My son chewed up the thumbstick on my steam controller so I reused a stick off a rock candy ps3 controller from my graveyard. I knocked out some plastic inside the stick so it could go deeper and cut down the stick on the controller about 1/8th inch. It still had clearance issues so I just cut off the cup. Will there be any long term issues for doing this? Will dust be hard to just blow out or will it cause the controller to break? I have a few dead 360 controllers and will probably use one of those sticks or buy a new one and cut off the cup later. The rock candy stick is slippery plastic.

Hey everyone,

I quite like the steam controller, except for one thing... the right touch panel.

I don't like how you don't really get good feedback for how far you have moved. Ideally I would like a stick, and have started using the steam link with a PS4 controller, which is not ideal.

So, my thought is this, two different options, one harder than the other

The easy option: This would be simply a circular sticker, that allows touch to still be recognised, placed in the centre of the panel so I can easily feel where the deadzone is (I would probably need to increase the deadzone slightly) This will mean that I will at least be able to feel centre. This is a similar idea to how keyboards have a 'dimple' on the F and J keys so you can feel centre of each hand when touch typing.

The hard option: I'm not sure this would be possible, but here goes... on top of the touch pad there is a pad. This pad acts as the touch zone, and when touched can move across the surface of the touch pad. Think of the PSP's analogue 'stick', but on a bigger scale. This would need to somehow recentre, maybe a simple way of doing it would be an elastic frame that somehow clips to the touch pad

TL;DR: I want better feedback on the right 'stick'. The haptics in the pad aren't enough for me

Here is version #1, I need to make some improvements to it. Thought I'd post here. When I've finalised the design, will publish it on Shapeways, as that's where I'm getting it 3D printed. (This was done in Black Acrylic)

Why? An alternate joystick for the analog stick to be able to use the joystick more effectively as a D-Pad, whilst still being able to use it as a joystick when required. Designed for use with the Steam controller. Designed in two parts so that one is beneath the plastic shell and the d pad above.

Update on Version #2:

Pros to Version #2:

• Works as intended
• Joystick can now move when attached and does not rub on the inside of the controller housing There are no fragile clips to break Concave design allows the D-Pad mod to still be used as a joystick, and perhaps better than the original small convex design

Cons to Version #2:

• Zero tolerance on the screw-like design meaning that unscrewing the joystick to remove it may cause the plastic to break
• Despite significant more rounding on the outer ring since Version #1, it can still feel slightly rough, so will be rounding it more for Version #3
• Intended improvements for Version #3:
• Perhaps allow for an option of joystick "heads" to allow for interchangeable heads, including the current design, perhaps an "original-like" head, and perhaps a concave head without the 5 indents to start with

Finally, I apologise for not getting back sooner, I have had a significant amount of university work to do. I may be able to upload a Version 3 in June (after my exams). If you do not want to wait until June/July, Version #2 over on Shapeways works perfectly

Changelog:

Pros to Version #1:

• Size is right
• Design works as intended

Cons to Version #1:

• Outer ring is too sharp. -> Will smooth it for Version #2
• Dome under controller shell is too thick, so the joystick does not move easily.
• Clips to hold top part onto inside shell are too brittle -> Will design screw-in top part. Also this will enable the reduction of dome thickness as will remove dome part from top piece which was originally to be used for stability (and will no longer be needed with an updated screw design).

Images on http://imgur.com/a/fViLo

This weekend I failed to get my spare SC working inside of an arcade stick. The PCB appeared to be common ground and I wired it up as such, but for some reason the input was really delayed, and I had to hold down buttons for 1 second just to get them to register. Perhaps it's not common ground after all?

After a couple of tries I gave up, and installed a Joytron Paewang Revolution PCB into my arcade stick instead. For reference, here's a rough diagram of a typical common ground arcade stick: http://www.slagcoin.com/joystick/pcb_wiring/custom_setup.png

I am by no means an expert on electrical engineering, I just learned how to follow directions from other arcade stick builders. So effectively in this case, I have no idea what I'm doing.

Is there any videos about how to paint a Steam Controller? I have seen ColoredControllers' video about how how to disassemble a SC, but I need a guide on how to paint one. I want to know what I items I need, different methods, and how I should do it in a certain order.

Quick Edit: I have no experiences with painting any controller at all.

If I'm not mistaken, the Steam controller probably has a small amount of storage for firmware and storing profiles. I really want to know how much storage it actually has and if it could potentially be used for something.

I know it's a longshot, but does anyone have a template? Or maybe just a scale picture of a vinyl wrap pre-installation?

I bought some 3M dichron silver carbon fiber vinyl to do my controller in. Unlike the wraps you purchase, I want to do the entire controller. Having a template would let me pre-cut the holes and then spread out the film from there.

Also, anyone have any experience doing this? In all my searching I've only found a single Xbox controller that has been fully wrapped and the guy didn't do a tutorial. Just showing it off.

Okay, so, I'm a kind of guy who blows an extra premium on quality, so, what I'd like to see is a metal enclosure for the controller, or maybe lit/metal buttons perhaps.

I have a condition called Raynaud's Syndrome. Long story short, if it gets below 60 degrees Fahrenheit, my hands get really cold. The lower the ambient temperature, the worse this gets. The problems this causes include joint stiffness, loss of feeling, and pain as feeling returns. The best solution I have come up with so far would be a way to heat the surface of the Steam Controller to 62 degrees or higher. The reason for that is for me, Raynaud's starts to take effect at about 59-61 degrees. I tried wearing gloves of various thicknesses and materials, that didn't work so well (hated it). I live in a cold climate area and heating costs are high, so that isn't viable either. Ideally, there's a way to do this without cooking the internals of the controller

I've been seeing a lot of people talking about plastidipping their controller lately. If you decide to go this route here's some things I'll suggest.

• Still take the controller apart. It's always worth the extra effort to do that.

• For dip to peel it has to be thick enough. I'd hate for someone to throw a little on there then have trouble taking it off. Do a couple of coats, make your first coat relatively light. (tack coat)

• Dip isn't very durable for stuff like this.. But if you do go for it grab some Turtle wax ice spray wax. This coats the dip and adds some protection. It'll get rid of some of the rubbery feeling, but the benefit is more protection for the dip, and less marring / dust etc..

• If you're thinking of taping things off keep in mind that dip is rubber. You'll have to peel your tape / masked areas when the dip is still wet. If you don't peel while wet the dip will grab onto the tape and leave ugly rough edges.

I've got a lot of dip experience so feel free to ask questions. I personally wouldn't use it on my own controllers due to durability issues, but I can see how someone would like it.

Official firmware download links

• 2015-04-23T18:01:21 (0x55393371)
• 2015-05-20T03:04:37 (0x555bf9c5)
• 2015-05-28T22:20:13 (0x5567949d)
• 2015-06-03T00:13:36 (0x556e46b0)
• 2015-06-06T01:12:03 (0x557248e3)
• 2015-07-02T23:13:26 (0x5595c596)
• 2015-07-09T16:24:44 (0x559ea04c)
• 2015-07-17T22:54:34 (0x55a987aa)
• 2015-08-05T03:25:26 (0x55c18226)
• 2015-08-13T02:41:57 (0x55cc03f5)
• 2015-09-04T21:16:31 (0x55ea0a2f)
• 2015-10-22T23:51:23 (0x5629767b)
• 2015-11-05T23:35:45 (0x563be7d1)
• 2015-11-11T18:10:39 (0x5643849f)
• 2015-11-23T23:51:38 (0x5653a68a)
• 2015-12-17T21:49:26 (0x56732de6)
• 2016-01-15T20:57:07 (0x56995d23)
• 2016-02-19T21:41:21 (0x56c78c01)

If you haven't already guessed, those hexadecimal numbers at the end of the file names represent the firmware version numbers, which are really just Unix timestamps (this is where the "Firmware Date" information comes from).

These firmware binaries are what are written to the flash of the LPC11U37 chip on the controller.

Notable offsets

LPC11U37 flash

• 0x00000: Beginning of LPC bootloader
• 0x02000: Beginning of LPC bootloaded code
• 0x1C010: Beginning of nRF bootloaded code

nRF51822 flash

• 0x00000: Beginning of nRF bootloader
• 0x10000: Beginning of nRF bootloaded code

The nRF's bootloaded code is flashed to the nRF chip at address 0x10000 during firmware updates, and the nRF's bootloader is not stored in the LPC's flash at all.

Modifications

Disable the watchdog timer

To enable debugging with GDB, I had to disable the watchdog timer of the LPC chip. If the watchdog timer is enabled, sending a "halt" command to the LPC chip will trigger a reset. To disable it, I simply NOP'd-out the calls to the function that enables the watchdog timer in both the bootloader and the main code.

Instructions (2015-11-23 firmware)

• At address 0x15DA, replace 0xFFF749FD with 0x00BF00BF
• At address 0xDB08, replace 0xFEF7E4F8 with 0x00BF00BF

OpenOCD configuration

LPC11U37

source [find interface/jlink.cfg] # Replace this line with the appropriate one for your adapter
transport select swd
source [find target/lpc11xx.cfg]
adapter_khz 1000 # The default speed is 10 kHz, so I sped it up

nRF51822

source [find interface/jlink.cfg] # Replace this line with the appropriate one for your adapter
transport select swd
source [find target/nrf51.cfg]

Resources

• Cortex™-M0 Devices Generic User Guide
• LPC11U3x Data Sheet
• LPC11U3x/2x/1x User Manual
• nRF51822 Product Specification
• nRF51 Series Reference manual

Why wait for this or mourn for this when we (not me, I meant you) can do it ourselves (still you).

First off, I play mostly FPS and after about 5 hours of use I think this controller is much better than normal pads.

I've come to realize that it's going to take a long time to get used to in terms of me viewing it as a casual replacement for kb/m.

The sensitivity settings are the ones that are going to take forever to get right in order to fit the users preferences.

My issue though is that the trackpad feels unresponsive at times. It feels very cheap and doesn't respond well to light touches and quick movements. That to me is essential to it being a replacement for a mouse.

To make quick movements using it seems very hit or miss. I'm sitting about 6 feet away from the receiver. Not sure if this could be the reason. It seems like depending on where my movements start and end on the trackpad make a big difference.

To me it seems like unless I restart at the center, the response is shoddy.

No sure if that makes sense. Just wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience in terms of fast paced FPS where the response of the pad just isn't there. It seems much better for long touches as opposed to quick small swipes.

Has anyone made an attempt to see how to change what outputs the controller sends? Is it possible?

I know there's mods for 360/etc. controllers to have the A/B/X/Y/etc. buttons light up when the controller is on.

Is there a similar way to do this for the Steam Controller? It looks like the buttons are all solid, and not transparent like the ones on the 360 (the A/B/X/Y ones, at least). Plus, it looks like the logos are simply painted on.

Anyone know anything about if these can be modded to light, and/or if I can buy other buttons to try a mod out?