I replied to that same old thread that you are talking about:
https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/22692/fake-8bitdo-sf30-pro-way-to-get-working/21

As I mentioned over there these controllers work just fine over Bluetooth on my Linux PC, but aren't detected over Bluetooth on the pie. Thought I'd drop a comment here also so I can see if any progress is made by anyone else.

@KN4THX
I got both Android and Microsoft mode detected when wired.
Android detects as a PS Controller
Microsoft as a 360 controller
it does NOT like Switch Mode

Odd question, my Retropie's sound for PS1 games are really, really low and not sure why.

@Smythius said in Emulation Station crashed!:

Could under-rated wires inside the case be contributing to the low power as well?

I don't know, can you connect the power supply without those cables and test it like this?

On a side note. do you know of a good place to get a 3.5mm to RCA Composite AV Cable that works with the RP3?

Alas, I don't know that either, because I didn't need such a cable in my household, yet. The value of such tips also depend very much on where you live. I live in Germany; since it's 9 a.m. here and you posted about 5 hours before me, I doubt that you do, too. ;)

@tsoliman i can safe to say that my NES30 does not do that.

even if program it in switch mode and power if off. it does not come back on to switch mode. i have to hold power and Y each time.

my Pro 2 is not with me. so i have to try that one later, but i think it was the same for that one also. even though others have said the same thing as you

Best for me, I LOVE It.

@matchaman Ah, I misunderstood the concurrently part. I don't think it's possible from within the emulator, but maybe something external to combine the 2 inputs into 1 virtual gamepad (like xboxdrv ).

@notthesame I can't believe that worked, you are a godsend. I'd also like to add a few details:

After pressing Start and Y, the LEDs start to rotate from left to right. After that, you hold pair for 2 seconds, the LEDs go off for a second, and then they start to rotate again.

At this point you need to go through the Bluetooth pairing process again (and if your controller is already paired, you should un-pair it before you re-pair it) but you do NOT need to set up the udev rule. All you need to do is reboot and configure the input like normal.

I think this should be added to the documentation.

@Felixoid said in Cannot configure 8BitDo M30 controller shoulder buttons:

@psyke83
Hello. I've built a binary from the master, but the shoulders still don't work on the M30 pad. Could you tell if they already should work?

It should work on the latest dev branch, yes. Is your controller definitely using axes 2 & 5 for triggers (considering differences in firmware/pairing mode)?

Note that the axis filtering is done only when defining the trigger buttons, so if you're doing non-standard mapping to buttons other than the triggers, it won't work.

Thank you @mitu for all help. I almost finish my image from other posts you helped me to solve. In the case of the game pads I write a solution worked for me, just in case someone is lost and can be useful. This is the solution:

Finally I could make work two 8bitdo SN30 Pro 2 game pads. I used the firmware V1.2 and worked pretty with this same technique. However, I wanted to try with the latest V1.3 firmware to see what happens and I could make work. Fighting with the retro arena setup and also retropie setup both versions in the bluetooth script, it just worked for me the first time and after the first time is impossible, at least for me, to pair again by the horrible error Already exists bluez.org. Something is stored in the cache or somewhere after the first pairing but I could not find information in any place. Most of posts run from a real solution and they mention “my solution was begin with a fresh image and problem solved”. I made that but if you have a mistake, like in my case, is an endless loop over and over again and no solution. Then this is what I did:

First I made a copy, to have safe the original file “/etc/dbus-1/system.d/bluetooth.conf”. Then I replaced that file with this:

https://pastebin.com/LufCYWy9

Then I made this procedure to pair:

1.-sudo service bluetooth restart

2.-agent on

3-power on

4.-scan on

5.-scan off

6.-pair “mac address of the gamepad”

7.-connect “mac address of the gamepad”

At this is step it will pair although and is possible it can says cannot connect. No matter this is not a thing to be afraid. If it doesn’t connect or says fail to connect in specific: Turn OFF if it is ON the game pad. Turn ON again normally the game pad and type again step 7 (connect with the mac address command).

It can says a couple (2 or 3) times is not possible connect but no matter it will do. Simply is turn OFF the game pad and ON again and give the “connect” command again. Once say successfully connected is give this command:

8.-trust “mac address of the gamepad”

9.-Return the original file “/etc/dbus-1/system.d/bluetooth.conf”, deleting the one of pastebin above described. Just in case. I used the pastebin temporary just to pair, after pair there is no sense to keep it.

If in the step 6 of pairing says already exists bluez.org or simply never connected in step 7 then is type first to see the devices paired:

devices

After that is check if i there the game pad. If it’s there then is give now:

remove “mac address of the gamepad”

One is successfully removed is back to step 5.

Once is paired, and connected, because It will pair for sure, also will be detected ALL the buttons by emulation station. I have two gamepads and both were detected including after reboot and latest firmware. I tested this like 10 times to be sure, including making tests downgrading and upgrading firmware in the game pads and always worked at the end. I write this just in case someone has a problem as me and want time and loss time beginning from fresh image and is wanted to save time.

@mitu Well as I said, the Bluetooth functionality was working perfectly when setting up the 8bitdo controller and problems only began when the Pi was restarted. As regards the SD card, it's a 32GB card, branded 'Team' and was bought from a local computer store. To be honest, I've had my doubts about it, so I think I'm going to purchase a 32GB Sandisk Ultra card to replace it. I have also since sourced the official Raspberry Pi 5.1v 2.5A PSU to replace the one sent with my ABOX kit. So between the two new pieces of kit, I'll set up Retropie afresh and see how it goes.

Thanks for your patience and help with this issue, it's appreciated.

@lmjiang1 hello i had this same issue with xu4 retroarena, m30 after reboot i get no pair, m30 would pair but couldnt do anything in game or ES, i updated m30, no luck.
Xu4 has only 3 ports i had a hdd connected, wifi usb, bt dongle all my usb connects gone so i thought maybe i need to connect to 3.0 usb, i bought 2 bt and same issue happen.
I then added a multi usb but it would do the same thing, i had some try m30 with thoses 20 dollar usb bt by with like super mario block design and i thought i need one of thoses, same thing happen, no pairing all what i have type above.

So i gave it about 2 months and asked again and tried again, once i had turned on the xu4 after months it paired right up like nothing had happened, so i played.
I had help and we tired to pair with switch mode and android but no luck i was fed up dude.

The guys at retroarena dont know what it is, i been waiting for about 1 month in a half but i havent bothered anymore.

But the m30 works fine with all other machines, just might be the xu4 cos someone else tired and did the same thing, might be your pi2 is the samething.
Works fine on my pi3b+ i used thme and pair just fine.

So my solution at the end since i got xu4 for saturn and just more power i put it away and ordered a pi4 and works super awesome!
I installed yabause on desktop and played dracula x.

Im sorry that it acts the way it does and i hope someone can help.

@lmjiang1 Hi. I've been trying to get my M30 pad working with my Pi running Retropie, and it connects ok via Bluetooth, but my problem is that the controller won't recognise the R or C buttons when configuring it in Emulation Station. Do all your buttons work ok?

It might be worthwhile to uninstall and reinstall the Xpad driver. After my last update, I had to do that inorder to get my 8Bitdo controllers to fully function again.

Hi, they connect just fine when I turn it off and back on if I need to reboot my pi. I just liked the way they always turned off immediately on a reboot using retorpie 4.3. The little hack for connect on boot would reconnect my controllers every time on a reboot without me having to turn them off and on again. But with 4.4 there is some type of delay sometimes that causes them not turn turn off immediately when I reboot (therefore causing problems with the boot "hack").

I just didn't know if there was some kind of script (if that is the right term) that could help assist with the killing of the bluetooth signal when rebooting under 4.4...?

@mitu said in Connecting 2 x 8BitDo Controllers - only one hotkey?:

@StuMcBill said in Connecting 2 x 8BitDo Controllers - only one hotkey?:

however, only 1 controller seems to exit the game, by pressing Start+Select - is this by design?

Yes, only the 1st player has access to Hotkeys.

Also, there seems to be a small bit of latency with both controllers (which I know is a fact of bluetooth connections), is there anyway I can minimise this?

Disable the Wifi connection or get a BT USB adapter - what RPI Model are you using ?

Its a Pi3 B+, I'll try and disable WiFi and see what happens.

I have modified the values in RetroPie and in Raspbian. Thank you. It's fixed. I just hope this doesn't have a significant impact on other activities on the Pi sucj as simple web browsing.