I'm testing in Ubuntu 15.10 with kernel 4.2.0-16.19 but this bug report actually applies to ALL kernels starting at 3.15 until the current 4.3rc7 and is not limited to Ubuntu.
I have a brand new Sony DualShock 4 that seems to use a slightly different protocol than the hid-sony driver expects. I'm not sure why this controller is different. Maybe updated firmware from Sony or maybe because it has never been connected to a PS4. Whatever the case, the device descriptor size is different from what hid-sony expects and because of that it does not remap the descriptor table as required. This causes only the trackpad to function (the trackpad uses a different code path) and none of the other controls work. So basically the controller does not work at all.
I have created a patch that fixes it. I have only tested the patch against kernel 4.2 and 4.3 but it's simple enough that it should be trivially portable to any 3.15+ kernel. The attached patch is based against the Ubuntu mainline-crack git v4.2 kernel.
I posted to the LKML asking if the descriptor size check was even necessary but never got a response so I left it in.
This bug is missing log files that will aid in diagnosing the problem. From a terminal window please run:
apport-collect 1511855
and then change the status of the bug to 'Confirmed'.
If, due to the nature of the issue you have encountered, you are unable to run this command, please add a comment stating that fact and change the bug status to 'Confirmed'.
This change has been made by an automated script, maintained by the Ubuntu Kernel Team.