Unusually Easy F100 Mk2 Joystick Mod.


A

alyinsanfran

Member
Joined
Nov 28, 2004
Messages
361
Age
55
Location
Pacifica, Northern California
Website
Visit site
The stick on my F100 Mk2 had always annoyed me, and I was looking at maybe upgrading to an F200 just for the pad.
I mainly play Mame, and the lack of response often shows up in 8-way shooters, with the ship getting kind of 'locked up', not wanting to move at all for a second or so.

So I finally hooked off the 'pad'. I'd tried this before and chickened out because it was on so tightly. This time I used a fork underneath it to lever it gently off. Worked great.

I tried playing a game that always locks for me (Juno First) without the pad on at all, just the metal shaft. And blow me down if it didn't work great, if uncomfortably.

So I popped the pad back on, but just at the very tip of the shaft. I couldn't press down on it or it would slide further down, but it worked great too, no lock-ups at all.

So I was left with either filling most of the hole in the pad (it's very long, 5mm x 2mm) so that it would mount higher on the shaft, or (gulp) shaving it down.
Two minutes of carefully shaving it down on light sandpaper (circular motion helped to keep it even), a couple of minutes of clearing the hole with a paperclip (the sanded plastic had filled it) and bingo.

No, it's not a d-pad, but for 5 minutes of really easy work the thing is 100% better. I'm hitting ladders in Donkey Kong perfectly, Time Pilot is way easier and Juno First is fun again.

I don't remember seeing a mod like this on the forum, so I thought I'd share.
f_Capm_7009f46.jpg
 
alyinsanfran said:
The stick on my F100 Mk2 had always annoyed me, and I was looking at maybe upgrading to an F200 just for the pad.
I mainly play Mame, and the lack of response often shows up in 8-way shooters, with the ship getting kind of 'locked up', not wanting to move at all for a second or so.

So I finally hooked off the 'pad'. I'd tried this before and chickened out because it was on so tightly. This time I used a fork underneath it to lever it gently off. Worked great.

I tried playing a game that always locks for me (Juno First) without the pad on at all, just the metal shaft. And blow me down if it didn't work great, if uncomfortably.

So I popped the pad back on, but just at the very tip of the shaft. I couldn't press down on it or it would slide further down, but it worked great too, no lock-ups at all.

So I was left with either filling most of the hole in the pad (it's very long, 5mm x 2mm) so that it would mount higher on the shaft, or (gulp) shaving it down.
Two minutes of carefully shaving it down on light sandpaper (circular motion helped to keep it even), a couple of minutes of clearing the hole with a paperclip (the sanded plastic had filled it) and bingo.

No, it's not a d-pad, but for 5 minutes of really easy work the thing is 100% better. I'm hitting ladders in Donkey Kong perfectly, Time Pilot is way easier and Juno First is fun again.

I don'r remember seeing a mod like this on the forum, so I thought I'd share.

f_PadModm_4954865.jpg
Click to expand...
I'll consider this...as well as probably ordering an extra cap just in case I screw up.

Thanks
 
Last edited by a moderator:
alyinsanfran said:
The stick on my F100 Mk2 had always annoyed me, and I was looking at maybe upgrading to an F200 just for the pad.
I mainly play Mame, and the lack of response often shows up in 8-way shooters, with the ship getting kind of 'locked up', not wanting to move at all for a second or so.

So I finally hooked off the 'pad'. I'd tried this before and chickened out because it was on so tightly. This time I used a fork underneath it to lever it gently off. Worked great.

I tried playing a game that always locks for me (Juno First) without the pad on at all, just the metal shaft. And blow me down if it didn't work great, if uncomfortably.

So I popped the pad back on, but just at the very tip of the shaft. I couldn't press down on it or it would slide further down, but it worked great too, no lock-ups at all.

So I was left with either filling most of the hole in the pad (it's very long, 5mm x 2mm) so that it would mount higher on the shaft, or (gulp) shaving it down.
Two minutes of carefully shaving it down on light sandpaper (circular motion helped to keep it even), a couple of minutes of clearing the hole with a paperclip (the sanded plastic had filled it) and bingo.

No, it's not a d-pad, but for 5 minutes of really easy work the thing is 100% better. I'm hitting ladders in Donkey Kong perfectly, Time Pilot is way easier and Juno First is fun again.

I don't remember seeing a mod like this on the forum, so I thought I'd share.

f_PadModm_4954865.jpg
Click to expand...
Would you mind posting a picture of the modded unit and not just a picture of the leftover part?

Thanks,

Chris
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Gruso said:
That is the modded part. The leftovers are just dust on the table. ;)
Click to expand...

alyinsanfran said:
Correct, this is what I did to the joystick.

Your mileage may vary, but this has made my GP2X fun.
Click to expand...
i believe he meant post an image of the gp2x with the new modded joystick cap on :)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Excellent, I'm stoked it worked for someone else. I thought maybe I just got a rubbish unit.

And the weird thing is, I can think of little reason for it to work.

I thought initially the shaft of the pad was so thick that it was butting against the facia.

But no, it was clear.

I think I'll take just a little more off it, to get the edge of the pad as close to the facia as I can without touching.

Thing is, the hole in the pad goes really deep, in fact I think the little bump in the centre of the pad (note this is a Mk2) is the end of it, so it may be possible to mount it very close to the facia.

Which damn near makes it a d-pad. Unless I take too much off...;-)
 
Just to make sure I understood correctly: the mod is applied on the joystick cap only, there's absolutely no need to open the GP2X, you are only decreasing the height if the cap and cleaning it after that, right?
 
sehs33 said:
Just to make sure I understood correctly: the mod is applied on the joystick cap only, there's absolutely no need to open the GP2X, you are only decreasing the height if the cap and cleaning it after that, right?
Click to expand...
Yep, all I've done is pop off the joystick cap, and then shave a little off the cap's shaft.

If you look at the photo, normally that plastic shaft would be quite a bit longer.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
alyinsanfran said:
The stick on my F100 Mk2 had always annoyed me, and I was looking at maybe upgrading to an F200 just for the pad.
I mainly play Mame, and the lack of response often shows up in 8-way shooters, with the ship getting kind of 'locked up', not wanting to move at all for a second or so.

So I finally hooked off the 'pad'. I'd tried this before and chickened out because it was on so tightly. This time I used a fork underneath it to lever it gently off. Worked great.

I tried playing a game that always locks for me (Juno First) without the pad on at all, just the metal shaft. And blow me down if it didn't work great, if uncomfortably.

So I popped the pad back on, but just at the very tip of the shaft. I couldn't press down on it or it would slide further down, but it worked great too, no lock-ups at all.

So I was left with either filling most of the hole in the pad (it's very long, 5mm x 2mm) so that it would mount higher on the shaft, or (gulp) shaving it down.
Two minutes of carefully shaving it down on light sandpaper (circular motion helped to keep it even), a couple of minutes of clearing the hole with a paperclip (the sanded plastic had filled it) and bingo.

No, it's not a d-pad, but for 5 minutes of really easy work the thing is 100% better. I'm hitting ladders in Donkey Kong perfectly, Time Pilot is way easier and Juno First is fun again.

I don't remember seeing a mod like this on the forum, so I thought I'd share.

f_PadModm_4954865.jpg
Click to expand...

Dude what happend to your thumb. :D
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I sanded the cap's shaft just a little more, about 1mm more than the original photo.

It's working ridiculously well now, I'm having absolutely zero issues.

I took a photo of it mounted so you can see what I'm talking about.
I totally recommend this to anyone who, like me, is scared of opening up their unit.

f_GP2XPadm_ffd8b51.jpg
 
Thanks for confirming alyinsanfran, I will be trying this first thing tomorrow morning, if it worked for me too you will be my GP2X idol:)
 
sehs33 said:
Thanks for confirming alyinsanfran, I will be trying this first thing tomorrow morning, if it worked for me too you will be my GP2X idol:)
Click to expand...
No worries, I kind of fell into this fix to be honest. But it's freakily good, and I hope it works well for you.

Please post if it does, it would be good to get this out into the community.

Incidentally, I can think of no reason for this to work so well, but work it does!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I am keeping an eye on this thread. Sounds fascinating.

Theory: Maybe the shorter cap shaft helps by decreasing the distance between a direction and its opposite, i.e. a part of the cap hits the unit earlier than normal forcing you to use shorter movements.
 
imhotep said:
Theory: Maybe the shorter cap shaft helps by decreasing the distance between a direction and its opposite, i.e. a part of the cap hits the unit earlier than normal forcing you to use shorter movements.
Click to expand...
I don't think so. The cap itself is mounted at the same point as normal, in that the metal shaft is still inserted as far as it will go into the cap. so for some reason not having that long plastic 'outer' shaft fixes things. It's still got the same dead area in the centre of the throw, but now when I play it feels 100% better.

The only thing I can think of is that somehow the plastic shaft was butting against the unit somewhere. But it didn't look like it, and someone would have noticed if that was the problem.

It's a strange one for sure, but I tell you what, it just passed the Amidar test. I could never play that game well before the mod, and now I can.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

gaterooze
Gp2xbox Joystick Mod
Replies
3
Views
2K
tengen
T
Q
Recommended D-pad Mod For F-100 Mk2?
Replies
2
Views
1K
quartercast
quartercast
craigix
Joystick Mod
2 3
Replies
41
Views
17K
halo9
H
R
What Software Is Compatible With An 8 Way D-pad?
Replies
1
Views
2K
senquack
senquack
I
I Want To Do D-pad Mod
Replies
1
Views
1K
reaper79
R
Back
Top