/*
 * title "Dodgy controller"
 * author "Dylan Lom"
 * date "2021-08-11"
 * link stylesheet "/main.css"
 */

# $(echo $title)

I bought a $30 "new" DualShock3 controller from eBay... it's fake.

As a result when I plug it into my computer it gets recognised as an Xbox
controller and... doesn't send any inputs (jump to the next section if you
just want to know how I fixed it)

The four lights continually flash when I plug it in and it eventually goes to
sleep.

The dmesg output is... weird to say the least

<code><pre>
   [  +4.573524] usb 1-3.3: new full-speed USB device number 43 using xhci_hcd
   [  +0.100387] usb 1-3.3: not running at top speed; connect to a high speed hub
   [  +0.000799] usb 1-3.3: New USB device found, idVendor=054c, idProduct=0268, bcdDevice= 1.00
   [  +0.000002] usb 1-3.3: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
   [  +0.000000] usb 1-3.3: Product: PS3 Controller
   [  +0.000001] usb 1-3.3: Manufacturer: Sony
   [  +0.007953] input: Sony PS3 Controller Motion Sensors as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb1/1-3/1-3.3/1-3.3:1.0/0003:054C:0268.0018/input/input84
   [  +0.058882] input: Sony PS3 Controller as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb1/1-3/1-3.3/1-3.3:1.0/0003:054C:0268.0018/input/input83
   [  +0.000336] sony 0003:054C:0268.0018: input,hiddev0,hidraw6: USB HID v81.11 Joystick [Sony PS3 Controller] on usb-0000:00:14.0-3.3/input0
   [  +1.144159] usb 1-3.3: USB disconnect, device number 43
   [  +1.503464] usb 1-3.3: new full-speed USB device number 44 using xhci_hcd
   [  +0.101397] usb 1-3.3: New USB device found, idVendor=045e, idProduct=028e, bcdDevice= 1.10
   [  +0.000001] usb 1-3.3: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
   [  +0.000001] usb 1-3.3: Product: Controller
   [  +0.000001] usb 1-3.3: Manufacturer: Sony
   [  +0.005481] input: Microsoft X-Box 360 pad as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb1/1-3/1-3.3/1-3.3:1.0/input/input85
</pre></code>

So it connects, disconnects and reconnects with a different vendor and product
id (I think I'm reading this correctly -- I've tried to stay away from scary
system logs in the past).

Anyway after wasting a lot of time trying to connect the controller like it was
an actual sony controller I accepted it almost certainly... wasn't. A check on
Windows (where it does actually work OOTB) confirms this, as the device is 
simply called 'Controller'.

I tried the patches suggested in [this issue][1] but didn't have any luck.
I don't know how they are ID'ing their fakes to a particular brand either, I
can't work out where mine came from.

## The fix

Eventually I found [this gist][2], which suprising works! Just run it as root
:^). So the next step was to get it running automatically with udev I guess,
I've pretty much accepted I'm not getting wireless working at this point...

I don't know much about udev either, but I'll leave the
[rule & patched script][3] I wrote to get the controller automatically
connected here in case someone wants it.

I haven't actually done much testing with the controller yet -- the jstest-gtk
window shows a concerning lack of movement in the horizontal for the right
analog stick (steam's controller window gives full movement however). If I have
more problems actually getting the thing to work I'll maybe amend it here :)

[1]: https://github.com/falkTX/qtsixa/issues/4
[2]: https://gist.github.com/dnmodder/de2df973323b7c6acf45f40dc66e8db3
[3]: https://gist.github.com/dylan-lom/f0a4edc598e3a738cfc9c34f1a7c5216