What is going on with gamepads in Retropie 4.2?

SpudsMcToole

Okay, this is driving me insane.

I have two genuine Sony PS3 Dual Shock pads, never gave me a moment's trouble in Retropie 4.1, but since 4.2 they just won't behave.

19 times out of every 20, when you hit the PS button you get 20 seconds of four flashing lights and then nothing. They simply won't pair with the Pi (Model 3).

The 20th time (that's an estimate, not exactly 20), for no discernible reason - nothing being at all different to the previous 19 attempts - one of them will pair and work normally. This lasts until it times out after five minutes of disuse, and then it will simply refuse to pair again and you're back to the start or the whole wretched rigmarole.

I thought I'd fixed it last night when I removed the dongle for a keyboard and both pads suddenly paired first time, but that seems to have been just a fluke - whether the dongle is in or out now seems to make no difference.

Does anyone have a clue how to fix this? How can I make the stupid machine just REMEMBER that it knows these gamepads?

(Please don't say anything with "xboxdrv" in it because I've tried to make sense of xboxdrv a dozen times and it makes my brain explode.)

pjft

@SpudsMcToole are you using those controllers exclusively for the Pi?

SpudsMcToole

@pjft Yes.

mediamogul

@SpudsMcToole

Please don't say anything with "xboxdrv" in it because I've tried to make sense of xboxdrv a dozen times and it makes my brain explode.

Coincidentally, I'm planning on pairing down a set of instructions by @Trillien specifically for PS3 controllers that will make using any Bluetooth controller a possibility for the first time. As great a tool as xboxdrv is, the learning curve does seem to be greater than most people feel comfortable with. That said, if you ever need someone to get you through it, I'm always willing to help.

pjft

@SpudsMcToole Hm.

Any competing bluetooth devices? You seem to mention another dongle of sorts.

Have you tried the instructions here

https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/PS3-Controller

for "older versions of RetroPie"?

Also, in the guide, it clearly states "Note: Do not enable other bluetooth options as these will conflict with the PS3 specific bluetooth setup (sixad)", so I wonder if you have any competing bluetooth service turning on, regardless of dongles and stuff.

I'd try going through that guide, extensively, and seeing if anything works - and yes, disconnecting any other Bluetooth device (and potentially uninstalling any other bluetooth service you might have started or enabled unknowingly).