8bitdo Controllers

[EvilDragon]

Ever heard of the 8bitdo Bluetooth/USB controllers?

They are neat Retro-Style Bluetooth controllers, and I got the full palette of them now in my shop as well (grab them here!)

They work fine via Bluetooth with the Pandora, I'm using the Arcade Stick to play MAME with my Pandora connected to the CRT TV

 

[Wally]

What's the battery life like on these?

 

[EvilDragon]

Hmm, have to test, I usually load them when I'm not playing

 

[Wrath Of Khan]

look very nice.

 

[levi]

I've just tried using them with my Pandora.  Unfortunately the only emulator I can get it to work with is is NES.emu, which seems to have a problem in that at some point (usually during the second game I test) it starts juddering and the sound gets interrupted.  I've not managed to get anything with a pickle-launcher to use it, and I've tested most of my 8-bit emulators.

The good news in terms of battery life is that is has an auto-off which seems to be pretty good at saving the battery.  I've used it for about an hour today, but in between it's turned itself off.  It's about two weeks since I last charged it.

 

[EvilDragon]

Hmm, I used it without any issues with PanMAME.

Picklelauncher uses cursor keys... so maybe the keyboard mode could work.

 

[levi]

Ah yes, that's true, I've not experimented with the different modes yet.

Regarding PanMAME, I've not used that since I took out my LCD connector, because I seem to need to switch TV-out layers, and am concerned I'll lose the desktop if I do that.  Or is the desktop shown on both layers?

 

[EvilDragon]

You can switch between both layers on the fly using the Yen key on the keyboard.

BTW: PanMAME has horrible sound, AFAIR with the default config file, I can let you know what to change if that's the case.

 

[levi]

Ah, thanks.  I didn't know about that Yen trick, but it works perfectly!

I've managed to test MAME now, and get GPFCE to be configured using keyboard mode (power on with B pressed).  I couldn't find an input configuration menu in Picodrive though.

Personally I find the diagonals on the d-pad a bit too easy to press, and on a 4-way game like Mr.Do I often found myself running back into the monster chasing me as I tried to turn a corner.  That seems to be an issue in keyboard mode especially, since it only seems to generate keys for the four directions, not the diagonals, so which key is represented when you do accidentally hit a diagonal is implementation dependent.  Maybe I should try using the analogue sticks though, since they offer much tighter control.

The d-pad in keyboard mode works fine for platformers like Megaman though, I found.  Or perhaps I just need more practice at Mr.Do!

 

[Zorge]

It's possible to replace the battery when the their lifetime end?

 

[levi]

There are no obvious screw or clip entry points into the device to replace anything like a battery yourself. It looks like there may be a screw head under the sticker at the back, but I haven't peeled it back to investigate. I don't recall anything in the manual referring to battery replacement.

 

[edgex004]

I've just tried using them with my Pandora. Unfortunately the only emulator I can get it to work with is is NES.emu, which seems to have a problem in that at some point (usually during the second game I test) it starts juddering and the sound gets interrupted.

This is because the Pandora doesn't render Bluetooth HID as actual input. Input is timing out and your LCD is shutting off, then the TV-out and sound stutters. This stuttering occurs for all .emu when the screen shuts off (close the lid, input time out) from what I can tell.

The easiest fix is to turn off all power save functionality before starting the emulator:

1. Keep LCD on at lid close, but dim brightness all the way to conserve power. You can also just keep the lid open while you play.
2. Turn off dpms(energy star) features, as these mainly consist of the "turn off monitor after a time-out" functionality.
3. Turn off screensaver.

@ptitSeb has already been working on a script to automate 2 and 3, which seemed to work in my tests running openbox. They should work fine in minimenu and xfce, but I haven't tried. I believe he just needs to push the version with the newest script to the repo. I can do some better tests tonight to make sure it is working in all states prior to asking for a PND update.

 

[levi]

Yes, since posting that I read the SNES.emu thread and indeed have tried out the newest build. I think I reported some problem I had with it but I forget.

 

[Eight Bit]

Question, can I use two of these bluetooth controllers at once?
On my Pandora I mean...

Now I asked the question and think about it I guess not... maybe with a 2nd USB bluetooth receiver...

 

[edgex004]

I use multiple OUYA bluetooth controllers together all the time. I don't see it being a problem for these either. Just don't use wifi and bluetooth at the same time without an external wifi or bluetooth dongle.