New Pi3 Lakka box won't recognize generic bluetooth controller

Libretro Lakka
#1

Go easy on me, I’m literally on day one of ever setting up or using a Pi and Lakka.

So, I have it built, I have Lakka installed and some ROMs added. The games work via a USB keyboard no problem.

I also purchased an EVO VR (VG010) bluetooth controller that I can get to pair by using SSH and running the commands. It shows as connected and trusted, but Lakka will not see it at all (unable to set bindings).

I’ve seen a few posts about other bluetooth controllers and tried to follow along, but I’m not Linux savvy, so unable to do some of the things suggested.

Could someone please help me out?

#2

Sure thing. Know this though: any controller you pair via SSH with bluetooth is not going to be automatically configured out of the box. It’s why you’re having the issues you’re having. However, since you have a USB keyboard, you can go to Settings -> Input -> Input User 1 Bindings and Bind your controller inputs to the keys Lakka/Retroarch uses there using your keyboard. I learned this the hard way with the Wii U Pro Controller and pairing it via SSH/bluetooth.

#3

I understand about the bindings, and that is the problem. Lakka does not recognize any button, stick or pad inputs from the controller. When I select one of the key bindings it pops the window so you can press the button, or move a stick to bind that movement, but pressing buttons and what not does nothing. Lakka literally does not receive the input from the controller, even though it is connected via bluetooth.

#4

Then in that case, Lakka also shows up with text on the bottom of the screen acknowledging whether or not your controller was detected. Does it do that when you pair your unit with Bluetooth? If it doesn’t, then your controller may not be compatible via bluetooth. Does it have a USB connection?

#5

No, no yellow text at the bottom when it pairs. And no, it does not have USB capability.

#6

As of right now, you’re SOL then. I’m usually not one to mince words. And judging from the research I did on the controller, I highly suggest another controller, preferably one recommended by the Lakka team (PS3, PS4, XBox One, XBox 360, etc.).

#7

I was afraid of that. Great, I guess I’ll have to go get a $60 controller for a $35 computer :frowning:

You’d think bluetooth and game controllers would be ubiquitous in 2018…

#8

You would think that Bluetooth and game controllers would work with everything you tried them with…but real world doesn’t work like that. :man_shrugging:

#9

As a lead to possibly follow … I too purchased an EVO VR Pro Gamepad (from Wally-Mart) in the hopes It would work with either my laptop or one of my ‘boxes’.

Getting it home and reading up on it, it seemed that unless I was running Android OS or iOS this thing was useless…

I connected it to my Sammy S5 and it showed up as a keyboard device and then called itself “Gamepadplus” … interesting…

I then updated the Bluetooth drivers in my ThinkPad E530 running Win7-64 … it has a Centrino N 2230 wifi/bluetooth card in it and I downloaded the driver directly from Intel.

Crossing my fingers I put the laptop in scan for new devices mode and held down the “A” button while pressing the EVO button (as described in user guide for pairing with android) … Bing Bang Boom ! Windows saw and paired with it !!

Devices and Printers shows an icon of an extended keyboard and calls it GamepadPlus. Right-clicking on this icon gives the option of Game Controller Settings… this opens a window showing installed game controllers and in that window a controller called “NGDS” is shown with status of OK.

I am able to calibrate and test all button and axis’.

Best of all … Retro-Arch sees it albeit as not configured. I was able to bind all the buttons and axis’ and use it correctly… YAY !

Why am I talking about Retro-Arch on Win7-64 here in a Lakka forum ??

To show you it can work… perhaps its the Intel drivers, perhaps its that it is ‘seen’ as a keyboard at first… I don’t know, I just hope that these bits of info help a little.

Cheers !

#10

I can confirm Ram4x4 on the EVO VR VG010 controller not responding. I have no problems connecting via bluetooth to this controller from the command line interface, but the GUI does not give any indication that it’s has been recognized and the device cannot be selected in the settings.

Seems like digidog got it running on windows, but like the OP, I’m running on an ARM processor (specifically Asus Tinker Board) with Lakka installed. Just to be thorough, I tested the controller with all it’s bluetooth connectivity options. Holding either A, B, X, or Y button and holding down the home button will attempt to connect with a different name (possibly a different configuration). GamepadPlus mode, NewGamepad mode, and EVO VG010 mode all connected to my device without problems, and as expected, I wasn’t able to connect at all with the iOS connection option.

Is there a precedent for reporting problems like this or perhaps a requests box?