Wii U Pro Controller will not connect

[medwards64]

Pi Model or other hardware: Pi4 Model B 2GB
RetroPie Version Used: 4.7.1
Power: USB-USB C cable plugged into outlet with integrated USB ports @ 3.5A
Built From: Raspberry Pi Imager 1.5
USB Devices connected: Keyboard
Controller used: Attempting to use Wii U Pro controller

I can't for the life of me connect the Wii U Pro Controller. I'm super new to this world, this is my first pi purchased a couple of days ago.

I go to Bluetooth in the menu, push the red pair button on controller, choose "Register and Connect to Bluetooth Device". It typically "searches" longer than the Pro controller has patience for, so I have to push the red pair button on the controller again. It shows up in the list, the blue lights on the controller are still flashing. I choose "1" as suggested (although I've tried them all). It asks for a PIN, which I don't think it should be asking. I choose the "0000" option (I've also tried 1234). Then I get "An error occurred connecting to the bluetooth device (Creating device failed: org.bluez.Error.AuthenticationFailed: Authentication Failed)

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm really hoping for a solution that doesn't require purchasing more hardware. I'm seeing all kinds of youtube videos where people are just clicking through, happy as clams - but it's on older versions of RetroPie.

EDIT: The controller works fine in RecalBox, synced right up and away I went. I'm trying a fresh install of RetroPie to see if that works.

EDIT2: Nope, fresh install of RetroPie results in same issues described above. RecalBox works, RetroPie doesn't. Not sure why. I was really hoping to use RetroPie :-( Any suggestions?

[mitu]

@medwards64 said in Wii U Pro Controller will not connect:

EDIT2: Nope, fresh install of RetroPie results in same issues described above. RecalBox works, RetroPie doesn't. Not sure why. I was really hoping to use RetroPie :-( Any suggestions?

Try turning the controller on (in pairing mode) after you start the pairing dialog.
Did you run any updates after installing the 4.7.1 image ? What's your kernel/firmware version - you can find out by running the following commands:

uname -a
vcgencmd version

[medwards64]

@mitu

Sorry, took me a bit to get back to this. I've since purchased a second raspberry pi 4 Model B 2GB. 128GB sd card. Installed RetroPie via Raspberry Pi Imager and have the same exact problem. I'm successfully and consistently playing all kinds of games on RecalBox with the same hardware and Wii U controller.

I ran uname -a:

Linux retropie 5.10.17-v7l+ #1403 SMP Mon Feb 22 11:33:35 GMT 2021 armv7l GNU/Linux

And vcgencmd version:

Copyright (c) 2012 Broadcom
version 564e5f9b852b23a330b1764bcf0b2d022a20afd0 (clean) (release) (start)

Just to be sure, I've completely unplugged the Wii U Console from power while trying this process.

Any suggestions to try?

[mitu]

I'll give it a test - I have a Wii U laying around that I can try to pair.

[mitu]

OK, I gave it a test and here is what I found

• Pairing - works, but the controller has a short wait for pairing period. I press the pair button on it after starting the RetroPie's scan dialog and I have to press the pair button again after the scanning dialog finishes and shows me the list of devices.
  Everything else is default, but had to remove the device from the list of paired devices since it was present there.
  After pairing, the controller worked fine, but more below.

• Re-connecting after powering down didn't work, tried a few times and even re-paired, but it refuses to re-pair.
  Then I remembered I had xpadneo installed for testing (I have most drivers installed just to test they're correctly upgraded) and xpadneo configures the bluetooth module with disable_etrm=Y. After I removed this configuration (it's in the 99-xpadneo-bluetooth.conf file) and rebooted, the connection worked fine, the controller re-connects without issues.

@medwards64 Try to re-pair the controller and see my notes above. Make sure you remove it first from the list of paired controllers. Not sure if you're experiencing the same re-connection issue (caused in my case by the xpadneo driver) - did you install the xpadneo driver in RetroPie-Setup or did other configuration for Bluetooth ?

[MonsterRob]

I am having the exact same issue, I wonder if @medwards64 you ever got this working?

@mitu I have the most up to date version of retropie with nothing added so do you think your second point applies, I have read it but I wouldn’t know where to start with removing a configuration.

Any help in the matter would be appreciated.

[mitu]

@monsterrob said in Wii U Pro Controller will not connect:

@mitu I have the most up to date version of retropie with nothing added so do you think your second point applies, I have read it but I wouldn’t know where to start with removing a configuration.

Please add the rest of the info requested in https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first.

Removing a configuration is done from the Bluetooth menu, using the Remove Bluetooth Device entry.