PS3: Details of bluetooth module available?

[toodles]

I suppose I'll start out by making clear the goal of all of this. The folks at Evo2k.com that run the annual Evolution fighting game tournament use PS3's for running their current gen games. Most folks with arcade sticks have no problem, but a lot of folks like to use the SIXAXIS or DualShock 3 pads instead. Letting these be used in the tournaments is fine, but a problem has shown up that they've asked me to see if there is a technical solution for.

After someone plays with a pad, the pad is still bluetooth synced to the PS3 they were just playing on. It is possible, even accidentally easy, for the person to hit the PS button and interfere with the match now playing on the console. We want to avoid this.

The goal of this is to make it so that pads such as the SIXAXIS and DS3 can still play on one of the tournament's PS3's, just by plugging in and playing like normal, but to make the pad unable to interact with the PS3 after the USB cable has been disconnected. The pads themselves belong to the players, so there can be NO modification of the pads. However, modification of the PS3 and use of any other devices is fair game.

Some sort of RF jammer is right out; it would interfere with Wii based games using the Wii-mote. Modification of the pads is out as well.

I know that the SIXAXIS *can* communicate its status over USB, by how the programs that allow them to be used on PCs works. What I don't know for certain is whether it communicates its status over USB when plugged into a PS3. If so, then if I can disable the bluetooth module on the PS3's by opening them up, then that would allow the pads to work when plugged in via USB, and nothing would communicate over bluetooth.

I guess what I need is:
1. Can anyone confirm or deny if the SXIAXIS and other pads will work on a PS3 over USB with NO bluetooth connection to the console?
2. Can anyone help me locate information on the location and pinout of the bluetooth module used on the PS3 (mostly 60 gig versions, some 80. Willing to swap all to 80 or 40 gig versions if easier)?

Any help or discussion is appreciated.

[Aguiluz]

After someone plays with a pad, the pad is still bluetooth synced to the PS3 they were just playing on. It is possible, even accidentally easy, for the person to hit the PS button and interfere with the match now playing on the console. We want to avoid this.

Then ask the people to poke "RESET" on the controller when they are out. That will desync the controller.

(It's a tiny hole in the back of the DS3 and Sixaxis.)

[RDC]

After someone plays with a pad, the pad is still bluetooth synced to the PS3 they were just playing on. It is possible, even accidentally easy, for the person to hit the PS button and interfere with the match now playing on the console. We want to avoid this.

Then ask the people to poke "RESET" on the controller when they are out. That will desync the controller.

(It's a tiny hole in the back of the DS3 and Sixaxis.)

Have you ever tried this? because it doesn't 'desync' the controller from the PS3, it just turns it off.


@toodles - Pull the BT board out of one of the PS3 consoles and find out. If I had one for testing I'd already have done it and posted that info instead, but that's the first step you'll kinda have to take since messing with the controllers is out.

One thing ya may be able to do with the controllers though is make up a clip/cover that goes over the center of the controller, that way the Home button can't be messed with either, that of course is dependent on the people with the controllers keeping their peter fingers to themselves, which they obviously can't do or ya probably wouldn't be looking into this.

[toodles]

@toodles - Pull the BT board out of one of the PS3 consoles and find out. If I had one for testing I'd already have done it and posted that info instead, but that's the first step you'll kinda have to take since messing with the controllers is out.

Well, I looked into that, going over some of the teardown images I could find. It appears that the BT chip and a NOR storage (presumably for paired device info) is on the wifi daughterboard. I found a data sheet for the NOR storage that looked promising (figuring if I could control one of the enable lines it would do the trick, keeping any paired ID data from being accessed) but the chips are ball grid type packages; no access to any of the pins. I haven't found a pinout for the daughterboard connection, so I can't try and tap or control through it either. I could try forcibly yanking one of the chips out, but that'd risk making the system unusable, a gamble I'm not going to take on one of mine, and I doubt they'd be willing to sacrifice one of theirs to find out. I could try just removing the wireless daughterboard and seeing if the system boots without it. I'll try that next time I have a PS3 open in front of me.

[palmertech]

Another thing to note: Every bluetooth board I have ever seen in a console has an antenna attached to it, either integrated into the PCB, or attached via a wire. Which is it on the PS3? I bet you could cut a wire/trace and be done with it. The bluetooth board will be there, so it will register in the hardware check, but it will simply be unable to communicate.