fake 8Bitdo SF30 Pro, way to get working?

ikkeT

This is what it looks like in dmesg, while connecting it via different means. Occationally with BT on, sometimes USB.

mitu

@ikkeT You forgot to link the dmesg output, I think ?

ikkeT

Yes, I forgot the actual dmesg :) Now I can't paste it, as it's classified as spam :(

Let's try reformat:

[   11.880638] input: Pro Controller as /devices/platform/soc/3f201000.serial/tty/ttyAMA0/hci0/hci0:11/0005:057E:2009.0001/input/input0
[   11.880907] hid-generic 0005:057E:2009.0001: input,hidraw0: BLUETOOTH HID v0.01 Gamepad [Pro Controller] on b8:27:eb:b8:1d:86

[  522.089432] input: Nintendo Co., Ltd. Pro Controller as /devices/platform/soc/3f980000.usb/usb1/1-1/1-1.4/1-1.4:1.0/0003:057E:2009.0002/input/input1
[  522.090850] hid-generic 0003:057E:2009.0002: input,hidraw0: USB HID v1.11 Joystick [Nintendo Co., Ltd. Pro Controller] on usb-3f980000.usb-1.4/input0

[  525.647783] input: Microsoft X-Box 360 pad as /devices/platform/soc/3f980000.usb/usb1/1-1/1-1.4/1-1.4:1.0/input/input2

[  920.988380] hid-generic 0003:057E:2009.0004: input,hidraw0: USB HID v1.11 Joystick [Nintendo Co., Ltd. Pro Controller] on usb-3f980000.usb-1.4/input0

mitu

Hm, detected as hid-generic. Can you check what's the udev rule that was added ? Post the .conf file from /etc/udev/rules.d.

ikkeT

This is what retropie adds:

pi@retropie:~ $ cat /etc/udev/rules.d/99-bluetooth.rules 
SUBSYSTEM=="input", ATTRS{name}=="Pro Controller", MODE="0666", ENV{ID_INPUT_JOYSTICK}="1"

and this I tried from one of the forum posts while looking for switch controller posts:

pi@retropie:~ $ cat /etc/udev/rules.d/99-nintendo-switch-pro-controller.rules 
#KERNEL=="event*", ATTRS{name}=="Pro Controller", SYMLINK+="switch-pro-controller", TAG+="systemd", ENV{SYSTEMD_WANTS}="nintendo-switch-pro-controller.service"
#KERNEL=="event*", ATTRS{name}=="Pro Controller", ACTION=="remove", RUN+="/bin/systemctl stop nintendo-switch-pro-controller"

Now it's back to the first one added by retropie-setup.sh.

ikkeT

This is where I got if from. It didn't help though: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/16503/how-to-connect-a-switch-pro-controller-with-analog-stick-without-xboxdrv

mitu

@ikkeT if your buttons/inputs are not registering, then it means xboxdrv is not going to work. The 1st udev rules file is ok, it should force the device to appear as a gamepad device to the system, but I think the device might expect some kind of initialization from the system to start working.

IMHO, at this price you should get a real 8bitdo and not a clone/knock-off. You might be able to make it work via the USB, if you convince the xpad driver to handle it (it's not handling it at the moment because it doesn't know the device).

ikkeT

The USB is rather OK, has been from the start. Only issue is that the home hotkey doesn't work. But I bought this for BT, and as I have no experience, I thought it really is 8Bitdo. I was fooled by the ebay sellers having 8Bitdo in the topic. I only yesterday found out it is not 8Bitdo :(

alanmanquero

Bump!

I got the same issue, the controllers are great and ok quality. Has someone been able to get it working? I can use it wired but when it comes to wireless won’t detect input. It does connect fine and seems to be detected as a switch pro controller.

bradarad

I have the same controller and experiencing the same problems. It works fine plugged in as an Xbox controller and jstest detects it. As soon as I pair it on Bluetooth none of the buttons are recognized in jstest anymore.

The Bluetooth does work on my Linux PC in steam. It detects it as a switch pro controller and run flawlessly.

I lack the knowledge, but I'll try to dig into what's making it work on my PC when I have more time. Maybe whatever it is can be adopted to retropi.

Finnbro

Just wanted to mention I have the same issue with this product. I hope someone can devise a solution for this!

MrCoffee

@Finnbro Do you have the manual to it , I lost mine. I think you can switch it into D-input and X-input.

matchaman

It's not fake, it's designed to look different. They don't try to fool anyone. The quality is bad however, avoid this and save a little more for the actual SF30 Pro.

Finnbro

@MrCoffee Hey, my manual doesn't mention anything about switching between D-Input and X-Input. Not clear to me if we have the same product, though my controller does look identical to the one in OP's ebay link. It came in a red box and has "Wireless Pro game controller" and "FOR Switch" printed on the front of the box. The manual is frankly useless and has broken English throughout

Edit: This was where I ordered from https://www.ebay.com/itm/Non-Original-8Bitdo-SF30-Pro-Wireless-Bluetooth-Controller-with-Joystick-Gamepad/312666327987

Pundan

Just guessing here, but it looks to me like it's set to work with the Nintendo Switch. I have an authentic 8bitdo SN30 Pro+ and I couldn't get that to work when it was set to pair in Nintendo Switch mode. Try holding B + Start when you put it in pair mode maybe? If you're lucky then it's pairing as an Android controller instead of a Nintendo Switch controller.

Finnbro

Doesn't seem to work, but thanks for the tip. It connects to the Pi as a "Pro Controller" in Bluetooth, can configure input when connected over USB (recognized as a X-360 controller in EmulationStation), but will not respond to configure input at all in Bluetooth wireless :(

thatfatninja

Has anyone had any more success for these? They really do look like nice controllers and I hate for them to collect dust :-/