SHANWAN / PS3 CONTROLLER Pi3 RETROPIE 3.6 BLUETOOTH SETUP

[bogchop]

@Wolfman100

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!

[luetzel]

@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

[bogchop]

@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.

[luetzel]

@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

[bogchop]

@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.

[luetzel]

@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.

[bogchop]

@luetzel Absolutely nothing. Oh well lesson learnt. Stick with the known working devices.

[Wolfman100]

@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.

[mythical]

Hello everybody,

I am having the same issue like some of you. I can't connect my ps3 controller via bluetooth. I read the entire post.

My setup :

• Raspberry B+
• Re-install a fresh SD card today with raspberry pi 0/1.
• Bluetooth dongle inateck BTA-BC4B6
• USB Hub : AmazonBasics Hub USB 2.0 7 port

My controllers :

• 4 controller SZMY-POWER PS3 (like this one)

dmesg:

...
[    6.964059] input: SZMY-POWER CO.,LTD. PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller as /devices/platform/soc/20980000.usb/usb1/1-1/1-1.5/1-1.5.2/1-1.5.2:1.0/0003:054C:0268.0001/input/input0
[    6.979070] sony 0003:054C:0268.0001: input,hiddev0,hidraw0: USB HID v1.11 Joystick [SZMY-POWER CO.,LTD. PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller] on usb-20980000.usb-1.5.2/input0
...

My dongle is detected :

pi@retropie:~ $ hciconfig
hci0:	Type: BR/EDR  Bus: USB
	BD Address: 00:19:86:00:05:C9  ACL MTU: 1021:8  SCO MTU: 64:1
	UP RUNNING PSCAN
	RX bytes:2424 acl:6 sco:0 events:112 errors:0
	TX bytes:2165 acl:12 sco:0 commands:88 errors:0

I tried all the options: official ps3, clone support gasia, gasia only, clone support shanwan. The output of hcidump -x was the same:

pi@retropie:~ $ hcidump -x
HCI sniffer - Bluetooth packet analyzer ver 5.23
device: hci0 snap_len: 1500 filter: 0xffffffff
> HCI Event: Connect Request (0x04) plen 10
    bdaddr 00:26:5C:CF:7F:91 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 12 bdaddr 00:26:5C:CF:7F:91 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 12
    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 12 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 00:26:5C:CF:7F:91 name 'PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller'
> HCI Event: Disconn Complete (0x05) plen 4
    status 0x00 handle 12 reason 0x05
    Reason: Authentication Failure

Is there something else I can try to pair my controller? or something else I can do to have more debug information?

[ShootHere]

Hi all,

just as a quick idea... I cannot get it to pair with my iMac either. Is there perhaps a step (like pressing a certain button) that we are missing? To put it into pairing mode perhaps?

[bogchop]

@ShootHere Good question - absolutely no idea, as they didn't come with instructions!

[ShootHere]

Found this thread, has this been tried?

https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/998/shanwan-pi3-pairing-success

[luetzel]

@ShootHere, @bogchop
in fact it belongs to this thread and was meant to provide a tutorial for the pairing procedure. A summary/ instructions for pairing with patched blueZ can be found here: https://raspberryblog.de/?p=1870

I receive a lot of help requests and the majority of users finally succeeded using either the patched blueZ or
QTsixa. Some pads (SZMY-Power) do not work properly and I (still) hope to collect enough (debugging) information in order to encourage blueZ developers to support more PS3 clones . So please post in this thread as much information as possible and describe where exactly you got stuck ...

"Reverse engineering" sometimes requires physical access to these game pads for debugging. If you can, try to donate your spare controllers to the developers. However, I found some old discussion threads on the gmane mailing list, where the they were a little reluctant about donations : "[...] can't promise, that it'll work at the end [...]".

Cheers,
/luetzel

[mythical]

@luetzel

Regarding SZMY-POWER controllers, may I can help giving some debugging information for bluetooth pairing with blueZ. Until now I only tried with sixad. In order to help you collect some debugging data, is following your tutorial a good start? (is your tutorial up to date? I saw your bluez fork have some commits which dated from after your article).

I hear you about physical access, in the meantime could pictures be a start? I could try to open my controller.

Thanks

[luetzel]

@mythical
Both, tutorial and blueZ are up to date. Most steps in the tutorial provide some output that can be useful for debugging. However, there are some subtle differences between distributions and for some users pairing failed due to lack of experience with Linux or Raspbian (see user comments below my tutorial) .
I try to keep the patched version in sync with blueZ updates. However, development of OpenELEC.tv seems to be dead. Therefore I do not expect that new patches will be released soon.
Please DO NOT OPEN your controller. Physical access just simplifies debugging, because one doesn't have to rely on bug reports from other users, so that test conditions are more reliable.
Feel free to try the patched blueZ. You can either post debugging info here or below the tutorial.

[Tantalid]

The solution for retropie 4.0.2 is:

Please update retropie-setup - remove the ps3 controller and re-install. On the initial install it will install the driver for the official ps3 controllers - but then you can use the configuration / gui to switch to another.

Only update the setup first!!
Tested with (2016/09/28): pie3, retropie 4.0.2, integrated bluetooth, SHANWAN Gamepad
https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/issues/1677

[bogchop]

@Tantalid Doesn't work with SZMY-POWER controllers :(

[Tantalid]

@bogchop
sorry for my bad English. This is maybe not a solution to your problem. I refer to the original thread title "SHANWAN / PS3 CONTROLLER PI3 ...".

The SHANWAN controllers do also not work with RETROPIE 4.0.2 at the moment after basic installation. There are many complicated solutions on the Internet. None of them has for me really works.

I wanted to all that even as I look, just give the good news that actually there is a very simple solution for SHANWAN Controller even with the integrated bluetooth of the pi3.

[Wolfman100]

@Tantalid

Thankyou for the very valuable information.I'm sure it will prove to be very useful for many Shanwan owners.

[Tantalid]

I have bought a second SHANWAN controller.
Now i can say that two paired Shanwan controllers work fine with this simple solution:
https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/issues/1677