Hi fellow sim racers,
This was meant to be a complete "here is how you do it" guide for my wireless handbrake for PS3. I however do need your help to complete the project.
Benefits:
Background:
I love GT5 on PS3 and am the proud owner of a G27 and of course have seen chilicoke's videos to solder the handbrake wires on to the shifter mainboard. I do have very limited soldering experience and not enough cash to wreck my wheel, and here in Australia Logitech does not ship spare parts (at all!) like they do in the US for $35. I still wanted the e-brake mod, but chilicoke's way was not feasible for me, so was looking for other options.
Insight:
Not sure exactly how I found it, but I noticed at some point that if I have the G27 plugged in as controller 1 to the PS3, I could use the Sisaxis controller re-assigned to controller 1 at the same time! I was driving with wheel and pedals, and if I pressed the circle button on the PS3 controller, the handbrake in the game would engage.
I was then looking for a way to position the controller underneath the handbrake so if I pull it, it would push the circle button.
My ideal scenario was that no controller mod or soldering was required and that a cheap part everybody could buy on the internet could function as a trigger for the button.
It was too difficult to position the controller in a way that the button would get triggered reliably with the controller staying in place in a heated drifting session, so I am back to soldering.
Solution:
I did not want to damage one of my original PS3 controllers, so I did some eBay research for the cheapest, crappiest, fake PS3 controllers (bluetooth) and found similar ones to this one cheap PS3 controller.
They are not original Sony, but compatible. You would not want to game with any of these, but for the handbrake mod they are ideal. Cost is less than $20 shipped.
I ordered one, opened it up and familiarised myself with the insides. I did some soldering to the PCB and hooked up the wires to the handbrake. Connected everything to the PS3, re-assigned the controller to #1 and was able to make it work!
Unfortunately after a few weeks the controller would trigger both X and O erradically, at the same time, and on auto-fire so that I had to stop using it
. This is my second controller now, I was extra careful and it happened again so I need your help to understand if it is wired correctly.
Question:
I am not good enough with electronics to know if it is a "grounding" issue or which other pins I need to connect to avoid both buttons getting triggered simultaneously. I also don't get why the X button is getting triggered at all (I made sure there is no overlap on the pins, there must be another reason) or why all of a sudden it goes on autofire.
Here are some pics of the opened controller:
Back Housing removed
Detail View
Front Removed
Circle "O" Button circuit
Circuit that needs to be closed to trigger the O button
Pin 2 and 5
Pin 2 and 5
Pin 2 and 5 - Back
I can take more pictures if required. If you could help me figure this out I'll create a complete video how to guide!
I already ruled out that pin 2 touches pin 3 (X button). Also when I opened it up the other day, the PCB looked a bit "bruised" as if water had gotten in and dried. The circuits were discoloured (you can faintly see it in the detail pictures of the front). Does that mean there was too much current running through it and that fried it?
I'm just guessing. Looking forward to your responses! Sorry if I don't reply straight away, I am based in Sydney so there might be a time zone difference depending on when you post.
Thanks in advance,
Robin
This was meant to be a complete "here is how you do it" guide for my wireless handbrake for PS3. I however do need your help to complete the project.
Benefits:
- Wireless
- Does not destroy your G27 shifter or void warranty on the wheel
- Can use the same handbrake for different wheels
- Detached from the Wheel / Shifter / Pedals so it can be (re)moved easily
- Adds a "PS" menu button to your sim setup
Background:
I love GT5 on PS3 and am the proud owner of a G27 and of course have seen chilicoke's videos to solder the handbrake wires on to the shifter mainboard. I do have very limited soldering experience and not enough cash to wreck my wheel, and here in Australia Logitech does not ship spare parts (at all!) like they do in the US for $35. I still wanted the e-brake mod, but chilicoke's way was not feasible for me, so was looking for other options.
Insight:
Not sure exactly how I found it, but I noticed at some point that if I have the G27 plugged in as controller 1 to the PS3, I could use the Sisaxis controller re-assigned to controller 1 at the same time! I was driving with wheel and pedals, and if I pressed the circle button on the PS3 controller, the handbrake in the game would engage.
I was then looking for a way to position the controller underneath the handbrake so if I pull it, it would push the circle button.
My ideal scenario was that no controller mod or soldering was required and that a cheap part everybody could buy on the internet could function as a trigger for the button.
It was too difficult to position the controller in a way that the button would get triggered reliably with the controller staying in place in a heated drifting session, so I am back to soldering.
Solution:
I did not want to damage one of my original PS3 controllers, so I did some eBay research for the cheapest, crappiest, fake PS3 controllers (bluetooth) and found similar ones to this one cheap PS3 controller.
They are not original Sony, but compatible. You would not want to game with any of these, but for the handbrake mod they are ideal. Cost is less than $20 shipped.
I ordered one, opened it up and familiarised myself with the insides. I did some soldering to the PCB and hooked up the wires to the handbrake. Connected everything to the PS3, re-assigned the controller to #1 and was able to make it work!
Unfortunately after a few weeks the controller would trigger both X and O erradically, at the same time, and on auto-fire so that I had to stop using it
. This is my second controller now, I was extra careful and it happened again so I need your help to understand if it is wired correctly.Question:
I am not good enough with electronics to know if it is a "grounding" issue or which other pins I need to connect to avoid both buttons getting triggered simultaneously. I also don't get why the X button is getting triggered at all (I made sure there is no overlap on the pins, there must be another reason) or why all of a sudden it goes on autofire.
Here are some pics of the opened controller:
Back Housing removed
Detail View
Front Removed
Circle "O" Button circuit
Circuit that needs to be closed to trigger the O button
Pin 2 and 5
Pin 2 and 5
Pin 2 and 5 - Back
I can take more pictures if required. If you could help me figure this out I'll create a complete video how to guide!
I already ruled out that pin 2 touches pin 3 (X button). Also when I opened it up the other day, the PCB looked a bit "bruised" as if water had gotten in and dried. The circuits were discoloured (you can faintly see it in the detail pictures of the front). Does that mean there was too much current running through it and that fried it?
I'm just guessing. Looking forward to your responses! Sorry if I don't reply straight away, I am based in Sydney so there might be a time zone difference depending on when you post.
Thanks in advance,
Robin
