Bluetooth RetroPie Setup Script Issues

mitu

@loopsheloop said in Bluetooth RetroPie Setup Script Issues:

It's the Pi 4 B.

Just wanted to confirm this is a 1.4 model (last line) - thank you. Looks like it's not an issue with older models (as @pscotto1234 also noticed), I'm wondering what's different in 1.4 vs older models during the Bluetooth start-up that requiring a restart of the bluetooth service necessary.

I have one of the older models (1.1) and can't seem to replicate this either with my current install or with a fresh one.

velez66

Okay, here is what I have some far.

Bought the Bluetooth adapter. Was able to connect my 8BitDo SN pro+ Worked for a few reboots. Then stopped working completely. Unpaired tried to pair.

Then get the error - “ bluetooth device (Creating device failed: org.bluez.Error.AlreadyExists:already Exists)

Any ideas. Thanks

mitu

@velez66 Did you disable the onboard Bluetooth after connecting the dongle ?
Also, the 8Bitdo gamepads have a tendency to not reconnect when you're just rebooting the Pi - usually powering them off and on is enough for them to re-connect.

velez66

@mitu Hello - Yes I did. Also reboot and did a complete power off.

Note: I am using a NESPi 4 CASE, which I have heard that the SSD feature creates interference with the onboard Bluetooth.

It might be affecting the Bluetooth dongle that I bought

Going to try the Bluetooth dongle on my Argon case to eliminate that possibility and for troubleshooting

Help and input it is appreciated.

Thanks a lot!!

velez66

Okay, got it to work on the Argon Case using the Bluetooth Dongle. Not sure if I am going back to the Retroflag Nespi 4 Plus and try again. The Nespi Case is really nice.

velez66

Well back to the error again. Extremely frustrating.

Worked for a few hours. Shutdown the system for the night

And today it doesn’t recognize the controller again

jtcuth48

@velez66 did you press "Set up udev rule for Joypad" when you got it to connect last time? If you don't do that with 8bitdo controllers they won't be recognized after a reboot.

velez66

@jtcuth48 Yes I did 😊 Thanks

Ttazer

Thank God for this thread, can't find anything anywhere I was going crazy, new pi 4 8gb, couldn't add 5 different expensive Bluetooth devices, froze everytime at same screen, 3 days of beating my head into a wall until I stumbled until this thread, bless you all!! Definetly an OS problem.

jtcuth48

@ttazer yeah, definitely a disconnect between the OS and the newer Pi 4 boards, because I've had a couple friends with older Pi 4 boards say theirs' was fine. Hopefully it's something that can be resolved in the future through a software update instead of a hardware update :)

pscotto1234

@jtcuth48 said in Bluetooth RetroPie Setup Script Issues:

@ttazer yeah, definitely a disconnect between the OS and the newer Pi 4 boards, because I've had a couple friends with older Pi 4 boards say theirs' was fine. Hopefully it's something that can be resolved in the future through a software update instead of a hardware update :)

I hope a software update can resolve. Other system like recallbox works fine with Bluetooth.

velez66

It is the board + OS. Yep

loopsheloop

Edited my original post as Pair all Connected is pretty hit and miss. Re-pairing every time you reboot seems more effective, but still fails sometimes. If you've got it in a working state, I'd recommend just leaving the Pi on if possible.

hopkingreenfrog

Joined to chime in with the same issue, except my Raspi4 (4GB) is a v1.2, according to cat /proc/cpuinfo. It's a new board, and loaded with Retropie 4.7.1 with all updates installed. It was freezing with a 8bitdo N30 Pro on the security mode selection, never connecting. I was able to get it going with the fix listed here:
https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/a/123914/131922

Afterwards, though, I got a couple of intermittent crashes on shutdown with the bluetooth stack. Ordered the usb bt dongle listed above from Amazon. Rolled back the fix and disabled the onboard bt, and it seems to be working consistently fine now across multiple reboots. Seems to connect smoother than with the fix installed, actually.

loopsheloop

@hopkingreenfrog said in Bluetooth RetroPie Setup Script Issues:

Joined to chime in with the same issue, except my Raspi4 (4GB) is a v1.2, according to cat /proc/cpuinfo. It's a new board, and loaded with Retropie 4.7.1 with all updates installed. It was freezing with a 8bitdo N30 Pro on the security mode selection, never connecting. I was able to get it going with the fix listed here:
https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/a/123914/131922

Afterwards, though, I got a couple of intermittent crashes on shutdown with the bluetooth stack. Ordered the usb bt dongle listed above from Amazon. Rolled back the fix and disabled the onboard bt, and it seems to be working consistently fine now across multiple reboots. Seems to connect smoother than with the fix installed, actually.

Thanks for finding this! While going through it, I found examples of similar problems going back to to 2018 on a Pi Zero.

After editing bt.helper, my SN 30 Pro seems to be working as intended (I think): after loading Emulation Station, the controller would pair itself when I powered it on. Tested with 2 reboots and 2 cold boots. I wonder why your device started crashing.

hopkingreenfrog

@loopsheloop said in Bluetooth RetroPie Setup Script Issues:

Thanks for finding this! While going through it, I found examples of similar problems going back to to 2018 on a Pi Zero.

After editing bt.helper, my SN 30 Pro seems to be working as intended (I think): after loading Emulation Station, the controller would pair itself when I powered it on. Tested with 2 reboots and 2 cold boots. I wonder why your device started crashing.

Not sure about the crashes on shutdown, but it was only once or twice across 10-15 reboots/shutdowns. Chalk it up to a buggy bt implementation, I suppose. Still no issues with the bt dongle, though. Received one of the new 8bitdo Pro 2 controllers yesterday. That's working well with the dongle as well.

rafaz182

@link3384 Here, for you https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/releases/tag/4.6 :)

spaceace

Hi, All.

Thank you for this thread. I found it AFTER I clicked the button to order my controller! I now have the 8BitDo SN30 Pro+ controller working flawlessly on a Raspberry Pi 4B, with RetroPie 4.7.1 on updated OS.

Before I attempted to pair, the pad was connected via USB to the Ultimate Software application for a firmware update. I also configured a Switch profile, with star(★) as turbo button.

I followed these steps before pairing, too. I consider these safe steps, as it only disables an unused SIM card driver and delays bluetooth start for two seconds at boot.

So, then...
$ sudo nano /lib/systemd/system/bluetooth.service
$ sudo nano /lib/systemd/system/bthelper@.service
$ sudo rm /etc/udev/rules.d/99-bluetooth.rules
$ sudo reboot
$ sudo /home/pi/RetroPie-Setup/retropie_setup.sh
Configuration / Tools -> bluetooth
hack OFF
power on controller by holding Y + start one second (Switch mode)
hold in pair button for three seconds
leds will rotate like knight rider
Register and Connect to Bluetooth Device
on "Searching" screen, pressing some buttons can help
choose "Pro Controller"
DisplayYesNo
Setup the udev rule
hold start three seconds to turn pad off
reboot
turn on controller
configure input
GOOD

I have the pad in Switch mode. To select the profile with turbo, press both sticks (L3+R3) and the heart/home button will light up. Hold a button and press star(★) to enable/disable turbo. It will stay in Switch mode with profile, so now all you have to do is hold the start button to turn it on or off.

Hope that helps. Cheers.

pscotto1234

@spaceace said in Bluetooth RetroPie Setup Script Issues:

Hi, All.

Thank you for this thread. I found it AFTER I clicked the button to order my controller! I now have the 8BitDo SN30 Pro+ controller working flawlessly on a Raspberry Pi 4B, with RetroPie 4.7.1 on updated OS.

Before I attempted to pair, the pad was connected via USB to the Ultimate Software application for a firmware update. I also configured a Switch profile, with star(★) as turbo button.

I followed these steps before pairing, too. I consider these safe steps, as it only disables an unused SIM card driver and delays bluetooth start for two seconds at boot.

So, then...
$ sudo nano /lib/systemd/system/bluetooth.service
$ sudo nano /lib/systemd/system/bthelper@.service
$ sudo rm /etc/udev/rules.d/99-bluetooth.rules
$ sudo reboot
$ sudo /home/pi/RetroPie-Setup/retropie_setup.sh
Configuration / Tools -> bluetooth
hack OFF
power on controller by holding Y + start one second (Switch mode)
hold in pair button for three seconds
leds will rotate like knight rider
Register and Connect to Bluetooth Device
on "Searching" screen, pressing some buttons can help
choose "Pro Controller"
DisplayYesNo
Setup the udev rule
hold start three seconds to turn pad off
reboot
turn on controller
configure input
GOOD

I have the pad in Switch mode. To select the profile with turbo, press both sticks (L3+R3) and the heart/home button will light up. Hold a button and press star(★) to enable/disable turbo. It will stay in Switch mode with profile, so now all you have to do is hold the start button to turn it on or off.

Hope that helps. Cheers.

It works fine Smith DS4. Later I'll give it a try using a sixaxis controller.
@spaceace thank you so much!!!

jtcuth48

@spaceace Wow, perfect! Thank you so much, I'm glad the issue has been figured out. Hopefully the OS team is aware of this issue and gets it fixed for a future update. Thanks again!