[Solved:] Lower right shoulder button not working

[F_Slim]

Hi,

I got my Pyra but the lower right shoulder button is not working.

Checking the output with xenv ... nothing. Just ... very, very rarely it does register as Control_R, but usually nothing.

So it seems like a defective contact? I opened the Pyra and removed the cover of the button so I can directly press the microswitch (in case it's just the plastic part). The microswitch does not seem lose and it clicks normally when pressed. Also gently pushing did not reveal any "sweet spot" where it works ... actually I had more luck registering clicks with the button cover installed.

Is there anything else I can do or try?

(Not keen on sending it back, but I am not good enough at soldering to try something in that direction without a high risk of frying the board)

 

[asimov-solensan]

I can tell you that in my case, after a fall, my shoulder button stopped working.

After opening the case everything looked alright. The button was still attached and everything.

But after pushing it here and there with the multimeter pins I just deattached it from its place. After soldering again I got it working.

With this I want to say that although the button looks and feels fine, it may be that contacts are broken.

 

[F_Slim]

Hm, suddenly it's working most of the time

Could this be a SW/config problem?
I tried to run PPSSPP, which just shows a black screen. So I just rebooted the Pyra and noticed that the left shoulder button for shift was not working (and start, select etc.). Until I started and closed PSXRearmed, which fixed it (guess it resets the button config).
And now the right shoulder button also seems to work ...

Before I noticed the right shoulder button problem I didn't really do anything though. Just went through the OS setup. calibrated the touch screen, did an apt upgrade ... loaded the battery.
It was only after my post that I started to set up an SD card and try a few DBPs ...

Or maybe it just hit the "sweet spot" of the loose contact now ...
Guess I'll have to wait and see how it behaves over time.

 

[jedi23]

As you correctly suspected, some dbps really do tinker with the configs and they set them back after quitting the game/emulator normally.
I had similar issues after mupen64plus crashed. These commands reactivate the keys or the mouse control:
sudo pyrainputctl enable gamepad
sudo pyrainputctl enable keypad
sudo pyrainputctl enable mouse

However, if I understand correctly, your lower right shoulder button was not working from the very beginning. Thats strange, but since now all shoulder buttons work after quitting PPSSPP normally, it probably was just a sw/config issue.

 

[F_Slim]

That's good to know, thanks! I guess we do need to expand the Wiki a bit with this kind of information. (And somebody has to pin your Unofficial Quick Reference thread!)

Let's see if it healed itself or just falls apart after a few days using it
I probably will not find much time do play around with it until the Easter holidays though ... real life sucks

 

[Askarus]

Hey, I had quite a few Pyras with defective shoulder buttons.
Those got easily fixed by butting some alcohol onto/into it and pressing the button a few times.
So if you have contact spray or alcohol at hand, you can easily fix it.

Hopefully this is the only case of non-functional shoulder buttons.
If not then the alcohol method only works temporarily.
In best case I just overlooked that one and no other issues arise.

If you do not have alcohol, just press the button with a gentle force several times.
That should also improve it.
The boards are quite old already and some contacts need some love to get fresh again.
This most likely is not a software issue.

 

[F_Slim]

Alcohol ? ... well ... I have a bottle of Bourbon right here ? ...

But this is also very reassuring. And would also explain why it suddenly started to work! (I was actually wondering if some dirt might be the issue but then thought that a microswitch is too small to pick up dirt).
So I guess I'll just keep using it and maybe try to clean it with some contact spray if it fails to react.

Thanks everyone!