Bluetooth can't connect via RetroPie-Setup

MikeOShay

Pi Model or other hardware: Raspberry Pi 2 Model B V1.1
Power Supply used: USB 3.0 plugged into desktop computer
RetroPie Version Used: RetroPie-Setup v4.4.1, last commit 111043b6
Built From: https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/releases/download/4.4/retropie-4.4-rpi2_rpi3.img.gz (I think)
USB Devices connected: USB Keyboard, USB Wi-Fi adapter, USB Bluetooth adapter
Controller used: USB Keyboard
Error messages received: Note: the following was sight-transcribed with line breaks entered later for legibility, but I believe it's fully accurate.

An error occurred connecting to the bluetooth device (Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/home/pi/RetroPie-Setup/scriptmodules/supplementary/bluetooth/bluez-test-device", line 11, in <module> from gi.repository import GObject
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/gi/importer.py", line 145, in load_module importlib.import_module('gi.repository.' + dep.split("-")[0])
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/importlib/__init__.py", line 37, in import_module __import__(name)
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist_packages/gi/importer.py", line 146, in load_module dynamic_module = load_overrides(introspection_module)
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/gi/overrides/__init__.py", line 125, in load_overrides override_mod = importlib.import_module(override_package_name)
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/importlib/__init__.py", line 37, in import_module __import__(name)
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/gi/overrides/GLib.py", line 25, in <module> import socket
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/socket.py", line 47, in <module> import _socket
SystemError: PyErr_NewException: name must be module.class)

Log found in /dev/shm/runcommand.log (if relevant): /dev/shm/runcommand.log didn't exist when I checked
File: /home/pi/RetroPie-Setup/scriptmodules/supplementary/bluetooth/bluez-test-device
How to replicate the problem:

Emulationstation UI > RetroPie Settings > Bluetooth
(Same error occurs in Emulationstation UI > RetroPie Settings > RetroPie Setup > Configuration / tools > bluetooth as well)
Display Registered & Connected Bluetooth Devices
Error appears

The same occurs with "Remove Bluetooth Device" and "Connect now to all registered devices" as well.
If I try "Register and Connect to Bluetooth Device", it scans and detects the correct devices, but gives this error when I try to connect.

I've successfully connected via command line with bluetoothctl, however I ran into issues trying to scan and auto-connect on startup, and I think the setup UI might prove more successful.

I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling gobject-python and gobject-python-2, updating and upgrading RetroPie, to no avail.

markyh444

@mikeoshay if you're powering it from a USB port on your PC with that amount of USB devices connected off its then you're going to have power issues. Could explain why the Bluetooth isn't working as expected. Are you not getting any lightning bolt warnings in the top corner? I'd recommend getting a proper power supply and starting over.

MikeOShay

@markyh444 I've run it via wall-powered USB with no under-voltage messages or lightning bolt, same problem.

I don't know why it isn't working as expected, that's why I'm here. Any action I try to do via the bluetooth menu outputs the error from the first post, triggering on bluez-test-device, line 11. I haven't been able to find any info about the error online.

[Edit: Reworded for clarity]

mitu

@mikeoshay Can't say I can reproduce the error, but it's true I have a 3b with a BT adapter. Can you provide a dmesg output - on pastebin.com ?
EDIT: If you can use bluetoothctl to connect the device, it should be enough to pair it and configure it in Emulationstation.

MikeOShay

@mitu Here you go, https://pastebin.com/9fKkhR7X
If there's any syntax-highlighting that would be preferred, let me know and I'll change it.

Regarding bluetoothctl, I've been able to connect and configure controllers that way, but I'm trying to automatically scan for my bluetooth controllers on startup. I was hoping the Setup UI would be able to help with this, since none of the guides I found for automatic detection/connection via bluetoothctl seemed to work.

Even if bluetoothctl can do this, it would be nice to clear up this error message, no fun having something broken in the system. But if you have any suggestions on auto-connecting, I'm all ears.

mitu

The only error in the kernel output is

[    5.683485] bluetooth hci0: Direct firmware load for brcm/BCM20702A1-0a5c-21e8.hcd failed with error -2						
[    5.683520] Bluetooth: hci0: BCM: Patch brcm/BCM20702A1-0a5c-21e8.hcd not found

which suggest you'll need a firmware blob to get rid of this error. It might be a red herring, but you could give it a try at fixing this error.

MikeOShay

@mitu Any suggestions on how I would do that? I'm new to a lot of this.

mitu

@mikeoshay Since there doesn't seem a Debian package for the firmware blob, you'll have to download it separately (see https://github.com/alecz20/broadcom-bt-firmware/blob/master/brcm/BCM20702A1-0a5c-21f3.hcd) and then copy it to /lib/firmware/brcm/ on the PI system.

MikeOShay

@mitu I did it, but then suddenly my wi-fi dongle stopped working. Then I tried some more troubleshooting attempts for that and messed stuff up even more.

Much as it pains me, I'm just reinstalling RetroPie and doing it all from scratch. I made backups of everything, so hopefully I'll be able to salvage some of my customizations.