Author Topic: Anybody modified/fixed the D-pad on the XD yet? (Read 17238 times)

wermy · « **on:** December 17, 2015, 03:08:19 pm »

Just got my XD yesterday, and absolutely love it. Exactly what I've always wanted in a portable emulation machine.

My only complaint, like so many others, is the squishy D-pad (and face buttons to a lesser extent).

I was just curious if anyone out there has modified theirs at all to remedy this? I thought about buying a broken DS Lite on ebay, gutting it and taking out the rubber bads below the DS buttons for use in the XD, and seeing if that helps. I didn't want to try this if someone out there has found it wouldn't work, though, since I know taking the XD apart is a pain.

xdplus fanatic-oopsy · « **Reply #1 on:** December 17, 2015, 04:16:53 pm »

Taking the XD apart is not that difficult. It has 4 screws in the corners of the back plate.

Also, the d-pad squishyness is very minor. I had mine for about two months & did NOT have any issue playing games... as well as with the face buttons. Everything worked fine for me.

adventureFAN · « **Reply #2 on:** December 17, 2015, 04:21:44 pm »

Aye, why modify the D-Pad? It's much better then the D-Pad from G5A or G7.
It is like the D-Pad from NDS or 3DS and I like it.

xdplus fanatic-oopsy · « **Reply #3 on:** December 17, 2015, 04:31:26 pm »

Agreed.

wermy · « **Reply #4 on:** December 17, 2015, 04:40:13 pm »

I love the shape and size of the D-pad and it's certainly serviceable (I can play games on it just fine). I just like a little more clickiness/feedback is all.

And as far as taking it apart, I was referencing this thread:

http://boards.dingoonity.org/gpd-devices/teardown-of-gpd-xd-system-(blue-32gb)-and-my-thoughts/

Quote from it:

"In the end I again DO NOT RECOMMEND taking your unit apart as the internals are VERY FRAGILE and even with my 20yrs of engineering skills and micro modding portables experience, I still managed to damage minor stuff that i luckley could repair."

midknight · « **Reply #5 on:** December 17, 2015, 11:51:44 pm »

I'm gonna recommend to not fix what is not broken iv pulled min apart to fix a shoulder button and it was a pain to get back together iv had experience fixing phones and tablets. the xd is mostly held together by clips the screws aren't really doing anything mine actually came missing one. The clips make it so you can only reassemble it so many times

eragon2890 · « **Reply #6 on:** December 18, 2015, 12:05:21 am »

I am not gonna try to "fix" the dpad because by know I love the dpad, it's super accurate, fast, and comfy, and durable.
Can weave precisely trough bullets in dondonpachi with ease.

I do HATE how low my buttons are, like one milimetre above plastic, so after three months I am going to try and fix that (if not work, I am just gonna buy new one and sell this one for 50 or 75 euros, the speakers crackle a bit on max volume but for the rest it works 100% perfect and the face buttons DO work fine, most people won?t have a real issue with it, it?s just my autism drive for perfection I guess.)

But the solution I am gonna try is simply stick these on top of the buttons: (something like this)

They are anti scratch, anti-slip, self-adhesive glas pads with the exact same shape and I believe size of the buttons. Stick one of the top and you instantly have a less slippery, and much much higher sitting button. The room between the buttons as they are now and the screen should mean it can still close, and even if it touches it, it's anti-scratch anyway.

100 for 2 euros at the local store. Don't have to open it up or anything either! And they're transparent, so you can still see the markings on the buttons below!

If it doesn?t work, I can remove them in 5 seconds and sell the device (they don't leave any marks or have any capability of causing damage in any way) after I know the replacement works and is better.

wermy · « **Reply #7 on:** December 18, 2015, 03:54:43 pm »

Thanks for the feedback, guys. Sounds like it's not worth the risk of taking it apart.

I guess "fix" was probably a poor choice of word. I wasn't saying it is broken, just far mushier than I like (and is really the only widespread complaint I've seen about the XD).

shinkamui · « **Reply #8 on:** January 04, 2016, 07:10:56 am »

Ordered a 3ds xl button kit, going to try and replace the dpad. I've already opened the xd several times without issue, not sure if the dpad will fit, but it was 4 bucks. From a non scientific image comparison, the two look near identical in size minus the curvature, and Im seeing the pivot on the 3ds is longer, which is what i want. Will update when i replace/break the xd.

ChrisRR · « **Reply #9 on:** January 04, 2016, 10:23:25 am »

Quote from: shinkamui on January 04, 2016, 07:10:56 am

Ordered a 3ds xl button kit, going to try and replace the dpad. I've already opened the xd several times without issue, not sure if the dpad will fit, but it was 4 bucks. From a non scientific image comparison, the two look near identical in size minus the curvature, and Im seeing the pivot on the 3ds is longer, which is what i want. Will update when i replace/break the xd.

Are you planning to replace the dpad rubber or just the plastics? It looks like the 3DS uses electronic switches instead of pcb track contacts so I'm not sure replacing the rubber would work.
I'll be interested to know how replacing the plastics goes though!

shinkamui · « **Reply #10 on:** January 05, 2016, 05:32:13 am »

just the plastic dpad itself. The contacts seem to work fine. I pulled my dpad out early and crushed the stem to increase the pivot length at the cost of its integrity. For a while, the dpad was awesome. However, its wearing down due to use, so im looking to replace it with a unit that already has a longer pivot. The 3ds pad looks like a winner, if it fits (minor sanding might be necessary, but dimension wise, it looks like gpd basically duplicated the design). Parts arrive tomorrow, will post back.

tekkendp · « **Reply #11 on:** January 05, 2016, 02:37:43 pm »

Quote from: shinkamui on January 05, 2016, 05:32:13 am

just the plastic dpad itself. The contacts seem to work fine. I pulled my dpad out early and crushed the stem to increase the pivot length at the cost of its integrity. For a while, the dpad was awesome. However, its wearing down due to use, so im looking to replace it with a unit that already has a longer pivot. The 3ds pad looks like a winner, if it fits (minor sanding might be necessary, but dimension wise, it looks like gpd basically duplicated the design). Parts arrive tomorrow, will post back.

Would you be able to upload some pictures of the console in pieces when you work on it? Thanks!!!!

shinkamui · « **Reply #12 on:** January 05, 2016, 05:41:48 pm »

in order to remove the dpad, the console doesn't have to be fully dissassembled. I can take pictures, but its only going to show the case partially separated.

shinkamui · « **Reply #13 on:** January 07, 2016, 04:52:40 am »

Just replaced the dpad. kit came with all the buttons, and some membranes. Not bad for 4$. Anyway, the DPAD on the 3ds xl is identical as many expected to the GPD design. The 3DS dpad has a slightly sharper angle on the curve of the dpad cross than gpd added. Depth wise they are the same, size wise they are exactly the same. Replacing my dpad was definitely an improvement, but i couldn't say if its better than stock. When i pulled out the old dpad, its very clear how the pivot had bent after being compressed and lengthened. Probably wont bother attempting another mod of the dpad without having something specifically 3d printed with a longer pivot. Ill post some pics tomorrow of the original dpad and the new installed 3ds pad.

Diagonals are perfect, im still pulling off combos in SFIII, alpha, and alpha 2 without issue, though with the loss of pad depth, my accuracy has dropped from 9/10 to around a 7.5/10.

I think at this point it confirms for me that the original hype machine was right. GPDs dpad originally had very easy to hit and accurate diagonals. The discomfort of the short dpad combine with the poor built in emulators inaccurately indicated that the stock pad wasn't very good. I would recommend to anyone considering going through this annoyance for nothing, to first make sure they try emulation through retroarch and see if they dont notice an instant improvement.

ChrisRR · « **Reply #14 on:** January 07, 2016, 08:27:33 am »

Thanks for the update shinkamui. Could you post a link to the kit you bought?

eragon2890 · « **Reply #15 on:** January 07, 2016, 09:39:30 am »

About the dpad, I feel the same. I mean I don't like the face buttons are so mushy (tough I Resolved mysewlf to not be irritated by it as much as first after putting those things above on top only made it worse...), but the dpad is absolutely fantastic.

At first I didn't really like it that much and thought it wasn't very accurate, but after getting used to it in about a month I am literally weaving trough bullets in dondonpachi via built-in arcade emulator. Absolutely fantastic. Street figther, contra 3 etc. are all perfect on the dpad. For those two games too, i don't really like the face buttons... so I mosttly play awesome android games (sine mora anyone!), rpg, racing, flight sims, platformers like mario 64 and gex 3, arcade shooters etc. on the xd, games where you don't need to hammer two buttons 10 times in a row within two miliseconds of each other.

But the dpad is absolutely perfect once you get used to it.

Shinkamui, just out of interest, what do you mean by "crushing the stem" ? I don't mean to be rude, but that sounds like you are trying to destroy the unit, like when I sawed trough my G5a with a screwdriver like a maniac to improve dpad diagonals (Which actually worked btw, so I have no right to complain XD).

Why would you crush the stem...?

ChrisRR · « **Reply #16 on:** January 07, 2016, 11:45:15 am »

Quote from: eragon2890 on January 07, 2016, 09:39:30 am

Why would you crush the stem...?

To make the stem longer so the dpad can rock on it.

shinkamui · « **Reply #17 on:** January 07, 2016, 05:22:14 pm »

Quote from: eragon2890 on January 07, 2016, 09:39:30 am

About the dpad, I feel the same. I mean I don't like the face buttons are so mushy (tough I Resolved mysewlf to not be irritated by it as much as first after putting those things above on top only made it worse...), but the dpad is absolutely fantastic.

At first I didn't really like it that much and thought it wasn't very accurate, but after getting used to it in about a month I am literally weaving trough bullets in dondonpachi via built-in arcade emulator. Absolutely fantastic. Street figther, contra 3 etc. are all perfect on the dpad. For those two games too, i don't really like the face buttons... so I mosttly play awesome android games (sine mora anyone!), rpg, racing, flight sims, platformers like mario 64 and gex 3, arcade shooters etc. on the xd, games where you don't need to hammer two buttons 10 times in a row within two miliseconds of each other.

But the dpad is absolutely perfect once you get used to it.

Shinkamui, just out of interest, what do you mean by "crushing the stem" ? I don't mean to be rude, but that sounds like you are trying to destroy the unit, like when I sawed trough my G5a with a screwdriver like a maniac to improve dpad diagonals (Which actually worked btw, so I have no right to complain XD).

Why would you crush the stem...?

As ChrisRR just said, it was to lengthen the pivot to provide more feel on the dpad (more exposed out of the casing) and to give it more travel. It absolutely worked for a decent period of time (day one unit), but eventually as the photos i will post later will show, the weakened integrity allowed it to bend and eventually return to its natural height. Because of the change in pivot location, it also made back/right diagnonals slightly harder to hit. This is the reason for the 3ds kit. I tried to upload some pics and the link to the kit this morning, but the site went down (i really hope it wasn't my fault!). Will try a reupload now. GPD would have done better by including the Q9 dpad. That circular rocker simply resolves the issues present here while giving them plenty of low clearance. Having looked at the internals, there's just no physical or technical reason visible for not having done that. I think the cloning of the 3ds form factor right down to near identical parts was the overarching goal. I hope they consider using the q9 pad on this new device. on the pcb, you still take up the same amount of space either way, the difference is only in how the casing is cut.

shinkamui · « **Reply #18 on:** January 07, 2016, 05:26:25 pm »

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-Official-Authentic-Nintendo-3DS-XL-Part-Black-Button-Set-Rubber-Pad/301013908058?_trksid=p3693.c100102.m2452&_trkparms=ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140212121249%26meid%3D4683ab98162e4f4f9d72518700975dbd%26pid%3D100102%26

ChrisRR · « **Reply #19 on:** January 07, 2016, 09:10:04 pm »

@shinkamui. Thanks for the pics. It looks like from your pics that the same result could be achieved by sticking some sort of 1mm thick material to the PCB underneath the pivot.
From what you've tried already, do you think that would work or should I just forget all that and just use a 3DS pad like you?

Author Topic: Anybody modified/fixed the D-pad on the XD yet? (Read 17238 times)

wermy (OP)

wermy (OP)

wermy (OP)