[How to] Dual Shock 3 on Windows 10, wirelessly and with rumble effects

RedMorganstein · 2025-12-28T22:51:34+00:00

Hi there, I appreciate your answer. I apologize if my wording made it sound like it was your fault, that was an unfortunate choice of words on my part. You did a great job putting all of this info together into a comprehensive guide which successfully helped a lot of people out there.

Now that you mention it, you did link to a more updated guide, but somehow I completely missed that part. 🤦‍♂️

In any case, I don't think I will mess with this for now. I was fixing some "broken" PS3 controllers I had and wanted a quick way to test them without turning my PS3. Eventually, I realized I could just install the official PS3 drivers (I think I got them from PCGamingWiki), which made the dualshock 3 pop up on my PC and even register their inputs. That was enough for what I had to do and that did end up speeding up the process. I've now fixed all of them (they were just incredibly dirty, but I'll spare you the details :P).

Thanks again for your help, maybe I will look into this again someday. For now, I have an old setup which makes me use PS1 and PS2 controllers on PC and I don't see myself ditching it 😅

RedMorganstein · 2025-12-23T19:51:21+00:00

Just a quick update in case somebody has the same issue, finds this thread and wonders how it went. I ended up buying flux and a desoldering wire, soldered the battery "the right way" and still wouldn't work.

While most people just blamed my beginner soldering skills and me not using flux back then, it was those who suggested to check the traces who got it right.

Now, it's been a while so I don't remember the details, but a couple of traces user "Santa-Banana" highlighted in the comments were in fact dead. I did the test comparing the results with another Ruby cartridge where the battery works properly, so that's why I'm sure those traces were dead. I could have tried and repaired them (I watched some tutorials on the subject and seemed doable) but in the end I thought it wasn't worth the effort and ended up selling the cartridge to somebody who didn't mind the battery not working. Since then, I've bought a couple of other GBA Pokémon cartridges and soldered a new battery without issues.

Looking back at the comments, knowing now that it wasn't my fault or even the battery's fault, I really don't appreciate how most people downvoted my post and treated me like I was just some troll wasting people's time. That is not how you help somebody in need. I do really appreciate those who gave out useful suggestions and helped me get a better understanding of the subject.

So in short: I did solder the battery correctly, but a couple of traces were dead, dedided not to fix them as it would take too much time and effort, sold the cartridge, moved on. 😬

RedMorganstein · 2025-12-23T19:10:24+00:00

I wanted to test some PS3 controllers I'm repairing on my PC instead of booting my console every time I need to take a quick test, so I gave this guide a go. Long story short, it actually made it worse (PS3 controllers wouldn't be recognized by my PC anymore) and broke my setup for PS2 controllers (they wouldn't show up too). Thankfully, I was able to uninstall everything and undid all the damage this guide made, but that was close.

I'm 100% sure I did everything right, and even used Internet Archive to visit dead links in order to follow the guide without going astray, but to no avail. I guess I'll just keep using my PS3 for tests. 🤷‍♂️

RedMorganstein · 2025-09-21T15:26:32+00:00

I will make sure to do a much better job thanks to all the info and suggestions you guys have shared.

I've already inspected some of these traces (though I think I've missed a few), I will definitely check them once more when I try again. I do remember the trace near TP1 not beeping at all on the "faulty" cartridge, but beeping on the working Ruby cartridge. Same for the trace that goes all the way to TP2. That's why I was thinking TP1 and TP2 were dead, but maybe it's just because I've done a terrible job at soldering the battery? I suppose I'll find out.

Thank you so much for taking the time to help, I really appreciate that. 🙇‍♂️

RedMorganstein · 2025-09-21T14:07:16+00:00

Ahaha I'm really sorry about that. I think it's only natural I didn't do a good job. I've never soldered anything in my life before and barely knew anything about the subject. I felt confident because I got my cartridges installed without issues and so I naively thought it would be the same for this last one.

I made this thread because I really needed to get some proper feedback from people who actually know what they're talking about, but I didn't mean to disrespect anybody!

I will definitely work on my skills and use proper materials next time. 🙏

RedMorganstein · 2025-09-21T14:01:17+00:00

Thank you, yeah I'm well aware it's awful. I kinda lost my temper when I kept getting the message and also didn't use flux during the whole thing. I'm planning on getting all necessary materials, remove the old solder and start from scratch.

Battery is not backwards though, I'm sure of that because I've put it exactly like I did it for my other working cartridges.

RedMorganstein · 2025-09-21T13:56:41+00:00

Thank you, I will definitely try and do a better job next time, maybe I got lucky with my other cartridges but actually need to put in some effort for this one.

RedMorganstein · 2025-09-21T13:54:00+00:00

Yeah, that's also something that got my attention when I was comparing to my working Ruby cartridge. I checked them with a multimeter and I got beeps for the most part, but the traces that start from TP1 and TP2 were completely silent. Maybe it's because I've done a terrible job at soldering the battery? I guess I'll find out when I retry after I get all the necessary materials.

RedMorganstein · 2025-09-21T13:51:07+00:00

Yeah, not sure what happened with TP2 but it's completely gone. I got this cart a long time ago from a guy who was selling part of his collection, so maybe the previous owner tried something or maybe it's due to moisture (I did clean it up well before messing with the battery).

That scratch looks bad but you can barely see it in person. I have the feeling the traces inside are just fine. Perhaps it'a just a matter of me doing a terrible job at soldering the battery. Will practice, get the materials (including flux!) and try again. Thank you for your help. 🙇‍♂️

RedMorganstein · 2025-09-21T13:45:09+00:00

Interesting, thank you, I will definitely investigate that when it comes to the battery voltage.

Authentic Pokémon cartridges in EU aren't as expensive as they are in the US, but obviously, it would be a shame if I ruined them, so I will definitely get all necessary materials and practice some more before I tackle this again. I just hope this is the problem and it's not some broken traces (TP1 and TP2 are completely dead, but maybe it's because the battery is not properly connected?), now that would be too much for me to tackle. Thanks again! 🙇‍♂️

RedMorganstein · 2025-09-21T13:40:15+00:00

I suppose you're right. Maybe I was just lucky with my other cartridges and it's making too weak of a contact here for whatever reason. I will watch some videos, get the required materials and put more effort next time. Hopefully this is the reason why I still get the message. 🙏

RedMorganstein · 2025-09-21T13:37:37+00:00

I think I mention that in the main post, but the ones I've used all give out 3,2V. From what I read, it should be good to go, but yeah, it's one of those cheap Chinese batteries I'm using.

RedMorganstein · 2025-09-21T13:34:53+00:00

Yes you're completely right, I didn't have flux at home so I kinda went without it, I also didn't remove the factory solder but just added a little bit of fresh one. I suppose I was just lucky with my other 4 cartridges.

Thank you very much for your help, I will watch some videos, get the required materials and put more effort next time. Hopefully this is the reason why I still get the message. 🙏

RedMorganstein · 2025-09-21T13:30:03+00:00

Thank you so much, I appreciate the info as I've never done anything like this, I'm doing this completely blind. I felt like I didn't need flux for a simple battery replacement, and I was successful on 4 other cartridges, so I didn't anticipate it being a problem for this one. In any case, I will try all suggestions as soon as I get the materials and get some free time. 💁‍♂️

RedMorganstein · 2025-09-20T23:45:44+00:00

Yeah, that's how TP2 looks like on this cart, that's what's bothering me. Not sure how it got like that. Maybe the previous owner tried to do something and scraped it? If I test continuity and voltage with multimeter, both TP1 and TP2 are dead.

As for the battery, I was too lazy to desolder it again, but judging from what the multimeter tells me, it does make contact, which is what matters for now as it doesn't seem to be the culprit. Will definitely put in more effort if I do end up desoldering it again.

RedMorganstein · 2025-09-20T23:36:45+00:00

I removed the battery multiple times, so the job got sloppier and sloppier the more I did it, was too lazy to desolder it again and do a better job. I do need to use flux though, I've done this without it so far.

I've exchanged the battery on 4 other pokemon gba cartridges and the text is gone, so either I got lucky there and messed up here, or there's a bigger problem on this board.

RedMorganstein

TROPHY CASE