Integrated Pico Fighting Board - GP2040CE
Jasen's Customs
SKU: IPFB-GP2040CE
Background
Starting in August 2022, I embarked on a journey to take some of the work that FeralAI (https://github.com/FeralAI/GP2040-Config-PicoFightingBoard/) was doing with the Raspberry Pi Pico as a Fighting Board and bring it to the next level; specially I wanted a PCB that had the Pico circuitry integrated into it, this way it looked and felt like a polished final product. The idea was simple: if the fit and finish was like the Brook PCBs, all the accessories on the market would just work with them and installation would be a snap. We could finally have a Fighting Board that was super-fast, community supported, you can tinker with it, and wouldn’t break the bank. I think I managed to accomplish this with my version of the Pico Fighting Board – The Integrated Pico Fighting Board or IPFB (catchy name, right?!). Along the way I found out that FeralAI had moved on from the project and the community picked it up, created a fork, and a lot of smart people have moved it along. The current GP2040-CE Community manager, TheTrain, is doing an excellent job coordinating things.
Hardware Specifications
The IPFB uses the same foot print and relative placement of connects as most Brook Fighting Boards and the Akishop PS360+ by design. This is meant to be a direct drop in to fight sticks and systems that use wiring and connections the FGC and most stick builders have come to use over the past decade. All connectors are JST PH with the exception of the 20 pin header which uses a dual row, 2.54mm pitch, male pin connector, and the JST XH connector behind the USB-B plug as an alternate USB cable connection point. The board has a number of vias to reduce ground plane impedance between the top and bottom ground planes.
Version 2.0 Update
None of these updates render the previous version "worse" for normal use. The 2.0 Version addresses a couple of design changes, as follows:
- Replaced the onboard crystal with an oscillator to ensure no long term issues with crystals. None have had an issue to this point but its better to improve on designs when possible.
- Removed the inline resistors for the LEDs (P1-4 and Turbo). This will let you repurpose those pins for non-LED functions if you choose.
- Switched the 5 pin header for the RGB function to a 3 pin header for ease.
- Re-aligned all the screw terminals for a tighter fit with the brand we use.
A great source of information on the pinouts, connections, and design can be found in the JasensCustomsIPFBOverview-V1.2 overview document.
Th
What’s Included?
Each IPFB will be fully assembled, minus the debug/X14/USB BOOT pin headers, and loaded with at least version 0.60 of the GP2040-FW. Please ensure you validate the pin settings upon install for Turbo, Turbo LED, and RGB data at the very least.
GP2040-CE Open Source Firmware
The brains of the IPFB is the fantastic GP2040-CE Open Source Firmware. It is managed by @TheTrain and all of the important details regarding the firmware, its use and changes can be found on the website: https://gp2040-ce.info/ this website is updated very regularly so I encourage you to check it out for yourself. Any information posted here could very well be out dated within a few hours! The high points are:
- The firmware supports PC, MiSTer, Android, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4 legacy mode.
- There is an awesome Web Configurator for the PCB that lets you tweak settings, assign pins to various functions, and more.
- The Open Source Firmware does support indexable RGB LEDs – the IPFB has a connector so you can take advantage of it.
- The board using the GP2040-CE has been validated to have less than 1ms of lag using WyD’s testing techniques.
When updating your IPFB please use the Pico Fighting Board version of the firmware they post. This requires the least amount of reconfiguring in the web configurator to use with the IPFB. Specifically, on the IPFB:
- The TURBO LED pin is connected to GPIO 23
- The TURBO BUTTON is connected to GPIO 28
- RGB LED Data is connected to GPIO 15
Support the GP2040-CE Community by:
- Visiting their website: https://gp2040-ce.info
- Joining their Discord Server: https://discord.gg/g87cDH3nVJ
- Following the community manager, TheTrain, on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/TheTrain24
Further Details
Please review the JasensCustomsIPFBOverview-V1.1 over view document. This has more information than you can ever know!
Special Considerations
Thank you to those that helped me test the builds!
- The Real Phoenix
- Wren
- Black Majic
- neo702
- imbor3rlin3
- Paik4Life
Thanks to TheTrain for the discussions both technical and otherwise during the development.
Use collapsible tabs for more detailed information that will help customers make a purchasing decision.
Ex: Shipping and return policies, size guides, and other common questions.
G
The IPFB Jasen sells is an excellent product for max compatibility with the wire harnesses sold for the Brook PCB format as well as EZ Mod/Mad Catz TE Turbo panel replacement.
The IPFB is different enough from the stock model Pico Fighting Board that there are issues with Pico FB firmware v0.7.6 and v0.7.7
IF you choose to flash your IPFB past firmware v0.7.5, you may encounter issues with joystick mode assignment. In my case, I found that the directions got scrambled regardless of joystick mode assignment and that the lever was not functioning properly. Flashing back to v0.7.5 resolved these issues. You really don't need to to have higher v0.7.5 at any rate to use with PC and PlayStation consoles.
My pushbuttons became disabled after testing v0.7.6 and v0.7.7
I needed to use the Nuke File to reset the IPFB AFTER rebooting the IPFB manually -- ie, plug the USB cord of the IPFB into the PC while holding down the BOOTSEL button on the IPFB PCB itself. (See provided IPFB diagram sheets uploaded by Jasen; they are a GODSEND to understanding this PCB and are NOT hard to follow.)
It's these specific reboot issues that may cause problems for people who do not read directions or know how to resolve problems on their own.
I really didn't feel like the GP2040CE website was all that user-friendly. The menu interface is a bit complex. I'm very, very glad that Jasen posted specific instructions for setting up the IPFB or I might have gotten very, very lost when setting up the IPFB. I can't say that GitHub website has a very good layout, period.
I brought up some of these points and a certain GitHub mod got on my case and treated me like I'd insulted him personally. I felt like I was dealing with an ultra-thin-skinned, ultra-bratty 3-yr-old. He is one of THE WORST moderators I've dealt with in 30 years of Net-browsing. I was not impressed with this emotionally-stunted individual who could not tell the difference between mild criticism of firmware/product and a personal attack. Never did I have any problems asking for advice from other people on SRK forums when similar issues were brought up. We dealt with issues with other PCBs (MC Cthulu, the PS360+) and the designers and vendors of these product were never as nasty to people as this GitHub JERK was to me.
Deal with GitHub at your own risk. If you ask politely around the older members of the Gaming Community, you might get help from other end-users. Just don't count on these GitHub coders to be anything but thin-skinned. Guys like the SOB I ran across would have been shut down quickly on SRK TechTalk 10-15 years ago. Yes, on other parts of SRK we had bad actors but for the most part TechTalk was more laid back and helpful. Autism is NOT an excuse for being an impolite jerk to people who are trying to help improve the accessibility of a product.
S
Amazing service, extremely fast shipping. Jasen never fails to deliver amazing products
G
IPFB is an excellent PCB with broad compatility with PS3 (70-80% of the games do work with the PCB) and near unanimous compatibility with current-day PC (Windows 7+).
There are still a few PS3 games that will not authenticate with the IPFB due to some coding/security that is not in the IPFB.
Given that the newer Brook converters DO work with IPFB and you get near 100% compatibility with PS4 and PS5 when you use jump driver converters, I decided to do an experiment with my PS3=>PS4 Brook converter (White, A1 PCB revision).
I plugged my IPFB joystick into the P3/P4 jump drive converter and tested it with 2 fighting games I'd always been locked out of with my IPFB joystick.
We have a working solution, Folks! Using the Brook P3/P4 jump drive converter, the IPFB joystick is now compatible with Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix AND Marvel Vs Capcom 2 on PS3! The buttons that weren't working before ARE working now with the converter attached to controller. All directionals are registering, too!
Thank goodness it took less than a year to find a solution to the security/lockout problems! The hardware is already there to do this. Sure, people are going to gripe but what can you do?!? They probably COULD find a coding solution for this in the year AND include it with a firmware revision for the Pico Fighting Board but you have this now!
The P3/P4 jump drive converter is still available. $40. It's compatible with many PS3 controllers (not all -- the Hori Soul Calibur V/HRAP N3SA are NOT compatible with this converter) already on market including HRAP 3/SA/SE, HRAP V3 SA and I think the first 3-4 generations of Mad Catz joysticks including the problematic/incompatible with PC Generation 1/TE/PS3 joysticks. There's a full list of compatible joysticks on the description for the Brook P3/P4 converter on Amazon.
At this point, I'll never own an XBox console so "universal compatibility" is not a priority for me... Having my legacy controllers work across PS3, PS4, PS5, Mac, AND especially Windows IS my priority.
G
The old manual way to update the firmware of the Pico Fighting Board doesn't seem to work anymore.'
It used to be you could manually open up the flash drive of the PCB unit by holding START + SELECT + UP on the joystick. Instead of getting RPI-PR2 on my drive listing on my PC, I get NOTHING there. Instead, you have to look under CONTROL PANEL, select "Devices and Printers." You will see a listing for "Remote NDIS based Internet Sharing Device." "Remote NDIS" IS the Pico Fighting Board PCB! You CANNOT flash the new firmware to "Remote NDIS." "Remote NDIS" is locked!!!
Now, if you open up GP 2040 Configurator (URL: http:/192.168.7.1/ ), you must select the Green Button "Reboot" to flash the firmware of your Pico Fighting Board. You then select Grey Button "USB (BOOTSEL)" to open up RPI-RP2 which then allows you to drop your UF2/firmware file to update the firmware! RPI-RP2 WILL reappear in your drive listing for your PC after you select Grey Button "USB (BOOTSEL)."
I don't know why or HOW they took out manual firmware upgrade option but this is what happened on my PC/Windows 10. I just discovered this today after I found out the firmware for the Pico Fighting Board had been updated to 0.7.5! You can still update your firmware you just can't use manual update (START+SELECT+UP, then plug in USB cord) like before. You have to upgrade through the GP 2040 Configurator web page ( http:/192.168.7.1/ ) now!
J
Good value, well constructed, and feels feature complete. That said I fried an RGB LED because the pinout in the documentation for the RGB header was incorrect. Updated documentation reflecting the V2.0 changes would be appreciated.
EDIT: The documentation was updated minutes after my original review to include the new pinout, so I'm upping my rating to 5 stars.
I'm sorry that this happened to you. The board itself does have labels on the RGB header to aide in installation but the updates to the documentation for the V2.0 board is underway; we'll make sure to add this change.
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