Playstation 3 Dualshock 3/Sixaxis on Windows PC

[curryking1]

Resources & Helpful Links
PCSX2 Emulation FAQ - ePSXe & PSX 1.13 Emulation FAQ - PS3 Controller on PC FAQ - PS/PS2 Emulation Screens - PCSX2 Homepage - Official PCSX2 Compatibility List - Latest GSDX Plugins by Gabest - ePSXe Homepage - PSX Homepage

DualShock 3/Sixaxis on PC

Ok, just making a mini-walkthrough on how to get the DualShock 3/Sixaxis controllers working on a Windows PC.

Z posted an alternative earlier this year so if this doesn't work out for you then definitely go for that too.

A second alternative has been provided by Red_Eyes.

This driver will allow you to use your PS3 controllers on Windows using a regular wired USB connection (for example the wire that comes with your PS3 to charge controllers).

With this driver you'll be able to use the controller to play various games on the PC such as Devil May Cry 4, Halo: Combat Evolved, and most any controller compatible game you can think of.

In conjunction with other programs I'll explain at another date you can also have the PS3 controller work with absolutely any game and even control Windows.

***See post #7 of this thread or CLICK HERE to found out how you may use this driver and Joy2Key to control Windows

COMPATIBLE WITH DUALSHOCK 3 & SIXAXIS - ***Only for Windows 32-Bit!***

Step 1 - Download the Driver

Download the driver from HERE

(I hope you have winrar because the file is compressed in .rar format, if you don't have winrar you can get it from here: http://www.rarlab.com/download.htm)

(Alternatively use 7zip, a lighter, faster and arguably more powerful freeware compression program from here: http://www.7-zip.org/download.html)

Step 2 - Install the Driver

Navigate to your downloaded .rar package and extract the contents to a convenient location. You should see three files:

1. libusb-win32-filter-bin-0.1.10.1.exe
2. libusb0.dll
3. ps3sixaxis_en.exe

*Before you start your controller should NOT be plugged in, not that it really matters, but just to keep everything straightforward and to avoid any potential problems*

First, make sure all the files are in the same folder. Then simply double click libusb-win32-filter-bin-0.1.10.1.exe and you will be installing the driver. Press continue a bunch of times and specify the install location and folder names if you want.

Step 3 - Plug in your Controller

*in this step make sure you controller is OFF*

Using the USB connection connect your PS3 controller to your Windows PC USB port. When you plug the controller in your controller should be recognized by Windows as an input device and Windows will start 'installing device software.'

When your controller is plugged in all it's 4 LED's should all be flashing together in unison. After waiting this out (when your PC tells you 'software has completely installation' or something) you are now ready for the next step.

Step 4 - Activate the Playstation 3 Controller

Navigate to the location of file #3, ps3sixaxis_en.exe, and double click it while the controller is still plugged in. This executable will activate your Playstation 3 Controller.

After the executable has launched a command prompt should appear and then just disappear. Now just press the Home button on your Playstation 3 controller and you will have activated your controller for use on your PC!

To confirm your PC recognizes the controller properly you may go to Control Panel --> View Devices and Printers --> right click your Playstation (R) 3 Controller --> Game Controller Settings --> and click Properties to get a diagnostic menu for your controller. Every time you press a button or move the analog stick the buttons in the window will light up to correspond to the buttons you press.

To confirm functionality you may also simply test controller compatible games'/programs' responses to the controller input.

Troubleshooting

If the controller doesn't work the first time simply unplug it from your PC, turn the controller off again, and plug it back into the PC. Wait for Windows to recognize it a second time (it should be faster if you waited for Windows to recognize it properly before) and see that you have 4 LED's flashing on the top of the controller.

The simply launch file #3, ps3sixaxis_en.exe, again, wait for the command prompt window to appear then disappear, press the Home button a few times (only need one press after the executable launch but just make sure it registers), and your controller should be working!

A common problem is that the Playstation 3 controller sometimes resets itself in respect to the Playstation 3 console. Because of this the controller can be difficult to turn off. If the controller is not registered with a console you may alternatively firmly press and hold the Home button on your controller for about 30 seconds IIRC and it will shut itself off.

Also try to use the same USB port every time. Windows likes to install drivers each time you plug a device into a new USB port for some reason. If you like to switch USB ports a lot it's a good idea to have your controller plugged into all USB ports at least once so you don't have to frustrate yourself later with Windows being slow to recognize new devices all the time.

*every time you plug in your controller to the Windows PC you will have to run this executable again to activate it so it's a good idea to move this executable to a convenient location like the desktop or have a shortcut prepared to easily launch it (for example my shortcut is in my taskbar)*

The buttons as interpreted by Windows are as follows...

Select: Button 1
Left Analog Press: Button 2
Right Analog Press: Button 3
Start: Button 4

D-Pad Up: Button 5
D-Pad Right: Button 6
D-Pad Down: Button 7
D-Pad Left: Button 8

L2: Button 9
R2: Button 10
L1: Button 11
R1: Button 12

Triangle: Button 13
Circle: Button 14
Cross: Button 15
Square: Button 16

Home: Button 17

Left Stick Right/Left: X Axis +/-
Left Stick Down/Up: Y Axis +/-
Right Stick Right/Left: Z Axis +/-
Right Stick Down/Up: Z Rotation +/-

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do I need to use my Playstation 3 Controller on my PC?

You don't need to of course

Common reasons why people use this program are to play PC games or play console/arcade games through emulators such as ePSXe, PJ64, and MAME using the latest version of the awesome form factor of Playstation's latest controllers for Playstation 3.

Can I use this program to play PC games with a Dualshock 3/SIXAXIS?

With this program you can play some PC games with the Dualshock 3 which already support general controller support.

However, using programs such as Xpadder, Joystick Mouse Tool or Joy2Key you can assign keyboard and mouse functions to your controllers to your liking to be able to perform multiple tasks on the PC such as playing games which don't normally support gamepads or browsing through Windows.

You can get Xpadder HERE.

You can get Joy2Key HERE.

You can get Joystick Mouse Tool from HERE

Hope that helps!

[Red_Eyes]

Only work for Windows 32 bit. Doesn't work in Windows 7 64 bit.

However, for those with Windows 7 64 bit, use Motion Joy DualShock 3 64 bit driver found here: http://www.motioninjoy.com/download-index-1.html

Also: Remember to disable driver signing for it to work.

[Z]

What is driver signing?

Also, would a DS3 work fine with PC games? I've asked around and was told the best PC pad you can get is a 360 one (with a USB adapter or one made for PC) sine MS is pushing for it to be the 'standard' PC pad. I am told that many games already support it by default if your OS detects a pad connected.

[Kiwi]

What is driver signing?

Also, would a DS3 work fine with PC games? I've asked around and was told the best PC pad you can get is a 360 one (with a USB adapter or one made for PC) sine MS is pushing for it to be the 'standard' PC pad. I am told that many games already support it by default if your OS detects a pad connected.

Driver signing is just something used to make sure that drivers work on anything that now carries that "Designed for Windows" logo.

You could probably get the DS3 to work on PC games, just get a program like Xpadder, which can map buttons on the pad to keys on the keyboard.

[curryking1]

Updated the OP with a 2 question FAQ and because I forgot to mention, like RedEyes pointed out, this solution is only compatible with Windows 32-bit, and to also include the alternative solution RedEyes proposed.

[gnznroses]

i had to run the file each time i boot, in order for it to work.

i posted this on another forum:

Frustrated by the PS3's browser, I just set up something really cool.

1. First, I hooked up my never-used laptop to my TV via VGA port.
2. I installed a Windows drivers that let you use a PS3 Sixaxis.
3. I found a program called JoystickMouseTool, that lets you control your mouse cursor with a game controller.

So now I have easy use of XP on my TV. The X button is mouse-click, Triangle is right-click, and I can scroll with the right stick.
now i can also play NES, Sega, and other emulators, with my ps3 controller, on my TV.

I have the sixaxis plugged in via USB. Not sure if there's any way to do it wirelessly if your laptop supports bluetooth (mine doesn't).

[curryking1]

Nice man, I think I read something similar here too from maybe you as well?

I guess Joystickmousetool is a similar program to Joy2Key and Xpadder. I'll add it to the first post.

I also have a configuration for Windows lol... with Joy2Key... uses all 17 buttons and both sticks lol.

Using a Playstation 3 Dualshock/Sixaxis to control Windows with Joy2Key

Step 1) Install the libusb driver using the walkthrough in the first post

Step 2) Download Joy2Key from HERE

Step 3) Download configuration files from HERE and place them in the same folder as the Joy2Key executable

***you can skip step 3 altogether to make your own configuration OR you can customize my configs shared above however you want

Step 4) Launch Joy2Key with your Playstation 3 Controller already registered and plugged into your computer and you're ready to go :P

(This is the configuration in the config file hosted above)

Select: Ctrl-Window-Tab (change windows)
Left Analog Press: Escape
Right Analog Press: Alt-F (forgot why I have this lol, probably something I haven't used in a while)
Start: Space Bar

D-Pad Up: Arrow Key Up (navigation)
D-Pad Right: Arrow Key Right (navigation)
D-Pad Down: Arrow Key Down (navigation)
D-Pad Left: Arrow Key Left (navigation)

L2: Alt-Enter (for fullscreen toggle on many programs)
R2: Right Click
L1: Left Click
R1: Left Click

Triangle: Backspace (to go back in Windows Explorer)
Circle: Enter (navigation)
Cross: Mouse Scroll Down (navigation)
Square: Mouse Scroll Up (navigation)

Home: Switch between a joy2key config with no Windows functions and this configuration (for playing games and you don't want your buttons doing stupid things like closing your game :P)

Left Stick Right/Left: Mouse Left/Right Fast
Left Stick Down/Up: Mouse Down/Up Fast
Right Stick Right/Left: Mouse Left/Right Slow
Right Stick Down/Up: Mouse Down/Up Slow

Edit - Heehee, added tags to the thread.

[jaxmkii]

Damn it only for 32 bit...

[Kiwi]

Damn it only for 32 bit...

I thought 32-bit stuff worked on 64-bit?

[Z]

not all of it.

[curryking1]

Damn it only for 32 bit...

Try the other solutions, Z and Red_Eyes posted alternative drivers I think are compatbile with 64-bit.

They are both listed at the top of the first post.

[masteratt]

COMPATIBLE WITH DUALSHOCK 3 & SIXAXIS - ***Only for Windows 32-Bit!***

Is there a 64-bit version yet? (win7).

Or any working (without touching the booting of windows drives [i.e motioninjoy]) for Win7-64bit yet?
[z]Z's one didn't work?[/z](oh it was 32 bit only as well, lame!)

[Kiwi]

http://www.tech-forums.net/pc/f15/ps...-64bit-207193/

It seems that somebody has, but it's picky with what it works with.

[masteratt]

http://www.tech-forums.net/pc/f15/ps...-64bit-207193/

It seems that somebody has, but it's picky with what it works with.

yeah but you have to manipulate window's drivers via F8 each time. Which I dont want to do.

[curryking1]

If you guys figure out a simple way (like as simple as the 32-bit driver here) to hook up the DS3 to 64-bit, let me know so I can add a guide, and also so I can switch to 64-bit lol.

[masteratt]

Fuck it, I said I didn't want to mess with boot settings but at the end, settled for sixaxis64 (as i used sixaxis32 and it worked great on XP and sixaxis64 works great on 7).

1. Download and extract the files

2. Open LibUSB64bit folder and run infwizard.exe. Click on next and select "USB Composite Device" from the list. Click next twice and save the file.

3. Go to Control Panel and open "Add hardware", select "Install drivers for older devices with Add Hardware wizard".

4. Select Install hardware manually from list, select "Show all devices", click "Have disk" and browse your computer for the file you created in step 2. If you get an error about compatibility, ignore it and continue.

5. Now install libusb-win32-filter-bin-0.1.12.1.exe, but make sure you set compatibility mode to Windows XP SP2 (Right click on installation file, click properties, Compatibility tab, Run this program in compatibility mode for Windows XP Sp2 and click OK).

6. !!IMPORTANT!! Now you must restart your computer, but remember to press F8 during boot! A screen will appear and scroll down to select "Disable Driver Signature Enforcement". You must do this every time you boot your computer, or your usb controllers wont work.

7. Now Plug your Sixaxis in, start sixaxis64.exe, press Ps3 button once.

8. You are now able to calibrate the Sixaxis in Control Panel.

I followed everything and voila, it is now working perfectly.

Although, I never reboot my PC (always hibernate) so will Step 6 cause security problems or something?
Other than worrying about that, this is perfect.

I can finally get back to playing Policenauts (along with some controller-needed-pc-games).

[curryking1]

Thanks masteratt, I'll try that out soon.

I'm the same, I never turn off my computer (to be honest I never even hibernate it, it's always on >.>).

[masteratt]

Actually I wussed out and uninstalled the driver today >_<

HOWEVER.
I bought a PS2 controller to PC USB device for &#163;5 so I will be using that...Much less hassle and I dunno why I didn't do that before lol.

[curryking1]

Ya damn, I should probably do that if I'm going to go 64-bit.

[masteratt]

You definitely should, as I can now confirm:
USB to PS2 controller converter works flawlessly with Window 7. And it was only &#163;5 so I'm very happy.

Also it works with PS3 too, in case you want to go really old school with your BC PS3 (if you have one).

And dare I say the L2 and R2 buttons are better as non-triggers
Although it may be because no PS1 games require triggers but still, feels more solid as buttons than triggers.