This is the 3rd and FINAL part of this mod. Part III will show you how to wire up the switch panel and put everything from Part I and Part II together. Then everything is “crammed” inside the 8″x6″x3″ Project Enclosure. Soon you’ll be able to play some of the greatest games ever, just as you remember them!

How To: NES Controller to Xbox Mod Part I

How To: NES Controller to Xbox Mod Part II

4.0 Finishing Up

A Dremmel is used to saw out (7) 1/2″ holes to place the (1) 2 Way Switch (w/Center Off) and the (6) Push Button Switches. We’ve provided a template to use for this in PDF format.

4.1 Download, Print and Attach the Template

Download Template Here (400KB).

Once you’ve downloaded the template, print out a high-quality color copy for the finished product and a low-quality copy to be used as a cutting template. Double check the measurements of the holes on the template print out and make sure they are roughly 1/2″ (depending on some printers it might scale the image causing the measurements to be off).

4.2 Cutting the Project Enclosure

Cut the Lid For The Switches
Tape the template onto the plastic lid of the project enclosure (See image above), then tape the lid onto the enclosure itself. Cut out the holes with a Dremmel (or drill) and check every now and then to see if the push button switches fit in the holes. There’s not really an exact science to this, just cut little by little until the button fits snug.

After The Lid is Cut

Cut the Front and Back of the Box
You need to cut out a 1 5/8″ X 3/8″ out of the center of the front side of the box for the PS2 Connector to fit it. On the back of the box you need to cut out a hole roughly a 1/2″ in diameter for the Xbox Controller Cable to feed through. Once again, cut little by little until the PS2 Connector fits rather snug, and until the thick knob on the Xbox Controller wire can fit through the hole in the back.

Front of Box

Back of Box

When you are done, strip the low-quality template off and throw it away and clean as many of the plastic shavings as you can out of the box.

4.3 Put the Switches in Place
Take the high-quality print out of the template and glue it in place on the lid. Cut out the holes for the switches and screw the switches in place on the underside of the lid. We will wire them up the switches in Section 4.5.

4.4 Connecting the PS2 Connector to the Xbox Controller
You’ll need the small 7″ portion of the PS2 Connector (the left over piece from Part I), the small 12-Position Terminal Strip, a small Flathead Screwdriver, the Xbox Controller PCB (with the wires soldered to it), and the notes you took from Part I showing which color wire from the PS2 Connector went to which control on the NES Controller.

The Terminal Strip provides a straight through connection between the NES Controls and the Xbox Controls (plus it is solderless)! All you have to is hook the like controls of the NES and Xbox on each side of the Terminal Block and screw them down in place. Hook the wires up in the order I did in the diagram to make it easy on yourself.

Diagram to Follow
(Remember my wire colors may represent different controls than yours. Use YOUR notes from Part I!)

Everything hooked up. You may have to snip the D-Pad Control wires a little on the Xbox PCB like I did so everything fits.

Get it Inside the Box
Once everything is hooked up you can place the Xbox PCB and the PS2 Connector inside the project box. This is just cramming and jamming, but becareful not break any connections. Start with pulling the cord from the Xbox PCB out the back of the box while placing it inside. Then push the PS2 Connector from the inside out. It’s a tricky process, so be patient.

Everything is in! (Somehow?)

4.5 Wiring the Switch Panel

Wiring the Common Ground
Cut 6 individual wires about 2 1/2″ in length and strip both ends of the wire about 1/4″. These will serve as jumper wires for our common ground between all the switches. Using the following diagram and solder each wire to the switches accordingly.

Diagram to Follow

What it will look like when you’re done

Wiring a Lead For Each Switch and Ground #2
Now cut 9 wires all roughly 8″ in length and strip both ends of the wire about 1/4″. These will serve as lead wires for each switch and the Ground #2. (These wires will connect to the leads on the Xbox PCB via another Terminal Block.) Solder those in place using the following diagram.

Diagram to follow

What it will look like when it’s all wired!

Hooking the Controls to a Terminal Block
First superglue (I used Bondini brand) the Terminal Block to the lid on the left hand side of the switches (use the image below).In the same fashion as you did in Section 4.4, you are going to hook up the leads from the switches to their corresponding control on the Xbox PCB via the Terminal Block. Use the diagram below.

Diagram

{mosimage}

Switch Panel is Wired

I recommend propping the switch panel lid up on a book to make the wiring easier to the Xbox PCB.

4.6 Test EVERYTHING
Using a multimeter, give everything one final beep test to make sure you have no shorts. This is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT.

4.7 Close It Up
Just as getting the Xbox PCB and the PS2 Connector inside the box, this will be just as tricky. When putting the lid on, use a pencil to move the wires around until the box can be closed. Once the lid is on, test your final product. If it works, glue the PS2 Connector into the box (so you can plug in the NES Controller without pushing the connector into the box, and that’s it! Enjoy the fruits of your labour and play some Contra for me!

The Final Product

 

Credit / Resources

Savanna - Digital Photos

Ryan - Electrical Assistance

Coxii - Button Tester and Food Guy!

Xbox-Scene - Where I learned TONS about the Xbox! Plus they thought this guide was newsworthy! Awesome!

Dreamcast NES Mod - The whole idea for this mod came up when I seen Ted’s guide.

Amiga to Xbox - bek’s guide on Xbox Scene that came up during some research.

http://pinouts.ru - An excellent electronics resource.

Arcade Controller for Xbox - Great guide on flickR where I got the idea to use Terminal Blocks to cut down on soldering.

{mosgoogleads center}