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Use Xbox Controller on Mac OS X
JoeXboxer writes "I'm not sure why anyone would want to, but there's an open source driver to allow you to use your Xbox game controller on Mac OS X. In related news, McDonald's announced new Xbox-sized combos that will
stretch America's bladders to the limit. One of these stories is a joke. It's hard to guess which one."
I have very large hands, and the Xbox controller rests relatively comfortably in them. I also play guitar. That doesn't stop me from having one hell of a time hitting the black and white buttons all the way at the top of the controller. Their placement is just badly engineered. Because of this, I typically use one of the "Magic Box" adapters to play Xbox games with a PS2 controller.
The USB standard has 4 signals: +5, GND, D+, D-
The Xbox controller connectors have 5 pins - it is assumed (but maybe not yet proven) that the extra pin is +12V for the rumble-pack-vibrator inside the controllers.
Looking head-on at the front of your Xbox, with controller port "1" to the left, and port "4" to the right, if you look into one of the controller ports, you'll see 5 pins along the bottom half of the port (on the center piece of plastic, there's a small triangle on the left side pointing down to the first pin, which I'll call "pin 1"
___________
|v |
-----------
1 2 3 4 5
("v" denotes the triangle pointing to pin 1)
Here's what signals correspond to each pin:
1 - +5V
2 - D-
3 - D+
4 - ?? (probably +12V)
5 - GND
Pins "1" and "5" are longer than the other pins. This is just like standard USB connectors - the power/GND signals get connected first when you insert a connector, assuring a solid power connection before any of the other signals get connected.
I've actually measured 5V across pins 1 & 5 while the Xbox was powered-on. NOTE: When Xbox is powered-off (but still plugged-in), I read ZERO volts across these two pins - this probably means that it would be impossible to make a remote-control that can power-up the Xbox.
Pins 1 & 5 are common across all 4 connectors (Pin 1 on port 1 is connected to Pin 1 on ports 2/3/4, the same goes for Pin 5 across all 4 ports). This makes sense - it's just a fixed power supply.
Pins 2&3 (USB D-/D+ differential data lines) are separate pairs to each port (this also makes sense - they have to be).
Pin 4 (which is believed to be +12V) is NOT common across all for ports. This (along with the fact I can't measure 12V on it) probably means that it's not just a steady power-supply signal that a controller's rumble-pack can tie-into as needed, but a signal that the main CPU controls independently per port. It may be 12V that gets turned on programmatically, or it could be something else. Whatever it is, this signal seems to go out (on separate pins) off the USB daughterboard onto the main board (whereas the D+/D- pins don't - they go directly to the TI USB controller on the daughterboard).
An additional bit of info (not helpful unless someone wants to hack at the USB daughterboard itself), here's where each ports' D+/D- signals connect onto the TI USB chip:
Port 1's D+/D- go to TI's "DP3/DM3" pins.
Port 2's D+/D- go to TI's "DP4/DM4" pins.
Port 3's D+/D- go to TI's "DP1/DM1" pins.
Port 4's D+/D- go to TI's "DP2/DM2" pins.
Yes there is. Go to http://webcam-osx.sourceforge.net/. Then get ohphone at http://xmeeting.sourceforge.net/ for teleconferencing. Then try Bt Cam (http://ilearnat.com/MWebCam.html) for webcamming.
Join the open source revolution. Woo-hoo!
With a PSX > USB adapter and this free driver I can use my PSX controller with any game. Gamepad Companion also will let you use a PSX controller, though it's not free.