Wireless dongle controller issue

DaniAngel

Greetings,

I am using an Rpi4 to run the latest version of retropi. I have updated all the Raspiconfig and Retropi files. When i insert my dongles for the afterglow wireless controllers, Retropie recognized them and I can configure them and use them without any issues. However, when I shutdown, or restart my system, I cannot pair my controllers unless I unplug the dongles and then reinsert them. Any ideas as to why this is happening and what I can do to fix it?

mitu

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

Is your dongle a Bluetooth dongle or it just a wireless/IR dongle that's already paired to your controller ?

DaniAngel

@mitu It's just a wireless dongle that comes with the controller

DaniAngel

@mitu I should also note that I had a retro pie setup about 4 years ago using these same controllers and the same Rpi board. I had no issues at all with the controllers then. So something seems to be different with this latest version of retropie versus the one I was using all those years ago. So I know that retropie used to work as intended but not sure what to do to fix the issue with this latest verion.

mitu

@DaniAngel said in Wireless dongle controller issue:

So I know that retropie used to work as intended but not sure what to do to fix the issue with this latest verion.

Sure, but RetroPie doesn't do anything special to support that kind of dongle, it's usually the underlying OS (RaspiOS/Raspbian) that handles the detection and the driver to make it work.
When you say it worked before - which version of RetroPie are your referring to ? You offered no details about your current or old installation.

DaniAngel

@mitu I am currently using retropie 4.8. I downloaded this from the retropie site about 4 days ago. I have updated all the retropie and raspiconfig items that I could find using the respective menu options.

As far as what version of retropie I was using 4 years ago, I don't have an answer for that. Yes I understand that underlying Raspi OS is controlling the usb so I mis-spoke when I attributed that to retropie.

What other information can I provide to help narrow down the cause of this issue?

mitu

What other information can I provide to help narrow down the cause of this issue?

the information asked in https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

DaniAngel

@mitu Pi Model or other hardware: Raspberry Pi 4 8GB

Power Supply used: Official RPi power supply 5.1v @ 3.0A

RetroPie Version Used 4.8

Built From: Pre made SD Image on RetroPie website (retropie-buster-4.8-rpi4_400.img)

USB Devices connected: logitech k400r keyboard, afterglow wireless controller

Controller used: Afterglow model 064-015TGAP

Error messages received: No error messages received

Verbose log (if relevant):N/A

Guide used: https://retropie.org.uk/docs/

File: N/A

Emulator: N/A

Attachment of config files: I will have to research how to post the config files. Is there any particular file that I should be sure to include?

How to replicate the problem: Controllers bind to wireless dongle when the dongle is inserted. When the system is restarted the controllers will not bind to the dongles unless the dongles are removed and then reinserted.

mitu

Try to upgrade your setup, both RetroPie-Setup and the system (kernel/firmware) and then reboot. If you have already done this, then skip this step.
If booting with an updating system doesn't solve your issue, then go to the next step to provide the system's log.
Boot with the dongles connected to reproduce the error. Exit EmulationStation after the boot and run

sudo apt -y install pastebinit
dmesg | pastebinit

The last command will copy your system log, post it on paste.debian.net and print the URL of the page where the log was saved. Please post the URL here so we can take a look at the log and try to diagnose your issue.

DaniAngel

@mitu Thank you for all your help so far.
I updated the retropie including the kernel

rebooted with dongle attached and reproduced the error.

Here is the pastebin link: http://paste.debian.net/1338547/

mitu

I don't see any dongle detected, but I see a PNY USB stick attached - are you using it for storing the ROMs ? My initial thought is that there's not enough current available to initialize all USB devices on boot, since the system runs at full speed and the CPU consumes a bit more power. You have all 4 ports connected ?

If you disconnect the Logitech dongle, are the dongles detected on boot ?

DaniAngel

@mitu The PNY flash drive is for roms. I removed the logitech dongle and rebooted and this did not help. I did some more testing of various configurations and made some interesting observations.

I have a powered usb hub that I brought into the mix to see if there might be power issues with just the RPi 4 alone. The hub power supply is also 5v 3A. When the Pi4 is booted and emulation station has started, I plugged the wireless dongles in for the controller into the usb hub. both were recognized. I performed a reboot and both controllers were recognized on reboot. I initially thought this was a result of extra power. However I made a very interesting observation that proves that power is NOT the issue.

I noticed that during the reboot, the wireless controller dongles remained powered because of the separate power to the usb hub. So I next did a full shutdown of the Pi and noticed that the dongles in the hub still had power applied to them. Rebooting the Pi resulted in both controllers being recognized at startup.

I next did another shutdown of the pi. When the pi was off, I disconnected the power to the usb hub and watched the indicator lights on the dongles go out. I restored power to the hub and then started the Rpi back up. Neither controller was recognized. Upon unplugging and reinserting the wireless dongles, both controllers were again recognized.

So it seems to me that whatever happens during boot relative to the usb devices is different than what happens when the system is up and a dongle is inserted.

Does this observation help out?

mitu

@DaniAngel said in Wireless dongle controller issue:

Does this observation help out?

Sort of, in the sense that it shows it's not a power issue, as I was suspected. If you have spare sdcard, can you install the latest RaspiOS from raspberrypi.com and see if you get the same behavior (i.e. dongles doesn't get detected during re-boot/power on) ?