PS3 controller on Windows 8.1 via bluetooth

A PS3 Sixaxis controller can be used as an input device on Windows 8.1.

For this to work the free Motion In Joy (MiJ) application needs to be installed: http://www.motioninjoy.com/download. At the time of writing, for Windows 8.1 x64, select v0.7.1000 (testing).

Using the controller via a wired USB connection almost always works, but using a wireless Bluetooth connection can be a problem.

Possible error: "Wait for bluetooth adabter to be connected" (Yes, there is a typo in adabter)

The causes for this are:
  1. MiJ installs its own non-signed bluetooth driver, which is not allowed on Windows 8 unless the system is started with "driver signature enforcement" disabled
  2. The bluetooth device's hardware id is not in the INF file of the MiJ bluetooth driver
The following instructions are from WingedT on:
http://forums.motioninjoy.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=3764&start=10

I revised them and put them on my blog in case that post is deleted from the Motion In Joy forum.

Instructions for bluetooth support:
  1. Before starting, make sure bluetooth works by clicking the Bluetooth icon in the tray in right-bottom corner and selecting "Show bluetooth devices". If there are none, try "Add a bluetooth device" and try to pair e.g. a mobile phone. If this works, continue
  2. Install and start MiJ's DS3 Tool
  3. Select "Driver Manager" and click "install all"
    It might be that MiJ drivers for both devices (USB and bluetooth) are installed correctly. In that case they both have a green checkmark at the end in the MotionInJoy column. If one has a red cross, then most probably that is the bluetooth driver and that has not been installed
  4. Take the Hardware ID of that device and strip the revision part, i.e. for a Lenovo Y510P this might be that USB\VID_8087&PID_07DA&REV_7869 becomes USB\VID_8087&PID_07DA
  5. Open C:\Program Files\MotioninJoy\ds3\drivers\MijXinput.inf in a text editor. 
    1. Find and replace:
      ;BLUETOOTH DONGLE
      with
      ;BLUETOOTH DONGLE
      %MIJ.DeviceName%=CC_Install, USB\VID_8087&PID_07DA
    2. Delete the following line:
      catalog=MijXinput.cat
    3. Save and exit
  6. Restart Windows 8 with Advanced Options so Driver Signature Enforcement can be disabled. Open a command prompt (Win + X, command prompt) and type:
    shutdown /r o
  7. In the Advanced Options screen, select Advanced Options -> Windows Startup Settings -> Restart
  8. In the next screen with the Advanced Option to enable, choose: 7. Disable Driver Signature Enforcement. A reboot will follow
  9. Select "Driver Manager" and click "install all". Now both devices should have a green check mark:

  10. Exit and restart DS3 tool and once again click "Load driver". Now the bluetooth driver should be selectable in the BluetoothPair tab:

7 comments:

Unknown said...

I want to tell you THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!

Unknown said...

Hi! I've followed all the steps but in last one, where my bluetooth is paired with the PS3 controller, once I unplug the USB cable, It disapears and I can't use it wireless... is there any kind of solution? coz if I plug it again, the control is acknowledged

John Rom said...

You should try Scarlet Crush's XInput wrapper for PS3 and DualShock controllers. It's the same core concept, it installs a USB driver over your Bluetooth Driver, but it's been more reliable for me in terms of connectivity.

Install the bluetooth driver via Zadig, then install the XInput wrapper, unchecking the "Install Bluetooth Driver" option.

ellr0m said...

I love you!!! Thanks!

Kaaven said...

I got the same issue as Édgar García, I don't get it to be wireless...

Unknown said...

hi i've followed your instruction..but i d0nt kn0w if what device i need to get a hardware id??and also my laptop issue cannot disable driver signature verification..h0w can i fix that..thank you

Blaze said...

I tried to change the thing on notepad but it says access denied when i tried to save it