Question 64CC (PE); Only for OEM N64 Controller?

Cid

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The joystick I used looks like the one on this controller. Maybe some kind of non-standard one. Something I may suggest is to make sure that you don't touch the contacts on your joystick with your fingers. I had a hard time figuring this out until I realized that after a couple of desoldering-resoldering. I don't really know what else you can do. :(
 
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Not a problem, we've all been there!! Thanks for all the help!! :)
 

ShockSlayer

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Can you open the 3rd party's joystick box and show me what the board looks like?
 
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Can you open the 3rd party's joystick box and show me what the board looks like?
Yeah I can open it up and take some pics. :) From what I can see there isn't any kind of board inside though. It looks just like a regular, newer style analog stick inside oddly enough. The two bars that swing the actual stick just attach directly into what looks like an X axis potentiometer and a Y axis potentiometer.

Once our little man gets to bed here in a few minutes I will open it up... The controller is already in pieces anyway so it won't take long. :)
 
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@ShockSlayer , Here are some pics of the inside of the analog stick. Let me know if you need any other pics of certain parts, I tried to get them all in there. I'm going to leave it apart for now just in case... putting it back together is a PITA, lol!!

And sorry about all the grease, I used some dielectric grease I had laying around to try and smooth it out. It did help quite a bit but for some reason the stick still seems to physically move further to the left than to the right so it's still hard to control. :\

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ShockSlayer

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Oh ok, I thought from the first picture than there was a circuit board inside it, but I guess it's just two potentiometers. Give me a second to figure this out, I used to deal with this a lot.
 

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Cid's diagram is correct. I reworked it a little so that it's the same orientation as your stick in your board, but electrically and functionally it's the same:


The GC joysticks and/or Csticks have to be removed from their boards, as they use a voltage divider setup instead of an adjustable resistor setup as Luke mentioned earlier. He's also correct on it likely not working correctly if the potentiometers don't match, but that's assuming the chip is programmed to be looking for a specific value; if it sets a center point on boot, then it may calculate the min/max range based on that.

If you could get us some good pics of the text on the sides of the potentiometers, we could probably find a normal replacement joystick online somewhere. It looks like it says B303 or B505, or some combination thereof.
 
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I tried wiring them that way, and even the opposite just to test but on both other analog sticks I got no movement so it has to be resistance values like Luke said, only think I can figure too, (thanks btw @Luke !!). Oh, and both analog sticks have been removed from their boards already so I'm connecting to them directly.

Here are the best pics I can get of the pots... there have plastic covering some of the numbers but as far as I can see they both say B5 03 on the top, the only difference is the color of the plastic and that the Red one has a letter "L" on it and the green on has a "R" on it. I can always try and cut away some of the plastic if needed to get a better look though... I tried on the green one but the numbers are so close I'm afraid I will end up scratching the number off if I'm not careful.

From doing a quick Google search it looks like they are 50K OHM Potentiometers... now to just find a 50K OHM analog stick... lol!!

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True...that is always an option too. Might have to do that if all else fails. I picked up an InterAct Super Pad 64 Plus off eBay to try since they are supposed to be pretty easy to get going with an aftermarket Analog stick. I figure if that doesn't work them I will say screw it, buy a Hori Pad Mini to use as the main N64 controller for my original unmodded console and just cut up my original OEM controller for my portable. Those Hori controllers are supposed to be awesome. :)

I'm still hoping to find a good replacement for this cheap analog stick though... if I can find the specs on resistance for some of the analog sticks maybe I can add some resistors to make it the proper range to work... Might just be wishful thinking on my part though, lol!! :)
 

Luke

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Hori pads definitely feel good to hold and play with for general use, but I don't think the price is worth cutting up for a portable. If you're into playing n64 games the old fashioned way (not in portable form), get one, and then seriously consider whether or not it is worth cutting. I still think the gamecube joystick is way better than the hori pad (someone who owns both, let me know if I'm wrong haha).

Funny story, I actually own 2 hori pads, and the whole reason I got them was so I wouldn't hack them open for a portable... because no other controller would survive while I was around experimenting... but I knew that if I got an expensive controller I wouldn't hack it open and I'd always have a controller around for general use. I have a transparent smoke n64 console for the same reason :XD:

edit:
DARNNIT! You said right in your post that that's what you were planning on doing, just using the hori for general use and not for a portable. I'm an idiot lol.
 
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Cid

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Like Luke said, I don't think cutting a Hori controller is worth it. In your case, what matters is getting a controller that supports analog sticks, such as a Superpad or a Yobo controller.
 

Matthew

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When I was making my N64p, I used this joystick. It's cheap, and once you remove the casing it's very small and it does all the conversion for the controller so no more unnecessary wiring or adding resistors, etc.

I believe this may be a good alternative or at the very least something you may want to consider using in the future.
 
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Hori pads definitely feel good to hold and play with for general use, but I don't think the price is worth cutting up for a portable. If you're into playing n64 games the old fashioned way (not in portable form), get one, and then seriously consider whether or not it is worth cutting. I still think the gamecube joystick is way better than the hori pad (someone who owns both, let me know if I'm wrong haha).

Funny story, I actually own 2 hori pads, and the whole reason I got them was so I wouldn't hack them open for a portable... because no other controller would survive while I was around experimenting... but I knew that if I got an expensive controller I wouldn't hack it open and I'd always have a controller around for general use. I have a transparent smoke n64 console for the same reason :XD:

edit:
DARNNIT! You said right in your post that that's what you were planning on doing, just using the hori for general use and not for a portable. I'm an idiot lol.
Yeah, if I got a Hori controller it damn sure wouldn't be to cut it up for a portable, lol!! I would use it on my original N64 system as my main controller and cut up the old stock grey OEM controller that I have for the portable. I promise ya that I am crazy... but not crazy enough to cut up a $80 to $100 controller just to make a portable. :D

Like Luke said, I don't think cutting a Hori controller is worth it. In your case, what matters is getting a controller that supports analog sticks, such as a Superpad or a Yobo controller.
I actually did pick up both a Yabo and a SuperPad controller off eBay. The Yabo has the same 4 wire connection that the cheap controller has and I'm still waiting on the SuperPad to get here. I figured that those were the two that are listed to be the most common when it comes to using a GC style analog stick... other than the OEM controller of course. :)

When I was making my N64p, I used this joystick. It's cheap, and once you remove the casing it's very small and it does all the conversion for the controller so no more unnecessary wiring or adding resistors, etc.

I believe this may be a good alternative or at the very least something you may want to consider using in the future.
I have actually looked at these but I wasn't too sure they would work since the two controllers I have only use a 4 wire setup and those have a 5 wire harness. They do look nice, although from the research I've done they seem to have pretty mixed reviews on how well they work/feel. Poor quality control maybe... or it might depend on the seller and who makes it. I know those are pretty much a PnP for the OEM controllers though which is really awesome!! :)

I might just have to break down and buy an OEM controller. I don't know... for some reason it's just so hard for me to take something that is an original 20 year old piece of history and cut it up, just feels so wrong when there are so many cheaper knockoffs out there. But... you do get what ya pay for... :)
 

Luke

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I have actually looked at these but I wasn't too sure they would work since the two controllers I have only use a 4 wire setup and those have a 5 wire harness. They do look nice, although from the research I've done they seem to have pretty mixed reviews on how well they work/feel. Poor quality control maybe... or it might depend on the seller and who makes it. I know those are pretty much a PnP for the OEM controllers though which is really awesome!!
Right, because these are designed specifically for an OEM controller.
It's a personal preference on how you feel about these. I don't love them, but I'm kind of a snob when it comes to joysticks because I'm into speedrunning and competitive smash. They are a bit more sensitive than a regular joystick, but casual players will probably not notice. At $10, it might be worth the risk, you might be one of the ones that love them! You could get a cheap controller on ebay with an awful joystick (since that's what you'll be replacing anyway), and at that point it will be more of a resurrection than "cutting up a 20 year old piece of history". ;)

Of course if you're going with OEM, you could just revert back to using the 64CC + gamecube joystick like you were talking about originally.
 
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Just got the SuperPad 64 Plus a few minutes ago and I got to say... "Holy overly complicated analog sticks Batman!!!"

Looks promising for a MUCH smaller GC style analog style transplant... the funny thing is this stick actually feels and responds really well, it's just HUGE with the full size pots in it. I can say that all the buttons suck though, not a big deal since they're all going to be replaced anyway but they just all take a really hard press for them to actually work, lol!! :D

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