Hacking DS Lite D-pad

[Jojjy Ugnick]

Don;t worry, Nintendo will come out with yet another DS in the future...

 

[Deaddy]

I never had a problem with my GBA SP's d-pad, they should copy that one.

But for the most part this d-pad doesn't cause too many problems. Super Mario 64 sure was kind of awkward though. I still managed to get most of the stars so it didn't ruin the game.

 

[cory1492]

I dont yet have a DSLite, but I do have a PSP.

It took me a total of 10 minutes to open the PSP up, add a bit of plastic below the D-pad to shrink the distance from the contacts to the PCB (so you dont have to push the buttons so far before they touch something) to completely solve the issue with diagonals in emulators not working.

I'm willing to bet the solution would be as simple on the DS Lites with this problem... unless the contacts are built entirely into the rubber/dpad + part (havent looked inside a Lite yet myself

) - in which case it would be needing much more than just a thin bit of plastic.

 

[Mucuna]

It took me a total of 10 minutes to open the PSP up, add a bit of plastic below the D-pad to shrink the distance from the contacts to the PCB (so you dont have to push the buttons so far before they touch something) to completely solve the issue with diagonals in emulators not working.

I'm willing to bet the solution would be as simple on the DS Lites with this problem... unless the contacts are built entirely into the rubber/dpad + part (havent looked inside a Lite yet myself

) - in which case it would be needing much more than just a thin bit of plastic.

If you do so, please, tutorial with pictures!

 

[other]

Yes, I would also like to know if I can fix this myself. Apparently, there are good d-pads, and I could probably return it and hope for the best. It's just that except for the d-pad issue, I can't find anything to complain about (well I do think my touchscreen is a little yellow, but I don't see how that will bother me). Plus I already put on my screen protectors (not that they're impossible to remove though).

On the other hand, I don't have the appropriate screwdriver (triwing?). I don't know what to do.

 

[Jaunty]

I've had 2 dslites.

The first: white - good d-pad, defective touchscreen: returned.
the second: black - good everything apart from d-pad and diagonals. was EXTREMELY hard at first, but unless i am imagining over the last month or so it has been getting gradually better.

also, a little tip. it feels easier to get diagonals if you press down in the center of the pad first and then roll it into the diagonals and other directions. annoying, yes, but if you can't be bothered/don't want to get a fresh ds....

 

[other]

I dont yet have a DSLite, but I do have a PSP.

It took me a total of 10 minutes to open the PSP up, add a bit of plastic below the D-pad to shrink the distance from the contacts to the PCB (so you dont have to push the buttons so far before they touch something) to completely solve the issue with diagonals in emulators not working.

I'm willing to bet the solution would be as simple on the DS Lites with this problem... unless the contacts are built entirely into the rubber/dpad + part (havent looked inside a Lite yet myself

) - in which case it would be needing much more than just a thin bit of plastic.

Judging from this and this, it should be possible? (both pictures are taken from http://ruliweb.dreamwiz.com/ruliboard/read...me_nds&main=nds)

 

[DeMoN]

Try swinging Bowser in SM64DS with a DS Lite. That's when I noticed a problem. Walking is fine though.

 

[Deaddy]

In Mario 64 walking for a while is ok but if I just wanted to walk one step or turn around it would usually not react diagonally because you have to hold it down for a certain amount of time before it will start registering as a diagonal command. Not a long amount of time but longer than it takes to just tap it.

 

[cory1492]

Got a DS lite today, and after all that hype I cant get over how the thing feels like its made up of paper mache... but, I did up some pics while I was working through it. (yeah, the plastic bit I used is a hack, but I just wanted to see if it would work)
dslite_cont_mod.zip - all of the images I took, labelled screw locations (feel free to use those images for whatever you'd like). Some advice: Pay attention to those pesky wires. Watch during dissassembly to see how the shoulder buttons go together properly. Really small jewelers flathead screwdriver also works on triwings.

I used: a triwing, a precision phillips (+), a pair of (sharp, small) scissors, some scotch tape, a slice of overhead projector film and tweezers to remove the rubber covering 2 phillips screws.

Basically, the DPad is 2 parts like any conventional controller, above is the plastic part you see from the outside along with a bit of overhead projection plastic I had around (the red marked area is the part that comes in contact with the rubber and needs to be a bit thicker to improve response, the blue part is the part that gives you a "roll" feel on the control). As with the PSP, adding this improved response drastically - though just one thin sheet of plastic is not quite enough to make it perfect on a b/n machine (as with the PSP). A couple additional layers of scotch tape on the red circles was enough to fix that for me at least. I suppose rounding the center stub shorter would also have a very helpful effect on the ability to hit diagonals, but for the time being I have not tried it.

Indeed, after some use the center nub will wear down some, and the extra thin rubber they use under the keys will also wear in/out. I suspect in a year or so the DPad is going to be a higher failure rate item than the hinges on the cheap plastic case they made

I personally dont encourage anyone to take this Lite machine apart. The plastic sucks and the way it is put together makes it easy to break stuff. Luckily the DS I was checking out is new, so the plastic hasnt had a chance to get brittle yet.

On a side note, my buttons worked only OK on the diagonal, now they work great.

 

[Deleted member 42501]

cory1492 - Nice mod, thanks for the pics. Going to give this a shot once I have some spare time.

Out of interest, how was your machine before modding? Also, does the Dpad still feel 'loose' in the shell (ie. can you still move it with your finger and does it still have some give)?

 

[Vater Unser]

I think I'm going to give this mod a try, too...
did you use double-sided tape to apply the piece of transparency to the dpad?

 

[cory1492]

Out of interest, how was your machine before modding? Also, does the Dpad still feel 'loose' in the shell (ie. can you still move it with your finger and does it still have some give)?

It was reasonably working on the diagonals, but a pain to hit it exactly/easily. I actually only had the DS for about 4 hours when I took it apart to do that to it... flashme first, fix the buttons second... woops there was a 30 day in store warranty? ah well...

The DPad itself was made smaller than the hole it fits in, so yeah, it is still a little "loose" in there. The rubber piece under it is actually what is holding the DPad up against the inside of the shell; the additional plastic I added actually holds it up with a tad more "spring", though now the contacts are closer to the mainboard so I dont have to push down as much before it makes a button press (which was the problem with the PSP as well, you practically had to push the dpad into the faceplate to get both directions down at once).

I personally love the old style rubber pad type contacts they used in the lite, the ones for the start and select button (little metal bubbles, also what they used on the old style DS) last alot longer, but they drive me nuts (it is "too digitial", if you ask me).

Its interesting to note, after having the DS only 1 day I can see why part of the hinge is cracking (that part flexes every time you open the lid, more if you open it from one side and not the center). They really didnt take into account the plastic ageing, and if they did they also came up with the excuse "pressure by the customers hands caused it to crack".

Vater Unser: nope, just stuck it in there and shaped it so it fit the recess and would thus hold in place. If I had some non-foamed backed double sided tape around I would have used it though to affix little squares (instead of thickening the overhead plastic with scotch tape and spending extra time cutting out the hole in the center).

 

[Deleted member 42501]

Thanks for that - I've posted your mod on a couple of forums to help other users.

 

[dOoBiX]

Mine sucks! I can hardly do a hydoken on Street Fighter....

 

[bolds]

good guide Cory

i wish it were easier to open DS lite

the triwing screwdriver in the first place is a real bugger

do you think with lots of use the plastic "ball" under the d-pad (what you refer to as "the blue part is the part that gives you a "roll" feel on the control") will lower a little bit making diagonals easier or the rubber/contact is going to lower as well ?

 

[saulin]

Ok I saw this post and I had to try Street Fighter Alpha 3 to test my d-pad. I think my d-pad is fine. I can easily do fireballs and is not hard doing the dragon punch with Ryu. It just takes some getting use to the small d-pad. The DSL pad is so damn small.

So my diagonals seem ok. I don't like playing GBA games with B and A though. I wish the default would be Y and B. And damn it feels weird playing Street Fighter with B, A, L, R

Also I think the best controller ever made is the PSX controller. I use it for my PC and my Xbox. There is no better controller for fighting games than the PSX controller. Except for Arcade joysticks like the X-Arcade.

The PSP d-pad must kick ass if it feels like the PSX pad.

 

[cory1492]

good guide Cory

i wish it were easier to open DS lite

the triwing screwdriver in the first place is a real bugger

do you think with lots of use the plastic "ball" under the d-pad (what you refer to as "the blue part is the part that gives you a "roll" feel on the control") will lower a little bit making diagonals easier or the rubber/contact is going to lower as well ?

Thanks.

I agree about the triwing, I am glad I got a good one when Ahead Games was being more reliable than I hear they have been since. A small jewelers screwdriver can work too, if you are careful with it your should be able to take triwings out without damaging the DS (and then I'd personally replace them with philips).

Yes, I do think it will wear, but usually in these it wears the PCB surface before it wears the plastic. The rubber will eventually lose some of its springyness, making it easier to press - but it will still be pretty far into the DS face before its making contact (even if you dont have to press it that far). The way they made the control pad itself is kind of slotted into the case... making it a pain too.

 

[Deaddy]

There is no better controller for fighting games than the PSX controller.

The way the d-pad is broken into 4 separate buttons kills my thumb when playing street fighter! A d-pad that's one solid piece would be way better for playing street fighter games.

 

[other]

The thread that was posted earlier said that people in America had gotten their broken Lites replaced by NoA. I live in Sweden and Bergsala (who is Nintendo's distributor in Sweden) refuse to recognize this as something that is wrong. He told me all the Lites he had tried were like that, even though I told him I've seen a lot of people claim they have had Lites with working d-pads. I also said (like the thread said) that Nintendo had similar problems with some version of the GBA SP. He still claimed it was normal.

What do I do? I'm not even sure I want the Lite if the d-pad is messed up.