SHANWAN / PS3 CONTROLLER Pi3 RETROPIE 3.6 BLUETOOTH SETUP
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Found this thread after a rather frustrating weekend. Figured I'd share a realization made when trying to pair my ShanWan controllers running RetroPie 3.8.1 on a RPi3 (built in bluetooth).
If you are using the LEDs as an indicator that the controllers are synced - DON'T.
I have 3 ShanWan controllers all bought from the same seller on Amazon. One of them will show the correct LED when synced. However, the other two will not. Instead, they continue to flash as if they are still trying to pair, but the flash will be about half as fast. The controllers seem to work fine, they're just constantly flashing half speed when synced.
I was trying everything to get them to pair when finally I noticed my "good" controller was showing #3 LED. Opened up the "Configure Input" screen in RetroPie and sure enough they were paired. Wanted to share this tip in case anyone else might be having the same problem and not even know it. The flashing is annoying though, so if anyone knows a fix to this I would really appreciate it!
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@Pineapple12
did you pair your controllers using sixad or bluez? -
@luetzel I used Sixad from the script built into RetroPie 3.8.1. I also managed to get them to pair using Blues and your instructions once, but couldn't get them to sync again after a reboot. The LEDs did work correctly through Bluez though.
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@Pineapple12 Good info.
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Hi.
Well, I had success with my SZMY-Power pads for a short while but then suddenly they decided to stop pairing. I didn't do anything to make them stop, i.e. I made no changes to RetroPie etc. so not at all sure what has happened? They worked great for a few days, paired up on every boot, then one day they just stopped working and now I cant get them to pair. Swines.
So I am back to using Gasia pads again, but the ones I have are inferior in quality to the SZMY-Power pads (stiff D-Pad so you have to press hard for it to register). Shame because the SZMY pads are great IMO and they are cheaper in price than the Gasia pads I bought too. I will keep trying them as and when I get the time!
Cheers for all input so far. :)
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After getting tired of my blinking LED's I gave up on Sixad and went with the patched version of Bluez per Luetzel's instructions. Everything works great - with the exception of Kodi. Previously Kodi would crash if I had my PS3 controller (fake or genuine) plugged in to USB during launch. This wasn't really a huge deal since I'm usually connected through Bluetooth anyway. However, now that I'm using Bluez and not Sixad, the crash is happening even when connected via Bluetooth. I've seen several posting describing similar problems with PS3 controllers and Kodi. I was wondering if anyone has encountered this and found a solution?
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I'm desperately trying to connect my Shanwan PS3 controller over Bluetooth (RPI3 internal).
Connecting it solely over USB works, however it keeps rumbling.
I've tried to connect it using sixad, with no success ( retropie 3.8 / 4.0)
After that I tried to pair and connect using Bluez ( as described in Luetzels blog)
It seems like it's connecting to the bluetooth seems to work, but it does not pair correctly and disconnects after +- 30 secs.Log :
pi@retropie:~/qtsixa/utils/bins $ sudo ./sixpair
No controller found on USB busses.
pi@retropie:~/qtsixa/utils/bins $ sudo ./sixpair
Current Bluetooth master: 00:00:00:00:00:00
Setting master bd_addr to b8:27:eb:01:aa:a6
USB_REQ_SET_CONFIGURATION: Device or resource busy
pi@retropie:~/qtsixa/utils/bins $ sudo ./sixpair
Current Bluetooth master: b8:27:eb:01:aa:a6
Setting master bd_addr to b8:27:eb:01:aa:a6
USB_REQ_SET_CONFIGURATION: Device or resource busy
pi@retropie:~/qtsixa/utils/bins $ sudo ./sixpair
Current Bluetooth master: b8:27:eb:01:aa:a6
Setting master bd_addr to b8:27:eb:01:aa:a6
pi@retropie:~/qtsixa/utils/bins $ service bluetooth status
● bluetooth.service - Bluetooth service
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/bluetooth.service; enabled)
Active: active (running) since Fri 2016-08-26 12:58:36 UTC; 30min ago
Docs: man:bluetoothd(8)
Main PID: 2552 (bluetoothd)
Status: "Running"
CGroup: /system.slice/bluetooth.service
└─2552 /usr/libexec/bluetooth/bluetoothd
pi@retropie:~/qtsixa/utils/bins $ sudo bluetoothctl
[NEW] Controller B8:27:EB:01:AA:A6 retropie [default]
[NEW] Device 00:1B:FB:FB:19:33 00-1B-FB-FB-19-33
[NEW] Device 01:EE:57:7D:63:25 PLAYSTATION(R)3Conteroller-PANHAI
[bluetooth]#
------ UNPLUG DEVICE
[bluetooth]#
[CHG] Device 01:EE:57:7D:63:25 Connected: yes
------ lights keep blinking
[CHG] Device 01:EE:57:7D:63:25 Connected: noAm I doing something wrong here ?
PS : Pairing a genuine PS3 controller works perfectly using bluez and sixad
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@Punkertjenv Well I got me the same joypads and it seems the issue when pairing them on my Mac is that it thinks it is a keyboard and wants the pairing code.
I will try and report back. -
Are you still having issues pairing your shanwan ps3 controller via bluetooth? I found a easy fix for this problem since I do own two shanwan ps3 controllers and im running retropie 4.0.2 on my RP3b
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@Pirate I got it working using the latest version of Bluez. I recompiled it myself with the patches instead of using the already patched version (described in the excellent guide of Luetzel).
This did the trick! -
Hi @Punkertjenv
what in particular was the problem with the patched version? Would be important to know, so that I can fix it on the github repo.
cheers,
/luetzel -
Anyone had any luck with the SZMY-POWER pads?? As previously mentioned I managed to get to the stage where it allowed me to configure the buttons....ONCE.No idea how really though!
All other times it detects the pad but does not respond to it's key presses...
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Just bought these off eBay hoping they'd work out of the box. No dice. They work with their USB cables plugged in, but refuse to sync using any of the drivers. $25 down the drain for two. They're great quality and feel nice, but I want that damn Bluetooth!
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@Wolfman100 , @bogchop
sorry, that there is no progress in the development of the sixaxis driver. I found an old
thread on the blueZ mailing list, with some advice for debugging of the pairing procedure.In order to shed some light on the pairing process, you could try to run
hcidump -x
This is what happens when I press the PS3 button my Shanwan controller:hcidump -x HCI sniffer - Bluetooth packet analyzer ver 5.41 device: hci0 snap_len: 1500 filter: 0xffffffff > HCI Event: Connect Request (0x04) plen 10 bdaddr 01:B6:52:85:63:25 class 0x000540 type ACL > HCI Event: Command Status (0x0f) plen 4 Accept Connection Request (0x01|0x0009) status 0x00 ncmd 1 > HCI Event: Connect Complete (0x03) plen 11 status 0x00 handle 11 bdaddr 01:B6:52:85:63:25 type ACL encrypt 0x00 > HCI Event: Command Status (0x0f) plen 4 Read Remote Supported Features (0x01|0x001b) status 0x00 ncmd 1 > HCI Event: Read Remote Supported Features (0x0b) plen 11 status 0x00 handle 11 Features: 0xff 0xff 0x8d 0x7a 0x98 0x1f 0x78 0x83 > HCI Event: Command Status (0x0f) plen 4 Read Remote Extended Features (0x01|0x001c) status 0x00 ncmd 1 > HCI Event: Read Remote Extended Features (0x23) plen 13 status 0x00 handle 11 page 1 max 1 Features: 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 > HCI Event: Command Status (0x0f) plen 4 Remote Name Request (0x01|0x0019) status 0x00 ncmd 1 > HCI Event: Remote Name Req Complete (0x07) plen 255 status 0x00 bdaddr 01:B6:52:85:63:25 name 'PLAYSTATION(R)3Conteroller-PANHAI'And on the mailing list, there are some notes from the developers about PS3 'clones':
There were reports that some of clone devices doesn't behave exactly the same i.e. use
different pid/vid or don't report correct BT address over USB. Making them work would
probably require some extra work, but I don't have any of those clone devices.Therefore, I'd suggest to collect some debugging output from working/non-working devices
to find the reason why they're not able to pair.If it is just the vid/pid, then it should be easy to fix in the blueZ source. In the worst case, we have
to request some expert advice from the blueZ developers ...Cheers,
/luetzel -
@luetzel hey mate - I'm using the bluetooth driver as per the package in retropie - tried the "Install/Pair pS3 controller" option (Clone support gasia, gasia only, clone support shanwan), but none of them work.
I've tried that hcidump -x command, but I'm seeing "command not found" - not sure what I need to do at this point?
Cheers.
bc. -
@bogchop
You are probably missing the desired package. On Raspbian you can install it with:
sudo apt-get install bluez-hcidump
Should be present as well on other distributions.
/luetzel -
@luetzel Thanks - I was missing that.
I've tried it, and still no dice. There's actually no input whatsoever.
Upon the initial pairing with the "gasia only" driver, the LED light for first player would stay on, then disappear after about 10 seconds and revert back to 4 flashing LEDs. So I'm not sure it ever really paired correctly.
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@bogchop
There should be at least some output from hcidump?! Would be interesting to listen to the communication
between your controller and BT dongle to see whats going on here. -
@luetzel Absolutely nothing. Oh well lesson learnt. Stick with the known working devices.
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@luetzel Interesting info once again Luetzel my man.I will investigate. As I previously mentioned,one time for some unexplainable reason I was able to do the input configuration in Emulation Station and the controller worked perfectly.However,I have never managed to get Emulation Station to register the input ever again,other than this one time,even though the controller is solidly paired and it see's the controller.Very odd basically.
I also have had no time to currently pursue this further as it was actually starting to take over way too much of my life simply trying to get a controller to work! I will however re-attempt this soon enough...as I will not let the SZMY defeat me!We all know that feeling right?
@bogchop As I mentioned IT IS POSSIBLE to get them working....I just don't know exactly how!
Apolagies for late reply but I wasn't receiving notifications for some reason.
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