Hard wiring on gamecube

[vaderag]

Thought occurred to me that soldering to the controller ports and running the wire inside the console you could fit an ESP32 in the modem gap underneath

Question tho, if you did this could you still use standard controllers in the port?
Thinking it through I can't see any reason why not (so long as you didn't connect another pad), but wondering if the 5v might be overloaded?

Anyone tried?

[darthcloud]

That wouldn't work because you would end-up with collision between BlueRetro and original controller on the data line.

Unless you power off BlueRetro or use a switch on the data line.

[vaderag]

Hmm.. food for thought.
I think I'll just do all 4 for future proofing into a 4PDT

To clarify, if Controller 1 is not connected in GC Firmware, then does the first Bluetooth controller output on the P2 port, or would you need to connect two devices to control player 2?

[darthcloud]

The mapping between wireless controller and wired one is hardcoded. So you need to connect two controller for one to be map on port 2. But you can disconnect the first, and 2nd we keep being the 2nd.

[vaderag]

For anyone interested, decided to get a 4P4T switch which I'll drop in on the inputs.
Then wire up so that
Position 1: 1,2,3,4 => BlueRetro
Position 2: 1 wired => 2,3,4 GC BlueRetro 1,2,3
Position 3: 1,2 wired => 3,4 GC BlueRetro 1,2
Position 4: 1,2,3 wired => 4 GC BlueRetro 1

Will also drop in a toggle on the 5V to kill power entirely in the case of 4P wired (e.g. Donkey Konga!)

[vaderag]

@darthcloud just wanted to confirm some things as I'm about to get to soldering...

1. Do I need to connect up all the grounds from each of the cube ports or is it sufficient to have just one running to the ESP32?
2. Similarly, in a 4P build, is it necessary to wire up all the 5V to the ESP32 or is running a since 5V from the P1 port sufficient to provide the power?

Basically in a 4P setup wondering if it will work simply with 6 wires total? (4xdata for each port, 5v from P1 and GND from P1) ?

Thanks

[darthcloud]

Yes should be ok.

[vaderag]

Well, I did it! And it works!
Slight breakage on the 3D printed base since I have waaaay too much wire length which I'm trying to pack in there, so will reprint that and work out what to do about the wire, but it works!
Switch on the side kills the 5V allowing the front ports to be used :)

[vaderag]

Fwiw, I just tested and it does cause issues if you try and use a standard controller (wavebird in my case) without the toggle switch
Neither controller registers inputs (even if I don't connect a pad to Blueretro). The moment I disconnect the wavebird the Blueretro works. Same vice versa
That makes the toggle essential imho, and I think as @darthcloud says his experience is pure luck

Also just confirmed that it doesn't work with bongos either. Sends the player select all crazy
Turning off blue retro with the switch solves it, as does disconnecting the wired bongo, so definitely related to interference between the two.
https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/17175988/137922793-60ba0dee-8e58-435a-9474-11a7b03df4b7.mp4

Recommended to add a switch :)

[MarkAdamson]

It's very unlikely to fry your GameCube, when I say risk its more like loosing in a Game due to BlueRetro glitching the wired ctrl comm randomly.

No, I assumed not, just exaggerating for effect really.

@vaderag Damn, that's disappointing... I'm tempted to try anyway though. I've got the bits ready to go, and I'm a very impatient person 😜 I might luck out, and if it doesn't work, I'll be able to use BT controllers just until I can get the switch and 3d-printed cover bought.

[vaderag]

It's very unlikely to fry your GameCube, when I say risk its more like loosing in a Game due to BlueRetro glitching the wired ctrl comm randomly.

No, I assumed not, just exaggerating for effect really.

@vaderag Damn, that's disappointing... I'm tempted to try anyway though. I've got the bits ready to go, and I'm a very impatient person 😜 I might luck out, and if it doesn't work, I'll be able to use BT controllers just until I can get the switch and 3d-printed cover bought.

Sure, give it a go.
I don't have any wired controllers to hand as loaned them to a mate, but will test myself with a standard controller when I get chance!

Sounds like @darthcloud plans to better support internal installs in the future anyway so that will probably eliminate any issues if/when it comes - I wouldn't mind dropping the switch myself but given I use Donkey Konga a fair bit it's a no go for me at the moment! That said you could grab a switch for pennies somewhere close I'm sure!

[seewood]

ive made a little helper pcb for this project. it should prevent damage on the cube and make it a lot easier to connect player 1 - 4. if you want to use original controller on e.g. Player 2 or Player 4, just disconnect the jumper cable from the prebuild connector - no need of a switch or something. Just open the bottom 3d print and disconnect the not needed cable.

you can use such angled connectors:

but maybe we need to create a new 3d print to clip it over this helper pcb. (the "Gamecube_Serial_Port_ESP32_Cover.stl" file from the shared thingiverse link)

[MarkAdamson]

Just thought I'd update this question with my own outcome. I did the unswitched, hardwired mod first of all. It worked well enough with wired controllers - when plugging a wired controller, it would override the signal from blueretro. However, it didn't work with the GCN/GBA link cable - the signals conflicted, making the GBA inoperable with the gamecube.

Added to that, I clearly did something wrong in my initial mod, so that my port four stopped worked altogether - wired OR wireless. I don't know if I bridged a connection or what, I couldn't tell.

So in the end, I bought a new controller port board, a switch, and a modified, 3d printed serial port 1 cover, and did @vaderag's switched mod using my (slightly) improved soldering skills. It all works much better, and I'm very happy with it.