Buffalo Controllers Phantom Inputs
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I've seen this written a couple of times here, and also via Amazon reviews -- but do a lot of you with iBuffalo controllers notice phantom/ghost inputs in RetroPie? I purchased 4 of these, and every single one of them has the same issue. If I just leave them idle on the Emulation Station screen, I can see random scrolling every minute or so. It also seems to randomly impact gameplay as well.
These controllers are so popular, so I feel like there HAS to be a solution out there? Unless everyone just puts up with the phantom/ghost inputs?
I've tried all the miscellaneous fixes suggested in these forums (e.g. using a USB hub), but have yet to find a solution that works.
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They don't seem to do it on a "real" computer (I have Retropie x86 running on a laptop), but I just deal with it on my Pi builds. It stinks, but it's the way they seem to be.
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I bought two and both had the issue on my Pi3. Never found a solution but would love to hear of one.
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@ucbn Did you supply external power to the USB Hub?
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@obsidianspider Wadda ya mean "real computer"? Is the Pi not a "real computer"? Seems to do a great job emulating a hell of a lot of other "real computers".
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@Rion No, I did not -- the USB did not have its own external power. I was told that it didn't need to -- but are you saying an externally powered USB hub would fix the issue?
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@AlexMurphy ;) I think you know what I meant.
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@obsidianspider No, I do not, Sir. I demand satisfaction!
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@ucbn Yes i think so. Have a look in the thread Gamepads making involuntary movements in Emulation Station especially look for post by @dankcushions
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Great, thanks. Can anyone else confirm that a powered USB hub would do the trick -- @obsidianspider or @SkittleBrau79 have either of you tried this?
Would hate to buy yet another thing for these controllers, only to see it fail :-\
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@ucbn I have seen this behavior as well. I had 2 iBuffalo pads connected (directly to the Rpi3) and started noticing the random emulation station menu scroll sometimes after quitting a game. It was usually pretty minor, maybe one game down in the menu - or one system to the left, or something like that. I don't recall noticing in games but I started troubleshooting as soon as I noticed it in ES. It's possible though.
After reading here it sounded like some felt it to be a hardware issue with that specific gamepad, but not necessarily all of them (some do it, some don't). I'm sure there was a thread suggesting it to be a possible hardware issue/bug with those specific pads.
So I disconnected one of them, and within the day noticed the problem was still there. So I swapped to the other one, and since that time I haven't seen it happen (through probably a month of use now). I'm thinking it may have only been the one pad that had the problem. I have not reconnected the possible "bad" one yet but when I do I will report back.
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@ucbn I don't have a powered USB hub to try it with, and none would work with any of the projects I've built anyway.
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@AlexMurphy you think you're better than Mick Jagger? ;)
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@RumblinBuffalo said in Buffalo Controllers Phantom Inputs:
So I disconnected one of them, and within the day noticed the problem was still there. So I swapped to the other one, and since that time I haven't seen it happen (through probably a month of use now). I'm thinking it may have only been the one pad that had the problem. I have not reconnected the possible "bad" one yet but when I do I will report back.
Reconnected the second iBuffalo gamepad today for some 2-player gaming and it appears that some ghost inputs returned along with it. This was noticed in actual gameplay (MAME - Wizard of Wor). Player 2 character moved on his own up/down.
Not much help - just pointing out in my case one controller appears to works fine, and the other doesn't (at least for now). I've never tried anything to fix it other than maybe re calibrate and disconnect/reconnect.
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Just in case anyone stumbles upon this thread, I wanted to give an update that the Powered USB Hub seemed to solve most of the issue. There will still be a stray input every now and then, but definitely not every couple of minutes like I was previously seeing.
I want to emphasize that it requires a POWERED hub, as I tried multiple non-powered hubs to no avail. Also, not all powered hubs work with the Pi v3, particularly the ones that are 3.0. Here is a 2.0 hub that I purchased after scouring various forums, and it is working fine (it can also apparently power the Pi itself, which I can't confirm since I originally purchased a kit with an adapter):
Hope this helps.
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None of this explains how even WIRELESS controllers (like 8BitDo/PS/Xbox) can STILL have these phantom inputs.... I think it's a larger problem than a simple powered USB hub or whatnot. (although my problem(s) are things like the up or down button being held down when I'm not holding them down - especially when going from one system's gamelist to another - don't know if that's "phantom input" but I'm certainly not touching any keys... ;)
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@Dochartaigh ps4 pad as soon as i switch it on (usb wired snes pad connected already no issues mostly) will start skipping
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I've been reading these posts about phantom inputs thinking that "ah well, at least it doesn't happen to me". However, earlier on I had left the pi idle in EmulationStation for quite some time....The third party PS3 controller had gone to sleep (it will not respond again until you press the home button to connect again)....I noticed in the corner of my eye that the ES screen brightened and saw that it had moved down a ROM in the list....
Could it be some 2.4ghz rogue signal or something?
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@tashman Sounds like a ghost...
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@AlexMurphy I'll get the ouija board out and see what roms it selects....
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