PS3 controller / PSX emu freezing

Xyb0t

Ok, here goes...

Pi Model or other hardware: Pi3
Power Supply used: Official Pi 5V 2.5A
RetroPie Version Used: 4.1 (tried to force update packages on top)
Built From: Official image downloaded from retropie website
USB Devices connected: Dongle for wireless mouse/keyboard
Controller used: PS3 wireless bluetooth joypads
Error messages received: No message, just total freeze
Log found in /dev/shm/runcommand.log (if relevant): No idea, but i will happily provide
Guide used: https://github.com/raspberrypi/linux/issues/1360
File: Every psx image that i tried
Emulator: the 'standard' PSX emulator
Attachment of config files: No idea, but i will happily provide
How to replicate the problem: Connect PS3 wireless through bletooth and run PSX emu for a while

Description of the problem:
The PSX emulator freezes totally!! This happens when i installed the PS3 controller driver, and try to play PSX games using the 'standard' PSX emulator in RetroPie. The games i play are working all fine. It's PBP files that i mademyself, but even before i made these PBP files, i used the ordinary disk images, which caused the same problem.

While playing, i hear the sound stutter frequently, sometimes subtly, sometimes hefty..

What did i try:
This seems to be a known issue caused by some bluetooth problems. I tried to follow the fixes presented in the link posted above, but it doesn't solve the problem for me. I might be doing it wrong though. I triied to install the PS3 driver from source, and i tried updating packages and the likes through the RetroPie menus.

I am not very experienced with either RetroPie or Linux, and to be honest, i am getting more and more afraid, because my experiments does notwork. Every failed experiece results in a TOTAL freeze, and i have to pull the power (reboot and shutdown via Putty will not close the pi neatly). I fear to kill my SD card or even damage the data on it.

I know a lot of ppl have the same experience (since it is mentioned inhere several times, and it is even an open ticket on the PS3 driver github page). I know that some found a solution, but on the page i linked to above, there are several suggestions, and it seems kinda random which of the solutions that works out for different ppl.

I wil be more than happy to provide logs, config fiiles and other kinds of documentation. Please tell me what you want to see, and how i go about finding it.

Can someone explain, using layman, terms how to fix this?

Will the fixes mentioned on the github page be implemented in a later version of RetroPie?

Thanks..

Xyb0t

To further clarify, i tried this

apt-get install raspberrypi-sys-mods

(of course i had to throw a 'sudo' in front), and the result were as follows

Nothing was 'held'
I wansn't asked to press 'Y' at any time
It ended with the message that 9 packages were untouched, or the likes

Still is freezing

..... need to investigate some more

Xyb0t

Next desperate attempt: update kernal...

I had a look in /usr/bin/ but i don't see any 'rpi-update' inthere.

If i do the: sudo UPDATE_SELF=0 rpi-update 15ffab5493d74b12194e6bfc5bbb1c0f71140155

I get the answer 'rpi-update: command not found'

... updating kernal failed :(

BuZz

@Xyb0t what's the output of uname -a ?

The Bluetooth issue is fixed so you may have another issue.

You should avoid using rpi-update to update kernel. New kernels can be downloaded via sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

Xyb0t

Thanks for your support :) I am quite desperate here, hehe

Anyways, i get this output from uname -a:

Linux retropie 4.4.38-v7+ #938 SMP Thu Dec 15 15:22:21 GMT 2016 armv7l GNU/Linux

I will keep away from updating kernal.

Xyb0t

I tried a completely different PSX game today, it also froze up..

Some more facts about my system:

I turned on 'screen smooth' in the retroarch all config
I turned on the higher resolution in PSX through the retroarch in-game menu
In config files, i changedcontroller type from Standard to Analog
I removed blackbars from screen by using "-48" for up, down, left and right
I inserted "usbhid.mousepoll=0" in the cmdline.txt
I don't see the temp icon on screen when using PSX (no overheating)
The controllers are original PS3 ones
I installed the driver through retropie menus, from source
I play ports and other emus, and they don't freeze or have sound stutter
No other bluetooth hardware in vincinity
As said earlier, the emu is the standard one. Should i try another?

.... I can add more as it comes to mind.

Also, i am very motivated to try out crazy stuff :) So, please just tell me to post config-files, run commands through Putty, install/remove files and whatnot. I will be very happy for input and i rally hope to find out why i have these PSX issues on my Pi..

Xyb0t

More experimens:

I tried using a different SD card
I tried using a different BIOS file
I tried using another copy of the game ROM image
I tried to force video standard by changing value from "auto" to "NTSC"
I tried using ordinary bin/cue, and also building a pbp-file

I don't see the screen freeze with emus that use smaller ROM files. This makes me suspect that it may be related to in-game loading/file access. The freezes are random though. Sometimes it happens fast, sometimes it takes a while before it freezes.

It also seems like i can play a little longer if i don't make use of the enhanced graphics settings. I must add that i don't see a temp icon in the upper right corner of the screen at any time.

Could this be a hardware error? Like my Pi3 is bad in some way?

Xyb0t

I kinda see another issue that could mean that the bluetooth problem is not fully fixed:

While a PSX game runs, if i leave my controller untouched for some time, it will lose contact to the box. It is rendered unresponsive, but the LED on the PS3 joypad indicates that the controller is still connected.

These issues are very frustrating :( I wish someone would test and confirm, r even look into the issue. I really love the PSX emu, and it breaks my heart to experience such troubles with gameplay :(

Xyb0t

When the controller stops working (like described in the post above), i can use the keyboard to exit from PSX emu to Emulationstation menu. Here the controller still does not work, even if the LED on the joypad is still turned on.

Then, if i hold down the 'connect'-button on the controller so it turns off, and i try to connect again afterwards, the controller LEDs will keep on blinking with no connection being made.

Xyb0t

I tried to remove the USB dongle for the mouse/keyboard today, and it resulted in a lot longer playing time before freeze. This freeze issue is definitely related to controller hookup!

I have had a weird experience 2 times... i let the frozen screen hang, and after a good while, the game resumes ?!?! Well, the controller connection is lost, even though the controller LEDs are still lit. If i turn off the controllers and turnthem back on again, they won't pair wih bluetooth.

But it means that i can maybe pull some log files - I'm just not experienced enough to know which logfile woud be relevant, and how to pull it. Maybe someone could help me out in this regard??