Steering Wheel Controls

god_of_cpu · 05-02-2004, 04:09 PM

I finally finished the program to read the button presses on my Steering Wheel Controls. The complete story behind this and the instructions can be found here Most of this is repeated in the ReadMe file included with the setup program.

The setup for the program can be downloaded here

You will need DirectX 9 or greater to run this since it uses Direct Input. The MFC dlls it uses are included in the setup package.

If you want the source for this program (MFC / Visual Studio .Net 2003) e-mail or PM me.

This program was designed for and tested on a 2003.5 Infiniti G35 Sports Coupe w/ BOSE Sound System. It *should* work with any car that uses steering wheel controls that work by varying the current read on a power line when a button is pressed.

god_of_cpu · 05-02-2004, 04:23 PM

cadence117 · 05-02-2004, 05:59 PM

Very cool,
do you have pictures of the actual controls,
and is it for sale?

god_of_cpu · 05-02-2004, 07:16 PM

Check the first link for g35 forums. Theres a picture of the cable there and how to construct it. You really only need to add a resister and diode to the cable and just hook it up to the joystick port. It will cost about $5 to make and require little more then rudimentary soldering skills.

EBJUSTIN · 05-03-2004, 11:49 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by god_of_cpu

I finally finished the program to read the button presses on my Steering Wheel Controls. The complete story behind this and the instructions can be found here Most of this is repeated in the ReadMe file included with the setup program.

The setup for the program can be downloaded here

You will need DirectX 9 or greater to run this since it uses Direct Input. The MFC dlls it uses are included in the setup package.

If you want the source for this program (MFC / Visual Studio .Net 2003) e-mail or PM me.

This program was designed for and tested on a 2003.5 Infiniti G35 Sports Coupe w/ BOSE Sound System. It *should* work with any car that uses steering wheel controls that work by varying the current read on a power line when a button is pressed.

I tested with my Sony X4S joystick remote...it works great, nice job!

webnosis · 05-04-2004, 08:40 AM

Hi,

This all sounds wonderful. Just one problem, my mobo has no joystick port! Is there any way to make this work via USB? Maybe with a joystick port to usb adapter?

Keep up the good work,
Web

god_of_cpu · 05-04-2004, 09:39 AM

You can make it work with a USB to game port adaptor. You can possibly also rip apart a cheap USB joystick and try to tap into it's Analog to digital converter (the thing that the control stick is connected to) although I have never tried this I heard it should work.

Also, some motherboards have a header for a game port even though they don't have an actual game port, if yours is such a motherboard, you can just buy one of these

Quote: Originally Posted by webnosis

Hi,

This all sounds wonderful. Just one problem, my mobo has no joystick port! Is there any way to make this work via USB? Maybe with a joystick port to usb adapter?

Keep up the good work,
Web

webnosis · 05-04-2004, 10:38 AM

I am using the mini-ITX VIA M10000, and I don't think it has a gameport header. So I will try the USB route.

Thanks for the prompt reply.

Web

leenas · 05-04-2004, 11:23 AM

I have a 2001 nissan maxima do you think that it would work the same? I have vol up, vol down, up arrow, down arrow, and source.

leenas · 05-04-2004, 12:06 PM

Also since ive taken my factory head unit out i dont really care about it being able to switch control between the radio and carputer. Is there anything i can remove from the diagram to make it easier since that isnt necessary for me?

god_of_cpu · 05-04-2004, 01:05 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by leenas

Also since ive taken my factory head unit out i dont really care about it being able to switch control between the radio and carputer. Is there anything i can remove from the diagram to make it easier since that isnt necessary for me?

Heres the circuit diagram without the relay.

If you have more then 2 wires for your controls, you will just need to add a resistor and diode for each additional wire and hook it up in a similar way. You will be limted to 4 wires since the joystick port only supports up to 4 axises.

Also, the diagram states a 500 ohm resistor, but this is not set in stone. You may have to use something other then a 500 ohm resistor to get the best voltage values, but probably anything from 10 ohm = 1k ohm will work at some level.

god_of_cpu · 05-04-2004, 01:17 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by leenas

I have a 2001 nissan maxima do you think that it would work the same? I have vol up, vol down, up arrow, down arrow, and source.

Probably. Check out the PAC Audio website for thier SWI-X control . This is used for sending infrared remote signals from steering wheel controls. If the interface is similar to the G35, it will work with the software. If nothing else, this manual is helpful for trying to figure out which color lines are from the steering wheel controls.

I figured out which lines are for my car by using the service manual for my car which I got from Nissan Tech-Info for $20. You can download the whole service manual with a 1 day subscription to this. Since you have a nissan, I would highly recommend you do this, it will save you loads of time in figuring out how things work.

Izik · 05-04-2004, 01:39 PM

One thing I don't understand is that the SWI-X requires that the yellow wire (pin 25) be connected to ground. If I understand correctly you connect the wire to 5v.

Quote: Originally Posted by god_of_cpu

Probably. Check out the PAC Audio website for thier SWI-X control . This is used for sending infrared remote signals from steering wheel controls. If the interface is similar to the G35, it will work with the software. If nothing else, this manual is helpful for trying to figure out which color lines are from the steering wheel controls.

I figured out which lines are for my car by using the service manual for my car which I got from Nissan Tech-Info for $20. You can download the whole service manual with a 1 day subscription to this. Since you have a nissan, I would highly recommend you do this, it will save you loads of time in figuring out how things work.

god_of_cpu · 05-04-2004, 02:16 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Izik

One thing I don't understand is that the SWI-X requires that the yellow wire (pin 25) be connected to ground. If I understand correctly you connect the wire to 5v.

You are correct, this is not an error, it is suppose to be backwards. You should connect the joysticks +5v to where the ground coming from the radio use to be. Apparently the joystick port works the opposite way as the BOSE radio (and SWI-X) does. I.E. Positive juice flows from the power line to the joystick X and Y axises where as on the radio, juice flows from the remote control lines to the ground.

Use the SWI-X manual as just a wire guide. You should also use a voltmeter and check that the resitance on the wires leading to your steering wheel controls change when you press a button on them to confirm you do have the right wires.

leenas · 05-04-2004, 03:02 PM

On that first site you gave it seems it would work. Looks like the only difference is the wire colors.

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