267 lines
6.3 KiB
Markdown
267 lines
6.3 KiB
Markdown
---
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gitea: none
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include_toc: true
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---
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# Introduction
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Microcontroller Firmware to emulate guitar and drum kit controllers from the
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Wii version of the Rock Band games.
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This is based on the foundational work done by Nicholas Angle on the
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[Wii Guitar Controller](https://github.com/NianZo/WiiGuitarController)
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([text article](https://www.niangames.com/articles/reverse-engineering-rockband-guitar-controllers)).
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Nicholas was also really nice about answering an email question I sent.
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Thanks, Nicholas!
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# Parts Needed
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* A [Sparkfun Pro Micro](https://www.sparkfun.com/products/12640)
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* A physical controller
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# Skills Needed
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This is a research project:
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it's assumed you already have a skillset that includes:
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* Disassembling consumer electronics
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* Using a multimeter to perform continuity checks
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* Building electronics projects using a microcontroller
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* Soldering
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* Running the Arduino IDE *or* using `avrdude` to flash a firmware
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If you're not comfortable with the above list,
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your best option right now (Jan 2024) is to either buy a used kit,
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or wait for the Polybar project to finish their work
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producing a beginner-friendly kit with assembly manual.
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# Controllers
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## Guitar
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I 3D printed the
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[MiniCaster](https://www.printables.com/model/479046-minicaster-mini-clone-heromidi-controller)
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by Vlad the Inhaler.
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It comes with full build instructions.
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## Drums
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I bought a [Cheap children's drum toy](https://www.amazon.com/Electronic-Sboet-Practice-Headphone-Christmas/dp/B0CHJMYCH9/)
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from Amazon.
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There are dozens of copies of this thing,
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the one I got was on sale for $25.
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I had to unscrew the cover and remove the
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logic board, battery, and speaker.
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The pads were connected with
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a sort of ribbon connector,
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which I desoldered and removed,
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then placed in my own perma-proto board.
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I also hooked up a 3.5mm TRS jack for the two pedals,
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which I could have desoldered from the toy
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(I already had these).
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I'm sorry I didn't photograph or record any of this,
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but it was pretty straightforward.
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# Building
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This will compile in the Arduino IDE,
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or on the commandline using `make`.
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## Command Line
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Just run `make` on a Unix system.
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I set up paths for my Debian install of Arduino 1.8;
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you may need to adjust them if your setup has different paths.
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There is a `flash-%` target that will upload the built firmware to a Pro Micro.
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The following targets exist:
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make flash-guitar # Guitar firmware
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make flash-guitar-wammy # Guitar firmware with wammy bar
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make flash-drums # Drums firmware
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## Arduino
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Mockband has no library dependencies,
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and as far as I can tell,
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will work with the built-in Leonardo profile,
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even though you're uploading to a Pro Micro.
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You need to make two edits to `boards.txt`.
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Instructions for this are all over the place.
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Find your board, and edit the `build` lines.
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Don't edit anything that doesn't say `build` on the line! I can't help you if you do this.
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In my examples, I'm editing the lines for the leonardo build. Yours might be different:
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it should match the board you're using.
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### Build flags
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This disables serial communications on the board.
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leonardo.build.extra_flags={build.usb_flags} -DCDC_DISABLED
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Hat tip to Nicholas Angle for figuring this out
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so I didn't have to.
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### VID and PID
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These set the USB identifiers.
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VID is the Vendor ID,
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and PID is the Product ID.
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`0x1bad` means "Harmonix Music",
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at least, it does to the Linux kernel.
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#### For guitar
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PID `0x004` means "Guitar controller".
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leonardo.build.vid=0x1bad
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leonardo.build.pid=0x0004
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leonardo.build.usb_product="Mockband Guitar"
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#### For drums
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PID `0x3110` means "Rock Band 2 drums".
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This works better with all versions of Rock Band on my wii,
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even if you don't use the cymbal inputs.
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leonardo.build.vid=0x1bad
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leonardo.build.pid=0x3110
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leonardo.build.usb_product="Mockband Drums"
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# Wiring
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Both the guitar and drum kit I used
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provide simple momentary switches:
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nothing fancy like a piezo.
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If you're using fancier types of inputs,
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you'll need to modify the source code.
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## Guitar
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| silkscreen pin name | description |
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| --- | --- |
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| TX0 | strum up |
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| RX1 | strum down |
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| 2 | tilt switch |
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| 3 | green |
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| 4 | red |
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| 5 | yellow |
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| 6 | blue |
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| 7 | orange |
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| 8 | no connection |
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| 9 | wammy bar (see note) |
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| 10 | plus |
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| 16 | minus |
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| 14 | orange solo |
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| 15 | blue solo |
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| 18 | yello solo |
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| 19 | red solo |
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| 20 | green solo |
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| 21 | no connection |
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The solo buttons and wammy bar are optional.
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I don't use them.
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If you hook up a wammy bar,
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be sure to uncomment the `#define WAMMY`
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in the code!
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## Drum Kit
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| silkscreen pin name | description |
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| --- | --- |
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| TX0 | no connection |
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| RX1 | no connection |
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| 2 | 2x kick / hat (see below) |
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| 3 | green |
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| 4 | red |
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| 5 | yellow |
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| 6 | blue |
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| 7 | kick |
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| 8 | no connection |
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| 9 | no connection |
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| 10 | plus |
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| 16 | minus |
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| 14 | no connection |
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| 15 | blue cymbal |
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| 18 | yellow cymbal |
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| 19 | hi hat pedal (see below) |
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| 20 | green cymbal |
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| 21 | no connection |
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### Pedals
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If you only have one pedal,
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wire it to pin 7.
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If you have two pedals,
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wire them to 7 and 2.
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If you have three pedals,
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wire them to 7, 2, and 19.
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Wii Rock Band 3
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only looks at the 2x kick pin:
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it provides a checkbox to reassign this to the high hat.
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Clone Hero
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will use both the 2x kick and the hi hat.
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Maybe there is some other game that uses this too.
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# Other Projects
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Mockband is a research project.
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You can use it to build a fully working controller,
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but the main goal of this project is to inform other developers.
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If you're looking for a user-friendly way to get a Rock Band drum controller,
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consider the following alternatives:
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* Buying a used Harmonix (official Rock Band) drum kit
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* Mad Catz Rock Band 3 MIDI PRO-Adapter and a MIDI e-drum kit
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* [Santroller](https://santroller.tangentmc.net/wiring_guides/drum.html)
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wired to a used Harmonix drum kit
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# Bugs / Not Yet Implemented
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I'm tracking things I need to do in the
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[forgejo issues](https://git.woozle.org/neale/mockband/issues).
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There's a rumor that one day forgejo/gitea will join the fediverse.
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Until that happens,
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just
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[email me](mailto:neale@woozle.org),
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and I'll open an issue.
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# License
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You may use this under the terms of the [MIT License](docs/COPYING.md).
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# Need help?
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[Email me](mailto:neale@woozle.org),
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I'm friendly :)
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