Xbox One/Series/PS3/PS4 Instrument Adapters (rb4.app method)

This page contains instructions for using various instruments on Rock Band 4 on Xbox One/Series/PS3/PS4/Wii/Xinput using rb4.app

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 acts similar to GIMX, but is tailor-made to work specifically with Rock Band 4. Here is a diagram of the setup

Below are my instructions. If you would prefer a video tutorial, here is one made by GleasonRyan (https://youtu.be/46_OI1SDOrM)

Parts List

I sell a premade adapter. This is the easiest solution for most people (link)

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

2 Raspberry Pi Picos with headers (Link)
Wire (Link) (length of wire doesn’t affect functionality, but longer wire can be more convenient. Only 3 Female to Female Wires are required)

Prerequisites

This website will only work with Chrome

The rest of this section is for Xbox One/Series Only. If you are on a different console you can skip this section

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

Download and run Zadig (link)
Plug in the Xbox One controller (if it is not already plugged in)
In Zadig, click on Options>Show All Devices
Choose the Xbox One Controller from the device list in Zadig (It will likely be listed as “Controller”)
Change the Driver to WinUSB, and click “Install Driver”

Reverting to the Standard Driver

Open the Start Menu and type “Device Manager”, and open the Device Manager
Locate the Xbox One Controller (likely listed as “Controller”)
Right Click the Xbox One Controller, and click “Update Driver”
Continue with the default options for updating the driver
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 Adapter

NOTE: If you bought the premade adapter, you can skip this step

Assembling

You should have two 2 Raspberry Pi Picos with headers (Link), along with 3 female to female wires (Link)

One Pico will used the game console, and the other Pico will be used with computer.

Connect Computer Pico Pins GP0 and GP1 to Console Pico Pins GP17 and GP16. Then connect Console Pico GND to Computer Pico GND (any pin labeled GND on both Picos will work)

Optional (only required for native PS4 emulation) Also connect Computer Pico Pins GP8 and GP9 to Console Pico Pins GP9 and GP8 (They're swapped between picos, 8 goes to 9 and 9 goes to 8)

Flashing the firmware

Both Picos will need their firmware flashed for them to work

Hold down the "bootsel" button (circled red in the picture) while plugging the pico into the computer. A flash drive should appear on the computer. Once the flash drive appears, you can release the button

Drag and drop the corresponding .uf2 firmware file listed below onto the flash drive. The flash drive should disappear is the firmware update is successful

Computer Pico Firmware: (link)

Console Pico Firmware: (link)

Using rb4.app with Xbox One/Series

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

Turn on the Xbox
Plug the "To Console" side of the adapter into the Xbox One
Plug the "To Computer" side of the adapter, along with an Xbox One controller and Guitar/Drums into your computer
Go to https://rb4.app/xbox in your web browser
Click “Choose Xbox One 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
Click “Choose Serial Device”, and choose the adapter. If it is chosen successfully, it should be listed under the Controller as “Serial (Ready)”
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
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

Connecting

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
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
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)
(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.

Using rb4.app with PS3 (and PS4/5 in legacy mode)

Turn on the PlayStation
Plug the "To Console" side of the adapter into the PlayStation
Plug the "To Computer" side of the adapter, along with Guitar/Drums into your computer (and a PS4 controller, if you wish to use one)
Go to https://rb4.app/xbox in your web browser
Click “Choose Serial Device”, and choose the adapter. If it is chosen successfully, it should be listed under the Controller as “Serial (Ready)”
Under Settings, Change “Device to Emulate” to match which instrument(s) you will be using…
- PS3 Guitar - Guitar
- PS3 GH Guitar - Guitar Hero 3 Guitar
- PS3 Drums - Rock Band Drums
- PS3 GH Drums - 5 Lane Guitar Hero Drums
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.
Click the "Start" button at the top of the page, and the adapter should start working (NOTE: PS3 mode will only work on PS4/5 inside of Rock Band 4)

Using rb4.app with PS4 (and PS5) Natively

Turn on the PlayStation
Plug the "To Console" side of the adapter into the PlayStation
Plug the "To Computer" side of the adapter, along with Guitar/Drums and a wired PS4 controller into your computer
Go to https://rb4.app/xbox in your web browser
Click “Choose PS4 Controller”, and select your controller from the list. 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
Click “Choose Serial Device”, and choose the adapter. If it is chosen successfully, it should be listed under the Controller as “Serial (Ready)”
Under Settings, Change “Device to Emulate” to match which instrument(s) you will be using…
- PS4 Guitar - Rock Band 4 Guitar
- PS4 Taiko Drum - Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum Session! (Choose Controller Type 4 - Taiko Drum in game, more info here)
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.
Click the "Start" button at the top of the page, and the adapter should start working
NOTE: The PS4 will attempt to authenticate with the controller about once a minute. The PS4 controller section of the webpage will show the last time it thinks authentication was successful. Usually time since last authentication will be less than 60 seconds, and at worst 180 seconds. If authentication is not successful for around 10-15 minutes, the adapter will stop working with the PS4

Using rb4.app with Wii

rb4.app will work with any Wii game that supports Rock Band instruments (but not games like GH3 and GH:WT that only support Guitar Hero instruments)

Turn on the Wii
Plug the "To Console" side of the adapter into the Wii
Plug the "To Computer" side of the adapter, along with Guitar/Drums into your computer (and a PS4 controller, if you wish to use one)
Go to https://rb4.app/xbox in your web browser
Click “Choose Serial Device”, and choose the adapter. If it is chosen successfully, it should be listed under the Controller as “Serial (Ready)”
Under Settings, Change “Device to Emulate” to match which instrument(s) you will be using…
- RB Guitar - Rock Band Guitar
- RB Drums - Rock Band 2 Drum Kit
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.
Click the "Start" button at the top of the page, and the adapter should start working

Using rb4.app with XInput

XInput is meant to be used with Guitar Hero 3 and World Tour on PC

Plug the "To Console" side of the adapter into the Computer that will be running Guitar Hero PC
Plug the "To Computer" side of the adapter, along with Guitar/Drums into a computer (and a PS4 controller, if you wish to use one). This can be a different computer than the one running Guitar Hero PC, or the same one.
Go to https://rb4.app/xbox in your web browser on the computer in step 2
Click “Choose Serial Device”, and choose the adapter. If it is chosen successfully, it should be listed under the Controller as “Serial (Ready)”
Under Settings, Change “Device to Emulate” to match which instrument(s) you will be using…
- Guitar - Guitar
- RB Drums - Rock Band Drums, will show up as 4 lane drums in Guitar Hero
- GH Drums - Guitar Hero Drums, will show up as 5 lane drums in Guitar Hero
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.
Click the "Start" button at the top of the page, and the adapter should start working

Troubleshooting

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

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

If the PS4 controller isn't listed, ask bookreader52 to add it

If you choose to emulate a PS4 RB4 instrument, only certain PS4 controllers (like the PS4 HORI Mini Pad) will work for authentication (Non-RB4 options should work with all PS4 controllers). DualShock 4's will not work. If the PlayStation stops accepting input after 5-10 minutes, there is a problem with authentication. The PS3 Rock Band emulation options also work on Rock Band 4 PS4, and do not require authentication

You can open rb4.app in multiple windows, and use one adapter per window to connect multiple instruments to the console. Note that each window will need it's own Chrome profile.