[geeks] xbox360 controller to normal USB?

[Jon Gilbert]

Microsoft makes a product called the Xbox 360 Wireless Gaming Receiver  
for Windows (http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/x/xbox360wirelessgamingreceiver/default.htm 
), which is ironic, because it works for Mac as well, as long as you  
have the proper driver installed (http://tattiebogle.net/index.php/ProjectRoot/Xbox360Controller/OsxDriver 
).

Using ControllerMate for OS X (http://www.orderedbytes.com/controllermate/ 
), you can build custom control profiles for just about anything in OS  
X. I've made ones for Digital Performer (http://www.motu.com/) to go  
along with my wireless MIDI setup, and also for controlling Second Life.

According to tattiebogle.net, this lets you use any XBOX 360  
controller, not just the standard one. So for example, a Guitar Hero  
controller should work fine. And while Controllermate is only for OS  
X, there are several similar products available for Windows that would  
enable you to map the controls from the controller to the game  
controls, in case a particular game doesn't offer native support for  
that controller (few do, it seems).

The only caveat is that the Xbox 360 Messenger Kit (http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/x/xbox360messengerkit/ 
) does not enjoy Windows or Mac driver support. I've been interested  
in hacking it to be able to act as a standard USB keyboard for use  
with a PC or Mac, but my initial foray into USB monitoring tools hosed  
my entire Windows installation. Lets face it, I'm less than a noob  
when it comes to any kind of hardware driver development, LOL.

I suspect that the Chatpad may actually be sending modulated audio  
signals beyond the aural range that are demodulated by the 360, since  
it seems to attach to the analog audio inputs! It may be something MS  
did not initially intend when they designed the controller, but later  
they figured out how to hack it on. I wonder if any of you might know  
of a program that simply monitors ALL the data coming in from a  
particular USB device? Any good websites on how to build a USB driver  
for a device you know literally nothing about? Thanks!

-
Jon Gilbert
PGP fingerprint: 7FA9 B168 73CA A698 DD9E  2DF2 EE1A 3E73 3119 741F