Xbox Series X controller wont Pair with RP4

Pacciulli

@driftking Hi, I'm having a similar problem with my raspberry. I can't pair with my controller in fact. I had updated the firmware from the controller and tried to pair through the console (bluetoothctl), says it is paired and connected. But the light keep flashing. When the discovery mode of the Xbox controller is turned of (the light keep flashing in a lower frequency), the device is set as disconnected. Did you found a solution?

Pacciulli

@pacciulli I just noticed something. If it turnoff the controller and turn it on again, after it is paired and connected (but not really working), raspberry does not connect it automatically again (even if the controller is trusted). When I set the controller in the pairing mode, the raspberry connects and disconnects the controller with a frequency that looks like it matches the light flashing in the controller.

CowboyPhil

@pacciulli I am having the exact same issue with the 1914 controller, Bluetoothctl says connected, controller still blinks, Bluetooth in retropie will not connect at all

CowboyPhil

I verified I was using the newest version of the script I am show version 4.7.2

mitu

@cowboyphil Try re-installing the xpadneo driver, it has been updated to the latest stable version a couple of weeks ago. If that doesn't work, then I guess the support for the new Xbox controllers is not fully fleshed out and needs improvements.

franknarf8

@mitu I'm also facing the same problem;

The controller always keeps blinking and never connects properly. I've used the latest version of xpadneo (5360aa1fc98b886c11582e239d657a0e39ab3efd), but without any luck.

franknarf8

It seems a fix was implemented in SDL 2.0.12 : https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=SDL2-Xbox-Series-X-Controller

mitu

@franknarf8 That won't help much if the controller doesn't pair with the Pi/Linux system where RetroPie is running. SDL 2.0.14 was released December of last year, containing the patch referenced in Phoronix article, but RetroPie doesn't include that release yet.

KrazeeTyger

I found that you can download and install SDL2.0.14 on https://wiki.libsdl.org/Installation

I followed the instructions and everything seemed to install and configure fine. However, the controller still won't pair. Same issue; the Xbox button keeps blinking. Did I miss anything?

cd ~
wget https://www.libsdl.org/release/SDL2-2.0.14.tar.gz
tar zxvf SDL2-2.0.14.tar.gz
cd SDL2-2.0.14
mkdir build
cd build
../configure
make
sudo make install

KrazeeTyger

Oh, I didn't have xpadneo installed when I tried this.
With xpadneo active, the controller actually VIBRATES after pairing.
The vibration is different from the one when the pad is plugged in via USB, though, and the light also keeps blinking.

Jeez, I think I am so close!! Any ideas anybody?

KrazeeTyger

YAAASSSS, I've finally figured this out!

Install Raspberry Pi OS Lite (w/o RetroPie pre-installed). I used V5.4 from 01/11/2021
Sudo bash –c ‘echo 1 > /sys/module/bluetooth/parameters/disable_ertm’ (not sure if this is necessary)
Add Privacy = device to /etc/bluetooth/main.conf under the [General] section - Kudos to the good people at GitHub!
sudo systemctl restart bluetooth
Pair X-Box Series X controller using bluetoothctl command
Savor the moment the light gets solid

Install RetroPie
Install xpadneo

Works like a charm!! ENJOY!

zdeno84

@krazeetyger Hi there, I'm on the latest Raspberry build, just powered it on today and run into the same issue - my older xbox controller works fine, but xbox series x controller won't connect.

I tried to add the privacy = device etc command, but the raspberry won't accept it (not using RetroPie). Any idea how I can adapt it to work on Raspberry only or do I need to switch to RetroPie for this to work?

Thanks!

KrazeeTyger

Just for clarification: did you enter

Privacy = device

or

Privacy = device etc

?

mitu

@zdeno84 Try installing the xpadneo driver - https://github.com/atar-axis/xpadneo - and the pair the controller again.

zdeno84

I installed xpadneo and since then the blueetooth behaves a bit weird. Everything works fine with xbox one controller, it connects, works in steamlink. But when I try to pair the xbox series controller, the bluetooth seems to either freeze in some way (the connected xbox one controller dissapears from gui but still works in steamlink) or the xbox series controller connects, but stays in a reconnect loop - on/off/on/off every second.

I tried to install it through terminal, it pairs, but then terminal freezes and does not accept any keyboard input, so I can not connect/trust.

I also tried to add privacy = device command to the /etc/bluetooth/main.conf, but terminal tells me permission denied.

All I need from the raspberry really is to connect through steamlink to my windows pc running games and remote play them plus play some movies from external hdd (or from that same windows pc).

sorry for all the mistakes, but I just got the raspberry yesterday and not really a linux-versed yet. I would need to connect the xbox series controller(s) for my kids so we can play together some coop. we only have one xbox one controller.

any advice appreciated

KrazeeTyger

sudo nano /etc/bluetooth/main.conf

zdeno84

@krazeetyger thanks. I tried everything, but to no avail. fresh installs, retropie, commands you mentioned. xpadneo, etc. in different orders. nope. but at least I learned a lot about pi

I bought the xbox wireless adapter, installed xow and everything works perfect. 3 controllers, pi, streaming from host pc with both steamlink and parsec.

icehousedoo

Hi All,
Have similar issue, looks like it's only a problem with the series X controller (has three round buttons just below the xbox power button instead of two). If I use a slightly older controller (two buttons) it connects and works faultlessly.
Both controllers work fine on a Windows PC.
I'll keep investigating.

Cheers

KrazeeTyger

You'll have to use the newest version of Raspbian from January 2021 and install RetroPie on top of it.
Older versions of Raspbian have a bug that prevents the Series X controller from pairing.
The pre-made images of RetroPie won't work either as they were made in November 2020.

FrozenNL

@krazeetyger thanks mate, I can confirm it works except for LT and RT buttons, at this moment LT and RT buttons do not work it simply does not register in configuration of buttons, anyone have a solution for that or did I do something wrong?

LT and RT registration test (jstest):

I did

jstest /dev/input/js0

after installing jstest with:

sudo apt-get install -y jstest-gtk

and I see some action when pressing LT and RT

output jstest (no buttons pressed):

Driver version is 2.1.0.
Joystick (Xbox Wireless Controller) has 9 axes (X, Y, Z, Rx, Ry, Rz, Hat0X, Hat0Y, (null))
and 10 buttons (BtnA, BtnB, BtnX, BtnY, BtnTL, BtnTR, BtnSelect, BtnStart, BtnThumbL, BtnThumbR).
Testing ... (interrupt to exit)
Axes:  0:     0  1:     0  2:-32767  3:     0  4:     0  5:-32767  6:     0  7:     0  8:     0 Buttons:  0:off  1:off  2:off  3:off  4:off  5:off  6:off  7:off  8:off  9:off

Pressing LT registers in jstest as Axes/Axis:

Driver version is 2.1.0.
Joystick (Xbox Wireless Controller) has 9 axes (X, Y, Z, Rx, Ry, Rz, Hat0X, Hat0Y, (null))
and 10 buttons (BtnA, BtnB, BtnX, BtnY, BtnTL, BtnTR, BtnSelect, BtnStart, BtnThumbL, BtnThumbR).
Testing ... (interrupt to exit)
Axes:  0:     0  1:     0  2: 32767  3:     0  4:     0  5:-32767  6:     0  7:     0  8:-32767 Buttons:  0:off  1:off  2:off  3:off  4:off  5:off  6:off  7:off  8:off  9:off

Pressing RT registers in jstest as Axes/Axis:

Driver version is 2.1.0.
Joystick (Xbox Wireless Controller) has 9 axes (X, Y, Z, Rx, Ry, Rz, Hat0X, Hat0Y, (null))
and 10 buttons (BtnA, BtnB, BtnX, BtnY, BtnTL, BtnTR, BtnSelect, BtnStart, BtnThumbL, BtnThumbR).
Testing ... (interrupt to exit)
Axes:  0:     0  1:     0  2:-32767  3:     0  4:     0  5: 32767  6:     0  7:     0  8: 32767 Buttons:  0:off  1:off  2:off  3:off  4:off  5:off  6:off  7:off  8:off  9:off

Axes-8 is shared between LT and RT

Axes 2 LT range between -32767 and + 32767 depending of how much pressure is used
Axes 5 RT range between -32767 and + 32767 depending of how much pressure is used
Axes 8 LT + RT range between -32767 and + 32767 depending of how much pressure is used and which button or combined, it's an balanced axis (default 0)

Steps taken to get the controller working so far

Installed latest Raspberry Pi OS Desktop or Lite does not matter, just make sure to boot to CLI.
Installed RetroPie manual, see: https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Manual-Installation/
Installed xpadneo through RetroPie-Setup under Manage packages -> Driver

sudo /home/pi/RetroPie-Setup/retropie_setup.sh

Add the next line:
Privacy = device
to /etc/bluetooth/main.conf

sudo nano /etc/bluetooth/main.conf

Install SDL2 2.0.14:

cd ~
wget https://www.libsdl.org/release/SDL2-2.0.14.tar.gz
tar zxvf SDL2-2.0.14.tar.gz
cd SDL2-2.0.14
mkdir build
cd build
../configure
make
sudo make install

Verify xpadneo is running properly:

lsmod | grep hid_xpadneo

should output something like:
hid_xpadneo 20480 0
ff_memless 16384 1 hid_xpadneo

if not type in console:

sudo modprobe hid_xpadneo

verify again.

sudo systemctl restart bluetooth

sudo bluetoothctl

[bluetooth] agent on
[bluetooth] default-agent
[bluetooth] scan on
[bluetooth] pair XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX
[agent] Accept pairing (yes/no): yes

The light on the XBOX controller should now lid constantly which means it's connected, you can configure the buttons in RetroPie except for LT and RT (L2 and R2 equivalent on PSX so to speak).

I use a Raspberry Pi 4 with 4GB with the default WLAN/Bluetooth, not an external dongle.

Enjoy!