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

verawarez

Thanks a lot for your answer, it is a honor to receive answer of you, i've decided to leave it as it is now, i dont know too much about retropie, linux and that stuff, i've tried to manual install custombluez, sucessfully installed and had 5.50 but bluetooth was not working ok

The only thing left for the moment is support for gasia and shanwguan clone controllers, and would have some problems with repos, and the distribution i have, now some stuff is not working like trying to install custombluez, customhidsony, and some other things because jessie is losing support

When strech for my hardware is adapted and available gonna try it again, i have another raspberry 2, and a raspberry 3b, if i had some problems like this gonna try it again and ask you if i have a trouble

Im still learning about retropie, linux, emulationstation and that stuff

Thanks again for your patience and support

Headcrab

Hi, on a fresh 4.6 install i am only able to successfully pair an official ps3 controller, if i first disable third party support in the sixaxis options and reboot.
Is this intended behavior?
If this is verified by others, maybe the Docs should be updated.

Tested on:
rpi 3 model B (2 of em)
official power supply
Pre made SD Image on RetroPie website - retropie-buster-4.6-rpi2_rpi3.img
official ps3 controller

mitu

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

Hi, on a fresh 4.6 install i am only able to successfully pair an official ps3 controller, if i first disable third party support in the sixaxis options and reboot.

I think the doc page makes it clear that you need to enable the option just for 3rd party controllers:

If you have a third-party controller, you must also navigate to [Configuration / Options] and select [Enable support for third-party controllers]; installation may take several minutes, so be patient.

Headcrab

@mitu
So if i understand it correctly, for official controllers, you don't need any extra steps.
Just install sixaxis and pair.

My experience is that you have to go through the extra step of disabling third party support and also rebooting.
I did not mean that i first unnecessarily enabled third party support.

mitu

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

I did not mean that i first unnecessarily enabled third party support.

By default, support for 3rd party controller is not installed - when you choose Enable 3rd party controller support, an additional package is installed. When you choose Disable .. that additional package is uninstalled. So it's not like an option for the driver.

Can you check by re-installing the sixaxis driver ? This will not remove your existing gamepad configurations.

Headcrab

@mitu
While using the ps3 controller over bluetooth, i removed the sixaxis package and rebooted.
The controller remained functional even after the reboot. (i'm confused by this)

Then i reinstalled sixaxis from source, and the controller remains functional like before. The controller was already paired.
To be clear, during all this process i used the ps3 controller over bt.

Maybe i need to check on a fresh install, if the "thrid party support" additional package is installed by default?
What should i be looking for?

mitu

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

Maybe i need to check on a fresh install, if the "thrid party support" additional package is installed by default?
What should i be looking for?

Normally, 3rd party controller installs also the customhidsony driver package. So you can see in the list of packages from the drivers section if something new gets installed after installing sixaxis. Of course, the normal test to see if after the installation that the controller works without issues and you don't need to use the 'Disable 3rd party controller support', would be ideal.

Thanks for testing.

Headcrab

I've done some more testing (i probably erased and burned the SD card about 10 times today)
So i will do a recap.

The problem
When trying to pair an official ps3 controller for the first time, it is not being discovered.
I get the message "No devices were found. Ensure device is on and try again"

The steps

Burn the "retropie-buster-4.6-rpi2_rpi3.img" image on the sd card
boot into emulationstation
connect ps3 controller over usb and configure controls, so i can navigate
go to driver packages and install sixaxis
reboot
with the controller connected over usb navigate to Bluetooth > "Register and Connect to Bluetooth Device"
follow the instructions to unplug and re-plug the cable (and leave it connected)
it fails to discover the controller

I confirmed that customhidsony is not installed after installing sixaxis.
It does not show up in the driver menu. Also :

ls -la /opt/retropie/supplementary/
total 52
drwxr-xr-x 13 root root 4096 May  1 12:51 .
drwxr-xr-x  7 root root 4096 May  1 12:50 ..
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root 4096 Apr 28 01:15 bashwelcometweak
drwxr-xr-x  4 root root 4096 Apr 28 01:08 emulationstation
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root 4096 Apr 28 01:09 mesa-drm
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root 4096 Apr 28 01:12 omxiv
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root 4096 Apr 28 01:08 retropiemenu
drwxr-xr-x  3 root root 4096 Apr 28 01:09 runcommand
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root 4096 Apr 28 01:05 sdl2
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root 4096 May  1 12:51 sixaxis
drwxr-xr-x  3 root root 4096 May  1 12:50 splashscreen
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root 4096 Apr 28 01:14 usbromservice
drwxr-xr-x  4 root root 4096 Apr 28 01:17 xpad

If i hit the "disable third party support" option, i've found through the log that the following packages are installed:

The following NEW packages will be installed:
  libbluetooth-dev libbluetooth3

After a reboot i am able to pair my controller, but even then it is not solving the discovery problem every time.
For example i had to switch to my other rpi3 board to make the controller discoverable in one of my tries.

mitu

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

follow the instructions to unplug and re-plug the cable (and leave it connected)
it fails to discover the controller

You don't need to reboot after the installation of the driver. Did you press the 'PS/Share' button before dis-connecting ?

Headcrab

@mitu
I tried one more fresh install, just to make sure.
I am pressing the PS/Share' button before dis-connecting.

It is consistently not discovering the controller after installing the sixaxis driver.
Doing the "disable thrid party" option and rebooting works 99% of the time.

mitu

Thanks for testing - I'll add a note in the wiki for this.

Headcrab

@mitu
Thanks for your time.
I hope we get confirmation from other ps3 controller owners at some point.

wmarcio

On my pi3b+ with retropie 4.6 on debian 9.11 wont worked, i made the same process...

mitu

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

On my pi3b+ with retropie 4.6 on debian 9.11 wont worked, i made the same process...

You're using a 3rd party controller, did you run the 'Enable 3rd party controllers' step ?

Headcrab

I've done some more testing, and found out that libbluetooth-dev does the trick.
So for the official ps3 controller these are the steps that work on my end.

install sixaxis driver
sudo apt-get install libbluetooth-dev
reboot
Connect the controller over usb
Bluetooth menu > "Register and Connect to Bluetooth Device"
Follow the on screen instructions

mitu

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

I've done some more testing, and found out that libbluetooth-dev does the trick.

I think that's a red herring, the package contains only development files, without any impact on the Bluetooth stack that's running on the Pi.

EDIT: Hm, actually it seems to contain more than that. I'll take a look, but on my system this is not installed and the controller works ok.

Headcrab

@mitu
My findings are not based on actual knowledge of what each package does, so you are probably right.

But just to be clear, when you say that your controller works fine do you mean that when trying to Register for the first time, it is being discovered without that package being installed?

mitu

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

But just to be clear, when you say that your controller works fine do you mean that when trying to Register for the first time, it is being discovered without that package?

I never had that package installed and it's not installed now, so yes - discovery and (now) basic controller functionality worked without it. There might by a difference between systems though, I've paired and connected on a Pi4, which has a different BT chipset, so you being on a Pi3B+ might count.

Headcrab

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

I've paired and connected on a Pi4, which has a different BT chipset, so you being on a Pi3B+ might count.

I just "borrowed" a rpi4(1gb) from my nas setup so i can test this.

I performed these steps:

Burn the "retropie-buster-4.6-rpi4.img" image on the sd card
boot into emulationstation
connect ps3 controller over usb and configure controls, so i can navigate
go to driver packages and install sixaxis
with the controller connected over usb navigate to Bluetooth > "Register and Connect to Bluetooth Device"
follow the instructions to unplug and re-plug the cable (and leave it connected)

The outcome was exactly like on my rpi3.

Discovery fails.
If i install libbluetooth-dev and reboot
Discovery succeeds

Maybe it's a problem with my controller, i don't know.
Also, i do not own a ps3 console, so it is not interfering in any way.

wmarcio

@mitu, Hello, thank you, you are always helping people. My controller is original Sony, I always used the same controller, before upgrading to version 4.6, the same controller worked perfectly.