Megadrum + Guitar Hero World tour

[speterman]

I´m back again!

Ok, after a few vacations days... I can start with this proyect.

I have extracted all the info needed from the RB drum USB traces, so, first I will try to emulate a RB drumset. If it is success, I will start with the GH drumset.

I have one PIC18F2550 to make tests, so this afternoon I will go to buy some parts needed ( crystal, capacitors, etc). I don´t want to harm my MD ( synthex kit with PIC 18F15K50) so I prefer to make tests on a dev board.

Let me a few days to develop a "proof of concept" firmware to see if its possible that PS3 accepts the data I´ll send.

[Rubis]

I´m back again!

Ok, after a few vacations days... I can start with this proyect.

I have extracted all the info needed from the RB drum USB traces, so, first I will try to emulate a RB drumset. If it is success, I will start with the GH drumset.

I have one PIC18F2550 to make tests, so this afternoon I will go to buy some parts needed ( crystal, capacitors, etc). I don´t want to harm my MD ( synthex kit with PIC 18F15K50) so I prefer to make tests on a dev board.

Let me a few days to develop a "proof of concept" firmware to see if its possible that PS3 accepts the data I´ll send.

Awesome!

I can't test the GHWT set because I took mine apart. Sorry.
If anyone else has a set and can test this, that would be great. I can get enumeration stuff and the face buttons, but I can't test pads. I will probably have that up this afternoon.

[Ken Forgettable]

Let me a few days to develop a "proof of concept" firmware to see if its possible that PS3 accepts the data I´ll send.

Some useful stuff for us all here:- http://openprog.altervista.org/USB_firm_eng.html

[davem]

Just to add - I'm very happy to test this stuff out. I have access to a PS3 with RB and GH, although I only have the GHWT drumset.

[Rubis]

Just to add - I'm very happy to test this stuff out. I have access to a PS3 with RB and GH, although I only have the GHWT drumset.

Great! Check for a PM in about 10 minutes.


Here are the logs from my GHWT controller. As I said before, I can't test the pads, but this has the other stuff. The one labled EnumerationAndSync just has me plugging it in and pressing the PS button once to connect the controller.

[speterman]

Well, at the moment I have done:

Take the original pic usb audio midi source code and adapt the PIC usb framework to permit several usb functions(the original audio-midi, GH-hid & RB-hid drumkit) and choose it in execution time

Create the minimun code to handle hid function

Create the two drumkit device descriptors

And the results are:

Running lsusb -vvv under linux it gives exactly the same descriptors as Rubis post (on both drumkits)

the defaults hid reports are the same as in Rubis Traces

In Windows gamepad list they appears a 13 button gamepad with a hat-switch, X,Y,Z,Rz axis

So it appears to work, Tomorrow I will ask for a PS3 GH Metallica to a friend in order to make a real test (only with buttons start, green and red pads, only to be able to start a song and hit some pads with buttons).

My only concert is that the hid report includes a 8 byte report that is send from host to device that I don´t know if the game uses it to test if the drumkit is an original one. I hope this not happens.

The original descriptors tells to host that the max amperage for them are 100mA for RB and 50mA for GH, but to feed Megadrum board it uses 200mA (said by PIC audio midi descriptor). i don´t think that the PS3 games check that all the descriptors are the same (only VID & PID) so I think changing the power needed in drumkit descriptors will not be affected.

Well, thinking in the hardware design...

Making an external MIDI-USB board should be enough to everybody as it should work by connecting it to the midi-out of megadrum (or any other drumset). But It will be possible to make an adapter for the MEGADRUM PIC-socket so it can work out-of-the-box. I will develop the two options.

BUTTONS: you know that the drumkit integrates, apart of pads, a hat-switch, start, PS, select and standard X,O, triangle, square buttons. I was thinking on how to emulate this (maybe with buttons, auxiliar midi-on notes, or using a old PS2 gamepad, or ... suggestions?

Wow what a large post, I prefer continue developping now

Comments, suggestions,etc are welcome!

[Rubis]

Bravo!

So it appears to work, Tomorrow I will ask for a PS3 GH Metallica to a friend in order to make a real test (only with buttons start, green and red pads, only to be able to start a song and hit some pads with buttons).

If you plug it into the PS3, does it act like a regular controller? IE: Green is X, Red is O, Yellow and Blue are Triangle and Square.

BUTTONS: you know that the drumkit integrates, apart of pads, a hat-switch, start, PS, select and standard X,O, triangle, square buttons. I was thinking on how to emulate this (maybe with buttons, auxiliar midi-on notes, or using a old PS2 gamepad, or ... suggestions?

Buttons would probably work best. Auxiliary notes would either take up triggers or require an additional map people would have to switch between, though it might be nice to have the option for things like the XMB, which don't treat Yellow/Blue as up/down or left/right.



On another note, does anyone have the Rock Band Cymbals Pack to test with that? It should send something a little different from the pads.

[speterman]

On another note, does anyone have the Rock Band Cymbals Pack to test with that? It should send something a little different from the pads.

I have not this drumkit neither the cymbals pack, but, I have seen some pics and they have same color as the rest of the pads, so I suppose that they only allows you to add zones to the same "note" so, I think RB can only handle 4 differents pads + kick.

[Rubis]

The game can distinguish between them, even if they both work for the lane they are in. For fills and freestyle mode, the cymbals sound like cymbals and the drums sound like toms.

I believe that they emulate the same button as the pads, but also send another button, maybe R1 (just an example, I don't know which button it is) or something. So, hitting the green pad sends the X button, but hitting the green cymbal sends X and R1 at the same time. This allows the Rock Band 2 set with cymbals to work with the Rock Band 1 game. Rock Band 1 doesn't know what to do with the extra button, so it just ignores it, but still activates the "lane".

I was hoping someone would have the cymbals, so we could firgure out what the second note is. I just found an explanation of how they wired the cymbals, so with a homemade adapter, we could probably use a normal e-cymbal. http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?t=86886

It uses a 1/8 trs connection wired very strangely. I think it is the tip is unused? 3.3v, the ring is ground, and the sleave is the signal. There may be an inverted op amp in there too, the people on the rockband.com forums couldn't seem to make up their minds. I tried it with my GHWT cymbal and it triggered fairly randomly and the wrong notes. When I had it plugged into the green jack, I got green and red at the same time (not through crosstalk), yellow, blue, yellow and green at the same time, and, rarely, just green by itself. It seems like the softer hits hit more often than harder ones. it Apparently, the 3.3v tip is needed somewhere.

[Ken Forgettable]

speterman, your human interface is a soothing balm for the proletariat and need insertion.
Though I know not of this 'Guitar Hero World tour', mine eyes are rooted.

Dmtri, you should be proud - hows the ARM going man.