SN30 Pro - Lag Problem with the SN30 pro

YFZdude

@tux80
I don't have those controllers, but I noticed something similar to lag or missing button presses on my Switch Pro Controller over Bluetooth. What I did was disable the WiFi and it helped tremendously.

There is more than one way to do this, and someone even made a script/tool to enable you to enable/disable WiFi on the fly from within EmulationStation. But for simple testing purposes to find out if it works you can just plug in a keyboard and exit EmulationStation to get to a terminal and run this command:

sudo rfkill block wifi

Then to enable it again just run

sudo rfkill unblock wifi

To get back into EmulationStation you can just run the command emulationstation at the prompt.

tux80

@yfzdude
Hi, thanks for reacting on my topic! Yes, this I did already. It is blocked with rfkill already and I even disabled it (another time) with the "ip" command line utility.
Unfortunately I did less to improve that.

I noticed another thing. As soon as I am standing very close to the raspberry (0,5 - 1,5 metres) there is no lag. But I can't sit that close to my flat of course:). But as soon I'm moving out of this area of reception I'm going to have a lag again and from 2.5 metres and above I can't literal forget anything ... :(

YFZdude

@tux80
Hmm, well if range seems to be the issue, the only other thing I can think of would be to use an external dongle and combine it with a USB extension cable to get the receiver closer to the controller. If signal strength is weak it is tough to do anything to boost it assuming a good charge on the battery.

Stuffu

@tux80 Hi, not sure it’s related but might be worth to try https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/29308/sn30-pro-new-firmware-fixes-bluetooth-interference

tux80

@yfzdude I tried it actually with two different USB Bluetooth Adapters and disabled the internal chip (hci0) with "rfkill block" to make sure the internal controller is not being used.
It was a maybe very very slightly improvement but nothing for the next newspaper headline.
TA
Wolfgang

tux80

@stuffu Thanks for the hint, I'm going to try it out today.
TA

addendum:
That solved the problem: https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B0786JC6VW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

therexershow

@tux80 did you find a solution. I’m running into the same issue and it’s painful. I’m thinking it’s the new firmware or thr pi4 with ssd that I have. I think it is better when close , but when I had my pi3 there was no issues with distance.

theotherdan

I had a similar issue while using an older RetroFlag NESPI case for Raspberry Pi 4. The issue with the case was no shielding on the USB3 chip (As per the RetroFlag support). If the SSD adapter was plugged into the USB3 port, there was a range of about 3 feet. When I used the USB2 port, it worked as expected.

I have had zero issue outside of that case. With that said, you might want to investigate SSD enclosure, maybe try to the USB2 port as you have eliminated the onboard chip with external adapters.

KuristZero

@theotherdan Just a quick addition to this.
Also was having laggy input issues with my M30 using a retro flag Mega Pi Case.
When I removed the keyboard plugged into the front USB ports, the lag immediately disappeared so definitely worth a try to unplug if you're not running from an external SSD :-)

YFZdude

@theotherdan said in SN30 Pro - Lag Problem with the SN30 pro:

The issue with the case was no shielding on the USB3 chip (As per the RetroFlag support). If the SSD adapter was plugged into the USB3 port, there was a range of about 3 feet. When I used the USB2 port, it worked as expected.

I feel it is worth adding to this.
I recently bought a plugable bluetooth adapter to add to an older PC that didn't have built in bluetooth. The packaging specifically said to plug the adapter into a USB 2.0 port instead of a USB 3.0 port to increase range.

I was puzzled by this but sure enough it is true. Here is a page that helps explain a little:
https://www.bluetoothandusb3.com/the-explanation

So best advice is to always use USB 2.0 ports for bluetooth, and possibly wireless devices in general when possible provided the device won't exceed the speed of a USB 2.0 port.