Controllers For The Pandora

[aesir911]

there's been many threads on usb compatibility and stuff. i was wondering what controllers will be compatible with normal functioning of the Pandora, and the emulators/games of course. i'm looking at using a wired xbox360 controller, but will it work with the emulators?

 

[cbox]

Most modern usb game controllers use the HID (human interface device) compliance, so they should "just work" with any modern OS.

 

[Joepostal]

and the wireless xb3 controller has a working driver so you can do 4 player on a tv...

 

[fischju2000]

there's been many threads on usb compatibility and stuff. i was wondering what controllers will be compatible with normal functioning of the Pandora, and the emulators/games of course. i'm looking at using a wired xbox360 controller, but will it work with the emulators?

He may be wanting to know if he just plugs the wired controller in, can the buttons on it translate to the appropriate buttons for a Pandora application without modification (to the app). The answer to that I believe is yes, though I wouldn't be able to find a quote. You could store the info about what button is where in the system and change that. So if a game can accept an input like the 'A' (button 3 or something) button on the Pandora, changing the info could make 'button 3' be a button on the controller.

and the wireless xb3 controller has a working driver so you can do 4 player on a tv...

You would need the wireless receiver which is no longer sold separately, only in a package with a wireless controller. There is a driver for that receiver though.

 

[yannv]

I would think the sixaxis a slightly better match in controller layout. It's Bluetooth so no need for a separate receiver, although it does need some special handling to get connected. Currently trying to figure out what it takes to make it work with bluez, as the sixpair is in git but I see no clues what to do to get bluetoothd to use it...

 

[cobaltage]

Another Pandora should work, correct?

 

[aesir911]

there's been many threads on usb compatibility and stuff. i was wondering what controllers will be compatible with normal functioning of the Pandora, and the emulators/games of course. i'm looking at using a wired xbox360 controller, but will it work with the emulators?

He may be wanting to know if he just plugs the wired controller in, can the buttons on it translate to the appropriate buttons for a Pandora application without modification (to the app). The answer to that I believe is yes, though I wouldn't be able to find a quote. You could store the info about what button is where in the system and change that. So if a game can accept an input like the 'A' (button 3 or something) button on the Pandora, changing the info could make 'button 3' be a button on the controller.

and the wireless xb3 controller has a working driver so you can do 4 player on a tv...

You would need the wireless receiver which is no longer sold separately, only in a package with a wireless controller. There is a driver for that receiver though.

yes, that's exactly what i was asking. what type of wireless receiver would i need? i tried googling it, but found many different things. sorry, i dont understand too much about this type of stuff. just started getting into emulating and such.

 

[Rathum]

yes, that's exactly what i was asking. what type of wireless receiver would i need? i tried googling it, but found many different things. sorry, i dont understand too much about this type of stuff. just started getting into emulating and such.

You're going to need this one. Microsoft uses a non-standard signal for its controllers.

 

[aesir911]

yes, that's exactly what i was asking. what type of wireless receiver would i need? i tried googling it, but found many different things. sorry, i dont understand too much about this type of stuff. just started getting into emulating and such.

You're going to need this one. Microsoft uses a non-standard signal for its controllers.

would i be able to use a wireless controller then if i bought this? what else would i need in order to make it work?

 

[fischju2000]

yes, that's exactly what i was asking. what type of wireless receiver would i need? i tried googling it, but found many different things. sorry, i dont understand too much about this type of stuff. just started getting into emulating and such.

You're going to need this one. Microsoft uses a non-standard signal for its controllers.

It's cheaper to buy this http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Xbox-Wireless-Controller-Windows-pc/dp/B000KA5T6A/ref=dp_cp_ob_vg_title_0 - Which includes a wireless controller and the reciever. You don't need one for the wired controller.

would i be able to use a wireless controller then if i bought this? what else would i need in order to make it work?

Yes, and a single receiver can connect to four controllers. You may need some help installing the driver for wireless controllers. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Xbox360Controller

 

[DrJeebs]

how easy would it be to set up 4 player using 4 sixaxis controllers? I've been curious about this for a while.

Edit:

In case it wasn't clear I meant on an emulator of my choice.

 

[aesir911]

yes, that's exactly what i was asking. what type of wireless receiver would i need? i tried googling it, but found many different things. sorry, i dont understand too much about this type of stuff. just started getting into emulating and such.

You're going to need this one. Microsoft uses a non-standard signal for its controllers.

It's cheaper to buy this http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Xbox-Wireless-Controller-Windows-pc/dp/B000KA5T6A/ref=dp_cp_ob_vg_title_0 - Which includes a wireless controller and the reciever. You don't need one for the wired controller.

would i be able to use a wireless controller then if i bought this? what else would i need in order to make it work?

Yes, and a single receiver can connect to four controllers. You may need some help installing the driver for wireless controllers. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Xbox360Controller

is that all i'd need then? would i need to install/configure anything to get it to work with the Pandora?

 

[Rathum]

how easy would it be to set up 4 player using 4 sixaxis controllers? I've been curious about this for a while.

Edit:

In case it wasn't clear I meant on an emulator of my choice.

Should be pretty easy. Just need to do the witchcraft to get the sixaxis working with bluetooth (not hard), then every controller should show up as a separate js*.

 

[cbox]

With proprietary gaming controllers, unless they use the bluetooth standard, you are pretty much screwed because the console company controls the device and whether or not it's open source or not. If you pick a bluetooth controller or a USB-HID controller, odds are probably close to 100% it will "just work". Sometimes these closed devices are hacked or reverse engineered, but not always.

 

[aesir911]

With proprietary gaming controllers, unless they use the bluetooth standard, you are pretty much screwed because the console company controls the device and whether or not it's open source or not. If you pick a bluetooth controller or a USB-HID controller, odds are probably close to 100% it will "just work". Sometimes these closed devices are hacked or reverse engineered, but not always.

what controller would you suggest then?

 

[cbox]

With proprietary gaming controllers, unless they use the bluetooth standard, you are pretty much screwed because the console company controls the device and whether or not it's open source or not. If you pick a bluetooth controller or a USB-HID controller, odds are probably close to 100% it will "just work". Sometimes these closed devices are hacked or reverse engineered, but not always.

what controller would you suggest then?

There's plenty of gaming controllers that are USB-HID or bluetooth, just look for those standards specifically, Logitech is well known and I have a few of their wireless controllers. I believe the sixaxis is bluetooth, but 360 uses their own proprietary 2.4ghz protocol.

 

[aesir911]

With proprietary gaming controllers, unless they use the bluetooth standard, you are pretty much screwed because the console company controls the device and whether or not it's open source or not. If you pick a bluetooth controller or a USB-HID controller, odds are probably close to 100% it will "just work". Sometimes these closed devices are hacked or reverse engineered, but not always.

what controller would you suggest then?

There's plenty of gaming controllers that are USB-HID or bluetooth, just look for those standards specifically, Logitech is well known and I have a few of their wireless controllers. I believe the sixaxis is bluetooth, but 360 uses their own proprietary 2.4ghz protocol.

was never a fan of the playstation controllers. (i'm more of an xbox man. are you sure it won't work?) do you know any other controllers besides the playstation one?

 

[cbox]

With proprietary gaming controllers, unless they use the bluetooth standard, you are pretty much screwed because the console company controls the device and whether or not it's open source or not. If you pick a bluetooth controller or a USB-HID controller, odds are probably close to 100% it will "just work". Sometimes these closed devices are hacked or reverse engineered, but not always.

what controller would you suggest then?

There's plenty of gaming controllers that are USB-HID or bluetooth, just look for those standards specifically, Logitech is well known and I have a few of their wireless controllers. I believe the sixaxis is bluetooth, but 360 uses their own proprietary 2.4ghz protocol.

was never a fan of the playstation controllers. (i'm more of an xbox man.) do you know any other controllers besides the playstation one?

wii should work (there's linux specific drivers), probably the original xbox would work (I seem to remember they used usb because it was a celeron). Some older consoles you can also get USB adapters to work with them, they sell them for NES, SNES, Genesis and other older consoles.

Looked up original xbox, looks like they used their own version of usb, so it won't "just work", but you can cut off the connector and put a regular usb on there or make an adapter.

 

[fischju2000]

Cbox, both wired and wireless Xbox 360 controllers (with the earlier linked receiver) work perfectly fine in Linux.

 

[cbox]

Cbox, both wired and wireless Xbox 360 controllers (with the earlier linked receiver) work perfectly fine in Linux.

I'm surprised then, Microsoft likes to used their own closed systems for everything, so if it does work in Linux someone probably reverse engineered it.