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I have a wireless Xbox 360 controller that batteries or rechargeables won't work, but the Play & Charge cord still works.

I wanted to wire the controller with a USB from a broken wired controller. I know that the USB cable still works. I know how to wire it so that the controller will take power from the positive and negative (red & black) wires in the USB cord, but I wanted to know how I would wire the data wires (green & white).

I know I could just use the Play & Charge cable, but I enjoy modifying and such. So please don't tell me to just use Play & Charge or to go buy a new one! Any help would be appreciated! Thanks

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    This question appears to be off-topic because it is about rewiring a controller. This is outside the expertise and skillset than can be generally expected of a gaming site. – Frank Feb 10 '14 at 5:12
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    That said, perhaps Electrical Engineering would be a better place for this. – Frank Feb 10 '14 at 5:13
  • @Frank Hardware mods are on-topic – Robotnik♦ Feb 10 '14 at 5:38
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    @Frank - Software modding isn't mentioned, it's mostly about hardware, the question in question is about case mods in general. I'm not saying EE wouldn't be a better fit, but currently the consensus is that we do actually accept such questions. And judging from the timecodes between question & answer, it seems that, at least in this case, it does fall pretty well in our expertise-base. – Robotnik♦ Feb 10 '14 at 5:50
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    If you pulled this off, could you please post it as an answer with a descriptive breakdown of how, hopefully with a few pics to? At the moment there's a great question and an informative answer, but a gap between how the answer solved the question. – Dom Feb 10 '14 at 12:15
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The Play and Charge cable does not carry data, so buying one wouldn't even work.

I found some information on a forum about suspected data pins that you could wire up and try (see below), but I can not attest to their correctness.

However, even if there is some USB functionality exposed on those pins, it might be for some other purpose, with the HID Controller being totally inaccessible. I recall trying to use my brother's Play and Charge cable and wireless controller for my PC, and it seemed to recognize the thing as a USB device, but not a controller. If that device was actually the controller, and not some chip in the Play and Charge cable, you might be in for a lot more trouble.

There's a lot of uncertainty on this forum some insinuate that Microsoft uses some intentionally broken firmware, because the USB INF file says "NULL Service" (it's probably just a minimal service that negotiates for enough power to charge the battery), so you'll need to get into driver hacks, yadda yadda. It sounds to me like nobody really has a clue though; maybe you can divine something...

Acidmods user SycoPthicManiac posted the picture:

Play and Charge kit PCB connections

And RDC replied:

Going off that pic, it's..

  • 5 V,
  • D-,
  • D+,
  • Charge Status,
  • 3.3 V,
  • Charge Status,
  • Ground
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    Thanks a ton dude! This was exactly what I was looking for. It worked without any issues. Soldering took 3 minuets. Thanks again – Mike Bee Feb 10 '14 at 7:54
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    @user68763 - If Nicks answer helped, you should mark it as accepted, by clicking the check mark underneath the vote count :-) – Robotnik♦ Feb 10 '14 at 8:51
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    So by wiring those pins into a mini-usb female port and make it available via a small cutout on the controller, I can make my 360 wireless controller wired at will with a simple, standard mini-usb cable? – Lloeki Feb 10 '14 at 10:25
  • In theory.. It isn't easy.. – Mike Bee Feb 18 '14 at 21:28
  • @MikeBee I'm still skeptical it would work at all. The controller's USB interface may just be to request sufficient power to charge. – Nick T Feb 18 '14 at 23:14

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