ds4-tools

This repo contains some Python scripts I use to play and reverse-engineer the DualShock 4 controller.

Controller calibration (center and range)

Would you like to calibrate your controller? No need to waste time with these scripts. I've developed a website that allows you to calibrate your controller without installing anything on your computer; you just need Google Chrome.

Give it a try!

Link: DualShock Calibration GUI.

Warning

Use these files at your own risk and be ready to throw away your controller because it could stop working.

They have been tested on only two DS4 on planet Earth, so any slight change of your DS4 w.r.t mine can lead to bricking it.

Contents

• ds4-tool.py can be used to play with undocumented commands of your DualShock 4
• ds4-calibration-tool.py can be used to calibrate analog sticks or triggers. It has a nice TUI.

How to use them

1. Clone the repo and go into the directory

$ git clone <repo link>
$ cd ds4-tools

2. Install dependencies

$ virtualenv venv
$ . venv/bin/activate
$ pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Play with the scripts

$ python3 script.py

Example

$ python3 ds4-tool.py info

[+] Waiting for device VendorId=054c ProductId=09cc
Compiled at: Sep 21 2018 04:50:51
hw_ver:0100.b400
sw_ver:00000001.a00a sw_series:2010
code size:0002a000

DualShock4 Calibration

If you are here, there are good probabilities you want to recalibrate your DS4. In that case, the script for you is ds4-calibration-tool.py.

The DS4 by default will undo changes after a reset or after it goes in standby. This is good to test calibration and see if the result is good enough for you without messing everything up.

At some point you may want to make changes permanent. To do that, you should change the flash-mirror status using ds4-tool. I suggest to switch back to temporary right after the calibration is done.

Here it follows an example:

# 1. Know if changes are temporary or permanent (0: permanent; 1: temporary)
$ ./ds4-tool.py get-flash-mirror-status 

# 2. Change flash mirror behavior to permanent
$ ./ds4-tool.py set-flash-mirror-status 0

# 3. Do calibration here
$ ./ds4-calibration-tool.py

# 4. Change flash mirror behavior back to temporary
$ ./ds4-tool.py set-flash-mirror-status 1

DualSense Calibration

The script ds5-calibration-tool.py is an experimental script to calibrate your DualSense.

Experimental means:

• Tested only on my DualSense with an old firmware ("Dec 16 2022 02:44:31")
• May brick your controller
• Be aware that it may behave differently with a future firmware update

The command-line interface is different than the DS4 tool, sorry for this. With this script, the action is passed by parameter, so that it can be called by other scripts.

The script can be used in two ways:

• Calibrate center: ./ds5-calibration-tool.py analog-center
• Calibrate range: ./ds5-calibration-tool.py analog-range In this way you can try the script, but the changes are gone after a reset.

To calibrate and store the changes permanently, use the parameter -p:

• Calibrate center: ./ds5-calibration-tool.py -p analog-center
• Calibrate range: ./ds5-calibration-tool.py -p analog-range

Let me know if this works.

Notes for Windows

The tools won't detect your DualShock 4 until you change default driver to the libusb one.

The easiest way to do this is to use the Zadig software.

1. Download and run Zadig

2. Open Options menu and check List All Devices item

3. Select your DualShock 4 from list and change the driver to libusb-win32 one

• Wireless Controller [054c:05c4] for the 1st revision
• Wireless Controller (Interface 0) [054c:09cc:00] for the 2nd revision

4. Press Replace Driver button and agree with every other question (if any)

Notes for Mac OS X

If you get usb.core.NoBackendError: No backend available error, you should install libusb.

Using Homebrew you can install all required tools with this command:

$ brew install git python virtualenv libusb