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    Please do not post a support request without first reading and following the advice in https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

    SHANWAN / PS3 CONTROLLER Pi3 RETROPIE 3.6 BLUETOOTH SETUP

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    • P
      pablo
      last edited by pablo

      Hi guys... I was hoping to chime in here.

      I have been trying to pair my bluetooth PS3 controllers with the internal bluetooth on my RPi3 with absolutely no success thus far. They work 100% wired though.

      I am using a fresh image of RetroPie 3.7 updated to the latest kernel. The only other changes I have made are as described in this thread by luetzel.

      I have two generic controllers that display the following dmesg:

      [ 1273.468135] usb 1-1.2: USB disconnect, device number 5
      [ 1276.266715] usb 1-1.2: new full-speed USB device number 6 using dwc_otg
      [ 1276.369693] usb 1-1.2: New USB device found, idVendor=054c, idProduct=0268
      [ 1276.369713] usb 1-1.2: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
      [ 1276.369727] usb 1-1.2: Product: PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller
      [ 1276.369739] usb 1-1.2: Manufacturer: Sony
      [ 1276.377310] input: Sony PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller as /devices/platform/soc/3f980000.usb/usb1/1-1/1-1.2/1-1.2:1.0/0003:054C:0268.0003/input/input2
      [ 1276.378252] sony 0003:054C:0268.0003: input,hiddev0,hidraw0: USB HID v1.11 Joystick [Sony PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller] on usb-3f980000.usb-1.2/input0

      They seem to show up as a genuine controller would, but I have had no success with the standard way of pairing using the setup script.

      I followed leutzel's steps right through - Installed the patched bluez, installed sixpair using the method described, however when I run sixpair, I get the following which seems to be a bit wonky as it's only showing up with 'aa':

      Current Bluetooth master: aa:aa:aa:aa:aa:aa
      Setting master bd_addr to aa:aa:aa:aa:aa:aa

      In bluetoothctl, I can definitely see all nearby bluetooth devices. However, I get the following when trying to pair:

      pi@retropie:~ $ sudo bluetoothctl
      [NEW] Controller AA:AA:AA:AA:AA:AA retropie [default]
      [NEW] Device 00:18:01:CA:EB:E8 PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller
      [bluetooth]# info 00:18:01:CA:EB:E8
      Device 00:18:01:CA:EB:E8
      Name: PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller
      Alias: PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller
      Paired: no
      Trusted: yes
      Blocked: no
      Connected: no
      LegacyPairing: no
      UUID: Human Interface Device... (00001124-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb)
      Modalias: usb:v054Cp0268d0000
      [bluetooth]# pair 00:18:01:CA:EB:E8
      Attempting to pair with 00:18:01:CA:EB:E8
      Failed to pair: org.bluez.Error.ConnectionAttemptFailed

      Any ideas? I feel as though I'm probably just missing something. Any help will be greatly appreciated!

      luetzelL 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • luetzelL
        luetzel @pablo
        last edited by

        @pablo
        Hi Pablo,
        your controller looks like a "genuine" SONY controller, is that correct? IMHO it shouldn't be necessary to patch bluez for a genuine controller.

        However, the output of sixpair looks suspicious to me. Did you run it as root (sudo ./sixpair)?

        Did you read the posts about the broken internal bluetooth support on Pi3 in this forum?

        When you press the PS button on your controller, does bluetoothctl (at least temporarily) show a "Connected: yes"? for the
        PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller?

        P 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
        • P
          pablo @luetzel
          last edited by

          Hi @luetzel ... It's most definitely a generic clone of some description, but it gets picked up everywhere that I can see as if it's a genuine controller.

          The reason why I've been trying this route is because I've had absolutely no luck whatsoever with the mainstream method as implimented in RetroPie by default.

          I definitely did run it as root, yes.

          I will do a bit of experimenting when I'm home later just to be 100% sure about the connection, but it's never been able to connect at all from what I've been able to get out of the terminal. No rumble. Just red flashing lights until it times out.

          My understanding is that the bluetooth, although buggy, should at least be able to establish the connection. Many people have noted here (https://github.com/raspberrypi/linux/issues/1360) that they have had success with the latest kernel.

          Is there any other sort of message dump I could do to try and troubleshoot this?

          luetzelL 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • luetzelL
            luetzel @pablo
            last edited by luetzel

            @pablo
            Hi Pablo,
            so far I haven't had any problems with Pi3 and the onboard bluetooth. As discussed above in this thread with Wolfman100, I was able to pair my PS3 clone on a Pi3/OSMC, on a desktop PC/openSuSE as well as Raspbian/Pi2 with a cheap 0.7 USD USB bluetooth dongle.
            You're looking at essentially the same message dumps as I did. Again here is the output of 'dmesg', after plugging the controller via USB:

            [ 98.814041] usb 1-1.2: new full-speed USB device number 7 using dwc_otg
            [ 98.920401] usb 1-1.2: New USB device found, idVendor=054c, idProduct=0268
            [ 98.920430] usb 1-1.2: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
            [ 98.920447] usb 1-1.2: Product: PS(R) Gaepad [ 98.920462] usb 1-1.2: Manufacturer: ShanWan [ 109.085647] input: ShanWan PS(R) Gaepad as /devices/platform/soc/3f980000.usb/usb1/1-1/1-1.2/1-1.2:1.0/0003:054C:0268.0002/input/input1
            [ 109.091110] sony 0003:054C:0268.0002: input,hiddev0,hidraw1: USB HID v1.10 Joystick [ShanWan PS(R) Ga`epad] on usb-3f980000.usb-1.2/input0

            It shows the same vendor/Product id as your controller. Here is the output of sixpair:

            sudo sixpair
            Current Bluetooth master: 00:1b:10:00:2a:ec
            Setting master bd_addr to 00:1b:10:00:2a:ec

            I noticed that it may take some time until the controller is recognized. If it doesn't work immediately, wait for a minute
            and run sudo sixpair again. You should be able to see a real HW address instead of AA:AA:AA:AA:AA:AA.

            If it doesn't help, check with bluetoothctl what happens when you press the PS button on the controller. While its
            LEDs are flashing, you should see a "Connected" message and the prompt changes to '[PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller]#'
            When I tried '[PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller]# pair 01:B6:AD:7F:63:25', I was asked for a passkey for authentication, but one cannot enter a passcode with the controller - that's why sixpair is required.

            sudo bluetoothctl
            [NEW] Controller 00:1B:10:00:2A:EC raspi5 [default]
            [NEW] Device 01:B6:AD:7F:63:25 PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller
            [NEW] Device 01:B6:52:85:63:25 PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller
            [NEW] Device 20:73:AB:91:DD:6F Bluetooth V3.0 Keyboard
            [CHG] Device 01:B6:52:85:63:25 Connected: yes

            [PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller]# info 01:B6:AD:7F:63:25
            Device 01:B6:52:85:63:25
            Name: PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller
            Alias: PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller
            Class: 0x000540
            Icon: input-keyboard
            Paired: no
            Trusted: yes
            Blocked: no
            Connected: yes
            LegacyPairing: no
            UUID: Human Interface Device... (00001124-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb)
            Modalias: usb:v054Cp0268d0000

            Intriguingly 'info <hwaddress>' does not reveal a "Paired: yes", even if the controller is successfuly connected.

            However, if it still fails to connect, I would suggest to remove the device with bluetoothctl (remove <hwaddress>),
            before starting a new connection attempt with sixpair. Perhaps there is an old authentication key stored, which prevents
            authentication/pairing with the device.

            After pairing has been successful, 'dmesg' reveals:
            [ 1128.825246] input: PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller as /devices/platform/soc/3f980000.usb/usb1/1-1/1-1.3/1-1.3:1.0/bluetooth/hci0/hci0:11/0005:054C:0268.0007/input/input6
            [ 1128.829122] sony 0005:054C:0268.0007: input,hidraw1: BLUETOOTH HID v0.00 Joystick [PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller] on 00:1b:10:00:2a:ec

            P 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
            • P
              pablo @luetzel
              last edited by

              Hi @luetzel

              Regardless of what I do, I always get:

              pi@retropie:~/QtSixA-1.5.1/utils/bins $ sudo ./sixpair
              Current Bluetooth master: aa:aa:aa:aa:aa:aa
              Setting master bd_addr to aa:aa:aa:aa:aa:aa

              I've run sudo sixpair a million times. Nothing happens if I press the PS button on the controller in bluetoothctl either.

              I removed the device with bluetoothctl as suggested and tried to repair resulting in the same issue.

              I have a bit of time this weekend... I will try and investigate this further. I just wish I understood why the Pi3 doesn't have a proper bluetooth address. I'm not sure now if my Pi is faulty or if this is actually the root cause of everyone's Pi3 bluetooth woes... :(

              luetzelL B 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • luetzelL
                luetzel @pablo
                last edited by

                @pablo

                @pablo said in SHANWAN / PS3 CONTROLLER Pi3 RETROPIE 3.6 BLUETOOTH SETUP:

                Hi @luetzel
                [...]
                I have a bit of time this weekend... I will try and investigate this further. I just wish I understood why the Pi3 doesn't have a > proper bluetooth address. I'm not sure now if my Pi is faulty or if this is actually the root cause of everyone's Pi3
                bluetooth woes... :(

                Perhaps you could try an USB dongle instead of the internal BT device. Check the forum, there is a way to disable the onboard BT in /boot/config.txt.

                On the other hand, I'm not sure how the BT controller is recognized for pairing. As far as I understood, the patches
                should enable bluez to do this job, so that sixpair is not necessary. However, it doesn't work without sixpair, yet, at least with my controllers.

                Unfortunately, there's not much documentation available, except several posts on the gmane mailing list http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.bluez.kernel/41069 . I haven't had enough time to dig in the code to see what's going on.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                • B
                  buddhastevend @pablo
                  last edited by

                  Hi @pablo and @luetzel
                  I'm having this same problem with the:
                  aa:aa:aa:aa:aa:aa
                  Have you had any luck with getting yours to recognize the actual address and not this placeholder?

                  P 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • Wolfman100W
                    Wolfman100
                    last edited by

                    @luetzel

                    I'm currently attempting to do my proper build and am getting a bit stuck when it comes to the QTsixA install this time around for some reason,no idea why as this didn't seem to be an issue before...

                    I am trying to do the 'make' for QtSixA but it terminates,I'm assuming because this time some dependencies are missing,I do however have no idea how to install these or how or where to get them...

                    osmc@osmc:~/QtSixA-1.5.1/utils$ make
                    mkdir -p bins
                    cc -O2 -Wall -Wl,-Bsymbolic-functions hidraw-dump.c -o bins/hidraw-dump
                    cc -O2 -Wall -Wl,-Bsymbolic-functions sixpair.c -o bins/sixpair pkg-config --cflags --libs libusb
                    Package libusb was not found in the pkg-config search path.
                    Perhaps you should add the directory containing `libusb.pc'
                    to the PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable
                    No package 'libusb' found
                    sixpair.c:9:17: fatal error: usb.h: No such file or directory
                    #include <usb.h>
                    ^
                    compilation terminated.
                    Makefile:12: recipe for target 'tools' failed
                    make: *** [tools] Error 1

                    B luetzelL 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • B
                      buddhastevend @Wolfman100
                      last edited by

                      Hi @Wolfman100

                      You can download pkg-config and libusb with:

                      sudo apt-get install libusb-dev pkg-config

                      Hopefully this helps.

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • luetzelL
                        luetzel @Wolfman100
                        last edited by

                        @Wolfman100
                        Hi Wolfman,

                        as a rule of thumb: If something like this happens, you have to install the header files, necessary for compilation. If libusb is missing, just do an apt-get install libusb-dev. Usually it is enough to append a '-dev' to the missing library. If it doesn't help, you can search with 'aptitude search <package>' for the desired <package>.
                        You may also find some build instructions within the README of QtSixA.

                        /luetzel

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                        • Wolfman100W
                          Wolfman100
                          last edited by

                          @buddhastevend @luetzel Thanks guys, will look into this now.:)

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • Wolfman100W
                            Wolfman100
                            last edited by

                            @buddhastevend @luetzel

                            After installing necessary packages I am very happy to report that I have now Paired the controller succesfully first time!

                            I am using the latest 3.8 RetroPie inside OSMC and am hoping that the pairing will survive a reboot as apparently this had been fixed in Retropie 3.8...let's see what happens

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                            • Wolfman100W
                              Wolfman100
                              last edited by

                              Sweet mother of God it appears that it has indeed survived a reboot and connects first time no-problem!Can also report bluetooth keyboard is also working simultaneously without issues..

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                              • Wolfman100W
                                Wolfman100
                                last edited by

                                Now all I need to do is locate the Roms folder in 3.8 which seems to have changed location or name....

                                B 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                • B
                                  buddhastevend @Wolfman100
                                  last edited by

                                  @Wolfman100
                                  Should be the same location in 3.8:
                                  /home/pi/RetroPie/roms

                                  At least mine didn't change.

                                  I can pick up and see my controllers in bluetooth, they just will not pair. I know it has to do with my Pi3 onboard registering the aa:aa:aa:aa:aa:aa address instead of its actual hwaddress. I cannot find a way to to make it reset itself either.

                                  Wolfman100W 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • Wolfman100W
                                    Wolfman100 @buddhastevend
                                    last edited by

                                    @buddhastevend I'm guessing that you have RetroPi installed as standalone from your filepath?

                                    I have RetroPi installed 'inside' OSMC,so the filepath will be different.

                                    From my rudimentary knowledge,I would suggest possibly re-installing Bluez and making sure that you have the latest QtSixA which is actually version 5.1,not 4.9.

                                    B 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • B
                                      buddhastevend @Wolfman100
                                      last edited by

                                      @Wolfman100

                                      Oh yeah. I already have the latest version of Bluez and QtSixA.

                                      Oh yeah, forgot you were running it inside OSMC. It still shouldn't be to different than that though, maybe just buried a couple further down.

                                      I feel like I should play with OSMC now, with retropie inside it.

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • P
                                        pablo @buddhastevend
                                        last edited by

                                        Hi @buddhastevend

                                        I am gonna try with a clean 3.8 image tonight and see if the aa:aa:aa:aa:aa:aa situation changes. When I tried to update 3.7 to 3.8 using the setup script it ran through cleanly, but after a reboot I lost any and all access to both wireless and bluetooth. The OS couldn't even detect the devices.

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • Wolfman100W
                                          Wolfman100
                                          last edited by

                                          @buddhastevend

                                          You sound like you had similar issues to me.I should imagine that 3.8 may well solve your issue if your correctly follow @luetzels guide.

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • Wolfman100W
                                            Wolfman100
                                            last edited by

                                            @luetzel folder problems solved...wierd SSH issue.

                                            One thing though,it appears that the Bluez folder and Sixpair folders are installed so they are visible within the browser in OSMC.Can I move these folders so they are out of view and cannot be messed with and everything will still work correctly?They were not visible before,I think because I must have installed as 'Sudo' Root user

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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