Playstation 2 Controller Analysis


The people at Near Future Laboratory are trying to spoof the behavior of a Playstation 2 controller using just a microcontroller. They wrote some initial code using the controller info found here, but decided the best way to figure out what was going on, was to probe the interface. They’re using a Logicport, which features 34 channels plus two clock channels. They only need six channels because the PS2 implements an SPI protocol plus an ACK line. The post is just a preliminary investigation, but will give you a little insight into how the Logicport works and why you might find it useful.

6 thoughts on “Playstation 2 Controller Analysis

  1. wow, that logicport dealio is pretty incredible for computer eng-based stuff. way beyond my league of desire to understand/use, so I’ll stick with my simpler and more mechanical-based life ;)
    Sounds pretty useful for decoding any sort of serial communication in a simple or complex embedded environment..

  2. I did this with the n64 controller almost 10 years ago… it’s not too difficult, although I did have to use an inline resistor since the data line on the N64 controllers is bidirectional. Scope across the resistor gives you positive pulses when one side is pulling down, and negative ones when the other side is. :-)

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