My Vita keeps pressing down (even when I'm pressing up)

[RachelCharlotte]

Hey,

a while ago I got a Vita (again) and for some days everything was fine. After that I noticed ghostly movements in Fifa's menus, but that was only annoying. When I started playing Rayman Legends however, this made the game quite impossible: With the system thinking that I'm constantly pressing down on my directional buttons I simply have no chance of finishing the game. I thought I had found the culprit when I deleted Fifa and took out the cartridge, but about two weeks later and without any warning (I was in the middle of a level) it happened again. Switching the console off did not help, I initialised the Vita too (thank you very much for that great introduction video - again -,-) without any success. I tried turning off and on the Wifi and I could play for an hour or so before the console returned to its stupid condition.

 

It's as if someone was using a second controller with the same frequency and they keep pushing down at least 80% of the time. There are pauses (including the hopeful moment after booting up the system), but most of the time I'm not in control of a considerable amount of what's going on.

 

I can say with certainty that the misinterpreting part comes from the buttons instead of the left stick, otherwise th players in FIFA would have behaved differently. Can someone tell me what about the temporary fixes I need to change in order to get it to work?

 

I forgot to mention that it's the first model, more specifically the 3G version (with no Sim card inserted).

Edited April 24, 2017 by Karlsson89

[Ichiban-Hybrid]

By any chance is the vita a slim?

 

Usually the Vita slim has that problem when its used for quite a while. Id had that happen to my analog stick. It makes a ghost input to the left..

[Venenum80]

Could be humidity, try blowing the stick with an hairdryer.

[Eyjabria]

Got this issue 8 months after purchase of my Vita slim (left stick drifting to the right). Very annoying and made some games semi-unplayable. Got it temporarily fixed by rotating the sticks for a while with console turned off, but eventually the issue returned.

If you have warranty left, return the console.

[Nihiris-]

It's clearly haunted.

 

If you have an active warranty I'd send it to Sony. Or an exorcist, whichever works better.

[Dav9834]

Normally I would say it needs cleaning, especially sense you think it's a button. But from what others are saying that it is common idk. 

I have the slim but no issues. 

If it were me I would open it up and clean it with 90% alcohol where the issue is under the pad using a fine cotton cloth. 

Edited April 24, 2017 by Dav9834

[RachelCharlotte]

1 hour ago, Ichiban-Hybrid said:

By any chance is the vita a slim?

 

Usually the Vita slim has that problem when its used for quite a while. Id had that happen to my analog stick. It makes a ghost input to the left..

 

Nope, it's the 3G version of the original model. But I'll try to see if not using it for a day or so helps.

 

1 hour ago, Venenum80 said:

Could be humidity, try blowing the stick with an hairdryer.

 

That sounds interesting, it certainly is more humid in my new place than where I used to live.

 

1 hour ago, Eyjabria said:

Got this issue 8 months after purchase of my Vita slim (left stick drifting to the right). Very annoying and made some games semi-unplayable. Got it temporarily fixed by rotating the sticks for a while with console turned off, but eventually the issue returned.

If you have warranty left, return the console.

 

I bought a used system from someone who got it from Gamestop - I've no idea yet what that means for warranty. New consoles seem to be impossible to get, at least here.

 

46 minutes ago, Dav9834 said:

Normally I would say it needs cleaning, especially sense you think it's a button. But from what others are saying that it is common idk. 

I have the slim but no issues. 

If it were me I would open it up and clean it with 90% alcohol where the issue is under the pad using a fine cotton cloth. 

 

If there are instructions or even videos on opening it, I might actually try this in spite of my general clumsiness (only if there is no warranty left of course).

 

 

 

Thanks for all the swift replies

[Dav9834]

2 hours ago, Karlsson89 said:

 

Nope, it's the 3G version of the original model. But I'll try to see if not using it for a day or so helps.

 

 

That sounds interesting, it certainly is more humid in my new place than where I used to live.

 

 

I bought a used system from someone who got it from Gamestop - I've no idea yet what that means for warranty. New consoles seem to be impossible to get, at least here.

 

 

If there are instructions or even videos on opening it, I might actually try this in spite of my general clumsiness (only if there is no warranty left of course).

 

 

 

Thanks for all the swift replies

At the 7 minute mark, that's the board for the d-pad(you said directional buttons so I'm definitely assuming you mean the d-pad) 

About 7:15 seconds you see the under side of that board pretty clearly, the silver looking areas are where you want to clean with 90% alcohol, also take out the conductive white rubber that presses down on those silver spots and clean with just water no alcohol. 

 

You don't have to take out all the screws in the video because you only want to clean that side. Not difficult, but this is the first time I've seen a teardown of the vita and damn am I impressed with how Sony built it. It's beautiful. 

Just remember to 

A- Use the correct screw driver, you usually get a pack, make sure they're metric. You want it to fit in the screw perfectly and push down as you turn. Very easy with the right size. 

 

B- Seperate the screws! The guy in the video clearly was going for just dismantle and worry about the screws later. It's a pain when they're all grouped. 

 

That's it! 

If the d pad is the problem that will more than likely fix it.

If it's the joystick, eh... Those need to be replaced and you're better off going to a repair shop. 

 

Or you could just bring it to a repair shop now and tell them the problem 

 

Hope I helped! : ) 

I'd tear mine down if it was having an issue with the dpad to show.