Why does my 8bitdo and PS3 controllers randomly move?

kireol

I have a pi3 running the latest updated retropie.

I used to have a PS3 remote on it. But at the rom selection screen, it would just randomly move.

So I googled what's the best retropie joystick and settled on buying an 8bitdo sn30 Pro.

I reflashed my sd card with the latest retropie and updated, as I had read that sixaxis or other ps3 drivers can cause issues.

I paired the 8bitdo (no drivers needed) and it does the same thing. random drifts.

Only have the 8bitdo paired right now. no other joysticks.

Interesting parts:

It does NOT happen in Pegasus front end. Only Emulation Station.

It does not happen on my raspberry pi 4. Only the 3.

I never see this in a game.

it doesnt happen if I'm on the 1st, 2nd, 2nd to last, or last game in the lists.

jstest does not show any movement/drift what so ever.

I reconfigured my joystick, and skipped the thumb sticks. Yet, in the rom selection, they still work. ugh.

if I hit select to bring up the menu, it will not move until I leave that screen

It never moves on the retropie screen that's a sibling of all of the rom selection screens

Here's a video of what's happening.

mitu

@kireol said in Why does my 8bitdo and PS3 controllers randomly move?:

It does NOT happen in Pegasus front end. Only Emulation Station.

That's strange, because I think both use libSDL2 for input handling.

Start ES with the --debug parameter and reproduce the issue, the post the contents of the \\retropie\configs\all\emulationstation\es_log.txt to pastebin.com.

EDIT: besides jstest, you should test the gamepad events using sdl2-jstest, since this version uses libSDL2 and it should be closer to what EmulationStation sees.

IanDaemon

@mitu Very clear, direct, and succinct response with file path and text coloring. :thumbsup:

kireol

@mitu said in Why does my 8bitdo and PS3 controllers randomly move?:

That's strange, because I think both use libSDL2 for input handling.
Start ES with the --debug parameter and reproduce the issue, the post the contents of the \retropie\configs\all\emulationstation\es_log.txt to pastebin.com.
EDIT: besides jstest, you should test the gamepad events using sdl2-jstest, since this version uses libSDL2 and it should be closer to what EmulationStation sees.

sdl2-jstest https://pastebin.com/mVW9fpYG
es log https://pastebin.com/FYSYS57S

FWIW, there's a ton of people having this issue. I made a post on reddit and 30 or so people jumped in saying they have the same issue. Some have reported it. Nothing was ever fixed.

mitu

@kireol said in Why does my 8bitdo and PS3 controllers randomly move?:

sdl2-jstest https://pastebin.com/mVW9fpYG
es log https://pastebin.com/FYSYS57S

Both logs seem to show the same axis movements, which means EmulationStation follows what libSDL2 reports.

FWIW, there's a ton of people having this issue. I made a post on reddit and 30 or so people jumped in saying they have the same issue. Some have reported it. Nothing was ever fixed.

The issue can happen for a number of reasons (bad controller/bad connection/bad power source), but in your case the movements in EmulationStation are triggered by the underlying input library (SDL), which generates the ghost inputs.

Do the same test (via sdl2-jstest) by connecting the controller via USB - you don't even have to configure it in EmulationStation. If you have the Pi3 in a metal case, try removing it from the case - so there's nothing blocking of the BT signal.
Do you have any other USB devices connected to the Pi ?

kireol

@mitu said in Why does my 8bitdo and PS3 controllers randomly move?:

The issue can happen for a number of reasons (bad controller/bad connection/bad power source), but in your case the movements in EmulationStation are triggered by the underlying input library (SDL), which generates the ghost inputs.
Do the same test (via sdl2-jstest) by connecting the controller via USB - you don't even have to configure it in EmulationStation. If you have the Pi3 in a metal case, try removing it from the case - so there's nothing blocking of the BT signal.
Do you have any other USB devices connected to the Pi ?

OK Thanks.

I just tried a ps3 remote over USB with sdl2-jstest, it doesnt happen when plugged in. I unplugged the USB and it sync wirelessly, and then it started with the movements right away.

There's no other usb devices connected.

Does this mean we wont be able to get a fix for this? Or should I make a bug request with libsdl? I really prefer ES look and use over pegasus, but it's so annoying

Why does it not happen on the retropie screen? What magic code is in there so it doesn't happen? Or what code is in the rom selection screens to make it happen?

mitu

@kireol said in Why does my 8bitdo and PS3 controllers randomly move?:

Does this mean we wont be able to get a fix for this? Or should I make a bug request with libsdl? I really prefer ES look and use over pegasus, but it's so annoying

If there would have been a bug in SDL, it would have affected many more users. My guess is that the the Bluetooth on your RPI3 may be getting interference and the connection to the controller might have issues (the Pi4 has a better wireless chip). You could disable the Wifi (add dtoverlay=disable-wifi in /boot/config.txt) and see if this improves the situation.

Why does it not happen on the retropie screen? What magic code is in there so it doesn't happen? Or what code is in the rom selection screens to make it happen?

There isn't any. As far as EmulationStation is concerned, the RetroPie system is just like every other system, roms or not.

kireol

@mitu said in Why does my 8bitdo and PS3 controllers randomly move?:

There isn't any. As far as EmulationStation is concerned, the RetroPie system is just like every other system, roms or not.

Hrmmm. The more I play, the more I feel it's a retropie issue.

If you disable video previews, and go to basic mode, sdl2-jstest shows no ghost movements and the issue does not happen.

It's something with videos that is break it. Which is probably why you arent hearing about it more, since most people do not have videos.

This also makes sense why it's not happening on the retropie screen as there arent any videos

mitu

@kireol said in Why does my 8bitdo and PS3 controllers randomly move?:

It's something with videos that is break it. Which is probably why you arent hearing about it more, since most people do not have videos.

While not all users are using video previews, I don't think their number is that small.

This also makes sense why it's not happening on the retropie screen as there arent any videos

Yes, seems to be video related. Are you using the default video player or the hardware accelerated one (omxplayer) ?

I can certainly try to reproduce the issue, but these kind of strange problems are quite often caused by bad power adapters. Are you using the Raspberry Pi power adapter ? Do you have any overclocking configured on the Pi ?

kireol

@mitu said in Why does my 8bitdo and PS3 controllers randomly move?:

Yes, seems to be video related. Are you using the default video player or the hardware accelerated one (omxplayer) ?
I can certainly try to reproduce the issue, but these kind of strange problems are quite often caused by bad power adapters. Are you using the Raspberry Pi power adapter ? Do you have any overclocking configured on the Pi ?

I'm using the default video player.

I think you may be on to something. I'm using a 2a power supply. I'll order a 3a micro usb and see if that fixes it. That would totally make sense.

mitu

@kireol said in Why does my 8bitdo and PS3 controllers randomly move?:

I'm using the default video player.

Try switching to omxplayer, it uses less resources and is faster than the built-in (VLC based) video player.

kireol

@mitu said in Why does my 8bitdo and PS3 controllers randomly move?:

Try switching to omxplayer, it uses less resources and is faster than the built-in (VLC based) video player.

Switched it over to omxplayer, it still happens. New Power supply ordered. Will report findings once it arrives.

jamrom2

@kireol I've had this issue for years. It's been in every build I've had for the past 4 years. It only happens in ES. I don't use preview videos. I don't think it has anything to do with that.

I have iBuffalo USB SNES controllers. I made a build for a co-worker...his does it too. He has Retroflag USB SNES controllers.

It's annoying as hell, but I kinda got used to it. I don't think there was ever a fix posted for it. Hopefully there can be.

It was only there when I moved up to the Pi3...same with tht sound cut-out problem.

mitu

@jamrom2 said in Why does my 8bitdo and PS3 controllers randomly move?:

I have iBuffalo USB SNES controllers. I made a build for a co-worker...his does it too. He has Retroflag USB SNES controllers.

This kind of issue with the iBuffalo controllers has been reported and discussed multiple times in the past - it seems to be a controller issue. See for instance here.

jamrom2

@mitu you're spot on.. It is... and for the sake of closing this thread... it's not Retropie (as you already know)...

I just bought the new "The C64" (full-size)... plugged in my iBuffalo SNES... and it does the same thing. Randomly moves.

Thanks as always for the reply and thread reference.

kireol

@mitu

Got my new power supply (3.1A 5v). Issue still happens with new power supply

mitu

I'll try to reproduce the issue with my PS3 controller. I have one, but it's not connected.

mitu

That was easier than I thought.
After configuring the controller on my Pi3, tried to scrape for more videos and the issue appeared during scraping - I think producing any load on the system triggers this when EmulationStation is started. So instead of using the videos in ES, I just re-ran Skyscraper in a loop, re-generating gamelists to produce load.
The ghost inputs appear also in jstest or evtest - not only sdl2-jstest. Running evtest is actually easier to see the new inputs.

What fixes it is lowering the BT baud rate (as mentioned in https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Bluetooth-Controller/, but it's line 27 not line 22 as mentioned there). Modify /usr/bin/btuart and lower it from the 921600 to one of the values recommended (230400 or 115200). With 115200 set, I think I had only 2 or 3 ghost inputs with more that 30 min of continuous testing. Give it a try and see if that makes a difference for your setup.

kireol

@mitu said in Why does my 8bitdo and PS3 controllers randomly move?:

That was easier than I thought.
After configuring the controller on my Pi3, tried to scrape for more videos and the issue appeared during scraping - I think producing any load on the system triggers this when EmulationStation is started. So instead of using the videos in ES, I just re-ran Skyscraper in a loop, re-generating gamelists to produce load.
The ghost inputs appear also in jstest or evtest - not only sdl2-jstest. Running evtest is actually easier to see the new inputs.
What fixes it is lowering the BT baud rate (as mentioned in https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Bluetooth-Controller/, but it's line 27 not line 22 as mentioned there). Modify /usr/bin/btuart and lower it from the 921600 to one of the values recommended (230400 or 115200). With 115200 set, I think I had only 2 or 3 ghost inputs with more that 30 min of continuous testing. Give it a try and see if that makes a difference for your setup.

That worked perfectly for me. 10 minutes and no ghost movements.

I'll let the people in /r/retropie know. Should make a lot of people happy :)

Thanks for looking in to this. I know you all have to be doing this on volunteer basis.

jamrom2

@mitu other than swapping transistors which that thread points to (I've already ordered them)... is there a null input value to set in a USB Joystick control file somewhere?

Maybe that could be added if not?