8bitdo adapter with dualshock 4 sony controller - not able to pair device.

dawnwiener

Hi there,

I’m having huge problems with my raspberry pi running retro pie, connecting my Sony DualShock PS4 controller to an 8bitdo wireless adapter

Current hardware and software:
Standard RPi power supply
Rp4 with integrated keyboard
Built from: Raspberry pi imager tool
Retro pie version ARMV71 raspian 10 (buster) 4.8.2 (2431ec88)
8bitdo wireless adapter: firmware version 2.03
Sony PS45 DualShock 4 controller.

The relevant output from this command:

Gives this:

Bus 001 Device 015: ID 045e:028e Microsoft Corp. Xbox360 Controller
bDeviceClass 255 Vendor Specific Class
bDeviceProtocol 255 Vendor Specific Protocol
iProduct 2 8BitDo Receiver
(Bus Powered)
Bus 001 Device 017: ID 054c:09cc Sony Corp. DualShock 4 [CUH-ZCT2x]
bDeviceClass 0
bDeviceProtocol 0
iProduct 2 Wireless Controller
(Bus Powered)

So the pi can definitely see both devices , I just can’t pair the 8bitdo to the PS4 controller.

The 8bit do LED is flashing red.

My setup process is as follows:

Go to emulation station then, Retro pie setup > bluetooth > pair bluetooth devices > connect to 8bit do adapter option

Unplug DualShock 4 , press playstation and share button simultaneously.

I see this error message:

“An error occurred connecting to the bluetooth device (creating device failed: org.bluez.Error.AuthenticationTimeout: AuthenticationTimeout)“

I’ve tried with the 8bitdo mapping hack off and on.

I’ve tried resetting the joystick config.

I’ve also relied setting up a derv rule but the error comes up with the message “ there are no paired bluetooth devices”

The 8bit do adapter flashes red.

Any clues as to what I can try?

Also, it’s not clear. What does the button on the 8bitdo controller do?

PS have also just emailed 8bitdo support.

mitu

This is not a RetroPie issue - the pairing between the controller (PS4) and the 8BitDo dongle has to be set between the 2, not via the Bluetooth configuration in RetroPie, which handles the direct connection (Pi <-> controller).
The Pi4 already has Bluetooth capability, why are you using the 8BitDo dongle ?

dawnwiener

@mitu Thanks. I don't think the dualshock and the 8bitdo adapter are connecting. 8bitdo have suggested a manual firmware update but only have an exe file (windows) file to do so and I only have mac's at my house. So I guess I will find a windows machine and try that next.

It just seems odd that when I try to discover and pair the 8bitdo device via the retropie setup menu, it gives me the authentication failed message. Surely the pi would recognise and pair the 8bitdo device itself?

mitu

@dawnwiener said in 8bitdo adapter with dualshock 4 sony controller - not able to pair device.:

Surely the pi would recognise and pair the 8bitdo device itself?

If the device is connected via USB, I don't see how would pairing it via Bluetooth would work. It probably expects a controller/joystick device for connection, not a PC/Pi system.

G30FF

@dawnwiener said in 8bitdo adapter with dualshock 4 sony controller - not able to pair device.:

@mitu Thanks. I don't think the dualshock and the 8bitdo adapter are connecting. 8bitdo have suggested a manual firmware update but only have an exe file (windows) file to do so and I only have mac's at my house. So I guess I will find a windows machine and try that next.

8bitdo has a firmware updater tool on their support page that runs on MacOS. It supports all of their controllers and dongles.

According to 8bitdo's website, to pair a DualShock 4 with the dongle:

Plug the dongle in to the USB port
Press and hold the button on the dongle until the light starts flashing
Press and hold the PS and Share buttons on the Dualshock 4 for 3 seconds until it enters pairing mode
The devices will pair and the lights will go solid

dawnwiener

@G30FF said in 8bitdo adapter with dualshock 4 sony controller - not able to pair device.:

Plug the dongle in to the USB port
Press and hold the button on the dongle until the light starts flashing
Press and hold the PS and Share buttons on the Dualshock 4 for 3 seconds until it enters pairing mode
The devices will pair and the lights will go solid

Many thanks @G30FF .. at the support @ 8bitdo's suggestion, I found a windows machine and upgraded to firmware 2.04 (it's an offline brand new firmware)

Hi there,
I found a windows machine and updated the firmware to 2.04 . The device will still not connect. I am following the below procedure:
Plug the dongle in to the USB port in the raspberry pithe red light is consistently flashing but I press it anyway and it Press and hold the button. It continues to flash. I have the playstation controller plugged into a USB port. I unplg and hold the PS and Share buttons on the Dualshock 4 for 3 seconds until it enters pairing mode. The devices do not pair. Again, the same error previously reported comes up in the bluetooth configuration screen as an authentication timeout on the 8bitdo.
Is there anything else I can try?

mitu

Remove the 8bitdo dongle, power up the PS4 in pairing mode (without it being connected via USB) and then pair the controller from the Bluetooth configuration in RetroPie-Setup.

G30FF

@dawnwiener said in 8bitdo adapter with dualshock 4 sony controller - not able to pair device.:

Again, the same error previously reported comes up in the bluetooth configuration screen as an authentication timeout on the 8bitdo.

If you use the 8bitdo dongle, you do not need to use RetroPie's bluetooth menu at all. The pairing happens directly with the dongle, and RetroPie sees the dongle as a wired controller. As @mitu says, you may have better luck trying to pair the controller directly with RetroPie, unless you have a specific need for the 8bitdo dongle.