Help! My Pelican Real Arcade Stick is acting up!

[ArugulaZ]

First, let me introduce myself. I edit the video game site The Gameroom Blitz, which you may or may not recognize as the home of such fighting game features as "Fighter's Misery" (reviews of the world's crappiest fighting games) and "Saikyo Crusher" (a heartfelt tribute to Dan Hibiki). If you've never heard of the Blitz and would like to check it out, here's the address:

http://grblitz.overclocked.org

Now that that's out of the way, let me tell you why I'm here. Last week, I purchased a Pelican Real Arcade Stick. Although it may not be 100% arcade quality, I was nevertheless very satisfied with it... it was certainly the most faithful reproduction of an arcade control panel I'VE ever owned. However, last night my stick suddenly decided that it had enough of my Playstation 2 and refused to work with it. It will not respond to any and all input... pressing buttons, spinning the stick, and even unplugging the controller and reinserted it yielding no results.

I thought the joystick was completely hosed, but when I plugged it into my GameCube and my Dreamcast (with the use of a Dream Connection adapter), it had absolutely no problems whatsoever. It worked exactly as it did when I first took it out of the box, but only with those systems. I haven't tested it on a XBox yet (I don't own one), but I assume that it would still work perfectly with that console as well. The only system it WON'T work with is the Playstation 2. This is especially odd since I had to use the Playstation port on my controller converter to hook the Real Arcade Stick up to my Dreamcast.

So, does anyone know what's wrong with my joystick? Do you have any advice for me? Can this problem be resolved cheaply? I'd really hate to have to send the stick back to the manufacturer, since I just lost my job and can't really afford the shipping on this monster. Does anyone have any schematics for the controller or pictures of its internals? I'd really like to get the stick back on its feet as soon as possible... I can't settle for the stick being compatible with just my other systems, because I've got far too many fighting games on my PS2 that demand true arcade-calibur control.

Thanks in advance for your assistance!

JR

[N64FanBoy]

Have you tried using a normal PS2 controller on your PS2? If not, you may have blown the controller ports on your PS2.

[SoulIntake]

whats goin on man? im here to help (or break the news for ya). First off I have gone through 4 of those sticks because they would stop working on MY playstation. I have gone through 4 playstations, 3 mini's and 1 old style. Chances are your rumble feature will NEVER work again on your playstation. It's fried. And here's why: The pelican universal gets its power from the rumble feature in your games consoles. For some reason,people who own one system (bein the ps2) never have problems. But, for people like me who have em all, ps2 goes bye bye. When plugging in from say an xbox or gc, the pelican seems to want to get stuck in drawing that first consoles power out of the ps2. The xbox has a stronger fuse, i think 7v, thus the pelican pulls that out of the xbox. when plugged into the ps2, it tries to draw that same power out of it, and the ps is weaker, thus blowing your rumble fuse, and no power to your joystick anymore. Trust me on this, i went through an old ps2 breaking the rumble, and was told "it's cuz it's old, get a new one" so I did. I sold it to gamestop for credit towards the mini's. my first mini, same thing happened. Returned the joystick to gamesquare, got new joystick. Returned mini, got new mini. Same deal. Returned ps2, got new ps2, same thing! Finally I got my money back for my joystick, got my fourth and final ps2, and never tried that garbage again, and bought a new joystick for ps2 (custom), bought an xbox adapter (you can get a gamecube adapter). No problems with systems. So sorry man, your rumble feature is screwed by pelian and you are stuck with that, return your joystick for your money, TRUST ME they all do this. ----

[RushedDown]

is it the universal stick or just the ps2 version

[SoulIntake]

havent tried the ps2 version, as its harder to find nowadays, its the universal stick that acts up, i would say the ps2 stick would work and here's why. The universaly has three seperate outputs attached to 1 cord attached to 1 universal pcb they made. It's the universal pcb board attached to the universal stick that blows. The ps2 stick wouldn't have a universal board, so you could get an adapter that would properly regulate voltage and you would have a working setup. So if you own a universal pelican, be careful switching from one console to another quickly. I would give it an hour or so at least to let the universal chip reset or whatever it does so it doesnt draw an innapropriate current. be careful or say goodbye to your rumble feature on your ps2, (and any future arcade sticks that draw power from the rumble fuse.) Oh and pelican will probably replace your ps2 dude, just email them, they said they would repair mine if i paid for shipping, well i found that the shipping would be enough credit to just sell my used ps2 to an ebx (i know i shouldnt have sold it broken, but they probably get refurbished anyhow) and get a mini ps2 with a 30 day store warranty to mess with your joystick again and break it again (well just take my word for it and keep your first console workin!) Good luck man any further questions just ask!

[RushedDown]

i think he might have the ps2 stick with adapters beacuse as far as i know there is no known universal to dc adapter that works

[Ceramiclion]

wow...this is quite a revelation. To think I was seriously considering a pelican arcade stick....well I guess nothing that's universal can be perfect...
Oh man what do I do now....
Draw power from the rumble feature?
Which part of the PCB needs over 5V to function? Maybe it has a robotic arms or some crap.

[SoulIntake]

its the stick they are using, i hope this guy checks the thread he made cuz i put alot of writing down and i want to know if its a universal board or not- but it should help other people deciding whether they are going to get a universal pelican real arcade stick or not (they shouldn't if they own more than one system with fighting games on both!).

[ArugulaZ]

This is way weird. I had no idea that this stick was going to do this to my Playstation 2... if I had I would have thought twice about purchasing it. I'm going to have to test your theory about the Dual Shock vibration being disabled... I was playing Rachet and Clank 3 for hours last night and never really noticed that it was gone. To be honest, the vibration is something I really wouldn't miss, but at the same time I am a little peeved that my $40 joystick no longer works with the system I play the most.

By the way, this is a universal joystick, and I've been connecting it to my Dreamcast by plugging it into the Playstation port on my Dream Connection controller adapter.

JR

[RushedDown]

where did u buy the dream connection adapter

which one is it the 2 in 1
3 in 1
or 4 in 1

[SoulIntake]

yeah check your vibration, its not that the vibration on your ps2 stick that matters if you miss a little rumble or not, it is the fact that many 3rd party sticks and pads and stuff wont work now

[ArcadeStickMonk]

This might be a similar but unrelated issue, but back in '00 - '01 when I was still fooling around with Interact sticks, I went through a number of PS2s myself. The Interact stick was fine, but my PS2 would never again recognize any other device but a standard dualshock.

I traced the problem to hot-swapping, or plugging the device in while the PS2 is on. Seems some devices can be a real hazard because of this. I reckon I've screwed up to seven PS2s (not all of em mine) over the years with Interact sticks, wheels, and the X-Arcade.

As I said, it might be a different issue with the Pelican, but after about 3 borked PS2s I learned my lesson, never plug in the device while the PS2 is on.

This is one more benefit of arcade sticks built with 1st party PCBS.

[RushedDown]

so arugulaz which dream connection adapter do you have
2 in 1
3 in 1
4 in 1
i also have the real arcade universal that i modded with comp buttons and stick and want a dc adapter that works so if u could tell me it would be greatly apreciated

[ArugulaZ]

I believe it's the three in one. It's blue and has support for Playstation controllers, Saturn joypads, and PS/2 keyboards. I've seen versions of the same adapter with the word "Skillz" printed on the top, but mine doesn't have that (thank goodness).

So, uh, is there any way to repair the damage done to my PS2 without sending it into Pelican?

JR

[RushedDown]

maybe if u have an electronics repair store nearby
usualy tv repair shops can do that to
i have the exact same stick as u and have never encountered this problem

[ArugulaZ]

Could someone do me a favor and test the stick with some GameCube games, particularly Midway Arcade Treasures 2? Some GameCube games don't seem to recognize the L and R buttons on the stick. This, as you might imagine, making blocking and running very difficult to do in Mortal Kombat 3. :P

JR

[Manx]

Got two of the same sticks, and the exact same problems. Even the Dreamcast part.

This stick would be great for people who don't have time/money/skill to make a stick, but no, it's buggy as hell and even worse it destroys your console! I've done it to two playstations now, so I'm going to gut the hell out of it and make lemonaide from this horrible horrible lemon of a stick.

[Mr.Bison]

i have a tournament ready pelican real arcade for the ps2 and ive had it for about a year it has given me no problems...

vandelay.corp

[Manx]

Yeah, I'm thinking that it only affects certain models/editions of the PS2. I'm pretty sure that it's undergone some significant hardware changes since it was first released, so the older ones might react differently to the stick than newer ones. I haven't done any research on it yet, but if I do I'll be sure to post it.

[Shin-RoTeNdO]

I never had any problems with my universal on my PS2 and I own one of the original PS2 from the first release batch. I also have no problems on my other consoles either. Oh well.

[James8BitStar]

You guys are lucky, then. I guess some of us get ones that blow, and some of us don't.

Mine, unfortunately, was having problems similar to what the original poster described. I bought two Pelicans (Universal brand), and my Playstation... I'm pretty sure it's not a first-run release, but it was a pretty early one regardless. Anyway I tried to use them for a game of Street Fighter, and it blew. Which I thought was odd because I HAD used both on this system before, and simultaneously even (and I had used both on another system previously as well--one on a Gamecube and the other on a PS1--yet this problem didn't come out until nearly a month later).

Personally, I don't blame the controller. To me, the fact that it still works on my Gamecube (and presumeably any X-Box I care to try it on) indicates that it may be the Playstation 2 at fault... which would not surprise me, because I've had bad experiences with the Playstation line before. In fact they are the ONLY console systems I have ever had to replace, period, much less had hardware issues with.

Normally, I would not consider modding sticks (electronics is NOT my field of expertise), but I payed $80 for the two sticks and really do not have the money to spend, so I would rather get these two working with my PS2 again, and furthermore make sure they STAY working. Does anyone have any suggestions for doing that? Is it even technically possible? I know I can get the PS2 repaired thanks to the Console Protection Warranty, but I half-suspect that it's just gonna blow again the minute I try to use them.

[James8BitStar]

It's fried. And here's why: The pelican universal gets its power from the rumble feature in your games consoles. For some reason,people who own one system (bein the ps2) never have problems. But, for people like me who have em all, ps2 goes bye bye. When plugging in from say an xbox or gc, the pelican seems to want to get stuck in drawing that first consoles power out of the ps2. The xbox has a stronger fuse, i think 7v, thus the pelican pulls that out of the xbox. when plugged into the ps2, it tries to draw that same power out of it, and the ps is weaker, thus blowing your rumble fuse, and no power to your joystick anymore.

So, if I were to, say, take a knife and "castrate" the stick so that it only worked on the PS2, it would never have a problem?

[Breakzilla]

yep, mine did this too. i just contatcing pelican again telling them i want my ps2 repaired or replaced....

[Kai1]

:lame: I just got Real Arcade inversal Pelican stick It doesn't work on my new Slim PS2 or My ps2 to usb adaptor WHAT DO I DO!!? Can i rebuild it or something? I know nothing about making sticks but I need one :sad:

[James8BitStar]

It was reported on some video game news site some time ago that the Universal version does not work on the Slim Model PS2. The PS2-dedicated version, however, does.

[Riot Guard]

I plan on getting a pelican universal arcade stick for xbox, and then getting a converter to use it on my friend's Dreamcast. The only thing I'm worried about is that if a ps2 can't handle it, how will a dreamcast manage to resist blowing a fuse. Also playability wise does it have problems with imputing commands slow (parrying). As I only plan to use it for 3rd strike and work on my parrying. Any advice would be great.

[Bucket]

its the stick they are using, i hope this guy checks the thread he made cuz i put alot of writing down and i want to know if its a universal board or not- but it should help other people deciding whether they are going to get a universal pelican real arcade stick or not (they shouldn't if they own more than one system with fighting games on both!).


So you are using the generic built in stick that came with the pelican? I modded mine swapped the stick out with happs ultimate, then to a happs comp, and at the moment it has something like the ultimarc j-stick in it now. I have swapped between consoles a few times, not often. The stick did not fry my older model playstation, and works fine with xbox and gc. Could this problem be solved by switching the stick or is problem exclusive to certain types of playstation consoles?


Does anyone know of the voltages for happs comp, happs ulimate and sanwa sticks use?

[GoLD-ReaVeR]

whats goin on man? im here to help (or break the news for ya). First off I have gone through 4 of those sticks because they would stop working on MY playstation. I have gone through 4 playstations, 3 mini's and 1 old style. Chances are your rumble feature will NEVER work again on your playstation. It's fried. And here's why: The pelican universal gets its power from the rumble feature in your games consoles. For some reason,people who own one system (bein the ps2) never have problems. But, for people like me who have em all, ps2 goes bye bye. When plugging in from say an xbox or gc, the pelican seems to want to get stuck in drawing that first consoles power out of the ps2. The xbox has a stronger fuse, i think 7v, thus the pelican pulls that out of the xbox. when plugged into the ps2, it tries to draw that same power out of it, and the ps is weaker, thus blowing your rumble fuse, and no power to your joystick anymore. Trust me on this, i went through an old ps2 breaking the rumble, and was told "it's cuz it's old, get a new one" so I did. I sold it to gamestop for credit towards the mini's. my first mini, same thing happened. Returned the joystick to gamesquare, got new joystick. Returned mini, got new mini. Same deal. Returned ps2, got new ps2, same thing! Finally I got my money back for my joystick, got my fourth and final ps2, and never tried that garbage again, and bought a new joystick for ps2 (custom), bought an xbox adapter (you can get a gamecube adapter). No problems with systems. So sorry man, your rumble feature is screwed by pelian and you are stuck with that, return your joystick for your money, TRUST ME they all do this. ----

How does this apply to Hori and Sammy sticks?

[Infernoman]

Damn If only I heard about this a month ago! my pelican universal doesn't repsond anymore to my PS2! :mad:

Fortunetly, the PS2 is okay when I play any other game. BTW is there any way to fix this? because unless there's a way to convert X-box to PS2 I feel I'm screwed. :sad:



Could someone do me a favor and test the stick with some GameCube games, particularly Midway Arcade Treasures 2? Some GameCube games don't seem to recognize the L and R buttons on the stick. This, as you might imagine, making blocking and running very difficult to do in Mortal Kombat 3. :P

JR

Tried it with CvS2:EO and All I can tell you is the reason it doesn't respond is because the L and R on the GCN are analog. I've noticed that when you play using the standard config with a GCN controller, you have to press the L or R button down until they CLICK for the attack. using an arcade Stick however, the buttons even when pressed don't register as a "Click" therefore the game doesn't think an attack was made. :lame:

[James8BitStar]

Tried it with CvS2:EO and All I can tell you is the reason it doesn't respond is because the L and R on the GCN are analog. I've noticed that when you play using the standard config with a GCN controller, you have to press the L or R button down until they CLICK for the attack. using an arcade Stick however, the buttons even when pressed don't register as a "Click" therefore the game doesn't think an attack was made. :lame:

That's odd... I've never had a problem with L or R, and I sometimes use the stick to play Smash Bros Melee.

[James8BitStar]

I plan on getting a pelican universal arcade stick for xbox, and then getting a converter to use it on my friend's Dreamcast. The only thing I'm worried about is that if a ps2 can't handle it, how will a dreamcast manage to resist blowing a fuse.

I wonder this as well. I wanted to use mine on a *Sega Genesis.*

[Infernoman]

That's odd... I've never had a problem with L or R, and I sometimes use the stick to play Smash Bros Melee.

But you see in SSBM note that you don't have to press the L or R button all the way to use it.

[James8BitStar]

But you see in SSBM note that you don't have to press the L or R button all the way to use it.

Ohhh.

So the Pelican is totally useless for Gamecube fighters, eh?

[Burrito]

I had my Pelican Universal break down on me today after four months. I don't think switching between consoles is the problem because I only own a PS2.

[lna]

Mine just fried the controller port, apparantly. I did wonder about this, as I'd once borrowed my brother's PS2 while mine was at repairs, could never get it to work with it, also noticed the rumble feature didn't seem to work with it. Of course, his was older and I figured it probably had that problem to begin with; plus the stick still worked in the X-Box. Tekken 5 comes out, play that, worked fine for one session and then turn it back on and it's back to playing dead in a PS2, low and behold, the rumble's simultaniously kicked out on mine as well...

It was hooked up to the X-Box, but that hasn't even been turned on in the past week or two...

[Focusflute]

Ok. Got this stick on thursday. I own all 3 systems. Tried it on xbox with DOA:U and SF:AC, everything is great. Tried it on GC with SC2, everything is great, even L/R buttons. Tried it on PS2 Tekken 5 hours later when i got back home, PS2 is now fried! Would not recognize stick and now i have no vibration function with any controller. This is super frustrating! Saw this thread afterwards...just in time...

[ShotgunSteve]

Could someone do me a favor and test the stick with some GameCube games, particularly Midway Arcade Treasures 2? Some GameCube games don't seem to recognize the L and R buttons on the stick. This, as you might imagine, making blocking and running very difficult to do in Mortal Kombat 3. :P

JR

Mine doesn't work with Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance on my gamecube, but works fine with my xbox version.

[xaer0knight]

this stick is okay for cetain games for the Gamecube... Since, from what i gather, is that your GCs L/R buttons are Analog and Not Digital. After all certain games like MGS: TTS, depending on how hard you press the L/R buttons the closer you zoom in. On Certain games like PN 03 and Viewtaful Joe they work perfect because they dont have a setting for how hard you have to press the triggers. And forget about games that required a C-Stick. :wow: And i was thinking of switching out the Buttons to see how the stick reacts to the GC and adding a DC mod to it... The primary reason i got it was for SNK fighters and SHMUPs for the Dreamcast.

[BigEd80]

Yeah I had the same problem for my CVS2:EO on my gamecube with the Pelican (and I have the cheaper 20 dollar version from Gamestop of the Pelican, trust me I regret buying it, the motion of the stick stinks) the L and R buttons don't register. Therefore I bought the PS2 version of CVS2 as well. If people have problems with the tournament ready of the real arcade stick (I was actually considering getting one today because it looked better built), I may just end up buying an X-arcade stick from Fry's Electronics, dang that's going to be expensive :(.

I know that this is off topic but I hope that nintendo's next game system is more fighting game friendly like the PS2 and X-box

[T0ast0r]

I've had my pelican stick for a few months, it's given me no problems. I've switched seamlessly between GCN, XBox, and PS2, and I have had no controller port blowouts. I'm about to mod it. Thing is, I want to get rid of it and get converters and whatnot if it tends to act up.

[taiji]

i have a pelican universal and it works w/ my slim ps2, no prbs