Attempting to scrape board rather than using flexboards...

[thenewbigmack]

I'm someone who doesn't like to give up, and I know a flexboard would make life much easier, but I want to give it one last attempt. The controllers I have looked at recently are all the JDM-030, and I'm only looking to remap the X button. I have scraped a few boards, but the X button always seems to lose it's functionality once the connection to the tac switch is made. Anyone have any advice for me? Steps to make the process easier?

I was trying to think of a makeshift flex board I could cheaply throw together with supplies from Radio Shack or similar, but I'm really not sure. Would love any input you guys could give! Thanks!

[RDC]

If you prefer the headache over the $5 plus shipping and uber ease that a Simple Flex would give you, that's your call, and I've been know to more than once take the road never traveled just to learn something new, but if the Via was prepped correctly then you shouldn't have any issues at all.

Are you wiring up to the Tact switch correctly? If that's not done right you'll just short the X line to ground, so the button would be pressed all the time and seem like it wasn't working. That can be checked on the PC, or just solder the wire up and test the controller first before wiring up your Tact. If it works, then it's how your wiring up the Tact. If it's acting like it's pressed constantly with just the wire on there, then I'd check your prepping of the Via, as there is ground plane all around it and it would be very easy to short to that and cause the same issue, button always pressed so it seems dead.

I had to prep and solder to 10 vias for testing the RemappeD out before I designed that Flex, so it can be done, but I've also been at this kind of thing for awhile and know that the DS4 controller isn't the best place to learn how.

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[thenewbigmack]

Thanks for the quick reply. I may have to order a few flexboards from you for ease of use in the future because a few friends would like me to make one. As far as scrapping the via, what advice could you give for prepping correctly? I actually had no idea a ground surrounded the via, and I'm pretty sure that might be my issue. Do you have any pics of a correctly prepped via? Thanks!

[RDC]

Practice, practice, practice. Old arse info here I did years back but is still relevant - http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?/topic/512248-broken-trace/#entry3406983


The only pics I currently have of any DS4 ones are of when I took them of my test board after the fact with the SFX installed. You can make out though that only the Vias were prepped. If your Via looked like any of these, it should work.

[thenewbigmack]

I definitely need to work on my soldering skills, you have a solid skill I must say. I struggle to get the solder to even stick to the board, and end up getting a bit irritated lol. Question for you... Would it be possible to make a very simple "flex board" style connection which would go in between the boards but not be thick enough to disturb the other connections? I may make no sense with what I'm about to say, but maybe use a thin peice of copper which would wedge inbetween the connections for the X button, then connect to a wire which would lead to the tac switch? Thanks again for everything

[RDC]

It's more about the prep, how you remove the masking (green stuff) to expose the copper of the Via. Not enough and the solder doesn't stick, too much and it's ruined as there's nothing for the solder to stick to.


Anything thin enough to fit in there and make a good enough pass thru connection is going to be far too fragile to solder on, likewise if it's thicker you'll just screw up the other connections around it, and trust me it doesn't take much at all to wreck them or make them iffy. I can think of a couple of things to try with copper tape and aluminum foil, but I'd spend far more time and effort on dikking around with sorting them out, and then having it last who knows how long as the mechanics of that are a whole other thing to deal with, versus using a cheap, working solution that already exists. Not trying to make a sale or stifle you from experimenting there, just saying that if it was easy, it would already have been done before.

[thenewbigmack]

Well now I keep thinking about a theoretical situation and I'm curious if it would work. Insulate a strip of aluminum foil with electrical tape, except for the tip where the connection was made between boards. If it was secured in place, and wasn't too thick to disrupt other connections (1 piece of foil), could this work? I would most likely just fold over the foil and solder on a piece of wire which would lead to the tac switch. Thoughts?

[RDC]

Soldering to aluminum isn't going to go over well at all. Using it for the contact and then wrapping the other end with copper tape could work, or just using thin copper stripping (not tape)  and securing it so it stayed perfectly straight, but again, I'm not really for getting into all of that mess as it's something I honestly would not even fool with in the first place. How reliable that will be over time will always be questionable as both that aluminum and/or copper will corrode over time. I designed the SFX specifically to eliminate all of that mess of trying to jerry rig something as that DS4 PCB and Flex design is very, very picky as is, and I wanted something that would just work, and it has so far, lots of times.

Again, not trying to steer you away from experimenting, but I've been there and done that with the Sony controllers since the DS3 and even on some DS2, and the DS4 is even more picky. Worst you can do is wreck a controller, and as long as something gets learned from it, then it wasn't any kind of real loss at all.

[thenewbigmack]

I know you're not trying to steer me into a sale, you're just giving your honest opinion and I appreciate it.

Lets say I want to give it one last go and you talked me out of making a makeshift copper connection... Can you explain your personal steps you took to prepare the vias? I think exposing the via is my biggest concern, and not exposing too much area that the surrounding ground is touched may be an issue as well. Thanks again...

[RDC]

Use an X-acto knife with a good blade in it. Also some good lighting and magnification will help so you can see what's going on. Gently scrape away the masking until you have exposed the copper and then tin it with some new solder and the soldering iron. That info is in the thread I linked you to - http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?/topic/512248-broken-trace/?p=3408514

You're just going to have to practice that, and then practice a bit more until you get the feel of it and can do those tiny DS4 Vias. Doing a 360 controller is fairly easy by comparison, even though you're technically doing the exact same thing, but the size difference of the Via makes the DS4 controller far more difficult as it's much easier to tear something up with them being so small.

[thenewbigmack]

Excuse my drawing, it was done on my mobile. Just wanted to clarify a couple things. The red dot, is that small circular indent the only spot that should be scraped? If so, that is tiny! Also, the circle I drew around the dot, is that the surrounding ground you mentioned? If so, I see why you have to be careful when scraping. Thanks!

[RDC]

Going by your image..

The red dot is the Via hole, there  is really nothing there but masking that ended up in there when the PCB was made.

The white circle is just plain PCB, there's no copper there at all.

The doughnut shaped area between the red dot and the white circle is the copper of the Via and what you want to remove the masking from and solder to.

The area outside of the white circle is ground and what you do not want to remove the masking from.

[thenewbigmack]

Perfect, thank you. I'll leave you be until I order some flex boards from you. You've been more than patient with me

[thenewbigmack]

Sorry, said I wouldn't bother you again but I guess I lied . Just curious if you've ever seen anyone scrape the board in this fashion? Grabbed the following image from a youtube video. Thoughts?

[RDC]

You're really determined to waste as much of your time and effort on this as humanly possible, kudos.

If you can get the masking off without ruining the conductive material of the flex, then you'll kill it getting the iron anywhere near it. If you use some conductive glue to make the connection after removing the masking, which would be the only way to make a good connection there, then you'll have to spend money on that.

[jdo1288]

How much is this Simple Flex and where can I get one for the DS4?

I did a tact button mod a year ago by scraping the board, it was hell as it was my first time ever soldering and I didn't realize how difficult the DS4 is to work with.

I'm wanting to add a few buttons to my new controller, but I am looking for an easier way. I have seen some vendors selling remap boards, but they all come with a bunch of rapid fire, drop shot, quick scope etc mods programmed in.

[RDC]

The Simple Flex is for the JDM-030 version board only, so make sure that's the one you have first.

DS4 board versions (must open the controller to tell) - https://www.acidmods.com/forum/index.php/topic,43542.0.html

If you have a JDM-020 or older version board, the miniDSm4pper Flex might be what you'd want. It only does remapping of X, O, [ ], /\, L1, R1, L3 and R3 on up to 4 Tacts (2 minimum).

Then for the JDM-030 the RemappeD Flex does only remapping of X, O, [ ], /\, L1, R1, L3, R3 and the D-pad on up to 6 Tacts (2 minimum).


You can PM me for more info and details as well as check out their threads..

miniDSm4pper - https://www.acidmods.com/forum/index.php/topic,43397.0.html

RemappeD - https://www.acidmods.com/forum/index.php/topic,43790.0.html