Hardware need help for wiring front panel of wii into xbox front panel

[thebobinc]

i start an case mod for my wii with an old cadavra of an original xbox , i need some help to wiring the power /eject/reset buttom of the wii into the front panel of the xbox , i fond on google an pic that explain the front panel of the xbox

i would like the light of the ring of the xbox to power on as well

for the sync and reset bottom i had in mind to extend the wire of the original bottom , if someone got an better idea please let me know

thank in advance

 

[Empyr69er]

I am sorry I cannot help you, but this will be neat once complete! A good way to trick you friends..

 

[FAST6191]

They look to be push to make switches and the LEDs look to be 3 pin LEDs which is nice as it means no messing with signals. The picture does not show a whole board and some trace looks to be on the back (or very thin and appearing as one in the picture) which complicates things a bit.

First the switches, while there should be no such thing as polarity in the switches that pin out is only there for those repairing an original xbox and will need to be adapted for the wii.
The main problem is that picture does not show a what grounds where; in the xbox it will not matter (assuming you are not making major changes) but I would actually observe the polarity for this one (put the power section from the wii into the power lead of whatever switch you are using) and find out what ground goes where.
This is as each LED has a ground and so does each switch (giving a total of 4) yet only pins 3 and 1 are ground pins (a total of 2), I suspect the switches share a common ground and so do the LEDs but I dislike assuming such things when it is so easy to test.

Next the LEDs.
Current appears to be drawn from the wire which is ultimately connected to the xbox, alas not all LEDs are created equal so you will need to find voltage ratings and figure out if the wii provides enough or indeed too much current (blue LEDs as seen in the wii are to random for me to want to call it without testing). Ideally you would grab values from a working xbox but an Ohmeter should be able to do the job otherwise.

3 pin LEDs like that have a common ground on the LED (this is in addition to the common ground thing above) with the other pins (the outer ones in this case) causing the LED to light a different colour depending on which one gets a signal. I know the xbox controls this in software or at least can do so there is no worry about ICs somewhere in that.

You have three options
red on both sides
green on both sides
one red and one green making a yellow/orange colour.
That is your aesthetic choice though and should not affect anything.

Thanks for the pic by the way, should save me a few minutes when I fiddle with xboxes later on.

Short version- read the above first as it has vital information.
Once you have the voltages and current within limits (if you need any resistors or worse I would do it at the wire rather than mess with the PCB) this is what I would do.

Wii power button:
Connect the positive wire of the wii power button to the positive of whatver button you want to use. Assuming you are using the same as the xbox this would be wire 2.
Connect the ground of the wii power button to the ground wire used by the switch (this is why I got you to work it out)

Wii eject
Same idea as above but a different wire.
Eject positive to the wire 4.

LEDs.
From memory the wii has a wire that powers the LED, again assuming this works and you have the right voltage available you have a few options.
Personally I would join the power wires (assuming the same voltage is required/acceptable) of the LEDs I want powered* up (if you are really fancy you could at a switch or something else to change the colours) and then run the positive wire from the wii into the newly joined power wires and the grounds (assuming they are common) to the ground of the wii drive LED power.

For red on both sides it would be wires 7 and 6, for green on both it would be wires 5 and 8.

The might not kick out enough power, current or voltage (again blue LEDs run the gamut from low to high everything) so be prepared to throw a transitor in there and grab some power from somewhere else.

 

[thebobinc]

thanks FAST6191 , i'm trying to make a pic of the back of the little board but my cam on my cell don't give a good result , i wait to see if my roommate cam is better when he come back,

for the power i can use the power supply of the hdd that i will put in there is already an little y splitter for the fan of the xbox, maybe i get get the power for the led from there at the worst case, beside using the xbox power supply , that as no ground

, just realize that back while playing with my candle and scissor cutting some opening in the back of the case of the xbox ,

i don't have the tool to test what is the voltage in the xbox and wii unfortunately

i try to google that the best i can

thanks again for the info i will try my best to get a clear pic of the back of this little board

 

[FAST6191]

It appears we have a slight confusion; ground that I am talking about is colloquially known negative. I sense what you are calling ground is the earth wire (ground is not an incorrect term as such but someone people tend not to encourage, also a fair few sockets in Canada merge earth and ground into one).
I did not comment in your other thread but know that the xbox also uses a floating ground (internal grounding rather than that of the socket) which could be risky if you do not give it a proper ground (you just need to attach it to a real earth and make sure everything powered by something else but connected to the xbox in some way is too).

Also get yourself a multimeter (you only need a cheap one): http://www.a1parts.ca/mode/meters/index.html as they are essential for stuff like this (the average fan voltage and current limits are more than enough to kill an LED)

As for the picture or the back of the board do not worry about it too much, if you get a meter you can use the resistance test to see what is connected to what.

 

[thebobinc]

i'm sorry my bad , i did understand what you explain me , what i meet for the power supply was that the power supply i will use as 3 pin compare to the one for the xbox that as to , this will only power my hdd and the case fan,

i will ask one of my buddy who as one multimeter , this way like you said i'm not gonna kill led or anything with wrong voltage ,

i found myself an cover and hdd stand that i was missing i'm getting it around 7pm tonight so i will be able to go further in my experiment ,

the reason why i change my mind for the power supply of the xbox is the recall made with some power supply that need special power cable , and having and 3 pin power for my hdd i feel just a little bit more safe in case of power surge ,

i will try to upload pic by the end of the day of what it look like at the moment

thanks again for the help

 

[xdeadxpoolx]

Can we have an update on this? Sounds like a very interesting project, and id like to do something like this myself once its been successfully done. Thanks!

 

[thebobinc]

sorry for the late update, i have been really busy with work , i finally get an entire case , i still need to get some help from a friend a mine that as a multimeter so i can plug those led and use the power and reset bottom of the xbox ,

i was hoping to put the usb cable inside the xbox but it seem i will have to make an hole on the back and use an external usb wire since not enough room to plug the tip of the usb inside the xbox case

i'm gonna be working for 6 strait day i will try to do a little bit but untill i get a hold of my friend with is multimeter i wont be able to go any further ,

i will try to get some photo shot today , i will post it later , it is not done but it should give an ideal

 

[gdingy]

Have you considered installing a usb plug where the old xbox game controller plugs are? I did it a few years ago for a modded xbox. Wasnt that hard.