The Playstation 3's controller, the Dualshock 3, isn't the easiest pad to get working on the PC. So why bother when it's so much easier to use an Xbox controller on PC, or you have a much newer Dualshock 4 sitting around? The Dualshock 3 has something the best PC controllers don't have: pressure-sensitive analog face buttons. That makes the Dualshock 3 the best choice for emulating PS2 games with PCSX2—Metal Gear Solid 3, for example, just doesn't play right without those analog buttons. And if you simply prefer the feel of Sony's older controllers over the redesigned Dualshock 4, this is the perfect controller for playing those classic Final Fantasy games on Steam.
Find great deals on eBay for ps2 controller pc. Shop with confidence. Skip to main content. PSX PS2 PS1 USB Dual Controller to PC Adapter Converter Keypad Driver Adapter. Brand New Unbranded. Free Shipping. 1 Pc PS2 Wired Controller Video Game Accessories Sony PS2 Playstation 2 Black. Using PS2 controller on PC with USB adapter. Thread starter cutcopypaste; Start date Jul 6, 2010; Forums. I think I may need a driver or something to get it to work, but have no idea where to look. And found PS2 controller specific steps that worked for other people, but I'm not getting anything, and can't really.
Here's the best way to get your PS3 controller working on PC using an open source tool called ScpToolkit.
Looking for advice on using a different controller? Here's how to use a PS4 controller on PC, and here's how to use a Nintendo Switch Pro Controller on PC.
What you need
Hardware
- Dualshock 3 and mini-USB cable
- Optional: Bluetooth dongle
Software
Ps2 Controller Driver For Pc Download
- Xbox 360 controller driver (only needs to be installed on Windows 7)
Installation guide
1. Download the software linked above, and start by installing the four Microsoft packages. If you're on a Windows 7 PC, you'll also need to install the Xbox 360 controller driver. On Windows 8 and 10, it's already built in!
2. Important step: plug your Dualshock 3 into your PC with a mini-USB cable. Now we can start making it work.
Bluetooth installation note: if you also want to be able to use the controller wirelessly, make sure you have a Bluetooth dongle plugged in or your motherboard's Bluetooth enabled. ScpToolkit notes you need a Bluetooth 2.0 or higher dongle that supports Enhanced Data Rate (EDR).
3. Download ScpToolkit and run the installer. After accepting the terms and choosing your install location, you'll get a menu of all the options to install, as in the screenshot above. I recommend leaving this to the default. Click Install to begin the installation.
Bluetooth installation note: Make sure the ScpToolkit Bluetooth Pair Utility option is ticked.
4. After about 30 seconds, ScpToolkit will be installed, and you'll see this screen, with a big green button that says Run Driver Installer. Since this is a fresh install, that's what we want to do. Click the button.
5. This screen may look intimidating, but it's still pretty simple! Check the boxes for the drivers you want to install. In this case, we want to make sure Install Dualshock 3 driver is checked (it should be by default). Now click the arrow next to 'Choose Dualshock 3 controllers to install' to see a dropdown list of USB devices attached to your computer. Find the PlayStation 3 controller in the list and check it.
Bluetooth installation note: Make sure the 'Install Bluetooth driver' box is checked. Like you did with the Dualshock 3, click the arrow next to 'Choose Bluetooth dongles to install' and find your Bluetooth device in the list. Check it.
Note: If you're on Windows Vista, check the box for 'Force Driver Installation.' Otherwise, leave it unchecked. Click Install.
6. Watch the SCP Toolkit run through its installation process. You'll see lots of pop-ups on the side of your screen as it detects your hardware. Scroll to the bottom of the log and you should hopefully see 'Dualshock 3 USB Driver installed' (and 'Bluetooth Driver installed' if you chose to), signifying a successful installation. If all went well, click Exit.
7. Now that it's installed, you'll see ScpToolkit as an icon in your system tray. Look in your Start Menu for ScpToolkit Settings Manager. Here you can change some settings like disabling rumble, adjusting analog stick deadzones, and more. Most of these settings you should be able to leave alone.
ScpToolkit starts up with Windows by default, and also plays some sound effects that you might find obnoxious. To disable them, click the Sound settings tab and uncheck 'Enable notification sounds.'
PCSX2 emulator note: The PCSX2 settings tab allows you to patch the emulator's LilyPad controller plugin to support the pressure sensitive buttons. If you plan to use your PS3 controller with the emulator, click Browse to navigate to your PCSX2 installation folder, then click Enable to install the patch. Voila!
Using your Playstation 3 controller
Now that it's installed, the Dualshock 3 should behave like an Xbox 360 controller. Any game with native XInput support—pretty much any modern PC game that supports gamepads—should recognize it without a hitch. Unfortunately, this means that it won't register as a PlayStation controller to the few games that have native DualShock 4 support, so you won't get the correct Square/Cross/Triangle/Circle button icons by default. Some games let you manually choose your button icons, though. Look for that in game settings!
If you ran into issues installing ScpToolkit or using the controller, you can try posting in the official thread at the PCSX2 forums, but you may not get an answer.
How to connect your PS3 controller via Bluetooth
If you're not about that wired business, and followed all the Bluetooth installation steps above, you should be able to simply unplug the controller, and after a couple seconds it will sync via Bluetooth. You'll get a notification in the system tray when it does. Cool!
This works after a reboot, too. If you allow ScpToolkit to start with Windows, you should simply be able to plug in your PS3 controller again and it'll instantly be recognized. Once the LED is on, unplug the controller, and it'll once again be synced via Bluetooth.
If you have issues with Bluetooth, it could be that your dongle isn't supported. You may also find help in ScpToolkit's Github discussions. Bluetooth can be finicky, and any problem you run into could be due to hardware, or your particular version of Windows, or drivers… in other words, good luck.
Not a controller person? Here's a round-up of the best gaming keyboards, and best gaming mouse.
Playstation game controllers can be connected to Windows PCs directly as they use USB connectors which you can use for that purpose.
A system like Windows 7 will recognize the controller and install the necessary drivers automatically but you still need to install additional drivers first before it is recognized in most games and programs.
The driver package of choice for many is MotioninJoy which you can download here. While it is highly popular, it is displaying ads in its interface which requires an Internet connection.
There are other solutions available that you can try as well to get the controller to be recognized properly on the system and by games running on it.
Note: Blocking the port or killing the process once the controller has been connected properly to the system seems to have no ill-effect on the functionality.
Setup
- Grab the latest version of the MotionJoy package. After you have downloaded it to your system extract the archive and run the installer it contains.
- Connect your controller to the PC.
- Start the MotionJoy software afterwards and switch to the Driver Manager tab.
- Check the Hardware Location box there and click on Load Driver.
- Go back to the Profiles tab afterwards.
- Here you should see that the controller is connected to the system.
- You can use the vibration test at the bottom of the screen to test if that is really the case.
- Exit the program.
While the controller will work fine in games, you may want to download a program called Better DS3. It provides you with configuration options in a clean and ad-free environment.
Using Ps2 Controller On Pc
- Download Better DS3 to your system and run the executable file afterwards.
- The connected controller should be displayed on the left.
- Click on New next to profile and select PSCX2 from the options. Add a name in the new window and click save.
- Select the new profile and click apply afterwards.
- Alternatively do the following steps: Select New next to profile and select XInput from the available options.
- A configuration window opens that you can use to map actions to each button of the controller.
- You may want to start by clicking on Xbox 360 next to Auto Fill at the top. Doing so will apply a common configuration scheme to the controller that should work well in most games.
- Enter a profile name, select 'automatically apply to controllers when connected', and click on save profile afterwards.
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Now it is time to test the controller in games you want to play and make adjustments to the profile in case something is not working correctly.
The PSCX2 profile worked best for me. It mapped the buttons correctly to the controller in games I tried so that I was able to use X for selections for instance.
Ps2 Controller Driver For Pc Windows 10
Have you connected a game controller to your PC before? If so, how was your experience?