/r/SteamControllerMods
Got your hands on a steam controller? Good! Now take it apart and throw some paint (or anything else you see fit) on there! This is a place to share your hardware mods on the Steam controller made by valve. Paint, buttons, etc... All mods are welcome!
More will be added to this sidebar as time goes on.
Want to talk about the Steam Controller?
r/steamcontroller or on Discord right here.
Or about Steam in general? r/steam
Got A Steam Deck?
Visit DeckButtons.Com for the best Artisan buttons out there!
Guides:
Controller Disassembly:
Video Walkthrough | Written Walkthrough |
Steam Deck
Shameless Plugs:
TouchProtect, the best trackpad protection
Valve Released CAD Files for the Steam Controller. Click here to download them.
/r/SteamControllerMods
2,633 Subscribers
Happy 9 Years!
lambda_mainboard V0.4 - KiCad PCB Editor
Since tomorrow (11-10-2024) will be the 9 year anniversary of the Steam Controller, I have decided to upload what I have so far in celebration. This phase of the project is almost half way done. There is still a lot do to with the hardware alone. The firmware/software is a project of itself. I have uploaded the entire project on GitHub for everyone:
Keep in mind that I'm not a professional. I'm just a student learning as I go so I apologize in advance if any KiCad users find my project setup horrendous. There aren't any gerber files yet because it's not ready for fabrication. But it is close. A (incomplete) schematic is also available. Feel free to check it out!
03:45 UTC
SCJingleConverter as runnable exe
Hey all, I have spent the past few days racking my brain on how to get the SCJingleConverter to work. For reference it's an application that allows you to save a .musicxml file of your choice to the EEPROM in the Steam controller which takes place of the stock jingle that plays when you turn on or off the controller. The codebase comes from the OpenSteamController project created by greggersaurus found on Github. After many stressful hours I have successfully built, ran, compiled and deployed the codebase into a runnable exe file (I have never done anything involving code or the such, hence the "racking my brain" part). I went ahead and threw it up on github if anyone is interested and doesn't have the technical know how or time to figure it out. You can find the repo containing the runnable exe and more here: https://github.com/proxyagent/SCJingleConverter
13:56 UTC
Got a new steam controller, what are the best mods to increase longevity/comfortability?
I'd like to start modding my controller to keep it in the great condition it's in, any suggestions?
15:32 UTC
02:10 UTC
I think you'll recognize this
Most of you know of the cursed mod I'm currently working on. It has been a very long time since I updated and that's for good reason. That project has turned into a massive project. Enough so that it required me to start over from the ground up. I'm excited to share this not only because it'll open more doors to modding in the future. This will hopefully fulfill our dream to see this controller completely open source. I'm learning as I go but this my very first 'complete' (very loose on the complete) PCB. Theoretically you can solder the original components on this PCB and it will work. I have named this new board the "Lambda_mainboard_EXP" (EXP - Experimental). I will update as I work on it but the basics have been set for this project. When version 1 is complete it will upload everything I have.
00:54 UTC
Best recommendations for printing the shell?
So I've recently had some breaks with the screw holes and pins inside the steam controller and thought to just replace the shell with a new 3d print. However, the company I'm dealing with have said the design isn't suited to 3D printing because the tabs, pins and holes are too small and are made for molded plastic.
Has anyone had success printing the shells? Are there settings/materials or tips that you could give to have a better chance?
Thank you.
15:08 UTC
At last, the DOG Mod
05:12 UTC
Steam controller with Steam Deck OLED face button mod tutorial.
So I had someone ask me to make a tutorial about how I modified the Steam Deck OLED buttons to fit an original Steam controller. I'm by no means an expert, but I'll include some pictures of the process and explain it from the perspective of someone who might attempt this as a first time mod as was the case for me.
These are the tools you will need. Any set of tweezers will work, but I recommend some very fine needle nose ones. I used this set from Amazon. The files I got from a local hardware store, but they don't need to be very specific, just use whichever pair you can find. Finally I'm using the T6 torx screwdriver from iFixit. I needed this specific driver because the Steam controller has some very recessed screws that my other T6 torx bit couldn't reach.
The first thing you'll want to do is use the T6 driver to remove these 4 outer screws on the handles. They're sunken in quite a lot which is why I recommend the iFixit driver.
Next you want to expose these three screws hidden by the sticker under the battery cover. The top screws should be the same length as the other screws you removed earlier.
When you remove the back the controller should look like this. If the sliding mechanism that's used for removing the battery cover falls out, don't worry it's easy to put back in. You want to remove the battery locks and the and four screws holding the motherboard in place. Remove the two at the top just under the shoulder buttons and the two along the bottom handles outer edge just above the mounting post holes.
Next you want to carefully lift the motherboard from the top edge to expose the trackpad ribbons. Simple pull these from their housings and be careful not to snap them. In my experience they are fairly sturdy and can easily be done by hand.
Once you removed the ribbons the controller should come apart and look something like this. Ignore the foam pads on the motherboard, that's another mod I did to get softer trackpad clicks. I used 1mm thick foam circle pads if anyone is curious. There's also a bit of electrical tape since the pads were double sided adhesive and they would stick to the trackpad ribbons. I recommend leaving the protective layer on the side facing up.
Bonus mod, I ordered the official Steam Deck OLED analog stick replacement from iFixit once again. This mod was easy to do because the stick cap is a drop in replacement for the Steam controller. Simply snip the small wire for the capacitive touch sensor as it wouldn't work on the Steam controller anyways.
As you can see the stick caps are almost identical. The Steam Deck OLED is on the right and original Steam controller on the left. The small wire has no noticeable effect on the feeling of the stick.
Now you can remove the rubber membrane that holds the buttons in place. It's very easy to do, just make sure not to tilt the controller at this point as the buttons can pour out and get lost. This is especially common with the start and select buttons.
Now the Steam Deck buttons need some modification and I only have a picture of them after being modified, but as you can see they match the diameter of the Steam controller buttons almost perfectly. Additional height will need to be added to get them to match and I'm just using some silicone pads for a temporary solution.
The Steam Deck buttons will have holes in the bottom of them and this is where I recommend very fine needle nose tweezers, as some of the holes can be very small and it's best to hold the button as stable as possible when filing the edges down. Remove everything along the outer edge of the button until it is almost perfectly cylindrical. Don't leave any of the bottom plastic ring or anchoring tabs left.
I recommend filing these over a white surface so you can see how much material has been removed and how much still needs to be removed to make them flush on the edges. Be prepared for this to take a very long time, in my case I filed these over the course of two days off and on for a few hours each.
The original Steam controller buttons have these small anchoring tabs to keep the buttons from rotating in place. You can file the tops off of these buttons if you're brave, or 3D print some original buttons with the same stems so you don't risk ruining your original buttons. I recommend this because these buttons will be hard to replace. I can update this tutorial once I get some proper button stems, but my plan is to just subtract the height of the Steam Deck buttons from the Steam controller buttons and print off the stems.
If you don't own a 3D printer there are some companies you can use that will 3D print something for you, and I'll update this tutorial with the files containing the height adjusted button stems.
The anchoring tabs should align with the notches in the button housings. Make sure you get the rotation to match when attaching the buttons to the new stems.
Last bonus modification, I've also added two strips of electrical tape along the top edge of the motherboard to soften up the shoulder buttons. I didn't feel like taking this top part of the controller off for this tutorial though as they can be tricky get into position again.
Connect the ribbon cables to the motherboard and reinstall the four long screws that secured it in place now. If the battery door sliding mechanism fell out simply place the spring against this tab on the bottom of the back casing.
Place the battery locks on the top set of mounting posts with the metal tabs touching the outer edge of the controller. Make sure the hollow sides are facing up as pictured.
Now simply take the motherboard and fit it into place over this back casing. It might take some adjusting, but it should pop into place. Take the six short screws we removed at the beginning and remember to use the last long screw on the bottom middle of the controller.
I hope this tutorial was helpful and informative enough. I wanted to be thorough and explain it for anybody making this their first Steam controller mod. This was my first project and first time ever opening up a controller to make any changes so I wanted to take a beginners approach and explain things as clearly as I could. Hopefully none of you guys mind if I went into detail about knowledge that's already common on this sub, like the generic teardown guide.
03:54 UTC
Update on Steam Deck face button mod
The buttons from the Steam Deck OLED fit perfectly once you file down the edges and remove the anchoring tabs. Custom button stems will need to be used to fill the missing length of the face buttons, but it should be easy enough to 3D print some and glue these buttons onto them.
These still need a little bit of filing around the edges to prevent them from getting stuck, but overall they look nice and the contour of the B button doesn't stand out in any drastic way despite the curve being more pronounced than the original B button.
02:58 UTC
Steam controller upgrades
So my iFixit parts arrived today and I was finally able to open up my Steam controller and make some upgrades to it.
The first thing I did was apply 1mm thick circular foam pads to the motherboard to make the trackpad clicks much softer. They still click, but not nearly as much as they used to. The foam pads were double sided so I added a strip of electrical tape to prevent the trackpad ribbon cables from sticking to them.
Then I added the analog stick cap from the Steam Deck OLED which was a perfect fit. I snipped the wire for the capacitive stick cap since the Steam controller wouldn't have been able to use it anyways and that wire didn't cause any interference with the stick itself.
Last upgrade was simply wrapping electrical tape around the assembly that pushes the shoulder buttons to reduce the click for them. They still pop more than I would like, but I'll probably open it up again at some point to make adjustments.
The only upgrade I wasn't able to do for now was adding the Steam Deck OLED buttons. They're the same diameter as the original buttons, but they aren't long enough and require spacers which I don't have yet. Once I get some spacers printed out using the original Steam controller stems as a base I feel like they should fit nicely.
21:30 UTC
Custom Steam Controller 2?
Probably as good of a place as any to ask this, but has anyone tried to get Steam Deck replacement parts to work on an original Steam controller? Something like replacing the trackpads or analog stick/buttons? I know that Steam Deck parts are readily available for self repairs, but as these parts compatible with the original if you know how to solder or make your own PCBs?
I'm mostly just curious if anybody has attempted it. It sounds like a complicated project.
12:25 UTC
Button replacements?
I just got my steam controller today! I was aware beforehand that some have said the buttons feel cheap... and well, after checking it out for myself, the bumpers, and left trackpad require a bit of force to press down and click really loudly. The triggers dont sound loud but they still require alot more force to fully press in. Would replacing the switches help with these? Or is there anything i can do to bring them closer to how the steam deck's buttons and triggers feel? For example, the ABXY on the controller are ok, but i still wish they felt loose and click nicely like the ABXY on the steam deck
19:55 UTC
Replaced the joystick with Hall Effect sensors on Steam Controller
Ginfull's Hall Effect joystick with two black sensors to match with the Steam Controller pins.
The pins on Ginfull's Hall Effect joysticks for Xbox One and PS4 (black and yellow sensors) are incompatible with the Steam Controller. To make it works, you must swap the black sensor and the magnet to another housing to create an all black Ginfull's Hall Effect joystick for the Steam Controller.
The magnet must be centered to reduce the centering error.
Due to the Steam Controller's auto-calibration potentially messing up the manual calibration on the joystick, I adjusted the magnet position with tweezers to make it as centered as possible before installing the sensors and soldering it. Your mileage may vary, but this should give you a good centering value without the hassle of manual calibration.
Ginfull's Hall Effect joystick circularity test score.
Finally, I added Chrome as a game shortcut on Steam, set up the controller input as a gamepad, launch Chrome from the Steam, and opened https://hardwaretester.com/gamepad to test the circularity. The Steam Controller required full circular motion of the joystick whenever you turn it on for the auto-calibration to convert square-shaped boundaries to circular-shaped boundaries.
Alps joystick (sourced from the Steam Deck module) circularity test score.
With the score difference of 1.5%, the accuracy is comparable with with an Alps joystick sourced from the original Steam Deck module I had lying around.
Credit to u/Wild_Penguin82 for the valuable information on this post.
02:52 UTC
Are there any Steam Controller Parts that are good?
I need to buy some parts to patch up my steam controller I bought off FB Marketplace a year ago. I was wondering where to get a new joystick. New shells and a new left trigger because I was playing a game called Gang Beasts with my friend, beating him up repeatedly with my left fist spamming LB till it just broke, but repaired it but doesn't feel the same anymore :/ Any help is appreciated
04:56 UTC
I can has Hall Effect module!
Hi!
I Installed Hall Effect sensors in my Steam Controller =).
Be aware, YMMV!
09:44 UTC
So how would i get started with mods?
Is there any case/shell swaps i could do? I dont really like the glossy bit that's on the controller, so could i just get a new case that doesnt have that? If so, then where?
09:36 UTC
Replacing the joystick modules - compatibility, recalibration?
16:44 UTC
Replaced the original thumbstick rubber with the Steam Deck
09:24 UTC
Steam Controller Mods/Replacements
Hey everyone,
I'm only going to post this once, so don't worry about constant advertising.
You may have already seen my posts on the official https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamController/?rdt=59834, but if you haven't I'd just like take a second to describe why I'm opening this shop.
Essentially, I bought a 3D printer (Creality K1 Max) a couple of months ago but stopped using it within the first few weeks. I was going to sell it, but then I decided to ask the folks in the steam controller community page if they'd be interested in mods and replacement pieces for their controllers. They loved the idea, so now I'm opening this shop!
Here's what I'm selling so far:
- Battery Door Grip mod/replacement
- Internal dongle grip mod/replacement
- Dpad Joystick mod
- Bumper and Trigger replacements
- Internal bumper button replacement
My shop: https://steamworks3d.etsy.com
22:43 UTC
Battery Terminal
How many people don't use their controller because the battery terminal is corroded? Or your worst fear is corrosion on the terminal? Unfortunately no one makes steam controller battery terminal replacements but if someone did how likely are you to buy it? I've been debating if I want to at least get the dimensions of the terminals since it's just metal bent into place and maybe make a few dozen pairs or something.
06:04 UTC