PS3 Controller Versions and TP Spots, DualShock 3 and Six-Axis Options

[RDC]

Hey all, Sony is in full swing with revision after revision change of the Six-Axis and now DualShock 3 controllers, seems like every time I open one up it's different. I'm up to 18 revisions so far, including the DualShock 3 controllers (there are at present 12 versions of them now) and on and on it goes..


MSU PP4.0 5 (Six-Axis, Old 'original version' board with 3 leg POTs, oldest I've seen anyway)
There is also an MSU PP4.0 9 (Six-Axis) BOTTOM - TOP and an MSU PP4.0 11 (Six-Axis) BOTTOM - TOP

BOTTOM


TOP



Now, out with the old...

Here are some of the newer versions boards. The main differences in these newer controllers are the Battery and the Analog Sticks, the boards are completely revamped as well, but you'll notice the Battery and/or POT leads right off, plus the shell of the controller doesn't seem to be the transparent 'smoke' color anymore but a more opaque Black color.

The first version of battery was the LIP1359 (w/sticker) then came the MK11-2902. While the newer MK11 is smaller in size, it's still the same 3.7v 610mAh rating. It also uses a bracket to fit where the slightly larger LIP1359 went. These batteries can be interchanged between the 6A (Six-Axis) and DS3 (DualShock 3) controller versions if need be and I've seen both battery versions in the later versions as well. There is also an MK11-3020 570mAh (Typ610mAh) that turned up later on, and seems to be the same as the other MK11, and now the LIP1359 (w/o sticker) seems to be the more frequently used one in the latest controllers, but again they are all interchangeable and one is really no different than the other, you just need to have the bracket for the MK11 batteries so they fit properly is all, but even that's really optional in a pinch.



The big surprise is the Analog Sticks in these newer versions, 4 legs on the POTs, needless to say that sparked some interest. So I desoldered one, popped it off and looky here...






..gone are the days of the familiar 3 legged POT and in comes these little gems. Magnetic and nothing to get all dirty and scratchy since there's no Wiper anymore, pretty nice idea, though a bit high tech for something that has no user serviceable battery and will in most cases be replaced instead of repaired if it were to die or break, still really kool though. These are Hall Sensors, and there are now 2 versions of these in the DualShock 3 version controllers, though the older style ones aren't used anymore as they seem too have a flaw with them, in that the Rivets that hold the leads onto the small circuit board can cause an intermittent connection over time and this will cause a direction or two to stop working, the newer ones are designed a bit better and I don't see them having this issue. How these things work is they have a Current run thru them and depending on where the Magnet is at (the part on the stick) it changes the flow of the Current in this Sensor. This then goes to an Op-Amp setup as a Current-to-Voltage converter and when all is said and done they basically work exactly the same way as a POT setup as a voltage divider, the MCU in the controller doesn't know the difference. This was done years back in the Saturn 3D controller as well as the Dreamcast controllers.


MSU_V2 2.12 (Six-Axis) There is also an MSU_V2 2.14 (Six-Axis) BOTTOM - TOP

BOTTOM



TOP




MSU_V2.5 1.05 (Six-Axis)

BOTTOM


TOP


This post has been edited by RDC: Oct 24 2012, 06:51 AM

[RDC]

Here are the list of TP spots on the PS3 controllers, the most useful ones anyway, for anyone that would want to make up an Arcade Stick, add an extra button or something similar.

Of the 17 versions of these controllers, that I know of, there are (so far anyway) 7 different TP layouts for them. These are a general pic of the different layouts, what controller version they're on and what they do.

NOTE: All of the TP spots are NOT shown in these pics, this is just for reference so you can tell which controller you have at a glance and what TP spots are what on that version of controller.

These are for the USB Connector and they are the same on all versions of board, except the Asuka.

TP1 - 5v
TP2 - D-
TP3 - D+
TP4 - Ground
GND - Ground

This is for the older Six-Axis controllers.

Any of the MSUPP 4.0 versions that have the 3 legged POTs. The TP spots may or may not be tinned with solder also.



TP10 - V (Common Line for Home button)

TP17 - COM 1 (Common Line for D-pad and L1/2)
TP18 - COM 2 (Common Line for X, /\, [ ], O and R1/2)

TP26 - PS (Home Button)
TP27 - Start
TP28 - R3 (Stick button)
TP29 - L3 (Stick button)
TP30 - Select
TP31 - X
TP32 - R1
TP33 - R2
TP34 - L1
TP35 - DL (D-pad Left)

TP37 - [ ]
TP38 - O
TP39 - /\

TP41 - L2
TP42 - DD (D-pad Down)
TP43 - DR (D-pad Right)
TP44 - DU (D-pad Up)

TP60 - COM 3 (Common Line for Select, Start, L3 and R3)



This is for the newer Six-Axis, with the 4 legged POTs, as well as the older version of DualShock 3.

MSU_V2, MSU_V2.5 (Six-Axis) MSU_VX (DS3)




TP25 - COM 1
TP26 - COM 2

TP32 - PS
TP33 - Start
TP34 - R3
TP35 - L3
TP36 - Select

TP38 - [ ]
TP39 - X
TP40 - O
TP41 - /\
TP42 - R1
TP43 - R2

TP45 - L1
TP46 - L2
TP47 - DL
TP48 - DD
TP49 - DR
TP50 - DU

TP62 - V (Common Line for Home Button)

There is no TP spot for the COM 3 line on this version of board, best place to use is one of the solder joints of the L3/R3 buttons.



This is for the newer version of DS3 controller.

MSU_V3.5X



TP7 - Ground

TP17 - COM 1
TP18 - COM 2

TP24 - PS
TP25 - Start
TP26 - R3
TP27 - L3
TP28 - Select

TP30 - [ ]
TP31 - X
TP32 - O
TP33 - /\
TP34 - R1
TP35 - R2

TP37 - L1
TP38 - L2
TP39 - DL
TP40 - DD
TP41 - DR
TP42 - DU

TP51 - V (Common Line for Home Button)

TP54 - Accelerometer Y-Axis
TP55 - Accelerometer X-Axis
TP56 - Accelerometer Z-Axis


There is no TP spot for the COM 3 line on this version of board, best place to use is one of the solder joints of the L3/R3 buttons.


On the latest version of DS3 controllers there isn't much in the way of useful TP spots, but here they are.

MSU_VX3




The TP spots for the buttons have all been removed from this board version, so that means hitting a Via to attach wires, and they're about 1/3 the size of the ones in a 360 controller, so even if you're pretty good at landing a wire on those you'll have to be a a lot more careful scraping down and landing one on these things.

Right now this is probably the best spots to hit for an Arcade Stick or duplicate buttons, and until I use this board for something they should suffice, so this part here may be updated after I've done some more work on the board wiring it up to something and seeing which methods and spots work best. They were nice enough to leave the COM1 and COM2 TP spots behind, though that hardly makes it any easier if you were making an Arcade Stick from this version of board and it'll make building a PS360 with this version of board a little more fun as well.

There isn't much in the way of useful TP spots, but here they are, and like all of the other versions of controller the USB TP spots are still the same.

TP11 - LED + and V (Common Line for Home Button)

TP13 - 2.8v (Switched, Power for Sticks)
TP14 - Battery +

TP17 - COM1
TP18 - COM2

RST is the Reset or 'off' button on the bottom of the controller that pretty much no one uses I'd imagine. The other side of it is Ground and any spot will work if you want to duplicate that button for any reason.

Again there is no TP spot for the COM3 line and the best place to use is one of the solder joints for the L3/R3 buttons, or you can hit a Via for it if you like.

For any Arcade Stick builders using this board version, soldering to the Vias on these controllers isn't exactly the easiest thing to do, flipping the board over and using the contacts for the Daughter board is really the best option.

The black carbon material needs to be removed if these spots are to be used, and this can be done with an X-acto knife or some fine sandpaper, just be careful and when you get to the shiny copper, STOP, you're done. Tin it up with some solder and there are your spots to use. Try and use a 30awg wire, or 28awg at the largest, and make sure to secure the wiring with some hot glue after you make the connection, but don't glue over the solder joint you just made, secure the wire to the board back from the solder joint, in case you ever have to get to it again for any reason.

The Pull-Up Resistors (7.5k) also need to be put back in the circuit as they're built into the Daughter board and when it's removed they're not, and the controller will act up on you if these are not in circuit, why Sony decided to do this back with the PS2 controllers and carry it over to the PS3 is beyond me, it's really lame. There needs to be 2 of these Pull-Up Resistors installed, one goes from V to COM1, the other goes from V to COM2. If you don't have any 7.5k Resistors you can use anything from 6.8k to 10k really, but they do need to be installed since the Daughter board is removed, and all of the PS3 controllers are setup this way and need those Pull-Ups if the Daughter board is removed.




MSU_VX4

Pretty much the same deal as the VX3 above, just a little different layout is all.



TP11 - LED + and V (Common Line for Home Button)

TP13 - 2.8v (Switched, Power for Sticks)
TP14 - Battery +

TP17 - COM1
TP18 - COM2


MSU_VX5

Pretty much the same deal as the VX3 and VX4 above, again just a little different layout.



TP8 - Rumble +

TP10 - LED + and V (Common Line for Home Button)

TP13 - 2.8v (Switched, Power for Sticks)
TP14 - Battery +

TP17 - COM1
TP18 - COM2


ASUKA REV: 1.06

As with earlier versions, there are no useful TP spots for any of the buttons, and just about every useful Via on the bottom side of the board is gone from this controller as well, so you'll be going top side for extra buttons on this one.

BOTTOM


TOP


T101 - COM1
T102 - COM2
T103 - LSX
T104 - LSY
T105 - RSX
T106 - RSY

T205 - D+ (USB)
T206 - D- (USB)
T207 - 5v (USB)

T301 - Accelerometer Z-Axis (Pre Filter)
T302 - Accelerometer X-Axis (Pre Filter)
T303 - Accelerometer Y-Axis (Pre Filter)
T304 - Accelerometer Z-Axis (Post Filter)
T305 - Accelerometer X-Axis (Post Filter)
T306 - Accelerometer Y-Axis (Post Filter)

T501 - Rumble +
T504 - 2.8v (Standby)
T505 - 2.8v (Switched, Power for Sticks)
T506 - 2.8v (Switched, Power for Accelerometer)
T507 - LED + and V (Common Line for Home Button)
T508 - Battery +
T509 - GND
T510 - GND
T511 - GND
T512 - GND

This post has been edited by RDC: Nov 1 2012, 02:37 PM