Need a little help with a PS3 controller hack..

[Glennicio]

Hey guys, I've lurked around these boards on and off for a couple of years now, and have finally gotten it together and started buying parts for a couple of PS3 sticks.

My brother has given me a pad to hack, but I'm really pretty clueless with this sort of thing.  Luckily all the points on the PCB are marked and it looks fairly straightforward. 

Here's a pic of the board i'm going to attempt to hack:



looking at the pcb, I'm guessing I need to solder 2 wires for each button and the microswitch completes the circuit when a button is pushed?> So is it just a matter of soldering to the square points on the pcb??

Any pushes in the right direction would be much appreciated.  I know I could go and buy a Cthuhlu board or have someone hack a sixaxis for me, but doing it myself is the only way I'll learn anything, so I'd like to give it a crack.

cheers
Glenn

[Glennicio]

Ok looking around I've found this link about hacking a PSX pad...

http://arcadecontrols.com/arcade_matt(v).html

Is this basically what I need to do with mine?

[HaRuMaN]

Hello.  What brand PS3 controller is that?

In general, yes, you can solder two wires to each button and direction on the D-PAD.  That is probably the simplest way to go.

[Glennicio]

Hey HarumaN, thanks for confirming that for me.  I have no idea of the brand, there was no branding on the case or anything. 

It's wireless, but infra-red.  it has an on/off switch so I'm really tossing up whether to use it wireless or not.  I'll have to try and figure out whether it switches itself off after a period of time, other wise it's going to need charging everytime I turn on the PS3 anyway.

thanks again for your help, I'll let you know how I go with it.

[HaRuMaN]

Interesting. IR, you say?

Also, can you take a brighter photo of the PCB?

[Glennicio]

Hey, I can't take a brighter pic at the moment, I'm unpacking my house still and haven't located the camera yet.  I'll try and fix it up in photoshop a bit..

I also noticed when i removed the rubber pad in the centre, both of the bottom points are labeled 'PS button'. Any ideas on why this particular button would had have two contact points?  And which should i solder to?

heres the photoshopped pic;

[Glennicio]

Well we got it all wired up, only checked the stick so far and it works, having major problems figuring out the PS button, so i have to desolder it and use the old rubber pads for the moment so i can test all the other buttons.

[Glennicio]

Ok, working flawlessy now.  Thanks again for your help HarumaN.