DS5DongleTray

DS5DongleTray is a small Windows notification-area app for DS5Dongle. It reads the connected DualSense battery level, firmware version, and Bluetooth RSSI. It also provides a settings window for DS5Dongle firmware config.

DS5DongleTray is intended to work with the original DS5Dongle firmware as long as the dongle exposes the existing host config reports used by the web config page. Original firmware gets official release checking and download-only update assistance; custom firmware also enables tray-assisted flashing when the version contains -custom.

Release executables are self-contained Windows x64 builds, so installing the .NET Desktop Runtime separately is not required.

Download one of these files from the latest GitHub Release:

• DS5DongleTray-<tag>-win-x64.exe

SHA256 checksum files are also attached:

• DS5DongleTray-<tag>-win-x64.exe.sha256

1. Run the downloaded .exe.
2. If Windows SmartScreen appears, choose More info, then Run anyway.
3. DS5DongleTray starts in the Windows notification area / system tray.
4. If the icon is hidden, open the tray overflow arrow near the taskbar clock.
5. Right-click the DS5DongleTray icon to open the menu.

The tray menu shows battery, firmware version, and RSSI when the dongle is connected. It also provides:

• Refresh now
• Settings...
• Open Config Page
• Open GitHub Repository
• Exit
• Update Firmware...

DS5DongleTray can show a small, click-through battery overlay near the top-right of the primary display. Overlay triggers are configurable in Settings... > Overlay:

• Battery is low
• PS button is pressed
• Charging state changes
• Tray icon is left-clicked

The low-battery threshold and display duration are also configurable. DS5DongleTray uses lightweight 100 ms input-report polling for overlay triggers and caches that input report battery state for faster tray updates. Input-report polling can be disabled by turning off the overlay triggers that need it.

Settings... > General can enable DS5DongleTray at Windows sign-in for the current user. This uses the current user's Windows Run registry key and does not require administrator rights.

General settings can also enable automatic firmware and app update checks. DS5DongleTray checks once shortly after startup, then at most once per day. Available updates are shown quietly in the tray menu as Update available: <tag> or App update available: <tag>; up-to-date results are hidden.

Audio Guard / Audio Check is tracked as a planned feature for detecting DS5Dongle speaker and microphone default-device issues.

The tray menu opens a settings window that can apply the commonly used official config-v5 fields:

• Haptics gain
• Speaker gain
• Adaptive-trigger reduction
• Inactive disconnect time
• Disable Pico LED
• Disable microphone
• Disable speaker/headset
• Wake host on PS press
• Polling rate mode
• Audio buffer length
• Controller mode
• Enable USB serial number
• PS button shortcut for Xbox Guide

Settings are applied to RAM immediately with 0xF6 + 0x01. Use Save to persist them across reboots. Descriptor-related changes prompt for Reconnect USB after saving. Speaker/headset volume remains under OS or official web-config control, matching the official web UI.

The Firmware tab also supports profiles and a Reset Defaults action. The built-in Default profile mirrors the official web UI: haptics gain 1.00, speaker gain 2, trigger reduction Auto, haptics buffer 64, inactive time 30 minutes, 250 Hz polling, controller mode Auto, and all toggles off. Save current stores the current settings as a named preset, Load copies a preset into the controls, and Delete removes a saved user preset. Profiles are stored in the same per-user settings file as the overlay options.

Update Firmware... checks releases from the matching firmware channel. Original firmware checks awalol/DS5Dongle and can download the latest official .uf2 for manual BOOTSEL flashing. Custom firmware checks jaein4722/DS5Dongle, can install a selected local .uf2, and can ask supported firmware to reboot into UF2 bootloader mode.

Automated flashing requires firmware with the custom 0xF6 + 0x04 bootloader command. The app enables flash actions only when the connected firmware version contains -custom; original firmware uses download-only update assistance.

Update App... checks jaein4722/DS5DongleTray releases. It can download the latest self-contained Windows exe, verify the SHA256 checksum when the release provides one, and replace the current exe by launching a temporary .cmd helper after DS5DongleTray exits. If the current exe directory is not writable, the app falls back to download-only mode.

The tray app talks to DS5Dongle through HID feature reports, using the same style as the web config page. Battery status is read from the normal 0x01 controller input report. See docs/host-protocol.md for the report IDs and payloads.

The overlay idea was inspired by PixelIndieDev/DualSenseBatteryMonitor, but DS5DongleTray keeps its implementation in the existing Windows Forms tray app.

Requirements for building from source:

• Windows 10 or newer
• .NET 8 SDK

Build:

dotnet restore
dotnet build -c Release

Start the tray app from source:

dotnet run --project .\src\DS5DongleTray\DS5DongleTray.csproj -c Release

Run one diagnostic poll and exit:

dotnet run --project .\src\DS5DongleTray\DS5DongleTray.csproj -c Release -- --once

Tagged releases are built by GitHub Actions.

• DualSense reports battery in coarse 10% steps.
• Battery field interpretation follows Sony's upstream Linux hid-playstation driver.
• Replacement batteries may still show normal-looking percentages because values are controller-reported estimates, not direct mAh measurements.
• Complete is displayed as 100% even if the raw DualSense battery level is lower.
• Battery is shown as unknown when the controller is disconnected or no 0x01 input report is observed during polling.
• The PS button overlay trigger depends on observing the button in the input report polling window, so very short presses may be missed.
• The custom firmware update flow only works with firmware that implements the custom bootloader command.
• This tray app is Windows only.