Xbox One Instrument Adapters (rb4.app method)

This page contains instructions for using various non-Xbox One instruments on Rock Band 4 on Xbox One/Series using rb4.app

Table of Contents

Introduction
Parts List
Prerequisites
Preparing the GIMX Adapter
Using rb4.app with Xbox
Troubleshooting

Introduction

GIMX is software/hardware combination developed to allow game controllers to be used on alternative consoles, by using a computer and an original controller to handle authentication. GIMX is great, but it’s not really suited for Rock Band. I have developed a web page that uses the GIMX hardware, but is tailor-made to work specifically with Rock Band 4. Here is a diagram of the setup


Parts List

Here is the list of parts needed if you are building the GIMX adapter yourself:

Leonardo (Link)

USB to Serial Converter (Link)

Wire (Link) (length of wire doesn’t affect functionality, but longer wire can be more convenient. Only 3 Male to Female Wires are required)

Prerequisites

This website will only work with Chrome

Depending on your Operating System, there might be a driver that needs to be installed before the web page will work properly. The rest of the section will guide you through installing the driver on each supported operating system.

Windows

On Windows you must overwrite the default Xbox One Controller driver for the web page to be able to read the controller. You will have to do this for every different type of controller you want to use. The controller will not work as a standard Xbox controller after doing this, unless you revert the driver. This section will describe installing the driver for the web page, and reverting the driver for normal usage.

Installing the rb4.app Driver
  1. Download and run Zadig (link)
  2. Plug in the Xbox One controller (if it is not already plugged in)
  3. In Zadig, click on Options>Show All Devices
  4. Choose the Xbox One Controller from the device list in Zadig (It will likely be listed as “Controller”)
  5. Change the Driver to WinUSB, and click “Install Driver”
Reverting to the Standard Driver
  1. Open the Start Menu and type “Device Manager”, and open the Device Manager
  2. Locate the Xbox One Controller (likely listed as “Controller”)
  3. Right Click the Xbox One Controller, and click “Update Driver”
  4. Continue with the default options for updating the driver
  5. Restart the computer

macOS

macOS should “just work”!

If the controller isn’t working, completely quit Chrome (CMD+Q), and relaunch it (If you use Chrome’s Gamepad API for something else, the controller will stop working on the website. Restarting Chrome will reset the API)

Linux

Coming Soon!

Preparing the GIMX Adapter

Assembling

You should have two pieces of hardware, a Leonardo and a USB to Serial Converter, along with 3 male to female wires. (NOTE: the USB to Serial Converter comes with female to female wires, these will not work)

If the USB to Serial Converter has a jumper on the side, make sure it is connecting 5V and VCC (as shown in the picture. If it is connecting 3v3 and VCC, pull the jumper off and reposition it to be connecting 5V and VCC)

The USB to Serial Converter has 6 Pins, labeled “VCC”, “GND”, “RXD”, “TXD”, “RTS”, and “CTS”

The Arduino Leonardo has many pins. Look for the ones labeled “GND” (yellow in picture), “TX” (green in picture), and “RX” (red in picture)

Connect the USB to Serial Converter “GND” to the Arduino Leonardo “GND”

Connect the USB to Serial Converter “RXD” to the Arduino Leonardo “TX”

Connect the USB to Serial Converter “TXD” to the Arduino Leonardo “RX”

The GIMX Adapter is now assembled!



Installing Firmware

The GIMX Adapter needs a one-time firmware install to work. This will guide you through how to install the firmware using GIMX (link) (Use this link specifically to install GIMX, it has the required firmware included)

Open gimx-launcher (On Windows, “Start Menu>GIMX>gimx-launcher”). Click on “Help>Update Firmware”

A new Window should pop up. Choose “PDP.hex” from the drop-down list, and click “Load”

Some instructions should now pop up. I think they could be clearer, so here’s my interpretation of each step:

Plug both USB ends of the GIMX into the Computer (The Arduino Leonardo micro-usb port and the USB to Serial Converter)

Unplug the Arduino Leonardo from the computer, and plug it back in. Alternatively, Press the reset button on the Arduino Leonardo, without unplugging it. You will have 10 seconds to do this before the update fails. If the update fails, try again, if the update continuously fails, make sure the Arduino Leonardo/USB to Serial Converter is wired correctly

If the update software successfully detects that you have unplugged and replugged the Leonardo, a command line window will pop up, do some things, and close. This means the firmware installation was successful!


Using rb4.app with Xbox

This section will describe the process of using rb4.app to connect instruments to RB4 on Xbox. You will do this process every time you want to connect.

Setup

  1. Plug the Leonardo into the Xbox One
  2. Plug the Xbox One controller, USB to Serial Converter, and Guitar/Drums into your computer
  3. Go to https://rb4.app/xbox in your web browser
  4. Click “Choose Xbox Controller”, and select your controller from the list (it will probably be named “Controller”). If it is chosen successfully, it should be listed on the web page, along with some boxes that will light up when the corresponding button on the controller is hit
  5. Click “Choose Serial Device”, and choose the USB to Serial Converter. If it is chosen successfully, it should be listed under the Controller as “Serial (Ready)”
  6. Under Settings, Change “Device to Emulate” to match which instrument(s) you will be using…
    • PDP or RB4 Drums - Drums
    • RB4 Guitar - Guitar
    • Wireless Legacy Adapter - up to 2 Guitars and/or drums
  7. Make sure your instruments are listed
    • (Drums) Under “MIDI Devices Being Used”, make sure your drums are listed. If they are, there should be some boxes in that section, which will light up the corresponding color when a drum is hit
    • (Guitar) Click “Choose Guitar 1” and choose your guitar from the list. It should then show up on the webpage, with some boxes that light up when you hit the buttons. If you are using Wireless Legacy Adapter mode with 2 guitars, also hit “Choose Guitar 2” after choosing the first guitar
  8. Turn on the Xbox

Connecting

  1. If everything under Setup connected correctly, there should be a button at the top of the web page labeled “Start”. This button will connect the adapter to the Xbox. Click this button
  2. If the connection is successful, after a few seconds up to three new buttons should appear…
    • “Connect Drums” - (PDP Only) tells RB4 that drums were connected to the adapter (NOTE: If RB4 already thinks drums are connected, clicking this will make the game will stop accepting drums until restarted, and the game will crash when the adapter is disconnected)
    • “Disconnect Drums” - (PDP Only) tells RB4 that drums were disconnected from the adapter
    • “End Adapter Connection” - Disconnects the adapter from the Xbox
  3. Open Rock Band 4 (If it is not already open), and get to at least the title screen (You should be able to control the Xbox with the Xbox One Controller connected to the computer)
  4. (PDP Only) Click “Connect Drums”, and Drums should appear in the game, and you should be able to control the in-game drums with the Xbox Controller and the electronic drums.

Troubleshooting

If the Xbox One Controller doesn’t connect properly, make sure you installed the drivers in Prerequisites

If the Serial device hangs when starting, try changing the Baud Rate setting (at the bottom of the web page) to 5. You can also try refreshing the page and trying again.

Xbox 360 guitars will only work on Windows

To use wireless 360 guitars on Windows, you'll need a 360 to USB dongle (like this)

Using a third party 360 to USB dongle for guitars and the guitar isn’t appearing in the list on the website? Ask bookreader52 to add the dongle to the compatibility list