HOW-TO: Connect Sixaxis to Ubuntu trough bluetooth mode

[falkTX]

Hello, I seem to be having a bit of a problem with QTSixA. I don't have bluetooth adapters, but I am connecting my SixAxis through the usb cable. QTSixA recognizes it, but nothing recognizes my input whether it be keyboard and mouse or joystick enabled games. I'm sorry for being so vague, if anyone has any idea on how to get the input working properly, that would be great! I've been trying to get it working for hours and hours.

Have you read the manual?

Anyway, let me explain.
QtSixA (err, sixad), doesn't handle USB devices by default.
The driver used for USB will be the system generic one.

If you want QtSixA features on USB, use 'sixad-raw'.
After you configured the stuff properly in the GUI as needed, connect your sixaxis via USB.
Now run:

dmesg | tail

You'll see something like this:

[16484.325306] input: Sony PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1a.1/usb4/4-1/4-1:1.0/input/input16
[16484.325560] sony 0003:054C:0268.0004: input,hiddev96,hidraw1: USB HID v1.11 Joystick [Sony PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller] on usb-0000:00:1a.1-1/input0
[16484.326161] sony 0003:054C:0268.0004: can't set operational mode
[16484.345011] sony: probe of 0003:054C:0268.0004 failed with error -71
[16484.580086] usb 4-1: USB disconnect, address 5
[16484.820049] usb 4-1: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 6
[16485.023316] usb 4-1: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
[16485.109286] input: Sony PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1a.1/usb4/4-1/4-1:1.0/input/input17
[16485.109480] sony 0003:054C:0268.0005: input,hiddev96,hidraw1: USB HID v1.11 Joystick [Sony PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller] on usb-0000:00:1a.1-1/input0

Notice the values I put on bold, it tells you which hidraw device the sixaxis is using.

Now using that, simply run:

sudo sixad-raw /dev/hidrawX

And replace 'X' by the appropriate number, as you found before.


PS: If you got an uinput error with sixad-raw, run 'sudo modprobe uinput' and try again.

[redesigner]

Have you read the manual?

Anyway, let me explain.
QtSixA (err, sixad), doesn't handle USB devices by default.
The driver used for USB will be the system generic one.

If you want QtSixA features on USB, use 'sixad-raw'.
After you configured the stuff properly in the GUI as needed, connect your sixaxis via USB.
Now run:

dmesg | tail

You'll see something like this:

[16484.325306] input: Sony PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1a.1/usb4/4-1/4-1:1.0/input/input16
[16484.325560] sony 0003:054C:0268.0004: input,hiddev96,hidraw1: USB HID v1.11 Joystick [Sony PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller] on usb-0000:00:1a.1-1/input0
[16484.326161] sony 0003:054C:0268.0004: can't set operational mode
[16484.345011] sony: probe of 0003:054C:0268.0004 failed with error -71
[16484.580086] usb 4-1: USB disconnect, address 5
[16484.820049] usb 4-1: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 6
[16485.023316] usb 4-1: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
[16485.109286] input: Sony PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1a.1/usb4/4-1/4-1:1.0/input/input17
[16485.109480] sony 0003:054C:0268.0005: input,hiddev96,hidraw1: USB HID v1.11 Joystick [Sony PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller] on usb-0000:00:1a.1-1/input0

Notice the values I put on bold, it tells you which hidraw device the sixaxis is using.

Now using that, simply run:

sudo sixad-raw /dev/hidrawX

And replace 'X' by the appropriate number, as you found before.


PS: If you got an uinput error with sixad-raw, run 'sudo modprobe uinput' and try again.

I've tried doing the steps for the manual, but the Gui remains faded out and I cannot change the advanced settings for hidraw. When I run dmesg it gives me this output:

[21775.917416] input: Sony PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.1/usb7/7-1/7-1:1.0/input/input32
[21775.917602] sony 0003:054C:0268.0017: input,hiddev0,hidraw0: USB HID v1.11 Joystick [Sony PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller] on usb-0000:00:1d.1-1/input0
[22040.672076] usb 7-1: USB disconnect, address 24
[22112.592052] usb 7-1: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 25
[22112.955191] input: Sony PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.1/usb7/7-1/7-1:1.0/input/input33
[22112.955378] sony 0003:054C:0268.0018: input,hiddev0,hidraw0: USB HID v1.11 Joystick [Sony PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller] on usb-0000:00:1d.1-1/input0
[22116.312058] usb 7-1: USB disconnect, address 25
[22118.040036] usb 7-1: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 26
[22118.413179] input: Sony PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.1/usb7/7-1/7-1:1.0/input/input34
[22118.413367] sony 0003:054C:0268.0019: input,hiddev0,hidraw0: USB HID v1.11 Joystick [Sony PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller] on usb-0000:00:1d.1-1/input0

When I run sixad-raw /dev/hidraw0 It outputs nothing until I unplug the controller.

[falkTX]

I've tried doing the steps for the manual, but the Gui remains faded out and I cannot change the advanced settings for hidraw. When I run dmesg it gives me this output:

[21775.917416] input: Sony PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.1/usb7/7-1/7-1:1.0/input/input32
[21775.917602] sony 0003:054C:0268.0017: input,hiddev0,hidraw0: USB HID v1.11 Joystick [Sony PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller] on usb-0000:00:1d.1-1/input0
[22040.672076] usb 7-1: USB disconnect, address 24
[22112.592052] usb 7-1: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 25
[22112.955191] input: Sony PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.1/usb7/7-1/7-1:1.0/input/input33
[22112.955378] sony 0003:054C:0268.0018: input,hiddev0,hidraw0: USB HID v1.11 Joystick [Sony PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller] on usb-0000:00:1d.1-1/input0
[22116.312058] usb 7-1: USB disconnect, address 25
[22118.040036] usb 7-1: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 26
[22118.413179] input: Sony PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.1/usb7/7-1/7-1:1.0/input/input34
[22118.413367] sony 0003:054C:0268.0019: input,hiddev0,hidraw0: USB HID v1.11 Joystick [Sony PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller] on usb-0000:00:1d.1-1/input0

When I run sixad-raw /dev/hidraw0 It outputs nothing until I unplug the controller.

If there's a problem with the GUI, run it on a terminal ('qtsixa'), make the issue appear and post the output of the terminal here.

sixad-raw will not print anything until an error occurs. If nothing gets printed, then it's working fine.
Note: On USB you have to press the PS button at least once, even for sixad-raw

[redesigner]

If there's a problem with the GUI, run it on a terminal ('qtsixa'), make the issue appear and post the output of the terminal here.

sixad-raw will not print anything until an error occurs. If nothing gets printed, then it's working fine.
Note: On USB you have to press the PS button at least once, even for sixad-raw

In that case, everything seems to be working properly, except the actual ouput of the controller. The output of the terminal is normal, although I have to run it as root because one of the profile permissions isn't working properly.

$ sudo qtsixa
Qt version: 4.7.2
PyQt version: 4.8.3
QtSixA version: 1.5.0
Will use 'gksu' for root actions

I was thinking it was possibly a conflicting driver or package, so I have uninstalled all of my joystick packages aside from QtSixA.
Attached are some screenshots of QtSixA if that will help at all.

Thanks for all of your help so far!

[falkTX]

In that case, everything seems to be working properly, except the actual ouput of the controller. The output of the terminal is normal, although I have to run it as root because one of the profile permissions isn't working properly.

$ sudo qtsixa
Qt version: 4.7.2
PyQt version: 4.8.3
QtSixA version: 1.5.0
Will use 'gksu' for root actions

I was thinking it was possibly a conflicting driver or package, so I have uninstalled all of my joystick packages aside from QtSixA.
Attached are some screenshots of QtSixA if that will help at all.

Thanks for all of your help so far!

Note that sixad-raw will create a new joystick and still keep the old one (the original sixaxis USB).

hm... please make sure your joystick works in USB first (ie, test with 'jstest /dev/input/js0' or similar).

[inferno91]

I'm at my wit's end with getting my Sixaxis (actually Dualshock 3) to work via bluetooth in (K)Ubuntu. Previously, I could get it to work by "disabling bluetooth" in qtsixa, pressing the PS button on the sixaxis to connect, and finally, re-enabling bluetooth in qtsixa so my other bluetooth devices can work again. I understand what "disabling bluetooth" in qtsixa does - it kills the bluez bluetooth stack so sixad - a patched bluetooth stack which allows the sixaxis to connect can load. But now it seems this no longer works. Bluez's bluetoothd in Ubuntu 11.04 seems to be aggressively relaunching whenever a bluetooth device (including the sixaxis) tries to connect, thus blocking sixad and therefore my sixaxis won't connect. Is there ANY workaround for this whatsoever (other than connecting my sixaxis via USB which is not an option?)

Using qtsixa 1.4.97+git20110701-0~natty1 from falktx's ppa
Kubuntu 11.04 "natty" fully updated

[falkTX]

I'm at my wit's end with getting my Sixaxis (actually Dualshock 3) to work via bluetooth in (K)Ubuntu. Previously, I could get it to work by "disabling bluetooth" in qtsixa, pressing the PS button on the sixaxis to connect, and finally, re-enabling bluetooth in qtsixa so my other bluetooth devices can work again. I understand what "disabling bluetooth" in qtsixa does - it kills the bluez bluetooth stack so sixad - a patched bluetooth stack which allows the sixaxis to connect can load. But now it seems this no longer works. Bluez's bluetoothd in Ubuntu 11.04 seems to be aggressively relaunching whenever a bluetooth device (including the sixaxis) tries to connect, thus blocking sixad and therefore my sixaxis won't connect. Is there ANY workaround for this whatsoever (other than connecting my sixaxis via USB which is not an option?)

Using qtsixa 1.4.97+git20110701-0~natty1 from falktx's ppa
Kubuntu 11.04 "natty" fully updated

The usual way to do this now is:

sudo sixad --stop
sudo sixad -s
# Press the PS button

After connecting, run in another terminal to restore bluetooth

sudo sixad --restor

Try it and let me know if it works

[inferno91]

It works, thank you! It does leave sixad running in the terminal, so I used sudo service sixad [start|stop]. This causes sixad to run in the background, but it still prints stuff to my terminal, so I had to modify the init script at /etc/init.d/sixad. I changed

$DAEMON --start &

to

$DAEMON --start &>>/var/log/sixad &

and now all output from sixad goes to a log file instead of my terminal. I can run sudo sixad --restore to get my bluetooth back as usual.

So basically, what I was doing wrong was using the gui, which is apparently not working anymore? I don't really mind using the command line, though, in fact I might actually prefer it, but it might really irritate others. Now that I know to use the command line for sixad, I read the docs to figure out how to disable sensible buttons and accelerometers (Anything that has a GUI control configurator doesn't like the latter) and now I got that working too. It beats MotionInJoy on Windows, which kills bluetooth (and even if it didn't, Windows doesn't support my Bluetooth A2DP headset.)

[falkTX]

I had to modify the init script at /etc/init.d/sixad. I changed

$DAEMON --start &

to

$DAEMON --start &>>/var/log/sixad &

and now all output from sixad goes to a log file instead of my terminal.

Thanks for pointing this out; got removed by accident when doing some cleanup.
I'll update it soon

So basically, what I was doing wrong was using the gui, which is apparently not working anymore? I don't really mind using the command line, though, in fact I might actually prefer it, but it might really irritate others. Now that I know to use the command line for sixad, I read the docs to figure out how to disable sensible buttons and accelerometers (Anything that has a GUI control configurator doesn't like the latter) and now I got that working too. It beats MotionInJoy on Windows, which kills bluetooth (and even if it didn't, Windows doesn't support my Bluetooth A2DP headset.)

I just don't have the motivation to rework the GUI at this time...
QtSixA is soon to be deprecated by real drivers (official sixaxis support in the kernel and BlueZ), and my laptop isn't exactly a game machine...

I'll do it someday though, just not sure when.

[Mvd126]

Hello! Is it possible to connect Gasia gamepad? If not, will this be fixed?