Replace N64 joystick with Gamecube joystick

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thewise1
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Replace N64 joystick with Gamecube joystick

Post by thewise1 » Sun May 24, 2009 11:15 am

Credit for discovering this mod is Electric Rain


First you'll have to know that the official nintendo 64 controller will not work with this mod. The technology is different.

Modern joysticks use something called a potentiometer, which is a variable resistor. Digital waveforms interface with the joystick, moving the joystick changes the resistance to the wave. This tells the controller how far you are moving the stick.

The original nintendo 64 controller has small square holes in the joystick, which breaks the laser inside the joystick shell, and then the laser counts the breaks and tells the n64 how far you've moved the controller.

All in one sentence: The original official N64 controller will not work with this mod.
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1. Here's a good controller, it's one of the most common.
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The brand doesn't matter. Most of them don't even have a label on them. It's just like the psone screen. Other companies take the same controller and stamp their brand name on it and sell it.

There are other third party ones that will also work but I know that this one works. Just make sure it looks like this and has the turbo and slow buttons.
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2. You'll need a gamecube joystick:

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If you already have one that you are willing to dissect that you've used a lot, then you may want to use the c-stick instead. The c stick is not used nearly as much, wear on the c stick will be a lot less and it will last longer. The tops on the sticks are interchangeable so you can take the gray rubber part off the joystick and place it onto the c-stick potentiometer.

Another advantage to using the c-stick is that on the official controller it's on a separate board. So it's easier to remove.
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3. Here's some pictures of the inside of the back of the controller with the original joystick still in it.

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The Z button is attached to the back of the joystick, just slide it out.

Image

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4. Here's the wiring diagram for the Joystick. Note that this is on the back of the board and 1-4 is from right to left on the from of the board.

Note that the gamcube joystick has 6 pins on it. 4 of them will be bridge into 2 pairs.

Image

This should be clear enough for anyone to understand.
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Notes:

1. Right now I don't know of any other joysticks that will work with this. (ps2, etc.) UPDATE: According to evilteddy xbox pots will work with this mod. Also wii nunchuck and classic controller joysticks will work with this as well according to shockslayer.
I'm also not sure of any third party gamecube controllers working with this.

2. To get the gamecube controller open you'll either need a tri-wing screw driver or a small flat head screw driver.

3. Attaching anything else to the potentiometers is not wise. (pardon the pun of my name) It will mess with the waveforms and cause the whole joystick to fail. (It won't break though)

4. If you have a third party N64 controller then you can try this mod by attaching the gamecube joystick the same way as the old joystick was wired. So before you remove anything, take a picture or wright down how it was attached.
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I'm not a pro at this of course, so anyone with more experience with this please correct me on anything that is wrong with this guide!
Last edited by thewise1 on Sat Jun 13, 2009 7:59 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Replace N64 joystick with Gamecube joystick

Post by Basement_Modder » Sat Jun 06, 2009 11:23 am

thewise1 wrote:I currently do not know of any other joysticks that will work with this (PS2, Xbox, etc.)
All joysticks based off of a potentiometer will work. (Meaning almost all of them.)
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Re: Replace N64 joystick with Gamecube joystick

Post by ShockSlayer » Sat Jun 06, 2009 2:59 pm

As long as the pot has the same common resistance AKA 10k

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Re: Replace N64 joystick with Gamecube joystick

Post by evilteddy » Sat Jun 06, 2009 4:22 pm

I did a joystick mod with a xbox controller s joystick. It was unbelievabley smooth and made playing games extremely excellent.

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Re: Replace N64 joystick with Gamecube joystick

Post by neverused » Sat Jun 06, 2009 5:21 pm

PS2 sticks didn't work for me. SS is right, the resistance must match.

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Re: Replace N64 joystick with Gamecube joystick

Post by marshallh » Mon Jun 08, 2009 11:40 pm

I have one of these 3rd party controllers. The pots are 50kohms and max travel is from 5k to 45k. Center is 25k.

Unfortunately the voltage divider they're used in is internal to the controller board so you're stuck with this requirement.


Notice: posts that have no value to the thread are/have been removed. Resistance is futile. (j/k)
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Re: Replace N64 joystick with Gamecube joystick

Post by eurddrue » Tue Jun 09, 2009 12:03 pm

Your controller is a yobo? THAT'S why my transplant didn't work!
Banned indefinitely if you desperately need to contact me STOPPHONESPAMPLOX Please dont be a dick and call for something random like "HEY YURDRUE DOO U HAZ SPAM?"
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chainfire95 wrote:220V I believe
I think we should check to see if you can withstand 220 volts

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Re: Replace N64 joystick with Gamecube joystick

Post by marshallh » Thu Jun 11, 2009 12:04 am

I have the exact same controller as in the pics above. I tried it with a 5k analog. Didn't work at all.

Tried with a 10k analog. Worked fine, but my range of motion was limited (I did this by coding a n64 program to output values straight from the controller) I was only able to get 1/2 range of travel with the 10k pots.

With the original 50k pots I had just over full range.

So my theory is that the controller assumes the pot readings upon startup are the center values, but the pots MUST be somewhere around 20-30-40kohms to get the full range necessary.
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Re: Replace N64 joystick with Gamecube joystick

Post by Electric Rain » Thu Jun 11, 2009 5:52 pm

Everyone has forgotten about me now. And also apparently the fact that I pointed this out forever ago. But whatever. It's cool. -_-
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Re: Replace N64 joystick with Gamecube joystick

Post by Basement_Modder » Thu Jun 11, 2009 5:57 pm

Electric Rain wrote:Everyone has forgotten about me now. And also apparently the fact that I pointed this out forever ago. But whatever. It's cool. -_-
Well, except for the bump a few weeks ago that got it locked, your thread was too deep in the N64 subforum to be found. This was posted for easy-access in our nice new reference forum so everyone could find it. However, perhaps you should be credited in the first post...?
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Re: Replace N64 joystick with Gamecube joystick

Post by Electric Rain » Sat Jun 13, 2009 6:19 am

Basement_Modder wrote:However, perhaps you should be credited in the first post...?
Yeah, that's really all I wanted... >.<

Eh. Doesn't matter.
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Re: Replace N64 joystick with Gamecube joystick

Post by ShockSlayer » Sat Jun 13, 2009 7:00 am

just like timmeh did with the n64's expansion pack, remember, you did it first! :P

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Re: Replace N64 joystick with Gamecube joystick

Post by thewise1 » Sat Jun 13, 2009 7:46 am

I don't know who originally did this mod since I joined in january. I can give you credit if you want.
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Re: Replace N64 joystick with Gamecube joystick

Post by ShockSlayer » Sat Jun 13, 2009 7:52 am

thewise1 wrote:I don't know who originally did this mod since I joined in january. I can give you credit if you want.
Electric Rain wrote:
Basement_Modder wrote:However, perhaps you should be credited in the first post...?
Yeah, that's really all I wanted... >.<

Eh. Doesn't matter.
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Re: Replace N64 joystick with Gamecube joystick

Post by thewise1 » Sat Jun 13, 2009 8:00 am

I'm just the kind of person who confirms everything for himself. A bad habit of mine. :?
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