8bitdo Ultimate Bluetooth Controller Compatibility

[trecuu]

Hello there...
I recently bought a 8bitdo Ultimate Bluetooth to use on my raspberry pi 2 running retropie.

But I cant get it to work!

It works flawlessly on my desktop pc.

The strange thing is that the controller works for like 3 secs, then the 2.4g dongle that comes with it restarts itself and the controller turns off... If I turn the controller on again, it connects to the dongle and works for like 3 secs, then it repeat the same behavior...

Is it a raspberry pi 2, a retropie, or a controller "problem"!?

Already tried everything that I found online, but did not found anything specific to this controller.

Thx in advance to anyone whiling to help!

[mitu]

Seems like the dongle is not working right - maybe the USB port doesn't provide enough power to it or maybe your Pi doesn't get enough power to be able to power it up. What are you using to power the Pi ?

[trecuu]

@mitu

Im using a 5.1v 2.5amps power supply from Motorola.

I though about that too.... But I think 2.5amps is more than enough to power Pi 2 + 2.4g dongle, right!?.(I cant find anywhere on the web about the power drawn of the usb dongle)

Hey! Thx for the help!

[mitu]

@trecuu said in 8bitdo Ultimate Bluetooth Controller Compatibility:

I though about that too.... But I think 2.5amps is more than enough to power Pi 2 + 2.4g dongle, right!?.

Yes, if it's supplied correctly, which not any charger can do (phone chargers are not the proper way to power up a Pi anyway). Do you get any under-voltage warnings when running games ?

[trecuu]

@mitu
No, never...
It runs fine with my brothers 8bitdo SN30 Pro and its dongle receiver.

Thx again!

[mitu]

Can you add more details about your setup, as asked in https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first ?

To diagnose the disconnect, run from the terminal

sudo dmesg -c
dmesg -w

and plug in the dongle. Wait till it gets disconnected and post the messages shown on the screen.

[trecuu]

@mitu
Heres the output: https://pastebin.com/raw/PmkZcmdC

[trecuu]

@mitu
Using:
Raspberry Pi 2 B 1.1v
Linux retropie 5.10.103-v7+
Built From Pre made SD Image on RetroPie website
The only USB device connect is the receiver of the 8bitdo controller.

[mitu]

Seems like a driver support issue, which hopefully may get resolved if you update the xpad driver. You haven't specified which version of RetroPie you're using right now, so run an update (which should update the xpad driver also) and reboot, then try again the dongle.

[trecuu]

@mitu
I just updated via the Retropie Setup Script. Is that enough?

Still not working...

https://pastebin.com/raw/tXiPDg7x

Thx!

[mitu]

I just updated via the Retropie Setup Script. Is that enough?

Should be enough, but unfortunately it seems that's not solving the issue. I see in the logs that the controller advertise itself as a Nintendo Switch Pro, then it disconnects, tries to mimic an Xbox controller, then it disconnects again and finally just shows as a generic input device (with a different name).

It seems it's not fully compatible with RetroPie/Linux. FWIW there are a couple of similar issues reported for the xpad driver (here and here).

Does the controller have any firmware update(s) that can be applied ? I know some of Linux users have made it work. This is the controller you have, right ?

[trecuu]

@mitu
I found where the xpad package was, and even manually updated it, but it did not fix the problem.
I have both of them updated to the last version of the firmware. Even tested the beta one, and no success either.

And yes, that is exactly the controller that I have.

Ill look further in these issues you gave...

Thx again!

[trecuu]

@mitu
I tried messing around with the xpad source, made some changes and now the controller keeps CONNECTED, doesnt give any ERRORS.

But... it does not work any buttons. =/

Heres the output from dmesg:
https://pastebin.com/raw/9vv628c7

And heres the changes I did:
https://github.com/paroj/xpad/compare/master...trecuu:xpad:master

Thx for the help =)

[mitu]

@trecuu said in 8bitdo Ultimate Bluetooth Controller Compatibility:

But... it does not work any buttons. =/
Heres the output from dmesg:
https://pastebin.com/raw/9vv628c7

Looking at the log, xpad is not even called, since the controller advertises itself as a Switch compatible Nintendo.Co.Ltd. Pro Controller. If you're willing to use the Switch mode for the controller, then you should install the hid-nintendo driver - see here how to install it.

[trecuu]

@mitu

Doesnt work either.
https://pastebin.com/raw/FkTP7zY5

Strange thing is, xpad shows as not installed when I manual install it.

Thx for the help!

[trecuu]

@mitu
Updating.

I did a fresh install of retropie, updated all the packages before even plugin the controller in. And got the same problem as I first stated.

Changed all the power suplies, and even cables. Changed even the monitor I was using to be sure. And does not change the output whatsoever.

Thx!

[trecuu]

@mitu
Managed to fix it by downloading a beta firmware for the receiver to be able to change to D-Input.
It does not work while on X-Input, only on D-Input.

Thx for the help.

[mitu]

Thanks for the follow up, good to know.

It does not work while on X-Input, only on D-Input.

That usually means rumble will not work, so be aware of that.

[himed]

@trecuu said in 8bitdo Ultimate Bluetooth Controller Compatibility:

@mitu
Managed to fix it by downloading a beta firmware for the receiver to be able to change to D-Input.
It does not work while on X-Input, only on D-Input.

Thx for the help.

Hi @trecuu I’m in the same situation as you but I’m not able to find the beta firmware you mentioned. 8bitdo Support informed me that it was no longer available. What version number is the beta? Any chance you still have a copy of the beta firmware? The latest controller firmware is V1.03 and V1.02 for the usb dongle receiver. I appreciate your time and your help,
Best Regards