The prerequisite, stated before anything else: the DualShock 3 works with InputMapper ONLY through a Mayflash Magic-NS dongle. It is not native support. Read InputMapper’s official input list carefully and you will see the entry written exactly that way — Sony DualShock 3 (via Magic-NS Dongle). The dongle is not an optional accessory that improves the connection. It is the bridge that makes the connection exist at all. Without a Magic-NS, there is no DS3 path into InputMapper, and no setting in the software changes that.
This page exists because that one line is easy to skim past, and readers have wasted evenings trying to pair a DualShock 3 directly and wondering what they did wrong. The answer is: nothing — the hardware step was missing. Below you will find what you need, how the dongle pairing concept works, what you can honestly expect once it is running, the same prerequisite that applies to the PlayStation Move Navigation Controller, and the basic troubleshooting order when things refuse to cooperate.
Already own the dongle? Then the rest of your setup follows the normal path: software from the download page, workflow from how to use InputMapper, and layouts from the profiles guide.
What You Need
The shopping list is short, and one item on it is non-negotiable.
What you need:
- A genuine Sony DualShock 3 controller, charged.
- A Mayflash Magic-NS wireless adapter dongle — required. This is the bridge InputMapper’s official list names for DS3 input. No dongle, no DS3.
- A PC with InputMapper and ViGEmBus installed.
- A USB cable for the pairing step and for charging.
Get the Mayflash Magic-NS Adapter
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Note what is not on the list: any claim that a plain Bluetooth adapter will do. Whatever a DualShock 3 can be persuaded to do with other software stacks is a different project. For InputMapper, the official, documented route is the Magic-NS — the same way the DualShock 4 needs no help at all, as our PS4 controller connection guide shows by contrast.
How It Works: The Dongle Is the Translator
It helps to picture the signal chain. Your DualShock 3 talks to the Magic-NS. The Magic-NS — a Mayflash wireless adapter that plugs into a USB port — translates the controller into a standard device your PC understands, presenting it through its XInput or DirectInput modes. InputMapper then sees that presented device as its input, and from that point everything is normal InputMapper: assign buttons, build a profile, and output to a virtual Xbox 360 controller (via ViGEmBus), a virtual DS4 (via ViGEmBus), or keyboard and mouse.
That middle step explains both why this works and where its limits come from. InputMapper is mapping what the dongle presents, not interrogating the DS3 directly. Whatever the dongle’s modes carry across — the standard buttons and sticks — is what you get to map.
Setup Steps
Step 1: Set the dongle’s mode. The Magic-NS has multiple operating modes, selected on the adapter itself, which change how it presents a connected controller to the PC. For use with InputMapper, choose one of its standard controller modes — XInput or DirectInput — so the DS3 arrives as a conventional gamepad. If the controller later behaves oddly or does not appear, the mode is the first suspect; the modes exist for different host devices, and the wrong one will not present the pad the way Windows and InputMapper expect.
Step 2: Pair the DualShock 3 to the dongle. The pairing concept is that the DS3 bonds to the adapter, not to Windows. Typically this involves connecting the controller to the adapter by cable for the initial handshake, then disconnecting and letting the wireless link take over, following the adapter’s own pairing instructions for a PS3 controller. Once paired, the dongle remembers the controller, and future sessions should reconnect through the adapter without repeating the ceremony.
Step 3: Confirm the chain in order. Verify each link before blaming the next one. Does the dongle respond and indicate a connected controller? Does Windows see a gamepad and respond to its buttons in the controller panel? Only then open InputMapper and confirm the device appears as an input. This order — dongle, Windows, InputMapper — will save you more time than any single tip on this page.
Step 4: Build your profile. Press every button and assign it deliberately; do not assume a default layout matches how the dongle presents the pad. Save the profile with a name you will recognise, and test it in a game menu before a session that matters.
What Works — and What Not to Expect
What works is the core of the controller: the standard buttons and the analog sticks, carried through the dongle’s XInput/DirectInput presentation and then mapped by InputMapper like any other input. For the large job of “use my old, familiar, well-made DS3 in PC games,” that is the whole requirement, and it is a satisfying piece of hardware recycling.
What we will not promise is the DualShock 3’s exotic hardware character — most famously its pressure-sensitive face buttons. Keep your expectations at the level of the dongle’s standard controller modes: buttons and sticks, presented conventionally. If a game or guide describes a feature that depended on the DS3 talking natively to a PlayStation 3, do not plan around it surviving two layers of translation. This honesty is deliberate. The DS3-through-Magic-NS route is good at what it is, and overselling it only produces disappointed setups.
The PlayStation Move Navigation Controller Note
The DualShock 3 is not the only device with this exact arrangement. InputMapper’s official list also includes the PlayStation Move Navigation Controller (via Magic-NS Dongle) — the same prerequisite, the same bridge. That one-handed navigation controller can be a surprisingly comfortable companion device for certain games and desktop control, but the rule is identical: no Magic-NS, no input. If you are buying the dongle for a DS3, you are also unlocking the listed route for the Navigation Controller.
Troubleshooting Basics
The DS3 does not appear in InputMapper. Walk the chain backwards: is the dongle in a standard XInput/DirectInput mode, does it show the controller as connected, and does Windows itself respond to the pad? InputMapper cannot list a device Windows has not received.
It worked yesterday and not today. Re-pair the controller to the dongle — wireless bonds get forgotten, especially if the DS3 has since been connected to a console. Also confirm the dongle’s mode has not been switched accidentally.
Inputs register twice. If the game sees both the presented device and InputMapper’s virtual output, that is the classic double input problem; see the double input fix and consider hiding the physical device with HidHide, covered in our HidHide guide.
Everything connects but the layout is wrong. Rebuild the profile rather than editing around it, pressing each control in turn. With a translation layer in the middle, assumed layouts are guesses.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use a DualShock 3 with InputMapper without a Magic-NS?
No. InputMapper’s official input list gives the entry as Sony DualShock 3 (via Magic-NS Dongle). The Mayflash Magic-NS adapter is a required prerequisite, not an optional extra — there is no native DS3 support.
What does the Magic-NS actually do in this setup?
It is the translator in the middle. The DualShock 3 pairs to the dongle, the dongle presents it to your PC through its XInput or DirectInput modes, and InputMapper maps that presented device like any other input.
Will the DS3’s pressure-sensitive buttons work?
Do not count on it. Expect the standard buttons and sticks as presented by the dongle’s conventional controller modes. Features that depended on the DS3 talking natively to a PlayStation 3 should not be assumed to survive the translation.
Does the PlayStation Move Navigation Controller need the dongle too?
Yes. It is listed in InputMapper’s official inputs as PlayStation Move Navigation Controller (via Magic-NS Dongle) — exactly the same prerequisite as the DualShock 3.