Lacky/Sticky PS4 Controller on PC

dangermouse425 · 23 Mar 2025 at 19:10

I was playing Space Marine 2 on my PC and joystick movement was laggy and "sticky", ie: kept moving after I'd let go of it for half a second or so.

It doesn't do this when plugged in, so do you think it could be my Bluetooth adapter?

The adapter is only a cheap one (Avantree DG40S - has bluetooth 4.0), do you think buying a newer Bluetooth adapter might help? The TP-Link Nano has Bluetooth 5.3. I'm not sure if that would help?

Yrkoon · 23 Mar 2025 at 22:01

dangermouse425 said:
I was playing Space Marine 2 on my PC and joystick movement was laggy and "sticky", ie: kept moving after I'd let go of it for half a second or so.

It doesn't do this when plugged in, so do you think it could be my Bluetooth adapter?

The adapter is only a cheap one (Avantree DG40S - has bluetooth 4.0), do you think buying a newer Bluetooth adapter might help? The TP-Link Nano has Bluetooth 5.3. I'm not sure if that would help?

not sure but have you tried using this https://ds4-windows.com/

when i used to use a ps4 pad some games were flakey without that app and others were flakey with it running, worth a try though, i found it awesome on some games and others were better with not using it.

edit i also have a tp link nano but only use bluetooth with it on a xbox controller not tried my ps pads on it but it hasnt skipped a beat

dangermouse425 · 24 Mar 2025 at 06:52

Yrkoon said:
not sure but have you tried using this https://ds4-windows.com/

when i used to use a ps4 pad some games were flakey without that app and others were flakey with it running, worth a try though, i found it awesome on some games and others were better with not using it.

edit i also have a tp link nano but only use bluetooth with it on a xbox controller not tried my ps pads on it but it hasnt skipped a beat

Thanks, I'll give it a go!

Bubo · 24 Mar 2025 at 10:42

Could be the sticks are drifting due to wear on the carbon traces in the stick. Youtube is awash with guides on replacing sticks on controllers, and some of them have links to two popular testing programmes you can use to see if you do have actual drift, and to calibrate after replacing the sticks. If you also have a look in the Console forum on here and look for "Vince's Repair Thread", you'll see multiple people reporting how they have got on with replacing sticks/potentiometers on various controllers, including me on a PS5 dualsense.