Sony DualShock 3 - call for testers: "sixaxis" script module

edge3000

If I'm playing 4 or 5 player games with friends, it can be a pain if the controllers turn off after a short period of time. One issue we used to have with ps3controller driver was if say 3 out of 4 players were playing a game - and 1 player was just sitting out. Their controller would turn off, and if they turned it back on the player numbers would get reordered on the Pi, but the lights on the controllers wouldn't match the actual player number. With that driver you also had to be very slow when reconnecting controllers, and only do it one at a time or it would get messed up.

If we stop playing for a long time I just shut down the Pi and they all turn off at once.

psyke83

@Silent

Take a look at the discussion regarding trigger axes here: https://github.com/libretro/RetroArch/issues/6920

The hid-sony driver has an unusual axis configuration for triggers, where the resting value is -32767, intermediate press is 0 and full press is 32767. So essentially the trigger spans the negative to positive of the axis, whereas most software expects a trigger to rest at zero and span along one pole only.

Explicitly setting the axes to the positive pole in your gamecontrollerdb.txt may partially work around this problem (i.e. allowing pressure sensitivity between intermediate and full pressure), but I haven't tested. It seems that libretro has a hack in place to solve this (see this discussion above), and we've also applied a similar patch to EmulationStation's master branch so that controller mapping doesn't report both axes.

Not sure what's the best course of action here. Perhaps we could try patching the driver rather than relying on individual hacks.

Silent

@psyke83 FYI I have only verified it with pre-changes sixaxis driver, that is with custombluez and customhidsony. While this is not (and will never be, I think) an issue in libretro emulators, in Moonlight Game Streaming it's really obvious - any racing game displaying inputs indeed shows that throttle is either 0 or 100.

I'll try messing with gamecontrollerdb.txt there, just need to figure out where it is in the first place.

edge3000

@Silent How do you find Moonlight other than this control issue? I use the physical Steam Link at the moment but some games like Pinball FX3 have too much input lag to play through it. I actually finished Dragon Quest 11 through it (wired) and it ran well except every once in awhile you might get a freeze of a couple seconds and then it returns to normal.

I heard Moonlight might be better so I plan to give it a try. I have a GTX-1060 6GB

Silent

@edge3000 Do try! For the most part it's really great, possibly better than Steam Link. Plus, thanks to this not-yet merged scriptmodule it integrates with EmulationStation as an "emulator":

https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/19872/moonlight-request-for-comments-and-testing/

psyke83

@Silent said in Sony DualShock 3 - call for testers: "sixaxis" script module:

@psyke83 FYI I have only verified it with pre-changes sixaxis driver, that is with custombluez and customhidsony. While this is not (and will never be, I think) an issue in libretro emulators, in Moonlight Game Streaming it's really obvious - any racing game displaying inputs indeed shows that throttle is either 0 or 100.

I'll try messing with gamecontrollerdb.txt there, just need to figure out where it is in the first place.

Unfortunately I don't own a NVIDIA GPU, but I may have some racing games in my Steam library. Can you confirm that the same issues happens with triggers in the steamlink app? I'm also not certain which racing games I own would definitely show this (as I've never really played any in my backlog).

Silent

@psyke83 So I tested both Moonlight and Steam Link:

Moonlight: Triggers register as 100% press upon the slightest press.
Steam Link: Behaviour was same, but in Steam Link app I ran Setup Controller again and reconfigured the controller. After that, it works as expected!

Do you know where Moonlight and Steam Link keep their mappings? I want to try to sync them to see if I can get triggers to work in Moonlight too.

For both my test case was DiRT Rally - a XInput game, in which you can see % press of an axis in Controls screen, so it's a reliable method of checking.

Headcrab

@Silent said in Sony DualShock 3 - call for testers: "sixaxis" script module:

Moonlight: Triggers register as 100% press upon the slightest press.

I might be wrong, but take a look at /etc/modprobe.d/xpad.conf
If "triggers_to_buttons" is set to 1, change the value to 0, reboot and see if it makes any difference in moonlight.

rodrigoleao

@psyke83 said in Sony DualShock 3 - call for testers: "sixaxis" script module:

@lostless said in Sony DualShock 3 - call for testers: "sixaxis" script module:

how would one install said driver? I would like to test it.

You need to be relatively comfortable with using the command-line to test.

These commands will enable the PR branch:
cd RetroPie-Setup
git remote add psyke83 https://github.com/psyke83/RetroPie-Setup
git fetch psyke83
git checkout sixaxis
Make sure to go back to the official branch after testing the PR! Uninstall sixaxis from the menu, then:
cd RetroPie-Setup
git checkout master
It's been confirmed that both official and Shanwan controllers are working. I need someone with a Gasia branded pad to test.

I had problems with the default Driver for Dualshock3. In my case, the problem was about the use of a 8bitdo controller with the dualshock. After the dualshock configuration, the 8bitdo is deconfigured, change the driver and it didn't work when the dualshock was on. This solution solved my problem.

psyke83

@rodrigoleao said in Sony DualShock 3 - call for testers: "sixaxis" script module:

@psyke83 said in Sony DualShock 3 - call for testers: "sixaxis" script module:
@lostless said in Sony DualShock 3 - call for testers: "sixaxis" script module:

how would one install said driver? I would like to test it.

You need to be relatively comfortable with using the command-line to test.

These commands will enable the PR branch:
cd RetroPie-Setup
git remote add psyke83 https://github.com/psyke83/RetroPie-Setup
git fetch psyke83
git checkout sixaxis
Make sure to go back to the official branch after testing the PR! Uninstall sixaxis from the menu, then:
cd RetroPie-Setup
git checkout master
It's been confirmed that both official and Shanwan controllers are working. I need someone with a Gasia branded pad to test.
I had problems with the default Driver for Dualshock3. In my case, the problem was about the use of a 8bitdo controller with the dualshock. After the dualshock configuration, the 8bitdo is deconfigured, change the driver and it didn't work when the dualshock was on. This solution solved my problem.

There was a problem with the RetroPie bluetooth menu script, but it was fixed in a commit separate from the PR. If you rebased the PR against latest master it would have been fixed.

psyke83

@Silent said in Sony DualShock 3 - call for testers: "sixaxis" script module:

@psyke83 So I tested both Moonlight and Steam Link:

Moonlight: Triggers register as 100% press upon the slightest press.

Steam Link: Behaviour was same, but in Steam Link app I ran Setup Controller again and reconfigured the controller. After that, it works as expected!

Do you know where Moonlight and Steam Link keep their mappings? I want to try to sync them to see if I can get triggers to work in Moonlight too.

For both my test case was DiRT Rally - a XInput game, in which you can see % press of an axis in Controls screen, so it's a reliable method of checking.

See the readme here: https://github.com/gabomdq/SDL_GameControllerDB

Steam Link on Pi stores its bootstrapped binaries in /home/pi/.local/share/SteamLink/ and configuration in /home/pi/.local/share/Valve Corporation/SteamLink/, so the latter is a possible location to look for mappings.

Silent

@psyke83 That was helpful, thank you! I fished out my configuration and applied it to Moonlight and it all works like a charm.

Update:
Mapping from @psyke83 didn't work for me, but this one did:
050000004c0500006802000000800000,PS3 Controller,platform:Linux,a:b0,b:b1,x:b3,y:b2,back:b8,guide:b10,start:b9,leftstick:b11,rightstick:b12,leftshoulder:b4,rightshoulder:b5,dpup:b13,dpdown:b14,dpleft:b15,dpright:b16,leftx:a0,lefty:a1,rightx:a3,righty:a4,lefttrigger:a2,righttrigger:a5,

(notice how GUIDs are slightly different)

With this, triggers are pressure sensitive without the need to change triggers_to_buttons.

However, when playtesting I encountered a problem - I was streaming via Moonlight and around 10 minute mark my controller disconnected! Was it a coincidence or a bug in idle timeout script? I was using triggers, left analog stick and face buttons - so the possibility of idle script only reacting to eg. face buttons is out of question.

Also, does this driver allow reporting battery level somehow? One last issue I have with using DS3 on pi is that I am unable to tell when the battery is running low.

hhromic

@Silent said in Sony DualShock 3 - call for testers: "sixaxis" script module:

Mapping from @psyke83 didn't work for me, but this one did:

Where did you find that particular mapping? Perhaps I can make the Moonlight scriptmodule to grab gamecontrollerdb.txt files from a more up-to-date source instead of the included one from Moonlight.

Another (better) alternative would be if you can submit your updated controller entry to the upstream maintainer of gamecontrollerdb.txt here: https://github.com/gabomdq/SDL_GameControllerDB

@Silent said in Sony DualShock 3 - call for testers: "sixaxis" script module:

Also, does this driver allow reporting battery level somehow? One last issue I have with using DS3 on pi is that I am unable to tell when the battery is running low.

I want to work on this in close future and already have some ideas drafted. I just need to find some good spare time to develop them. Also I have to finish the last details on the Moonlight scriptmodule :)

Silent

@hhromic That's the mapping I created from Steam Link app on rpi. Also, it looks like an identical mapping is already present in the database, so no need to submit anything new =)

Also, what file does this version of Moonlight read entries from? From the one in /usr/local/ or the one in scriptmodule directory?

If Moonlight is using an up to date sdl2, it would be very neat if your scriptmodule could grab mappings from this repository instead!

hhromic

@Silent said in Sony DualShock 3 - call for testers: "sixaxis" script module:

Also, it looks like an identical mapping is already present in the database

The mapping in the database for your same GUID is not the same as the one you provided. from SteamLink. The differences are clearly stating the triggers being regarded as analog instead of buttons:

 guide:b10
 leftshoulder:b4
 leftstick:b11
-lefttrigger:b6
+lefttrigger:a2
 leftx:a0
 lefty:a1
 platform:Linux
 PS3 Controller
 rightshoulder:b5
 rightstick:b12
-righttrigger:b7
+righttrigger:a5
 rightx:a3
 righty:a4
 start:b9

Also, what file does this version of Moonlight read entries from?

I made the scriptmodule to use the database included with Moonlight, which gets installed in the scriptmodule directory (/opt/retropie/supplementary/moonlight).

If Moonlight is using an up to date sdl2, it would be very neat if your scriptmodule could grab mappings from this repository instead!

Moonlight uses the system-instaled SDL2 lib when building and @irtimmer regularly keeps the database in sync with that repository. I will think about pulling directly instead.

Btw, more Moonlight-specific discussion should be made in its topic :)

psyke83

@hhromic said in Sony DualShock 3 - call for testers: "sixaxis" script module:

@Silent said in Sony DualShock 3 - call for testers: "sixaxis" script module:

Also, it looks like an identical mapping is already present in the database

The mapping in the database for your same GUID is not the same as the one you provided. from SteamLink. The differences are clearly stating the triggers being regarded as analog instead of buttons:
 guide:b10
 leftshoulder:b4
 leftstick:b11
-lefttrigger:b6
+lefttrigger:a2
 leftx:a0
 lefty:a1
 platform:Linux
 PS3 Controller
 rightshoulder:b5
 rightstick:b12
-righttrigger:b7
+righttrigger:a5
 rightx:a3
 righty:a4
 start:b9

That's right... and my post was intended to encourage others to check their own GUID. I've checked @Silent's, and the version of the db that's compiled into the current version of SDL2 built by RetroPie does use the digital buttons for this controller, unfortunately. In fact, at a quick glance, there are at least 16 PS3 variations that use the digital button mappings:

$ git grep "lefttrigger:b6" | grep "righttrigger:b7" | grep "PS3" -c
16

It might be a good idea to submit a patch to upstream SDL2 for your own GUID so that future releases work out of the box. I'm a bit hesitant to send a patch for all 16+ en masse, considering that I can't tell which GUIDs are clones that may possibly have malfunctioning analog triggers, etc.

Silent

@psyke83 Sure, I intend to do that, and also check with both my pads in case they have different GUIDs (which they may, considering both are legit but one is considerably newer than the other). I am not yet sure how to send patches to SDL yet though, so will need to look that up.

Also, this potentially important info seems to have gotten lost between the mappings talk:

However, when playtesting I encountered a problem - I was streaming via Moonlight and around 10 minute mark my controller disconnected! Was it a coincidence or a bug in idle timeout script? I was using triggers, left analog stick and face buttons - so the possibility of idle script only reacting to eg. face buttons is out of question.

steeeb

I've been trying to get this working on Odroid XU4 (ubuntu with 3.10 kernel).

But not having any luck with both official or Shanwan controllers. I upgraded bluez manually to 5.48 but that didn't help either.

Anyone know if it's ever likely to work on a kernel so old before I continue trying?

jmbooth2000

Would it be possible to dynamically change the configuration per game. For example you might want to configure pacman limited to 4 way movement or allow for analog triggers for acceleration and braking in racing games but digital in most.

This can, sort of, be done by using the xboxdrv and tearing down and restarting it on a per emulator / per game basis. This doesn't really scale.

What I'm thinking would be much better is if the driver could be load once but accept configuration changes.

Thoughts?

psyke83

@jmbooth2000 said in Sony DualShock 3 - call for testers: "sixaxis" script module:

Would it be possible to dynamically change the configuration per game. For example you might want to configure pacman limited to 4 way movement or allow for analog triggers for acceleration and braking in racing games but digital in most.

This can, sort of, be done by using the xboxdrv and tearing down and restarting it on a per emulator / per game basis. This doesn't really scale.

What I'm thinking would be much better is if the driver could be load once but accept configuration changes.

Thoughts?

You can specify a controller configuration via a hint in SDL2: https://wiki.libsdl.org/SDL_HINT_GAMECONTROLLERCONFIG

IIRC, hints can also be specified as an environment variable if you omit the _HINT part, so this could be a way to do it. I'm not sure if this can only append new entries or if it'll actually override an existing GUID entry.

@Silent said in Sony DualShock 3 - call for testers: "sixaxis" script module:

@psyke83 Sure, I intend to do that, and also check with both my pads in case they have different GUIDs (which they may, considering both are legit but one is considerably newer than the other). I am not yet sure how to send patches to SDL yet though, so will need to look that up.

Also, this potentially important info seems to have gotten lost between the mappings talk:

However, when playtesting I encountered a problem - I was streaming via Moonlight and around 10 minute mark my controller disconnected! Was it a coincidence or a bug in idle timeout script? I was using triggers, left analog stick and face buttons - so the possibility of idle script only reacting to eg. face buttons is out of question.

I'll look into that soon.