What specific ps3 dongle is recommended?

Libretro Lakka
#1

Hey all,

I got my ps3 controllers connected and working (wired). I would now like to get it wireless through a usb dongle. Is there any dongle somebody can recommend that is proven to work? I prefer cheap :wink: And do I need two dongles for two controllers or will one dongle work aswell for both of them?

#2

Ok so I picked up a standard belkin bluetooth 4.0 usb dongle yesterday. Today I’m trying to connect the ps3 controller but without succes. I’m using the guide and everything is as it should until the point where “watch for connection and disconnection messages”. I dont see these messages even though the lights on the controller are blinking and the service is started. When I try to connect this is the output: [bluetooth]# connect 5C:F3:70:68:DA:AEDevice 5C:F3:70:68:DA:AE not available

It stays the same even though I keep on trying with up + enter.

Any suggestions?

#3

Yes, try with the instructions on the Gentoo wiki. I got better result like this. The difference is that you will have to plug and unplug the USB cable at certain times during the process. It should help.

But even for me, it worked only with a very few BT adapters. I have 3, and the only one I got working 100% is the builtin BT of my macbook!

#4

Hey Kivu,

I got positive result just before your reply :wink:

I try to explain my findings which are similar to your tips regarding the cable. The key is to find the correct device (controller) adress. In my post above and in the docs process, I can only see the adress of the bluetooth dongle. Of course you don’t want to connect that device since it is already plugged in. So when I got tired of trying I wanted to play a little and plugged in the PS3 controller wired. My putty connection on my windows pc was still open and when I plugged in the controller I saw a new line saying something like “[New] controller connected 5A:BT:N3:0F:P2”. So I then proceeded try to connect to this adress while blinking the lights but also without success. Then I UNplugged the cable and all of a sudden a prompt appeared in the bluetoothct1 saying something like ‘Would you like to connect to device XXXXXXX (yes/no)’. I typed in yes, hit enter. Afterwards I used the “trust <device_adress>” command and got a positive response.

I did the same process on my second controller and it worked once again. So to sum up:

  • Follow the guide on lakka website untill you need to connect to the device adress
  • Plugin the device with a wired cable
  • watch the prompt on the command line and copy the adress
  • Unplug the controller and watch another prompt indicating (yes/no). Type yes
  • Use the trust command together with the adress you copied before. (ie trust 5A:BT:N3:0F:P2)
  • Do this process for each controller
  • follow the guide on the lakka website making the bluetooth configuration permanent
  • enjoy multiple wireless game controllers using only one low powered usb bluetooth controller

For everybody that wants to know, I am using this bluetooth dongle (http://www.belkin.com/us/p/P-F8T065/). And I can confirm it works. When I have the time I will write an article on my blog about the complete setup including the ps3 wireless connection. Kivutar, feel free to update the docs/FAQ section. I am also willing to help writing if you want.

[QUOTE=Kivutar;23948]Yes, try with the instructions on the Gentoo wiki. I got better result like this. The difference is that you will have to plug and unplug the USB cable at certain times during the process. It should help.

But even for me, it worked only with a very few BT adapters. I have 3, and the only one I got working 100% is the builtin BT of my macbook![/QUOTE]

#5

Nice, that’s a good news. We need to update the documentation with that. The bluetooth dongle should be listed in the “hardware support page” and the instructions are the one found in gentoo wiki, we just have to copy them instead of the current ones.

EDIT: I noticed something, with the DS3 I bought here and the cable they gave me, I didn’t have to reconfigure the bindings. My DS3 was detected as “Sony PLAYSTATION®3 Controller”, while I guess yours was first recognized as “Sony Computer Entertainment Wireless Controller”. Any idea why?

#6

If I remember correctly, it was also detected as Sony PLAYSTATION®3 Controller. But only after I plugged in the usb cable. It was not detected at all before. I have to recheck to be sure though. Yesterday, I configured another rpi2 of a friend. It was on a clean lakka install and of course another ps3 controller. There I saw indeed the connection on / off messages on the terminal. After trying to connect for a while using the command without succes, I also tried to plugin / unplug the cable. I got the same message asking for yes/no permission but it disconnected after I chose yes. I did the same thing over and over and after a while the messages stopped and I got the message that the device was connected. The difference was also that the ps3 controller was detected when opening the bluetoothct1. That was not the case when I tried it. When it was detected, it was displayed as Sony PLAYSTATION®3 Controller. Conclusion: it’s not really exact science but If you have a bit patience for 30 mins and accept trial & error, you’re good to go :slight_smile:

EDIT: For the second rpi2 configuration, I used the same bluetooth dongle type and it works again.

#7

For the second one, did you have to rebind the keys to make it work?

#8

In all of the above examples, all keys were preconfigured. So once the controller was connected and trusted, all keys were bound.

#9

Ah, that’s good to hear!