Add Any Extra Button To Xbox 360 Wireless Controller Options

[esc1]

I got my buttons for A and B installed, but I haven't completed the soldering to the controller PCB. I tried and solder would not stick at all to the PCB. I take it I need to scrape the rings of the contacts with an exacto knife???

[RDC]

Are you doing this on a Wired or Wireless controller? If you want the solder to "stick" to any spot that has masking on it (the green stuff) then you'll have to scrape it off to get the copper exposed. Be VERY careful doing that so you don't end up scratching it so much the copper goes with it. Let me know which you're doing and I'll show ya the best spots to attach the wires to, there are a few places that don't need the masking scraped off and will make it a little easier to do.

[esc1]

Wireless.

[RDC]

These pics are with the Right Trigger removed, but you'll be able to hit the spots I mention without having to remove it from your board. You'll have to scrape down one Via to get this done. That beats having to do 4 of them, so long as you get the one done right I use 30AWG Kynar wire, since it's small enough to hit these spots and stays where you bend it.

WIRELESS


GREEN and DARK RED = A

RED and ORANGE = B

For the new A button, solder one wire to the GREEN trace where it connects to D10. Since it's already soldered there to that part, you have a pretty good place to attach a wire. For the other wire you'll have to scrape down a Via at the DARK RED spot, right beside where it says R23.

For the new B button, solder one wire to the RED trace where it connects to D10. Solder the other wire to the solder joit on the ORANGE trace, to the left of R47.



WIRED



GREEN and DARK RED = A

RED and WHITE/BLUE = B

For the new A button, solder one wire to the GREEN spot at D5. Solder the other wire at the joint that's on the DARK RED trace.

For the new B button, solder one wire to the RED spot where it connects at D11. For the other wire you'll have to scrape down a Via at the WHITE/BLUE spot (left middle of the pic) use either one, they're both connected on the top of the board so it makes no difference at all.

[esc1]

Cool. Thanks for the help man.

Also when scrapping do I just need to expose the copper around the circle? Not directly in the circle right?

[RDC]

You're welcome.

In the very center of the Via (the circle) is either going to be some masking, solder, or nothing at all. If you go digging any deeper or try to clean it out you'll end up with a bad Via and more than likely no connection there at all. Have a look here on how you should scrape down the Via and solder to it.

[dcrvx2k]

I have done many xbox/controller mods in the past but I am having some trouble with the triggers on the 360 wired controller. I would like to have extra buttons for the triggers but I run into problems when trying to wire momentary contact pushbuttons to the trigger. Does anyone know of a way to do this? I only want the triggers to be on/off with the extra buttons and not analog. Any help would be appreciated.

[RDC]

I have done many xbox/controller mods in the past but I am having some trouble with the triggers on the 360 wired controller. I would like to have extra buttons for the triggers but I run into problems when trying to wire momentary contact pushbuttons to the trigger. Does anyone know of a way to do this? I only want the triggers to be on/off with the extra buttons and not analog. Any help would be appreciated.

Just solder one of the new buttons wires to the Wiper (center lead of the Triggers POT) and the other wire to Ground.

It's explained in a little more detail here for an Arcade Stick mod, but it gets wired up the same way. You'll most likely be leaving the Triggers in, so just solder the wires to the correct spots on the other side of the baord and forget about the Resistor completely, it's only needed if the Trigger has been removed.

This post has been edited by RDC: Aug 12 2006, 06:38 PM

[dcrvx2k]

RDC, what you suggested is exactly what I originally attempted to do. I used that method when I modded the original XBOX controller and it worked fine. The XBOX S controllers did not allow me to add a momentary contact button on the triggers. I tested prior mods on the FBA emulators input test feature and no matter what I did with an S controller the triggers could not be used. The input test would read that multiple buttons are being press simultaneously when a trigger was connected to a pushbutton. It appears to be the same case when trying to wire pushbuttons on the triggers of a 360 controller. I have no input tester on the 360 so I use SFII HF for XBOX Arcade to test. When I test the method suggested my character will do several different moves. It is never consistent and to further test I tried to assign buttons in the controller config menu of SFII HF. When the pushbutton is pressed the cursor rapidly moves down and no command is assigned. I would like to know if you tested and confirmed your method. Every mod I see for a 360 controller has no confirmed method for wiring the triggers to pushbuttons. The triggers are usually bypassed and the bumpers are used instead. Thanks for your suggestion and any further information will be appreciated.

[RDC]

This isn't my first dance when it comes to controller mods either. I've swapped the Thumb Stick buttons with the Triggers for a guy that is handicapped and can play better that way, I know you can use a pushbutton in place of the Trigger and vice-vesa as well. In that thread I linked to in the previous post, gadgetman18i3 didn't have any issues with it at all getting it to work.

What happens when you pull the actual Trigger itself? Do you get the exact same outcome? or does pulling the Trigger work correctly? What are you wiring it up to and how are you doing it?

[dcrvx2k]

Here's how is goes: Top connection is ground (verified w/ a multimeter) - Center connection is the signal - Bottom connection is left alone - Trigger assembly is fully intact. When I use the pushbutton in SFII HF the character crouches and kicks and when I use the trigger the character does the assigned command (Mid Kick). I have not removed the POT's and used a resistor in place but I will let you know how that turns out.

[RDC]

What kind of button are you using? Is that pushbutton you're using connected to anything else at all? If you have the 2 wires connected to Signal and Ground, and then right to the pushbuttons contacts there's no reason it shouldn't work. Since crouching has squat to do with the Trigger, that just reeks of either something wired wrong or a Gremlin in the controller. I'm gonna go d/l the demo and wire up a controller and see if I can duplicate the problem.

[RDC]

Works fine here, post a pic of how you have your wiring done exactly.

[dcrvx2k]

This pic is of a third party controller but I have done exactly the same to a first party controller. This is the third controller I have attempted to mod and all results have been the same. When I first opened the controller and tested the triggers I could get the Right Trigger to work but never the left. Sometimes the left side would work but it was never consistent. When I reassemble the controllers all buttons and triggers work so I don't think I fried anything.

[RDC]

There's no way messing around on the Trigger is going to make the character duck. On a first party M$ controller those things have nothing at all to do with each other. There's no ground, common ground or common anything in the whole D-pad or any other digital button on the 360 controllers and the Triggers.

I just did essentially the same thing here on a Wireless controller and it works fine. I used a different type of button (tact switch) but it's the same electrically as far as the controllers concerned, push the button and you ground the signal line. That third party controller may be setup differently than the first party M$ ones are, I'd have to see it to know for sure, but the first party 360 controllers get wired up exactly like that.

Is this the only button you have connectoed to the controller you're messing with? or is there a huge rats nest of them where something could have gotten overlooked or is shorting on something it shouldn't be? Truthfully, I'd have to put some serious though into making the character duck and kick when I pulled the Trigger, that just shouldn't be happening, at all.