PSX DualShock Controller not working

emilholm

Sorry - here it comes:

RetroPie version: v4.1
Controller: Original PSX DualShock controller like this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DualShock#/media/File:PSX-DualShock.png
USB-adapter I use to connect the controllers: https://www.amazon.com/Trenro-Dual-PlayStation-Controller-Adapter-2/dp/B000F6BGXY

BuZz

Don't know about the adapter or controller but please post the output of the following (use an external pastebin site or format it in a code block on the forum). https://github.com/retropie/retropie-setup/wiki/ssh

lsusb

dmesg

for dev in /dev/input/js*; do udevadm info $dev; done

I suspect the adapter is at fault.. Also in one of the reviews

The device basically works, but the experience is sub-par.

Many people don't know that the DualShock PS2 buttons are pressure sensitive, which means they sense how hard they are being pressed. This adapter converts that range into a binary "yes/no" press to work better with computers. Unfortunately, it sets the threshold for this very high, probably at the maximum pressure the button reads. This means that if you don't fully depress the button, it doesn't trigger at all, and in order to trigger the button you have to do more than just press it, you have to SMASH it. This takes time, and the effect is to introduce enough latency in the button presses to make games noticeably more difficult to control. Trying to play a Mario game is like playing to play it drunk.

lostless

This is a known bug I read about with that adaptor, you can't mix dual shock and old school non analog controllers. I use the exact one on my psone up project and can confirm using 2 dual shocks works fine

emilholm

@lostless I have tried using only the DualShock controller as well. Doesn't work :-/. Are you running the same setup as me? And did you anything to set it up or did it just run out-of-the-box? :-)

lostless

Ran fine out of the box. Nothing i needed to configure.

mrbwa1

Make you you turn on Analog on the Dualshock then configure it. It won't work unless the Analog mode is on. If you run a game that only has digital controls, you have to set that in the core options within the emulator.

I have the same adapter and it works fine out of the box as long as Analog is turned on.

I have also mixed Analog and non-analog controllers. It doesn't work that way. Has to be all analog (you can mix PS1 and PS2 analog controllers though since they map the same).

barbudreadmon

This post is deleted!

emilholm

@lostless Wierd that it just doesn't work for me. Mine is a no-name brand - maybe its slightly different.

emilholm

@mrbwa1 I have just tried plugging it in as the only controller with Analog mode on. But even though it seems like the controller is detected, nothing happens when I press and hold the buttons :/

lostless

Or a bad adaptor. I have 3 of them and have no issues with any of them.

mrbwa1

@emilholm said in PSX DualShock Controller not working:

@mrbwa1 I have just tried plugging it in as the only controller with Analog mode on. But even though it seems like the controller is detected, nothing happens when I press and hold the buttons :/

Mine is also a no name one. Is there a red led on the adapter when you plug in the controller?

I had one that had bad connections between the connector and the board and one side didn't want to work right. I ended up having to reflow the solder on the connector pins and it worked like a champ.

emilholm

@mrbwa1 Yes there is a red LED. In fact, I've bought 2 identical adapters - and only one of them has a working LED. However, the result is the same - with the Standard PSX(non-DualShock) controller, it just works no matter what I do. Retropie isn't reacting on the DualShock controller at all.

Any ideas?

lostless

You have another dual shock to test? It may be the controller is having issues with the 5v. Ps1/ps2 controllers are designed for 3.3v but should run at 5v fine. All that adaptor does is pass the USB 5v to the controller.

emilholm

@lostless Not ATM - but maybe I'll buy another to test with.

mrbwa1

@emilholm If it has the LED, it's getting power, so we are getting somewhere.

The next step would be to get to the command line and test via jstest as shown in this video:

If you get responses from the pad in JSTEST, then it's not seeing the configs.

I had problems at one time and couldn't get PSX pads to configure. Once I established it was seen via jstest, I had to go in and delete the config file "TwinUSBJoystick.cfg" in /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch/autoconfig/ After deleting, reboot the Pi and a new file should get created. After that, I could auto-config the controller.

If needed, I can give the output of my TwinUSBJoystick.cfg file as well.

Katemonster

Why not connect the controllers directly to the Pi's GPIO pins?

emilholm

@mrbwa1 I just tried JSTEST - and nothing happens when I click the buttons still. Axes 0-3 are all set to -32767. The rest is blank or "off".
The standard non-DualShock still works fine.

Any more ideas? :)

@Katemonster Maybe I should do that - it seems like the USB stuff is a lost cause. :/

mrbwa1

@emilholm Sounds like the adapter or controller is bad if there is nothing on JSTEST. That means that the OS isn't seeing the controller.