Arch Linux

lmello

Member

From: Brazil

Registered: 2012-11-06

Posts: 300

[SOLVED] Setting up a PS3 controller as a bluetooth joystick?

I'm having difficulties to make a PS3 joystick to work via bluetooth. It's a clone of a original SIXAXIS controller (I haven't tested the original yet). Using a USB cable the device /dev/input/js0 is created and it works flawlessly.

The bluez 5 stack is apparently complete - the package bluez-plugins contains the file /usr/lib/bluetooth/plugins/sixaxis.so

From the 2+ year old information I could compile from the internet, the procedure to make the PS3 joystick work with bluez 5 is (I verified not only the Arch wiki, but the Gentoo wiki as well)

1. start bluetoothctl
2. agent on; default-agent (...) untill power on (see picture)
3. connect the joystick with the USB cable (on the picture, when I do this the "NEW device (...)" line appears immediately)
4. disconnect the USB cable
5. trust <joystick MAC adress>
6. push the central PS button.

The problem is, on step #6 all 4 LED's on the controller start blinking, and then one minute or so later they are turned off. Meanwhile, the GNOME bluetooth icon appears, indicating a paired device. Then, as you can see in the screenshot, it disappears.

How to proceed?

Last edited by lmello (2015-09-12 01:46:15)

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Fundamental Axiom of the Universe (aka Murphy's Law): Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.
First Digital Deduction: Nothing obeys Murphy's Law so well as computers.
Second Digital Deduction: Everything go wrong at least once.
Third Digital Deduction: Things go wrong even when there's absolutely no possibility of anything go wrong.

schizo-ri

Member

From: Rijeka, Croatia

Registered: 2014-06-01

Posts: 25

Re: [SOLVED] Setting up a PS3 controller as a bluetooth joystick?

Maybe:
7. connect <joystick MAC adress>

lmello

Member

From: Brazil

Registered: 2012-11-06

Posts: 300

Re: [SOLVED] Setting up a PS3 controller as a bluetooth joystick?

Well, turns out that the problem was that I was using a clone SIXAXIS controller: I borrowed an original from a friend, followed these instructions https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Sony_DualShock (PS: the Arch wiki should be updated! This works with bluez-plugins installed) and it worked. BUT I want to know if there's a way to disable the button pressure sensivity.

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Fundamental Axiom of the Universe (aka Murphy's Law): Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.
First Digital Deduction: Nothing obeys Murphy's Law so well as computers.
Second Digital Deduction: Everything go wrong at least once.
Third Digital Deduction: Things go wrong even when there's absolutely no possibility of anything go wrong.