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[bustinthejus]

Sorry for double posting but I can't edit my post.. I'd just like to ask another question if you don't mind I looked at my sixaxis controller today earlier and all I'm seeing is a jumble of traces and stuff, haha. Any tips on how I'd go about finding points just with my eyes?

[RDC]

If ya don't know how to use yer eyes by now I don't think there's anything that I can tell ya that will help much, besides to use them back a page where I've already done all that.

If ya don't have a starting point then you'll never find the other end of it, ya just have to pick a trace and stick with it and see where all it goes, sometimes ya have to start in the middle, just depends on what you're trying to figure out. If ya don't know anything about a circuit board at all then running down a trace shouldn't be the fist thing you're looking at, ya should do a lot of reading up on what parts are called and such and get a multi-meter so ya can Ohm out the trace from end to end after you have it mapped out to make sure ya have it right, it's very easy to get lost along the way on a board with much larger traces, and with the PS3 controllers it's pretty much a given at one point or another ya will.

[bustinthejus]

Alright thanks, I'll give it a shot

[BurnToast]

MSU_VX 1.03 (DualShock 3, The first version of it that I'm aware of)

BOTTOM
(IMG:http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f320/RDCXBG/PS3%20Six-Axis%20and%20DS3/MSU_VX103Bottom.jpg)


Hi RDC,

i was wondering i am currently in the process of trying to make a controller myself, however last night i had a terrible accident and damaged to of the tiny little what i think are resistors marked (R40) and the one next to it.

what is there that i can do to over come this situation?

regards

[RDC]

Man, depending on the exact extend of the damage that's going to be a real witch to repair. I'd have to see a good pic of it or the board itself to even think about what would have to be done, if anything, that board really doesn't lend itself to being messed up and repaired easily.

Shoot me a PM if ya can get some good clear pics of the board and I'll see what's what, but if components came off there I wouldn't have really high hopes and if any pads/traces were torn up then you'd be really hard pressed to straighten that out and it would be easier to just get a new controller. Then ya can finish that one there off with some more practice before laying the iron on the new one.

[SR-V]

RDC, thanks for the great work, i got a MSU_VSX_0.07 (DualShock 3), i'm in process of making an arcade stick and i was looking at the TP spots you marked on the pic, but i can't see the DL or DR spots, forgive me i'm i missed something, i'm still new to this. Thanks

[RDC]

QUOTE(SR-V @ Jul 4 2009, 01:55 AM)

RDC, thanks for the great work, i got a MSU_VSX_0.07 (DualShock 3), i'm in process of making an arcade stick and i was looking at the TP spots you marked on the pic, but i can't see the DL or DR spots, forgive me i'm i missed something, i'm still new to this. Thanks

Those 2 connections are like R3, they're under the MCU there so you'd have to hit an IC leg to make that connection. When I get another MSU_VSX_0.07 I'll retrace those back out and update the pic, but in the meantime I've updated that post with the top spots marked and a description of how that controller should be done up.

[SR-V]

Thanks for the quick response, i'll give that a try.

[SR-V]

QUOTE(RDC @ Jul 5 2009, 04:32 PM)

Those 2 connections are like R3, they're under the MCU there so you'd have to hit an IC leg to make that connection. When I get another MSU_VSX_0.07 I'll retrace those back out and update the pic, but in the meantime I've updated that post with the top spots marked and a description of how that controller should be done up.

Thanks for the update, i just finished making that arcade stick, everything seems to work good, except that the joystick acts up sometimes (ie pausing on and off and ps button goes on and off).  I only had 10k resistors, so i used 2 of them from v to com1 and com2.  Does it make a diff which side of the resistor i run my wire from com1 and com2, right now i have them running from the com sides.  Also, the PS button works to turn on the playstation and joystick, but when i press it durring a game play nothing happens.  Any help would be greatly apreciated.
Thanks

[RDC]

The lines for COM need to be on the COM line side.

Examples:
COM1 - New L1 Button - L1
COM1 - New D-pad Up Button/Stick - DU
COM2 - New X Button - X


The PS button doesn't use a COM line, it's PS to V for that button, so that could be the issue you're having there, but I've no idea how ya wired it up. On that version of controller you're using TP11 and V are the same thing also, so on the front PS to V or PS to TP11 are the connections for the PS (Home) button.

[Specter]

Hi guys,

The led 4 doesn't light up on my MSU_V2.5 1.05 (Six-Axis) and I think the problem is from the negative soldering point. Do you know if there's an alternate Negative solder point for this led ? (SMT LED4)

I tried to look on the RDC picture of the MSU v2.5 1.05 Six-Axis) but i'm not too sure and before I tried I don't want a screw the led contact more.

Thank you !

[RDC]

QUOTE(Specter @ Jul 20 2009, 12:05 AM)

Hi guys,

The led 4 doesn't light up on my MSU_V2.5 1.05 (Six-Axis) and I think the problem is from the negative soldering point. Do you know if there's an alternate Negative solder point for this led ? (SMT LED4)

I tried to look on the RDC picture of the MSU v2.5 1.05 Six-Axis) but i'm not too sure and before I tried I don't want a screw the led contact more.

Thank you !
 

If the LED just up and stopped working it could be the LED is bad, the connection between the MCU and LED has a problem or the MCU has the issue, and if the MCU is the cause there's not much ya can do about that. If you've swapped LEDs on it then most likely the issue is the LEDs is in backwards or the pad has been damaged/lifted there.

In any case, it's the player 4 LED and I honestly wouldn't even bother  with it as long as there are no other issues with the controller, odds  are it'll always be lit up as player 1 or 2 anyway and you'll never  even see that it's out except when ya turn the controller on, or if ya play as player 4, 6 or 7 all the time.

  There aren't any 'easy' alternate spots to solder to for the LEDs though. The only other spots ya get to choose from are some Vias, the LED Resistor (RN2 on that board) or the MCU leads, which are all a whole lot more difficult to solder to than the LED pad was, so for a quick and easy fix there just aren't any options and in this case it's kinda better to leave it as-is instead of messing with it any more unless you're confident ya can solder to those areas and not cause any more damage.

[KillerBug666]

I have a little question...

I want to control games that require the stick(s)...everything except the sticks connects just fine to a simple open-close switch, solid state relay, or rheostat...but the just have to be different with their hall-effect sensors. :-(

My project uses an Arduino Duemilanove...there are 6 analogue IO pins (0v @ 0% duty, 5V @ 100% duty, 255 steps including 0v and 5v steps), and two of them are already in use.  Anyone got any ideas how I could use the other 4 to simulate these 4 hall effect sensors?

My thanks in advance.

[RDC]

The Hall Sensors are really just part of a voltage divider setup, Hall Sensor > OpAmp > MCU.

The 4 pins you're talking about using on the Arduino are Analog Inputs, you can't use those to control anything.

You can drive the LSX, LSY, RSX and RSY lines (TP19, 20, 21 and 22) externally with the voltage from a POT, DAC or PWM. They are 0v to 2.8v (with 1.4v being maintained for center) though you may have to remove the OpAmps as they will keep the voltage centered if the Sticks are removed and may have an effect on driving them externally. I've used a PIC/DAC setup before on the RSX line, locked RSY in center with a couple of Resistors, and removed the OpAmp to be safe, so what you're wanting to do can be done.

If you're using one of the newer version DS3 controllers with the SN84001 IC you'll need to scope those 4 lines and make sure they haven't changed the way it works, again, since Sony has nothing better to do with their money. I haven't put the scope on one of those later versions yet to make sure it's the same setup as the ones with dedicated OpAmps, might be, might not be, so check it to be sure. If you don't have a scope handy use a DMM and see what the voltage swing on those TP19~22 lines are while you move the Sticks. If they sit at 1.4v (Sticks centered) and swing around 1v or so in each direction for that line then it's the same setup, if they do anything other than that you'll need to scope them to see what's going on there first.

[KillerBug666]

I know the Analogues will work in output mode; I will have to see if they will work in PWM...but I think they will.

I already checked the power at the board, and this is what I found:

at rest, all outputs are 1.400v
when a stick is all the way up, down, left, or right, the affected hall effect sensor will have 1.440v on one output, and 1.360v on the other output...I figure this gives me 0.08v total range to work with.  

Oh, and this sixaxis board is a MSU 2.5

Oh, I don't have a scope, nor the steady hands required to solder to those tiny traces if I found I could use them.  I can handle the hall effect sensors...but that is about as small as I can go.

This post has been edited by KillerBug666: Aug 21 2010, 04:06 PM