8BITDO SN30 Pro D-Pad Improvement
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- Опубліковано 5 вер 2024
- Such a little part makes such a shockingly big difference.
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![Perfect D-Pad or The Most Overrated Fightpad Controller in Existence? [8BitDo NeoGeo SNK]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/nQrFhkpZahk/mqdefault.jpg)
I usually simply stick a small square piece of electrical tape (about 8mm by side) right in the middle, under the center pivot, just to get the DPad a wee bit higher. It usually improves greatly the directions without meddling too much with the directions themselves nor interferring with the stiffness of the pad. I tried several different solutions, but it's always been the one that gave me the best results so far.
I came here to say this! I did this method yesterday with a foil sticker layered 2x. A hole punch works perfectly.
Inversely, if the diagonals are too difficult to access, you can file down the post a tiny bit. If you go too far, you can use the tape or sticker method to reverse it.
"I probably should've shut the controller off… but Im gonna keep going without doing that... because of who I am as a person"😂 awesome
It amazes me how much I enjoy watching the process when you're working on something, no matter what the task is, I'm always intrigued. I started watching you when I just needed one quick tutorial, but I'm hooked on the channel and what you do!
Keep it up!
my ultimate 8bitdo controller had this same issue. i found that people use a piece of kapton tape to lift the post a half millimeter or so. i tried it and it worked! pretty easy solution. i tried more layers of tape initially and that made it extremely hard to hit diagonals. all you need is one layer of tape.
I've got one of the version of this controller, had it for a good few years at this point because I'd seen a lot of glowing reviews at the time. I primarily got this to use with d-pad centric games, and I've barely used it at all because of this exact problem. You have to be so much more precise than you would with a normal SNES or NES d-pad, and I just ended up almost never using it for that reason.
FWIW, the Nintendo Online SNES controller is a very faithful recreation. You gotta have an active NSO subscription to even purchase one though. 8BITDO's converter kit also works well if you have an OEM SNES controller laying around (I used a new in box RVL-005 SFC controller) but after using both, I like the first party option better.
@@makho I've definitely considered getting the snes controller.
The fact the battery is directly soldered to the board is always kind of annoying since I have to be extra careful not to accidentally bridge anything or turn it on instead of being able to do the safe route of just disconnecting it from the board. I’d probably try getting a JST connector for it as soon as I can actually find one that fits well.
Switching to genuine silicone pads for the D-Pad from SNES controller (you can also use N64, with slight modification) was the best solution for me. I tried the plastic shim thing and the feel of the D Pad like you said was quite stiff and much louder / clickier. For fun, I switched the ABXY membrane with the oem snes ABXY membrane (some modification / cutting required to fit it around the screw posts), and I like the feel of the ABXY buttons much more now.
Nice disassembly, I was watching this for a different reason and I got the answer I was looking for, you noted some precautions while taking it apart and they would easily have added more work if ignored. Great vid, lovely clean voiceover. Thank you!
Glad I could help. If you don't mind, what specific precautions did I mention? I ask to make sure to keep mentioning that sort of thing for related videos that I'll likely end up doing.
I was replacing a rubber button under the L2 shoulder button, while I was taking apart the PCB, instead of fully separating the shoulder buttons, i simply pried it open slightly. I had almost pulled the battery from the soldering, but more importantly I was more mindful of the ribbons underneath of the plastic piece. I am actually completely inexperienced with these kinds of things, so being able to watch someone take apart the controller, instead of cutting directly to the fix was exactly the help I needed. (TLDR:around the 5:00 mark and the 8:20 mark)
The issue is mostly the trace design but I made a video where I swapped an original D-Pad onto my old 8BitDo SNES30. Despite the apparent attempt to clone it, there was a demonstrable difference. My brother demonstrated that in expert-level Tetris Attack/Panel de Pon gameplay where rapid left/right inputs would often leave your cursor on a different line than you started due to an errant/unintended up or down input. You can see by the high scores in the video that he wasn’t fudging the results. His scores are always higher with the original SNES D-pad and the errant diagonals are notably lower.
What made the difference when they seem identical? In this case the pivot nub on the bottom appeared ever so slightly taller on the Nintendo one.
Back in 1996 we noticed that we couldn’t play that game properly with our officially licensed SuperNES ASCIIPad controller even though the D-pad appears identical there too. In the ‘90s people used to recommend the ASCIIPad as “every bit as good as,” identical to,” or “better than” Nintendo’s…but they were all wrong.
I totally feel you on this one. I am a controller connoisseur for sure, and got this one to be my most portable controller mostly for switch and PC. I have this same issue and it drove me nuts. What really makes me furious is how 8bitdo's controllers are nonserviceable. I take apart and lubricate all my controllers, except the ones that are so hard to crack they feel like they'll break if I try, which is only modern controllers like 8bitdo's and xbox.....
I put 1 layer of electrical tape under the D-pad round nub. Just a small round piece of tape the size of the nub (pencil size) and between the Dpad and the membrane. 2 layers of tape was WAY too much! The 1 layer of tape added about 5 thousandths Z height on the D-pad, doesn't mess with the membrane and makes for far less accidental Diagnels. Little tighter and still able to hit the angles if needed. But yes, a tad bit noisier. I suspect the tape will wear and I'll be trying a plastic washer 5 thousandths thick next. BRAN NEW controller and already having to mod it. Sigh, but not much else like it!!
One DIY alternative I've seen and use myself if to apply binder hole reinforcer stickers along the PCB (instead of the custom-designed one). Great in a pinch :)
i tried this and it did'nt work
This has been a problem on every 8bitdo controller even the Analogue Pockets, as it is rumored they were involved in development. But even Nintendo forgot how to do good dpads as it also plagues the Switch Pro Controller.
I mean, I have other 8bitdo controllers that don't have this problem. My SN30 (non-pro) is totally fine.
@@makho Maybe the quality control just isn't as robust as it should be? My SN30 (non-pro) is at the opposite end of the spectrum and it has very unresponsive diagonals. :p
EDIT: I took my controller apart, cleaned both the membrane and the button contacts on the board with isopropyl alcohol. After putting the controller back together, it worked completely as intended! It now feels better than my original SNES which has aftermarket membranes installed. - Maybe the contacts had some kinda dirt that was produced in manufacturing?
I have about 5 or 6 of these I've gone through over the years. Love the shape of the controller too much to give up on it for 2d games. I used to drive myself crazy tearing it down and trying to find better ways to improve the feel and accuracy of the buttons and dpad. I find myself doing that again these days, which brought me to your channel! I actually first watched your gameboy advance tactile switch mod. Wondering if you've thought about doing something like that on this controller. I've been fumbling trying to figure a solution on my own and have gone through a couple boards roasting them with my poor soldering technique mostly.
Honestly, I use this controller for so many things that I'm constantly having to pair it to my devices. I'm considering getting a second and maybe I'll look into tactile mods for it. No promises -- I like the button feel on this thing as is.
yeah! i have these problems with the new Nintendo controllers, d pads used to be so much better back in the day
Happy to report that the new Hall effect revision of this controller FINALLY replaces these shitty Xbox 360 style inputs with SNES style inputs!
Based on the other comments here, I'd say this has historically been hit and miss. I hope that's not still the case with the revised model.
Hey friend, my controller's gyro it's not working correctly, I wanted to ask if you know where the gyro piece is so I can see what i can do. You think it's dead or it can be saved? thanks for sharing your video
I pronounce 8bitdo with the "do" the same as "nintendo", since that would sorta make sense with their theme, but I'm honestly not sure which way is right. For playing 2D games, I've found leverless arcade controllers like the Flatbox and Open-Frame1 to be really nice. They kinda side-step the diagonal issue by having all four directions as separate buttons, so you're just chording for diagonals.
I've got an SF30 Pro (I don't think they offer it anymore but it's just a recolor of the SN30 Pro AFAIK) I started using more recently (though mostly for games that need the sticks) so I'll be interested to see if you find a better solution than this one.
The original plan was to just make a new dpad but I'm probably not doing that. I made this video almost a year ago and I've been using the controller as-is since and it broke in. Feels fine.
@@makho Ah, good to know then that it's still good after a year. Maybe I'll print one then.
I remember watching I think a Kevin kenson video about the Switch Pro controller's d-pad having the same issue and what he did was cover like 1/4 to 1/3 of the d-pad with kapton tape and it seemed to fix the problem too. Perhaps it'll work for the SN30 Pro
I still rocking my SN30 Pro but the left analog sticks' neck is grinded for over usage 😂 and luckily no stick drifts....yet.
It's genuinely a good controller. I'm happy with mine.
@@makho Also the fact that you can just bring it anywhere with no hassle, drop it in a pocket, drop it in your backpack, this little dude is too convenient
Hi. Which aftermarket SNES d-pad contact pad did you use for this? I've tried all the ones I've come across, and found them to all be garbage - either the diagonals don't work, or they're super soft and don't push the d-pad up enough. So, I'm curious which one you have that you've found to be decent. Maybe I haven't tried that one.
BTW, I just got a regular SN30, and it has a bit of the unintentional-diagonals issue, especially when pressing on the right d-pad arrow in Street Fighter II on SNES. And I haven't yet been able to pull-off a Shoryuken when facing to the left, and can only pull it off when facing to the right. I also have a lot of difficulty reliably triggering upward diagonals in SF2, to jump forward or backward. So, I think the D-pad on the SN30 is bad, too.
Yeah, my SN30 Pro has the same issue when I’m playing games like Castlevania or Metroid where I always hit diagonal easily and it just sucks since this is a really great and comfortable controller
I agree. I ended up putting like 60 hours into Pokemon Shield on this controller. Genuinely good IMO.
i replayed Super Meteroid and found wall jumping to be impossible on my DS4 controller.. Send myself down this rabbit hole
i had this issue aswell and its also llike this on switch pro controller
My D-pad is hard to input ↖↗↙↘，I put a paper on it, it was repaired, but i'm warry about that the paper broken. Do you have any better way? Thx bro
I'd try this fix right now if I had the screwdrivers for these wacky bits. This controller is so nice, but the entire reason I bought this controller was to have a nice d-pad for retro games.
It's such a shame since other SNES inspired controllers from 8bitdo actually do work properly. I don't get it. Must just be down to luck of the draw due to tolerances in manufacturing? I don't know.
@@makho I messaged thier customer support looking for answers and was basically told that it's supposed to be this way. :shrug:
@@RockSoup Customer support is never gonna have an answer for stuff like this. Given the nature of the job, it's in their best interests to close the ticket as quickly as possible, not to solve the problem.
Is the D-pad "analogue" like the Playstation? I want to play Gran Turismo 3 on my Mac. On PS2, pressing harder left or right on D-pad would determine how sharply I turned.
Nah, that was a PS2/PS3 exclusive. I believe every DS2 and sixaxis controller supported it though I believe it was dropped for DS3.
This issue also plagues the Analogue Pocket which I've heard was done with some co-operation with 8Bitdo
I haven't noticed this issue on either of my units. I wonder if that's because there's just variation in these things or if that's because it's not the same issue.
@@makho Hmm, well the symptoms are near identical, I suppose it might not be present in some older batches, or luck of the draw. Mine was ordered and arrived this summer, but after googling I found similar, older complaints.
@@georgejpgI have a device from the first batch and a device from the most recent batch (black, not GITD or transparent) and they are identical. Analogue didn't make any changes to the hardware, dpads especially.
@@makho Can confirm my brand new Analogue Pocket from this summer's batch has a similar dpad issue
@@antarch9805 Forgive me if I take that with a grain of salt, there have been lots of claims from analogue fans about stuff that definitely is not true.
I would think this be more of a problem trying to speed run link to the past seeing pin point inputs to either shift run faster, fake flipper swim on the edge of the screen, clip a wall, or set up for a bomb jump. The feel of lazy button in puts could make it better for some people. For games like OG Mario I feel its off using a modern d-pad and not the old brick. Is it that all newer controllers have a problem with the membrane space? Also, I have always had a problem with ps4 silicone ripping after a few months, leaving what feels like a phantom input. X-box ones dont do that. Do you think Sony dose that intentionally or am I just too heavy fingered?
I can't find any info on this but I have a turtle beach atom gamepad and the Dpad is pretty bad, it's really flat with no texture and it's spongy, it was so bad at first I put some textured stickers on it, that gave me a better feel for the positioning but the stickers slid off over time so I left it without them . Why isn't there some kind of special Dpad texture stickers anywhere? I'm considering taking it apart to see if I can do something to make it less spongy a little more clicky but I think it just is what it is. Any ideas? It has 2 issues, it's wide and flat so I can't really feel where I'm pressing and it's spongy which seemingly random engagement points
> Why isn't there some kind of special Dpad texture stickers anywhere?
Because this isn't an issue for most controllers. You can make your own with grip tape.
Or just get a better controller that you like.
@@makho the controller I have, is the only one available, it has to be a wireless Bluetooth controller that fits a tablet. I even had to modify it to get it to fit but there are no other options. The textured stickers I was using work their way off over time, because they're not designed for it, I guess skateboard grip tape would stay on there but that's pretty aggressive. Maybe
@@makho I just came up with an idea. I can buy an NES controller, take the d-pad out, shave it down so it's thin with only the top part left, glue it on. Boom
Yes, the D-pad sucks. I fixed mine using two little squares of electrical tape that I stuck in the place where the pivot of the D-pad rests.
I’m curious if the pro version has these same defects, I can’t buy a Lot of controllers so since it was the only one I was getting for a long time I got the one with better hand ergonomics 🤷♂️
This is the pro version, I just neglected to put "pro" in the original title.
can you make a video explain about how to improve sega saturn dpad like the Retro-Bit SEGA Saturn one?
I don't have that controller and I don't intend to pick one up.
Oh shit I didn’t realize this fails the contra test
Hello friend, I have a question. My sn30-pro has drift on the left stick, so I'm trying to repair it. I see that you know a lot about 8bitdo and I would like to ask you if the 8bitdo sticks can be replaced? I was reading on reddit that Drift can also be caused by controller updates, but I don't know. what do you think?
If you can find the part, I'm sure it can be replaced pretty easily. I don't have a part number for the sticks though so sorry for the non-answer.
The Bluetooth N30 has the exact same issue.
Why not just print a peelable sticker in the same shape/dimensions of the 3d printed shim? It would be thinner & fulfill the same purpose as both the shim + double sided tape.
You're not wrong but how am I going to print a peelable sticker?
Whats app youre using? 🤔
Something I found on the play store. I've since started using this instead though: hardwaretester.com/gamepad
(it works on mobile too)
can you mod it and add a wrist strap
One can drill two small holes -- one on the bottom near the edge and the other in the edge near the bottom. Feed a wrist strap through the two holes and loop it around itself.
will this work with the transparent sn30 2.4g controller
If you're having the same issue, I suspect it will work just fine.
Even ignoring that my controller didnt even last a year before it needed new membranes in everything.
To be honest, I'll take diagonals that are over-sensitive rather than unresponsive. My 8BitDo SN30 (not pro) has pretty stiff diagonals and because of that the controller hasn't seen much use. But My 8BitDo Pro 2 is very good! I've used it for PC games like Elden Ring and with my original SNES via the Retro Receiver.
Good job with this solution! Do you have any suggestions for how to make the unresponsive SN30 more accurate or sensitive?
EDIT: I took my controller apart, cleaned both the membrane and the button contacts on the board with isopropyl alcohol. After putting the controller back together, it worked completely as intended! It now feels better than my original SNES which has aftermarket membranes installed.
My SN30 seems fine as is. I do not have any suggestions for improvement as I'm not able to reproduce the issue. Perhaps try swapping different (aftermarket) membranes?
@@makho Uh, I'm kinda embarrassed to tell you this, but I took it apart and cleaned both the membrane and the board contacts with IPA and it worked as intended after that. 😅
@@makho Thanks for answering anyway! :D
@@MoshugaaniYou shouldn't need to do that but I'm glad it worked anyway, thank you for letting me know. I'll keep that one in my back pocket for these controllers.
@@makho I agree that you _shouldn't_ need to do that, but I guess the production and quality control isn't absolutely top notch at 8bitdo, and residue of some sort was left on the parts that was interfering with its normal operation. I love 8bitdo products, but they aren't perfect. Of course there's always some percentage of faulty items with First Party products as well.
This controller came highly recommended. I'm annoyed that I have to fix this. Shouldn't a reputable mfg have resolved this issue already?
Not everyone is as sensitive to this particular issue. Also, variances in manufacturing tolerances seem to indicate that not every device is even susceptible to this issue.
If you bought one of these and it doesn't perform to your expectations, you should return it. If you'd rather fix it yourself than hold the seller responsible, that's what this video is for.
These diagonals are good, that's how they work on original controller, pick any super nintendo or even n64 dpads and you'll see the same behavior
Anyone has the dpad getting stuck too ? Mine does that sometimes
Other than that, pretty good controller
Can't say I've ever had any buttons get stuck on mine
well, mine is the dpad.... playing tony hawk with it gets a bit awkward sometimes, but it's better than the Switch JoyPad... anyway, thanks for the tip and for the video !!@@makho
Nice! Where did you but that after market SNES membrane?
Probably aliexpress. It's been years and I do not have a link.
@@makhoToo bad…
8bitdo did a great job copying the SNES gamepad design on the SN30 Pro, but I think they got carried away when they arranged the buttons as BA YX instead of the common AB XY. This causes confusion when playing games that follow the Xbox controller button layout. Now I have to disassemble my SN30 Pro too, but for the purpose of switching the buttons to what is the modern layout. How annoying.
The fact that these dpads need to be modified astonishes me. Do people only play mario, or something with these controllers? I got one because EVERYONE says they're the best dpad ever! I was extremely disappointed with my sn30 pro 2 controller. I always accidental diagonals, or missed inputs. Its really annoying. I decided to look it up because it just didn't seem right for the best dpad ever. Apparently its a common issue and theres a different fix each time i look at one. People need to test these games on like tetras, fighting games, and maybe metroid(how i noticed).
After using the Xbox controller so long, its hard to find a good dapd. Wish microsoft would make controller with the dpad and analog stick swapped. The placement is what i feel gives people a bad impression of it.
The Club Nintendo controller is fine, same with the 2.4g SN30. It's really just the SN30 Pro with issues it seems.
I swear the SNES 2.4 gamepad without the sticks is significantly better than this thing. The SNES controller was not meant for sticks. Also thanks for contextualizing my problems with this thing. I remember thinking the dpad felt spongy or somewhat raised? Been awhile. Ill send this around to ward people off of this product if they need a rock solid Dpad.
Looks like a complete waste of time champ
If you say so. I'm sorry you that way but with the controller in hand, I can assure there is a noticeable improvement.