RetroPie forum home
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Home
    • Docs
    • Register
    • Login
    Please do not post a support request without first reading and following the advice in https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

    Can't get PS3 controllers to work in game

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Help and Support
    ps3 controllerps3 bluetooth
    6 Posts 4 Posters 5.8k Views
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • D
      devotee
      last edited by devotee

      Hello,
      First time user here. I'm having trouble getting my PS3 controllers to be recognized inside the emulators. Within the EmulationStation UI they work fine, with cable and with bluetooth but inside games they work with neither.

      I have a Raspberry Pi 3 with a fresh install of RetroPie 4.1, an image file that I downloaded from the RetroPie website and put on the SD-card. I followed this guide to setup my two PS3 controllers with bluetooth:

      This guide sets up a keyboard first, which I also did. This keyboard is the controller that actually works in the games as well as the UI. I tried removing the keyboard but that doesn't help and I have to plug it back in to be able to exit the games.

      When I start a game, there does flash a yellow text in the lower left corner indicating that it does pick up the PS3-controllers.

      In the RetroArch settings for DRIVER, the Input and Joypad Driver is both set to 'udev'.
      When games start, I can with the keyboard get into the menu with settings for that emulator, but I can only see video settings and such and nothing for input.

      I've google around quite a lot and I'm not the only one with this problem but many solutions seems to not work or be for older versions. I don't really know what to do at this point so if somebody could help that would be great :)

      -- Update
      I don't know if it helps, but here is my retroarch.cfg:
      http://pastebin.com/pjUC2Xb4

      If there is any other files I should be looking in, do tell!

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • A
        acraigl
        last edited by acraigl

        I had the same issue. While in your game hit TAB. This should allow you to set a global config to work.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • D
          devotee
          last edited by devotee

          Thanks for your answer. Hitting TAB while starting up a game does display a menu, however I'm not sure if/where I can set a global config there.

          The options I get are (starting a sega 32 emulator):

          2 Select emulator for ROM ()
          4 Select default video mode for lr-picodrive ()
          5 Select video mode for lr-picodrive + rom ()
          8 Select RetroArch render res for lr-picodrive (config)
          9 Edit custom RetroArch config for this ROM
          x Launch
          L Launch with verbose logging
          Z Launch with netplay enabled
          Q Exit (without launching)
          
          Can't find a place for editing controller settings anywhere in that menu :(
          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • D
            darkSSide
            last edited by

            Was there ever a fix for this? I am having the same exact problem.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • S
              Swagman89
              last edited by Swagman89

              -Removed-

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • S
                Swagman89
                last edited by Swagman89

                OK for all 3 people in this thread having this issue, I just took five minutes and setup my ps3 controller to work over bluetooth.

                Please refer to this guide https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/PS3-Controller not some random youtube video when doing this. Also make sure you have at least a keyboard configured to work in ES.

                Once you have completed these steps and connected your PS3 controller via USB at least once as it asks you to do in the settings, then all you need to do is press whatever button you have configured as start for your keyboard in ES, then scroll down to configure controller, last HOLD the PS button until it takes you to the next page where you can map the controls! Done.

                Oh also don't forget to "sudo nano /etc/rc.local" and add in the sixad --start & somewhere before the exit 0 line. I recommend also adding #This line starts Sixaxis pairing on startup directly above the sixad line so you know what the hell it does, that's just my preference though and has no bearing on making it work and presist through a reboot.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • First post
                  Last post

                Contributions to the project are always appreciated, so if you would like to support us with a donation you can do so here.

                Hosting provided by Mythic-Beasts. See the Hosting Information page for more information.