolleyes: In order to do a stick click I just have to find a suitable button and placement for it. No one else seems to have bothered with the button either.

 

[Anhaedra]

Looks better than my dpad mod, mine looks like shit, but it works.

 

[BobBorakovitz]

got any pics? I looked through your topics but didn't see one about your mod...

 

[starpause]

too rad!

i DREAM of the day gp2x does a mk3 that features a dpad rather than the lame stick!

 

[thefunkygibbon]

thanks for the link, will look through it now.

did it really take you 4 months to do?

was there much soldering and stuff needed to be done?

 

[bacteria]

Nice work, looks good.

My skills at such mods have vastly improved recently (I am currently working on a portable/semi portable N64 unit - see sig - I am more active on BenHeck forums now). I must say, you have made your D-pad as good as possible (and as good as I could now!).

Rather than using the NES mobo, etc; you could use the mobo and D-pad and contacts from a GBA (old style) one - you can buy them on E-bay for about £10-£12 delivered, so is cheap enough to hack apart, butcher, and use for the GP2x D-pad mod.

Good work - nice to see a professional one!

No point making a "how-to" guide - anyone who wants to know can look over old postings, various people (inc me) have posted how-to guides in the past, using different techniques.

 

[dgame]

Nice work, looks good.

My skills at such mods have vastly improved recently (I am currently working on a portable/semi portable N64 unit - see sig - I am more active on BenHeck forums now). I must say, you have made your D-pad as good as possible (and as good as I could now!).

Rather than using the NES mobo, etc; you could use the mobo and D-pad and contacts from a GBA (old style) one - you can buy them on E-bay for about £10-£12 delivered, so is cheap enough to hack apart, butcher, and use for the GP2x D-pad mod.

Good work - nice to see a professional one!

No point making a "how-to" guide :huh: - anyone who wants to know can look over old postings, various people (inc me) have posted how-to guides in the past, using different techniques.



Does anyone have pictures and more information on the GBA to GP2X mod? I have searched through many of the threads and although there are several guides, they all use different methods and things for parts. What interest me is directions like: get system X (in this case the GBA) and do this that and the other to fit the Dpad into the GP2X.

At this point I am willing to buy a Classic GBA from eBay and hack it myself IF I had some good directions or a good idea of what to expect.
Has anyone done the GBA [mobo and D-pad and contacts] to GPX conversion? Tips? Pictures?

Thanks for your help.

 

[BobBorakovitz]

Nice work, looks good.

My skills at such mods have vastly improved recently (I am currently working on a portable/semi portable N64 unit - see sig - I am more active on BenHeck forums now). I must say, you have made your D-pad as good as possible (and as good as I could now!).

Rather than using the NES mobo, etc; you could use the mobo and D-pad and contacts from a GBA (old style) one - you can buy them on E-bay for about £10-£12 delivered, so is cheap enough to hack apart, butcher, and use for the GP2x D-pad mod.

Good work - nice to see a professional one!

No point making a "how-to" guide - anyone who wants to know can look over old postings, various people (inc me) have posted how-to guides in the past, using different techniques.

thanks for the compliments! It's still working great, too! I read Benheck's forums sometimes, have been for years. I'll have to check out your project! Thanks again

Does anyone have pictures and more information on the GBA to GP2X mod? I have searched through many of the threads and although there are several guides, they all use different methods and things for parts. What interest me is directions like: get system X (in this case the GBA) and do this that and the other to fit the Dpad into the GP2X.

At this point I am willing to buy a Classic GBA from eBay and hack it myself IF I had some good directions or a good idea of what to expect.
Has anyone done the GBA [mobo and D-pad and contacts] to GPX conversion? Tips? Pictures?

Thanks for your help.

No, but it's not too hard. You just cut out the dpad from the gba's mobo without ruining the traces you'll need. Then just solder a wire from each direction and 1 ground to the corresponding pins on the gp2x. Those pinouts can be found in my older thread posted above along with pics (from other controllers though) But, seriously, if you can't trace out the 5 connections for the gba's dpad, then you really shouldn't bother doing this mod yourself. Don't needlessly destroy your gp2x.

thanks for the link, will look through it now.

did it really take you 4 months to do?

was there much soldering and stuff needed to be done?

yeah, pretty much 4 months. But about 3 months of it was stored all sealed up in a box until I got "unpissed" enough to mess with it again! :rolleyes:

soldering? oh yeah, redoing things 5 times sucks!
stuff? yeah, a lot of other stuff

 

[dgame]

Does anyone have pictures and more information on the GBA to GP2X mod? I have searched through many of the threads and although there are several guides, they all use different methods and things for parts. What interest me is directions like: get system X (in this case the GBA) and do this that and the other to fit the Dpad into the GP2X.

At this point I am willing to buy a Classic GBA from eBay and hack it myself IF I had some good directions or a good idea of what to expect.
Has anyone done the GBA [mobo and D-pad and contacts] to GPX conversion? Tips? Pictures?

Thanks for your help.

No, but it's not too hard. You just cut out the dpad from the gba's mobo without ruining the traces you'll need. Then just solder a wire from each direction and 1 ground to the corresponding pins on the gp2x. Those pinouts can be found in my older thread posted above along with pics (from other controllers though) But, seriously, if you can't trace out the 5 connections for the gba's dpad, then you really shouldn't bother doing this mod yourself. Don't needlessly destroy your gp2x.



Thanks BobBorakovitz,

No worries on the GBA PCB stuff. I am using the one from Gamecube controller instead. I am hoping this will work with the N-Gage QD pad that I ordered. I am of the measure twice, then measure again, think about it twice, then cut once variety. While I like the infamous Nintendo cross, I suffer from Nintendo finger (hurting thumbs) when I play too long on games that require a lot of diagonals or sweeping motions. I think the QD pad would also be easier to install as it only requires a big round hole versus the cross outline. I hope the QD pad's dimension are compatible with the gamecube PCB. I don't know if I will destroy my GP2X in the process, but at this point I want my media player to be able to play games.

"I'm thinking about getting metal legs. It's a risky operation, but it'll be worth it."

 

[Sphinxter]

Some rather impressive craftsmanship there dude.

 

[BobBorakovitz]

Thanks BobBorakovitz,

No worries on the GBA PCB stuff. I am using the one from Gamecube controller instead. I am hoping this will work with the N-Gage QD pad that I ordered. I am of the measure twice, then measure again, think about it twice, then cut once variety. While I like the infamous Nintendo cross, I suffer from Nintendo finger (hurting thumbs) when I play too long on games that require a lot of diagonals or sweeping motions. I think the QD pad would also be easier to install as it only requires a big round hole versus the cross outline. I hope the QD pad's dimension are compatible with the gamecube PCB. I don't know if I will destroy my GP2X in the process, but at this point I want my media player to be able to play games.

"I'm thinking about getting metal legs. It's a risky operation, but it'll be worth it."

I felt the same way about mine. I don't care if I kill it, I just want a dpad. I started using the Gamecube controller's innards, but I think I screwed that one up. It was recommended highly on another thread. Anyway, I ended up trying 3-4 controllers before I finally got it right. The NES Dpad was just too easy and I had a bunch of them around so I didn't mind sacrificing one. I buy extra things for hacking sometimes. I have a NES 4 Player adapter I bought for $1.00 that I'd like to make USB with a kit from RetroUSB.com but I have to email them to see if they can just convert mine because on their site it says that they are temporarily unavailable. Ahh well... Good luck with your mod, make a topic so people can help you out. People here were a lifesaver for me

Oh yeah, great sig! I love Grandma's Boy! "Whoa, chill bro... You know you can't raise your voice like that when the lion's here."

Some rather impressive craftsmanship there dude.

thanks! B)

 

[bacteria]

I read Benheck's forums sometimes, have been for years. I'll have to check out your project!

Yes, please do. I am making a very comprehensive guide, as I am progressing, with the N64 project. I am sure you will find it interesting! Most days I am updating it, as I work on the project.

My skills have improved drastically over the last couple of months. I couldn't solder properly before (remember my old pics?), I can now solder successfully to microchip pins and closely grouped pins on connectors.

 

[Anhaedra]

got any pics? I looked through your topics but didn't see one about your mod...

No I don't have pics... And I don't really want to take any, it looks pretty bad.

 

[___]

Goddammit! Now you got me thinking about modding my gp2x again. I just received an answer from EvilDragon informing me that there are no D-pad kits available anymore and so I think I will need to get this done myself. I am also going to try this with an N-Gage QD pad. I am planning to add a few other neat things, like a dandy looking blue led background light for the buttons. I will have to see first if that's actually visible though.

 

[Nova]

Goddammit! Now you got me thinking about modding my gp2x again. I just received an answer from EvilDragon informing me that there are no D-pad kits available anymore and so I think I will need to get this done myself. I am also going to try this with an N-Gage QD pad. I am planning to add a few other neat things, like a dandy looking blue led background light for the buttons. I will have to see first if that's actually visible though.

Hey if it all work out well, would you consider doing mine?

 

[Shmurge]

I am also going to try this with an N-Gage QD pad.

Where you will buy this N-Gage QD pad? And how much it will cost?

 

[___]

well, you can get n-gage cases on ebay which include the d-pad. Only problem is that you need to use a pcb of another device... I will investigate this further and then decide if I will really go with the qd d-pad or simply a nes controler d-pad.
That n-gage qd case replacement is about 8 euros on ebay btw.

@Nova: Sure, if you don't mind me possibly ruining your gp2x in an unfortunate accident?

 

[tdp]

I have been looking at the design. Isn't it just a case of the stick part is just too long? Dremmelling 4-5mm off the stick would reduce the deadzone. But there again, would that cause other problems?

edit for spelling