Games slow to load on launch, 60 seconds - 8BitDo/RasPi 4

vantseattle

Checking to see if anyone else experienced this yet.

I'm building a RetroPie for my nephew. I noticed games will take a long time to launch from the different emulator menus and will load once the bluetooth controllers have been assigned to the ports.

Loading can take up to 60 seconds.

Bluetooth connect mode is at default.

8BitDo mapping hack is OFF.

Loading the games with a USB keyboard takes less than 15 seconds.

Turning off the controller and turning it back on speeds up this process to less than 15 seconds, regular load times. My previous builds with the RasPi3 and other 8BitDo controllers did not do this so this is new to me.

Model: Raspberry Pi 4/400

Build used: https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/releases/download/4.7.1/retropie-buster-4.7.1-rpi4_400.img.gz

Controller: 8BitDo SN30 Pro+

Workaround for now I will tell him to turn off/on the controllers if the loading time is a minute.

mitu

I think this is a known issue with some 8BitDo controllers when they're paired in X-Input mode. Pair the controller using the Switch/Android mode instead.

vantseattle

@mitu Thank you for the quick response. I'll try this today and update.

vantseattle

@mitu I had removed pairing with the X/Windows style and tried Android, Switch pairing. The issue I found with Android and Switch is that Hotkey is assigned to button 12 which seems to somehow not function as normal. Hotkey+Start would not exit a game. I had to kill the games over SSH each time or reboot the thing.

Each time I set a new pairing and controller configuration I removed the previous bluetooth devices and the es_input.cfg files to ensure it was clean configuration each time.

After doing this multiple times and going back to X/Windows I no longer seem to have the issue.

I had also disabled the runcommand while launching games while doing these updates which may be a factor. I guess we can mark this closed because at the moment I cannot duplicate the issue.

vantseattle

@mitu @vantseattle well, after a clean boot, I CAN duplicate the issue, but this is the best configuration so we'll continue with the workaround of restarting a controller until updates for the controller or RetroPie happen.

Digriz

Same here, I ended up buying the 8bitdo bluetooth receiver and that sorted the issue out. I could then use X-input mode (to get rumble). Note: the instructions are terrible.
You first insert the receiver and pair to controller (starting the controller using Start+B), then set the mode for the receiver to X-input by pressing Select +Up.
Restart and everything should work.

vantseattle

@digriz Thanks for the tip! You're right, the instructions were slightly vague for the different pairing options. My nephew is super patient so I know it's not really going to bother him. For me, I KNOW it could be better! LOL