Nintendo vs Nyko nunchuck Arduino communication

I have the wii nunchuck and it works well with power from the 3V3 pin. It also works fine with power from the 5V pin but just gets warm. Maybe your problem is happening because you are not doing the decoding of bytes:
x = (x ^ 0x17) + 0x17;

Here is a code I use that always works:

#include <Wire.h>
#include <string.h>

#undef int
#include <stdio.h>

uint8_t outbuf[6];            // array to store arduino output
int cnt = 0;
int ledPin = 13;

void
setup ()
{
  beginSerial (19200);
  Serial.print ("Finished setup\n");
  Wire.begin ();            // join i2c bus with address 0x52
  nunchuck_init (); // send the initilization handshake
}

void
nunchuck_init ()
{
  Wire.beginTransmission (0x52);      // transmit to device 0x52
  Wire.send (0x40);            // sends memory address
  Wire.send (0x00);            // sends sent a zero.  
  Wire.endTransmission ();      // stop transmitting
}

void
send_zero ()
{
  Wire.beginTransmission (0x52);      // transmit to device 0x52
  Wire.send (0x00);            // sends one byte
  Wire.endTransmission ();      // stop transmitting
}

void
loop ()
{
  Wire.requestFrom (0x52, 6);      // request data from nunchuck
  while (Wire.available ())
    {
      outbuf[cnt] = nunchuk_decode_byte (Wire.receive ());      // receive byte as an integer
      digitalWrite (ledPin, HIGH);      // sets the LED on
      cnt++;
    }

  // If we recieved the 6 bytes, then go print them
  if (cnt >= 5)
    {
      print ();
    }

  cnt = 0;
  send_zero (); // send the request for next bytes
  delay (100);
}

// Print the input data we have recieved
// accel data is 10 bits long
// so we read 8 bits, then we have to add
// on the last 2 bits.  That is why I
// multiply them by 2 * 2
void
print ()
{
  int joy_x_axis = outbuf[0];
  int joy_y_axis = outbuf[1];
  int accel_x_axis = outbuf[2] * 2 * 2; 
  int accel_y_axis = outbuf[3] * 2 * 2;
  int accel_z_axis = outbuf[4] * 2 * 2;

  int z_button = 0;
  int c_button = 0;

 // byte outbuf[5] contains bits for z and c buttons
 // it also contains the least significant bits for the accelerometer data
 // so we have to check each bit of byte outbuf[5]
  if ((outbuf[5] >> 0) & 1)
    {
      z_button = 1;
    }
  if ((outbuf[5] >> 1) & 1)
    {
      c_button = 1;
    }

  if ((outbuf[5] >> 2) & 1)
    {
      accel_x_axis += 2;
    }
  if ((outbuf[5] >> 3) & 1)
    {
      accel_x_axis += 1;
    }

  if ((outbuf[5] >> 4) & 1)
    {
      accel_y_axis += 2;
    }
  if ((outbuf[5] >> 5) & 1)
    {
      accel_y_axis += 1;
    }

  if ((outbuf[5] >> 6) & 1)
    {
      accel_z_axis += 2;
    }
  if ((outbuf[5] >> 7) & 1)
    {
      accel_z_axis += 1;
    }

  Serial.print (joy_x_axis, DEC);
  Serial.print ("\t");

  Serial.print (joy_y_axis, DEC);
  Serial.print ("\t");

  Serial.print (accel_x_axis, DEC);
  Serial.print ("\t");

  Serial.print (accel_y_axis, DEC);
  Serial.print ("\t");

  Serial.print (accel_z_axis, DEC);
  Serial.print ("\t");

  Serial.print (z_button, DEC);
  Serial.print ("\t");

  Serial.print (c_button, DEC);
  Serial.print ("\t");

  Serial.print ("\r\n");
}

// Encode data to format that most wiimote drivers except
// only needed if you use one of the regular wiimote drivers
char
nunchuk_decode_byte (char x)
{
  x = (x ^ 0x17) + 0x17;
  return x;
}

Try it one last time before buying the Nintendo Wii nunchuck :slight_smile: