2 8bitdo controllers won't connect at same time
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I am building an image on a pi zero and working to connect two 8bitdo controllers (the 6 button genesis mod). Both work fine alone, but as soon as I try to turn on the second controller, it disconnects the other controller.
I set them both up through the bluetooth menu via the RetroPie setup menu and used the dev rule for both.
Has anyone else had this issue?
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Upon further review, it looks as if I was never able to create a udev rule for the second controller. It looks as if they are sharing the same file. How do I create a new file for the second controller?
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@cnoto said in 2 8bitdo controllers won't connect at same time:
It looks as if they are sharing the same file. How do I create a new file for the second controller?
You don't need to, if they're similar than they use the same rule. For the M30 controller, you don't need to that setting enabled, it should work without it.
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@mitu Thanks. That makes sense. They both connect fine upon startup.
For some reason, when I load a rom with both controllers they work fine for a minute and then one of the controller ends up disconnecting.
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Perhaps a pi zero w cannot handle two bluetooth controllers at the same time. Can anyone confirm that they have this successfully setup? I have used 2 8bitdo controllers on numerous pi3 and pi4 setups, but never on the zero w.
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@cnoto Maybe it doesn't have enough power or the BT is not strong enough to maintain a constant connection to 2 controllers. Did you try to disable the Wi-Fi during gameplay (with
sudo rfkill block wlan) ? -
@mitu I have narrowed the issue. Both controllers work fine right after I configure them. The issue is occurring after I restart the system and turn on both controllers. Controller 1 and 2 works for about 10 seconds then controller 1 loses connection.
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@mitu I have confirmed the pi0w can handle both controllers as they work fine before I restart and connect through the udev rule. I even removed both controllers from the ES, reinstalled the controllers firmware, and erased the udev rule to reconnect everything and am still experiencing the same issue.
Something about the connection after a fresh start is causing issues. It almost seems as if controller 2 is taking over for controller 1. They each have their own Mac address so I dont know why that would be the case. Are there other places to check for issues?
Many thanks
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The only time I've experienced issues with one of these controllers is with the RetroPie menu, but in the games themselves they worked fine. Your situation is a little different though because you tried connecting 2 controllers onto the same device, not one, which appears that it caused some sort of conflict. It shouldn't though, theoretically there should be no limit to the number of bluetooth devices that can be paired.
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@cnoto said in 2 8bitdo controllers won't connect at same time:
Are there other places to check for issues?
Look in the system log (
/var/log/messages), the connect/disconnect operations should be logged there. -
@agtrigormortis thanks. Did you fix your issue?
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@mitu thanks. I am in the logs but not sure what to look for.
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@cnoto The only work around I found, for navigating file explorers and configuration menu was to use a mouse/keyboard combo. For some strange reason my 8BitDo doesn't let me back out when I select some things in it and I end up having to restart the Pi4.
with the mouse and keyboard I can back out of the configuration settings and use the machine as normal. It's not a huge issue, the 8bitDo Genesis controllers still work when playing Sega Genesis games and that's good enough for me. I can't speak for everybody else, but I do understand that the Raspberry Pi is still a mini desktop PC so keyboard and mice will inevitably be used on them anyway.
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@agtrigormortis thanks. For as pretty as the 8bitdo controllers are, they certainly come with their challenges.
I am working to build something that feels as much like a console as possible and is very easy to use.
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@cnoto You're welcome, there's so many uses for the Pi. Like in terms of retro gaming you may want to look into getting Dosbian too, as that will let you install Windows 95 and 98, and run DOS/9x games.
I know you're trying to make a pseudo game console, but this is worth a consideration.
And with a Vesa mount you can screw your Pi onto the back of your monitor. -
@agtrigormortis good suggestion! Ill give it a try. Would love to get homm3 going!
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@cnoto I'm gonna try to have Dosbian installed on my Pi4 with its RetroPie software. :)
hopefully it's a success. It would be the retro console/PC gaming machine if it works. -
O.K. I think this is the log for my specific issue. I connected controller 1 by turning the pi on then the controller. Then I connected controller 2. Then controller 1 lost connection and turned off. The logs are below.
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Jan 28 16:25:04 retropie kernel: [ 235.142772] hid-generic 0005:2DC8:5101.0001: unknown main item tag 0x0
Jan 28 16:25:04 retropie kernel: [ 235.143377] input: 8BitDo M30 Modkit as /devices/platform/soc/20201000.serial/tty/ttyAMA0/hci0/hci0:11/0005:2DC8:5101.0001/input/input0
Jan 28 16:25:04 retropie kernel: [ 235.154467] hid-generic 0005:2DC8:5101.0001: input,hidraw0: BLUETOOTH HID v1.00 Gamepad [8BitDo M30 Modkit] on b8:27:eb:35:c7:85
Jan 28 16:25:14 retropie kernel: [ 245.099711] hid-generic 0005:2DC8:5101.0002: unknown main item tag 0x0
Jan 28 16:25:14 retropie kernel: [ 245.100822] input: 8BitDo M30 Modkit as /devices/platform/soc/20201000.serial/tty/ttyAMA0/hci0/hci0:12/0005:2DC8:5101.0002/input/input1
Jan 28 16:25:14 retropie kernel: [ 245.116986] hid-generic 0005:2DC8:5101.0002: input,hidraw1: BLUETOOTH HID v1.00 Gamepad [8BitDo M30 Modkit] on b8:27:eb:35:c7:85...
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The log shows only the connection messages, but there's nothing about disconnecting.
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@mitu ok thanks. Any other ideas? Im stumped on this one.
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