Gamepads making involuntary movements in Emulation Station

megafacehead

Hi

Just letting everyone know some updates on this situation.

I have 2 genuine wii u pro controllers.

Using either one seems to make no difference.The amount of ghost inputs while using emulation while these are connected via bluetooth is INSANE.

It will take approx 5 secs after booting into es for ghost inputs to appear.It usually seems to be a combination of button presses, the most common being right and a (so while your browsing your gameboy advance catalogue it will suddenly launch the first game in the gameboy colour catalogue [the next system over, which happens because it presses right and then a which launches the game]).

This issue was in ver 4.1.2.1 and ive just updated to 4.2.1 but alas it's still as bad as ever.

The ghost inputs don't just happen in es btw, it DOES happen in game-i did a test.

I opened super mario world, entered the first 'stage' (yoshis house with the speaker box right above you when you spawn in) and then left the controller.Came back twenty minutes later and the game had the speaker box dialog on screen, which means mario jumped (a or b button pressed) and hit the speaker box causing the message to appear.

I tested again, sat my phone down recording the screen and walked away, came back twenty minutes later and same thing.Watched the recorded video and around the 12 minute mark mario did a spin jump (a button pressed) via a ghost input.

12 mins for a ghost input is WAY better then 5 secs in emulation station, it literally goes haywire while trying to browse games, but still, any ghost input is bad.

To get around the problem i've been using the mayflash wii u pro controller wireless dongle.Google it.Simply sync your pro controller to the dongle, then the dongle tells the pi the wii u pro controller is actually a wireless xbox 360 controller and is detected as such in es when assigning buttons and i can say with 100% certainty there is no ghost input while using this adaptor.

I did the aforementioned super mario world test and set it up before bed and woke the next morning to find mario still standing with no dilaog box above his head;he did not jump in that 9-10hr period.

Is this a perfect fix?No, but its a good workaround if like me you believe the wii u pro controller is the perfect retropi controller, nothing comes close.Crazy good battery life, ergonomic, excellent d pad, excellent build quality, bluetooth without any dongles or mucking around, the correct amount of buttons to cover any emulator and a traditional button layout that will make snes/nes/psx players feel right at home.

It would be great if this issue was looked into a bit more, i think alot more people use the wii u pro controller then maybe the developers think.

p.s. the retropi project is the 8th wonder of the modern world imo, in case i was coming across as ungrateful, i do appreciate the work all involved do and only want to improve upon it.

A Former User

Ah, thank god I'm not the only one getting ghost inputs when switching between systems.
In emulator, It's perfectly fine. But in the RetroPie menu, I seem to have an issue where it automatically scrolls down.

kulaus

@megafacehead thanks for laying out your approach. After a couple months of continuously saving states on games so I wouldn't lose my progress due to random select+start presses, the mayflash wii u pro controller saved me. I haven't had any issues with the Wii U Pro Controller since.

cardula

@megafacehead - Thank you so much! I've been fighting with phantom inputs with my pi3 since the day I got it 2 months ago. The Mayflash adapter works very well. For the first time, I now have my Wii U Pro Controller along with my PS3 controller (using the custom Bluetooth driver) working in seamless wireless harmony.

Originally, I was using the on-baord Bluetooth adapter for the Wii U Pro Controller, and was getting phantom inputs randomly, about once every 30-120 minutes. Things got worse once I added a second controller. I was using the on-board Bluetooth adapter for the Wii U controller, and wiring the PS3 controller to a self powered USB hub (plugging it directly into the pi resulted in random under-voltage alarms with the lightning bolt symbol, I assume that charging the controller while using it drew too much juice). However, having both the Wii U Pro Controller along with the ps3 controller simultaneously connected caused the phantom input issue to increase 100 fold.

p.s. Agreed, the retropie project is indeed the 8th wonder of the world. FWIW, I'm very grateful for your suggestions.

Daniel64

I, too, have sever problems with my Wii U Pro Controller. I wouldn't mind the occasional button press, but it randomly ghost presses Select + Start every couple of minutes, which makes everything literally unplayable.

I don't want to invest another 20 bucks for the Mayflash and I also don't want any cables and stuff attached to my RetroPie 3.

Can someone tell me why the ghost presses happen? Is this a problem with the Bluetooth chip on the RetroPie, a kernel or something else? Can this be fixed by the RetroPie programmers?

edmaul69

@Daniel64 just curious, what kind of power supply are you using? What is the volts and amps output on it? Is it a phone charger? And what pi are you using? Im guessing the 3 but not sure.

Daniel64

This post is deleted!

Daniel64

@edmaul69 I'm using the official one which outputs 5.1V at 2.5A.

W1thM4sk

Hello everyone greetings from Belgium.
My problem is this , as the screen for my gamepad configuration appears
The screen says That there is no gamepad inserted ,
Even though I have put my Xbox 360 controller in the usb port.
What would be the problem?

blargsnarf

I just wanted to bump this to say this is still an issue - using two iBuffalo SNES pads, getting bad ghosting every couple minutes in ES menu.

Using this powersupply: https://www.amazon.com/EasyAcc-Charger-Portable-Samsung-External/dp/B00A9PO5AM/?tag=n2qyzdk5zdm-20

And this powered hub: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DQFGJR4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The hub made no difference. I was excited as it seemed to work for a couple of days, but then the ghosting started again.

Edit: Another fyi, I had two of these (and a 2-to-1 usb adapter) laying around: https://www.amazon.com/Controllers-Bundle-Nintendo-Packaging-Generic/dp/B01J4JTZ0S/ - so I tried those. Plugged into the adapter, adapter plugged into my hub, hub plugged into the Pi. No problems so far, left it running in the ES menu for a couple hours and it didn't move.

So, that's good. Will be returning the Buffalo pads. The Buffalos feel 1000x better, but these ones don't ghost, so... :/

tropez

Running into this issue as well, using the onboard bluetooth and Wii U Pro (knockoff) controllers as well as PS4 controllers and I get random ghost inputs, games start on their own, menus change, etc simply when the controller is powered on and sitting on my desk. I'm going to order a usb bluetooth dongle and bypass the onboard bluetooth to see if that helps and I will report back.

adawalli

This is not a wireless vs wired problem. The buffalo (and many other wired controllers if you search the interwebs) suffer from this. I am thinking it's an emulation station issue.

I am really surprised that I haven't found any evidence of anyone getting a trace of the USB events during these phantom presses. When I get back to my RPI3, I can investigate, but a couple of ideas..

use USB_MON and dump all events
use FUNCTION_TRACE to check the EVENT rings
Use a USB analyzer to see if any phantom events are sent (I have a couple of expensive analyzers at work I could use to do this)

Also, some folks have speculated that

Only people with Video thumbnails are affected? This seems unlikely, but worth a shot...I know I have video previews and I also have this issue
Deleting the controller config appears to help some folks and rebuilding from scratch
Using a powered USB hub kinda sorta fixes it...but this can only be true if we are getting true USB packets from these 'PHANTOM' inputs

tropez

Yesterday I disabled the onboard Bluetooth and installed a USB Bluetooth dongle in my unit. I haven't had a single ghost input since then. I will report back if things change. I went with this dongle for $14.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009ZIILLI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

dankcushions

@adawalli said in Gamepads making involuntary movements in Emulation Station:

This is not a wireless vs wired problem. The buffalo (and many other wired controllers if you search the interwebs) suffer from this. I am thinking it's an emulation station issue.

I am really surprised that I haven't found any evidence of anyone getting a trace of the USB events during these phantom presses. When I get back to my RPI3, I can investigate, but a couple of ideas..

use USB_MON and dump all events

use FUNCTION_TRACE to check the EVENT rings

Use a USB analyzer to see if any phantom events are sent (I have a couple of expensive analyzers at work I could use to do this)

people have used jstest to see the ghosts happening. and similar tests in window. it's a hardware issue. most games/interfaces probably ignore single input frames, which ES probably should be changed to do.

Also, some folks have speculated that

Only people with Video thumbnails are affected? This seems unlikely, but worth a shot...I know I have video previews and I also have this issue

Deleting the controller config appears to help some folks and rebuilding from scratch

Using a powered USB hub kinda sorta fixes it...but this can only be true if we are getting true USB packets from these 'PHANTOM' inputs

only the last is potentially viable (it worked for me), and my working theory is that it reduces/stops whatever electrical interference is happening when directly connected, at least in my setup.

Ruggie74

Jeez... I also just got myself a Pi and a Buffalo gamepad and am having this same issue. As others have said, would it be feasible to change the software to not accept button presses that measure in very small input times? Is anyone able to measure exactly how long these phantom button presses are? We gotta figure out how to fix this!

Pussyfoot

Well, this explains my Kodi issue. I've never had an issue while playing games.

Jenslyn87

Well, I have this issue big time. Bought 2 Buffalo controllers. Didn't know of this problem when I bought them, or obviously I wouldn't have. Both ghost heavily in EmuStation, but I rarely see ghosting in game. Damnit. What makes it extra frustrating is that I bought one of them as a present for a friend.

If anyone has figured out a fix, please let me know. I don't suppose disabling Blutooth does anything?

I've been pressing the 'clear' button together with the ghosty buttons like no tomorrow, but to no avail. I've also tried deleting the controller config file, thereby resetting the inputs. Also doesn't work. Tried different USB ports--nope.

Some people say it's a hardware issue, but I think it's not so simple. These controllers don't malfunction in other setups. My guess would be that these controllers are exceptionally prone to these sorts of problems, and that, at the same time, Retropie/EmuStation is promoting of them as well.

My PS3 controller (Bluetooth) and two crappy PiHut controllers have no ghosting issues whatsoever. Ofc the Buffalos, which I think are amazing, have the issue :/

Addison

@dankcushions said in Gamepads making involuntary movements in Emulation Station:

with my ibuffalo pads i "fixed" this issue by connecting them via a powered usb hub. i think for them specifically the issue is caused by electrical inteference or something like that.

I just now caught this response.

Could you kindly post a link on where to purchase these powered usb hub thingies?

BobHarris

I also have issues with my Dual shock 4 controller. When I scroll through a games list , the controller keeps scrolling on it's own every time the system lags for a little bit. I remedied this for the most part by reducing the size of some of my custom boxart images. Before I did this, I could hardly choose a game because of all the automatic scrolling.
I have similar issues in the N64 emulator. When I use select + L1 to load a save state, I keep strafing to the left, because the emulator still thinks I am holding the L1 button.

dankcushions

@addison said in Gamepads making involuntary movements in Emulation Station:

@dankcushions said in Gamepads making involuntary movements in Emulation Station:

with my ibuffalo pads i "fixed" this issue by connecting them via a powered usb hub. i think for them specifically the issue is caused by electrical inteference or something like that.

I just now caught this response.

Could you kindly post a link on where to purchase these powered usb hub thingies?

this is the one i have: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Belkin-Ultra-Powered-Power-Supply/dp/B0061RSACG

i can't g'tee it will solve the issue for everyone, though. if my theory is correct, there will be many factors at play. that said, it is good to have a powered hub with a raspberry pi anyway - more ports and doesn't sap power away from the board.