Do USB extension cables for controllers add input lag or any other issues?

scrappbrapp

I think my goal of having 6 & 16 ft USB and HDMI cables is not such a great idea. Im gonna go ahead and just buy an actual Pi3 charger, which means I need extension cables for the controllers.

just curious if the extensions will add any other set of problems.

Any recommendations?

PetroRie

I have a USB extension cable of 5 meters and it works fine there are no input lags. I never encountered any problem with them. My HDMI cable is 2 meters. I'm using a 5V/2.5 AMPS charger it works fine.

scrappbrapp

This post is deleted!

scrappbrapp

I thought I had found a really nice USB charger
(http://www.monoprice.com/Product?p_id=13916&gclid=Cj0KEQjwnIm7BRDSs42KxLS8-6YBEiQAfDWP6ASfcc99y6gnkgSOOpwul9g0IRsHdHHP4IIocznAzTEaAjwB8P8HAQ)
It allows a 10ft(3meters) 24awg USB cable to be used for SNES, but I needed a 6ft(2meters) version for N64 to not cause lockups... Now Im starting to notice on some N64 games, or maybe after too much playing/heavy ROM switching, the Pi is starting to lock up again.

Maybe this is also starting to happen because Ive pushed my overlock to 1.5ghz, so Ive just decided to keep it simple, and get an official Pi3 charger. (with heatsinks using thermal adhesive, using an open air case, temperatures dont go above 53c.. Working on a 3d printed case that includes a fan, just as soon as the PowerBlock comes in the mail.)

RetroResolution

Hi,

I've never experienced any issues - in a standard extension cable it's purely an electrical path; the resistance will increase a little, but the electrons are still moving as quick as ever (close to, but not quite light speed, if I remember my physics correctly).

If a repeater, containing electronics, was included for very long extensions, then perhaps some lag would be introduced.

I'm using in-line extension cables between my USB controller adaptors and original PlayStation and N64 controllers, which work perfectly.

RetroResolution

@scrappbrapp 1500mhz GHz is a very impressive overclock; I can't get mine above 1350, with heatsinks. Although 1400mhz seemed viable, under extensive multicore tests of ram and CPU, it wasn't.

scrappbrapp

@RetroResolution I find it surprising that a noob like me, who bought a Pi3 on a whim just to build RetroPie, got lucky enough to find one that can hit 1.5. (Granted, if it makes a difference, I have never run any kind of stress tests... I just changed the settings and went off to play some games, so I can't say for sure how "legitimate" my overclock is.)

I know its not the most responsible thing to go about doing, but I was just too curious what kind of difference an overclock would make. I wish more information was readily available, like maybe what else I should change besides simply saying "overclock 1500"... I followed the specs posted in the thread on how to overclock for N64, and I just turned up the cpu higher than the 1400.

over voltage 5 and cpu 1500 would not run. I have to run over_voltage 6 to get 1500 to work.

I'm starting to feel kind of bad, I really think I should just remove my overclock....

RetroResolution

@scrappbrapp It's very possible your Pi has a SoC (the Broadcom System on a Chip) that's capable of handling the overclock; due to the optical lithography used when creating the silicon wafers, the chips that are from the center of the die are naturally better focused, and thus inherently more stable than those towards the outer edges.

The entire batch of chips are tested to ensure they can run at a known speed, which means that the higher quality silicon from the center is likely to be able to run faster without errors.

On my Pi 2 and Pi 3 I've never been able to overclock the Ram with decent stability; I leave it at the default 450mhz - as a rule the memory chip seems far less tolerant of higher speeds than the CPU. Personally I'd never overclock the SD Card either as system and data integrity has to be a priority.

I've written some guides on overclocking and testing which you may wish to try so you'll have a quantifiable view of your machine's stability:

Overclocking and Stability Testing the Raspberry Pi

scrappbrapp

Thank you @RetroResolution , I'm still going through the links, but thats the kind of info I was curious in reading about.

Im going to start with getting this official charger... No more trying to push the limits of the micro USB, first thing is first.

RetroResolution

@scrappbrapp glad to help!