One More Dpad On A Gp : The Nes Cross!


nik166

:3 :3 :3
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okay, here we go for some WIP pimping, but better than words , let's go into the subject!

first you may wonder "is it easy? do i need material ?"
the answer is yes !
... to both, unfortunately...

needed:
-a dremel (yep, i have one since last week, now i have fun with it :p ) prefferably dremel 400 or any model that can go as low as 5000rpm, i haven't used any higher speed, i think 10000 would be quite much ...
-some patience and precision skills
-old game pads
-a transparent CD box


so is it possible without a dremel ?
sure, but it won't look that good :p
is it possible without patience and precision ?
forget it!

by the way i'll not tell you what to do, i'll tell what i did, feel free to adapt anything, it's not a howto, it's just my own experiment ;)

lettsa go!

first , of course, dismounting pads or etc, i personally tried nes, snes, and an old GBC i think nes or snes would be the wisest choice, nes having a thick cover like the GP2x, but the snes has some small cavities to maintain the rubber in place, good, but the cover is slimmer, and the cross is wider

anyway first think to do, practicing on some old cd box, take the pad's cover, put it on the plastic, and fill the cross with a "special for CD" pen, then cutout carefully

01.jpg

nes here

02.jpg

snes there ...

03.jpg

that's quickly done , so the question is why clear plastic and not cardboard?
1/cardboard doesn't make you practice :p
2/plastic is more rigid and solid, for trying the pad's feeling etc
3/ you can figure that the NES's cross width is almost exactly as large as a thick cutout disc :

03b.jpg

PERFECT! :D
but i use a thin one anyway for begining, then the big one to finish :)


ok, let's check the SNES scale....
04.jpg

i'm definitely sure it would fit!

... but i'll begin with the ness, i don't wanna mess with my faceplate :D

05.jpg

first to do: protecting!


06.jpg

...never too cautionous ...

07.jpg

then dismounting it all , personally it's not my first time, but you may find dismounting guides somewhere if needed i think :D


08.jpg

and GO!
done with a little sandpaper tube for dremel, if you don't have a dremel you can do it by hand with 80 to 180 density, it will only take much longer :p
i suggest using it on a tube too, like a big battery or something, to begin the big job, to not attack the protective tape, then finish with the smaller paper on a flat surface, always making little circles ;)
until you begin to eat the paper, then for the finishing blow,





09.jpg

thank you dremel discs, that's sans paper, really paper so it's soft, AND the diameter is great as tou see :D

do i NEED a dremel for that ?
nope, you can also make a little tool for your drill or again by hand, use precise sandpaper, AT LEAST 320 ,

then you can polish it to make it shiny, but i don't bother with that yet :D most of the surface will go away anyway ;)


10.jpg

that's done , relief removed! :)


11.jpg

no need to protect anymore, time to admire :) that may look complicated but it's really simple until now,
the next is trickier :p

12.jpg

remember my old cutout ? now it will get useful ;)
first checking outside...


13.jpg

...and inside, that can fit , yay :]

then cutout again, so first i marked what's to cut, using the same middle as the otiginal one, the cross will be exactly at the same place, not upper or lower it can fit that way, and it'll not look strange with the original circle, so once the clear plastic well positionned, and the inside filled with cdr pen, cutout time again!

first with a too small cross, cutting like # , the corners come by themselves afterwards, just moving them in and out, the gp2x circle acts as a cutout limit :)

then, finishing and making the cross bigger with the thick cutout disc i shower earlier, stopping often to remove the plastic garbage and trying to insert the cross,

it has to be larger than the cross of course, i stopped once i could move the cross enough to draw a 1mm² square, like with the original controller :)



the result is :

finished.jpg


... neat B)


END OF PART ONE , see you soon for the interior modding! :)
 
*joins the show and reaches for a handful of telcolou's popcorn.....*

thats looking sweet and very well thought out.
looking forward to the next instalment..

possibility of a downloadable document for hard copy instructions please? :)
 
well once finished, and if my GP is useable, i'll make a PDF guide if there's some demand ;)

but now, i have a joystick to unsolder :eek:
 
From the looks of things, I think the d-pad from the black DS Lite would be the best part you could have. I wonder if you can buy those anywhere.
 
Hey bacteria: You can kind of take credit for this too! It`s like your mod was improved on. Somebody said something about your pdf starting some sort of a dpad mod scene for the gp2x. We are definately getting there...
 
xnopasaranx posted on Sep 5 2006 at 10:18 PM said:
Somebody said something about your pdf starting some sort of a dpad mod scene for the gp2x.

guess who it was? :D
i already had that plan in my mind ;)


but credits to bacteria for the joystick's pinouts ! they'll be useful to me soon ;)
 
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hehehe sweet. I really like how it looks btw. I am considering to take the plunge and do this too... I just have to overcome my fear of defacing my precious gp2x...
 
nik166 posted on Sep 5 2006 at 11:22 PM said:
xnopasaranx posted on Sep 5 2006 at 10:18 PM said:
Somebody said something about your pdf starting some sort of a dpad mod scene for the gp2x.

guess who it was? :D
i already had that plan in my mind ;)


but credits to bacteria for the joystick's pinouts ! they'll be useful to me soon ;)
Excellent. I am pleased my work has been useful to others!

Looking forward to seeing how this project completes. Good work.

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Mr. B said:
</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->
From the looks of things, I think the d-pad from the black DS Lite would be the best part you could have. I wonder if you can buy those anywhere.
I tried some companies, only one would supply; they wanted £30 per set of D-pads and rubber contacts; crazy! You can buy a second hald NES controller for about 99p if you can find them.

Issue also is making soldering joints on the PCB of the D-pad, to secure the wires properly, so they can be fed to the back of the joystick pins.

Your mod is great for someone with a good level of skill, good tools and unafraid to do open heart surgery on the GP2x. Fair play. My project is designed for the rest of us!! :lol:
 
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i don't care , mine is more than enough :p

i don't trust nokia anyway :eek:

by the way, the most bothersome thing is DONE!

14.jpg

with a little solder iron and a small screwdriver, i don't have a de-solder pump or whatever that would have been much faster, i spent more than one hour in removing the stick :D

also possible to cut it, but i prefer keeping things useable "just in case" :D


so now, i can look for the dummy layer's perfect thickness , and it will be almost done ! :]
 
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