PS3 Controller left/right on main analog stick don't work

Sileem · 2012-01-29 18:25:41

I tried this out on two computers both running arch and had this same issue, and one running Windows that did not. It seems the left/right axis on the left analog stick don't work at all, only up/down works. The right stick works fine.
I tried to map the axis on Dophin-emu and Snes9x-gtk. Dolphin didn't recognize the axis at all, snes9x seemed to map it out fine, but when it came to playing a game, it did not function. I'm not using any extra drivers or software for this.

uname -a

Linux Avalon 3.2.2-1-ARCH #1 SMP PREEMPT Thu Jan 26 08:40:20 CET 2012 x86_64 Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q8200 @ 2.33GHz GenuineIntel GNU/Linux

EDIT: cat /dev/input/js0 returns some values when the stick is moved left and right

Last edited by Sileem (2012-01-29 20:25:31)

McDoenerKing · 2012-01-29 21:10:56

Is xf86-input-joystick installed?
Did you try jscal/jstest? (They're included in one of the aur packages just search for joystick.)
PS3 Controller has different modes did you try the different modes to get it working? My brother had to figure out which mode to use to get it working on windows for example.

Last edited by McDoenerKing (2012-01-29 21:11:44)

Sileem · 2012-01-29 22:46:28

McDoenerKing wrote:

Is xf86-input-joystick installed?
Did you try jscal/jstest? (They're included in one of the aur packages just search for joystick.)
PS3 Controller has different modes did you try the different modes to get it working? My brother had to figure out which mode to use to get it working on windows for example.

xf86-input-joystick is not installed (I tried installing it to see if it would change anything, The joystick controls the mouse fine in every direction)
jstest does return a value when the stick is moved left and right.
I'm not sure what you mean by mode.

Last edited by Sileem (2012-01-29 22:55:57)

spiridow · 2012-02-01 14:37:31

I have the same problem as you Sileem. I installed dolphin-emu-git from AUR on 2012-01-23 and at that time the left stick was working properly. I did a pacman -Syu about a week later and the left stick started to have the same problem as you're describing.

ScionicSpectre · 2012-04-30 22:58:10

Sorry to resurrect this thread, but it seems the issue hasn't been solved with the latest kernel. I'm having the same issue as Sileem- with xf86-input-joystick installed the left stick works in all directions as a mouse, in VirtualBox (Windows 7) the joypad can map left/right in Snes9x, but it can't in the host Linux with the same programs.

I'm confused since this used to work perfectly the last time I used a PS3 controller on Arch (couldn't have been very long ago). Tried several different controllers, only using USB mode since I don't have a bluetooth adapter. I'm also curious as to how you would change the 'mode', since this might be the real issue. I'll take this into Ubuntu on Virtualbox to see if the problem persists- if not, I'll have to file a bug against Arch.

ScionicSpectre · 2012-05-01 00:03:14

The input in Ubuntu is a bit different, and there's no Snes9x to test, so that's inconclusive. Many other controllers seem to have Axis 1-4, whereas the PS3 controller lists the axes as 0-3. All of the axes but 0 (left and right on left analog) work. I wonder if this is some glitch where some component expects 0 to be null or something. Then again, I think it's always been that way.

I don't have any other gamepads around to test out, but I'm scouring the 'net for a solution. It seems unlikely I'll find one, however. This thread is the only one on the internet that has a vaguely similar problem.

UPDATE: It appears jscal can't calibrate the controller (after "Calibrating precision: wait and don't touch the joystick." it says "Bus error" and quits). jscal -t reports "axes not calibrated." Not sure what to think of that.

Last edited by ScionicSpectre (2012-05-01 00:51:59)

R00KIE · 2012-05-01 15:49:53

Install linuxconsole from the AUR and check if all axis actually work using jstest, using cat is a bit too blunt.

cybojanek · 2012-05-02 17:11:20

Ok. I've figured out what the problem is.

I tested out my joystick with jstest-gtk and it worked fine because it was polling from /dev/input/js0
My game (which uses lib32-sdl) was polling /dev/input/7 (some input number, I dont remember anymore)

I don't know the specifics of the Linux kernel joystick api, but what was happening was that ALL of the remaining axes (4-27) were being mapped back to axis 0!!!

I changed it with ABS, but this is only a bad temporary fix.
Around line 403, you'll find joydev_pattern, which is used around line 449.
I changed line 447 to loop only through "1" so it only searches for /dev/input/js*

And with debugging, SDL now properly shows 28 axes

After finals I might have time to probe around more to see whats happening.

Cheers!
-Jan

Arch Linux

#1 2012-01-29 18:25:41

PS3 Controller left/right on main analog stick don't work

#2 2012-01-29 21:10:56

Re: PS3 Controller left/right on main analog stick don't work

#3 2012-01-29 22:46:28

Re: PS3 Controller left/right on main analog stick don't work

#4 2012-02-01 14:37:31

Re: PS3 Controller left/right on main analog stick don't work

#5 2012-04-30 22:58:10

Re: PS3 Controller left/right on main analog stick don't work

#6 2012-05-01 00:03:14

Re: PS3 Controller left/right on main analog stick don't work

#7 2012-05-01 15:49:53

Re: PS3 Controller left/right on main analog stick don't work

#8 2012-05-02 17:11:20

Re: PS3 Controller left/right on main analog stick don't work

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