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    Sony DualShock 3 - call for testers: "sixaxis" script module

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Ideas and Development
    sixaxisdriverbeta
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    • H
      Headcrab
      last edited by

      I've done some more testing (i probably erased and burned the SD card about 10 times today)
      So i will do a recap.

      The problem
      When trying to pair an official ps3 controller for the first time, it is not being discovered.
      I get the message "No devices were found. Ensure device is on and try again"

      The steps

      • Burn the "retropie-buster-4.6-rpi2_rpi3.img" image on the sd card
      • boot into emulationstation
      • connect ps3 controller over usb and configure controls, so i can navigate
      • go to driver packages and install sixaxis
      • reboot
      • with the controller connected over usb navigate to Bluetooth > "Register and Connect to Bluetooth Device"
      • follow the instructions to unplug and re-plug the cable (and leave it connected)
      • it fails to discover the controller

      I confirmed that customhidsony is not installed after installing sixaxis.
      It does not show up in the driver menu. Also :

      ls -la /opt/retropie/supplementary/
total 52
drwxr-xr-x 13 root root 4096 May  1 12:51 .
drwxr-xr-x  7 root root 4096 May  1 12:50 ..
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root 4096 Apr 28 01:15 bashwelcometweak
drwxr-xr-x  4 root root 4096 Apr 28 01:08 emulationstation
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root 4096 Apr 28 01:09 mesa-drm
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root 4096 Apr 28 01:12 omxiv
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root 4096 Apr 28 01:08 retropiemenu
drwxr-xr-x  3 root root 4096 Apr 28 01:09 runcommand
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root 4096 Apr 28 01:05 sdl2
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root 4096 May  1 12:51 sixaxis
drwxr-xr-x  3 root root 4096 May  1 12:50 splashscreen
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root 4096 Apr 28 01:14 usbromservice
drwxr-xr-x  4 root root 4096 Apr 28 01:17 xpad

      If i hit the "disable third party support" option, i've found through the log that the following packages are installed:

      The following NEW packages will be installed:
  libbluetooth-dev libbluetooth3

      After a reboot i am able to pair my controller, but even then it is not solving the discovery problem every time.
      For example i had to switch to my other rpi3 board to make the controller discoverable in one of my tries.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • mituM
        mitu Global Moderator
        last edited by

        @Headcrab said in Sony DualShock 3 - call for testers: "sixaxis" script module:

        follow the instructions to unplug and re-plug the cable (and leave it connected)
        it fails to discover the controller

        You don't need to reboot after the installation of the driver. Did you press the 'PS/Share' button before dis-connecting ?

        H 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • H
          Headcrab @mitu
          last edited by

          @mitu
          I tried one more fresh install, just to make sure.
          I am pressing the PS/Share' button before dis-connecting.

          It is consistently not discovering the controller after installing the sixaxis driver.
          Doing the "disable thrid party" option and rebooting works 99% of the time.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • mituM
            mitu Global Moderator
            last edited by

            Thanks for testing - I'll add a note in the wiki for this.

            H 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • H
              Headcrab @mitu
              last edited by

              @mitu
              Thanks for your time.
              I hope we get confirmation from other ps3 controller owners at some point.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • wmarcioW
                wmarcio
                last edited by wmarcio

                On my pi3b+ with retropie 4.6 on debian 9.11 wont worked, i made the same process...

                mituM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • mituM
                  mitu Global Moderator @wmarcio
                  last edited by

                  @wmarcio said in Sony DualShock 3 - call for testers: "sixaxis" script module:

                  On my pi3b+ with retropie 4.6 on debian 9.11 wont worked, i made the same process...

                  You're using a 3rd party controller, did you run the 'Enable 3rd party controllers' step ?

                  wmarcioW 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • H
                    Headcrab
                    last edited by

                    I've done some more testing, and found out that libbluetooth-dev does the trick.
                    So for the official ps3 controller these are the steps that work on my end.

                    • install sixaxis driver
                    • sudo apt-get install libbluetooth-dev
                    • reboot
                    • Connect the controller over usb
                    • Bluetooth menu > "Register and Connect to Bluetooth Device"
                    • Follow the on screen instructions
                    mituM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • mituM
                      mitu Global Moderator @Headcrab
                      last edited by mitu

                      @Headcrab said in Sony DualShock 3 - call for testers: "sixaxis" script module:

                      I've done some more testing, and found out that libbluetooth-dev does the trick.

                      I think that's a red herring, the package contains only development files, without any impact on the Bluetooth stack that's running on the Pi.

                      EDIT: Hm, actually it seems to contain more than that. I'll take a look, but on my system this is not installed and the controller works ok.

                      H 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • H
                        Headcrab @mitu
                        last edited by Headcrab

                        @mitu
                        My findings are not based on actual knowledge of what each package does, so you are probably right.

                        But just to be clear, when you say that your controller works fine do you mean that when trying to Register for the first time, it is being discovered without that package being installed?

                        mituM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • mituM
                          mitu Global Moderator @Headcrab
                          last edited by

                          @Headcrab said in Sony DualShock 3 - call for testers: "sixaxis" script module:

                          But just to be clear, when you say that your controller works fine do you mean that when trying to Register for the first time, it is being discovered without that package?

                          I never had that package installed and it's not installed now, so yes - discovery and (now) basic controller functionality worked without it. There might by a difference between systems though, I've paired and connected on a Pi4, which has a different BT chipset, so you being on a Pi3B+ might count.

                          H 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • H
                            Headcrab @mitu
                            last edited by

                            @mitu said in Sony DualShock 3 - call for testers: "sixaxis" script module:

                            I've paired and connected on a Pi4, which has a different BT chipset, so you being on a Pi3B+ might count.

                            I just "borrowed" a rpi4(1gb) from my nas setup so i can test this.

                            I performed these steps:

                            • Burn the "retropie-buster-4.6-rpi4.img" image on the sd card
                            • boot into emulationstation
                            • connect ps3 controller over usb and configure controls, so i can navigate
                            • go to driver packages and install sixaxis
                            • with the controller connected over usb navigate to Bluetooth > "Register and Connect to Bluetooth Device"
                            • follow the instructions to unplug and re-plug the cable (and leave it connected)

                            The outcome was exactly like on my rpi3.

                            • Discovery fails.
                            • If i install libbluetooth-dev and reboot
                            • Discovery succeeds

                            Maybe it's a problem with my controller, i don't know.
                            Also, i do not own a ps3 console, so it is not interfering in any way.

                            P 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • wmarcioW
                              wmarcio @mitu
                              last edited by

                              @mitu, Hello, thank you, you are always helping people. My controller is original Sony, I always used the same controller, before upgrading to version 4.6, the same controller worked perfectly.

                              mituM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • mituM
                                mitu Global Moderator @wmarcio
                                last edited by

                                @wmarcio What version did you run before the upgrade ? Did you install the 4.6 Buster image ? Did you enable support for 3rd party controllers ?

                                wmarcioW 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • wmarcioW
                                  wmarcio @mitu
                                  last edited by

                                  @mitu

                                  I don't remember the previous version exactly, but I always update frequently, it was the last one before I upgraded to 4.6. Yes I did a clean installation for version 4.6 Buster, as I saw that it didn't work, I restored the previous image of raspbian 9.11 stretch and Retropie 4.6, that's when the problem started. Yes, I have enabled support for third party control.

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • mituM
                                    mitu Global Moderator
                                    last edited by

                                    @wmarcio said in Sony DualShock 3 - call for testers: "sixaxis" script module:

                                    I don't remember the previous version exactly, but I always update frequently, it was the last one before I upgraded to 4.6.

                                    There's no difference between the previous (4.5.20) and the 4.6 version, except the version tag. There have been no modifications in quite a while for the bluetooth module in RetroPie, so I don't see what change in 4.6 might trigger this problem.

                                    Yes I did a clean installation for version 4.6 Buster, as I saw that it didn't work, I restored the previous image of raspbian 9.11 stretch and Retropie 4.6, that's when the problem started. Yes, I have enabled support for third party control.

                                    Then I suggest you try the ps3controller package, it might work better with 3rd party controllers.

                                    wmarcioW 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • wmarcioW
                                      wmarcio @mitu
                                      last edited by

                                      @mitu ok, will try It. Thxs again.

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • P
                                        psyke83 Global Moderator @Headcrab
                                        last edited by

                                        @Headcrab

                                        Thanks for your troubleshooting efforts. It seems thatlibbluetooth-devitself doesn't fix your problem, but it triggers installation of the actual needed package - libbluetooth3, which contains the sixaxis plugin for BlueZ. This is quite odd, as I would have expected it to be present in a default Raspbian installation.

                                        I'll do some checking and report back soon.

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                        • mituM
                                          mitu Global Moderator
                                          last edited by

                                          @psyke83 Looks like - in my case - libbluetooth3 is also present, installed as a kodi dependency.

                                          P 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                          • P
                                            psyke83 Global Moderator @mitu
                                            last edited by

                                            @mitu said in Sony DualShock 3 - call for testers: "sixaxis" script module:

                                            @psyke83 Looks like - in my case - libbluetooth3 is also present, installed as a kodi dependency.

                                            That also explains why I didn't notice the issue until now. This PR should fix the issue: https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/pull/3125

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
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