constantly getting events, without user input

[impatience-cmd]

hi,

first of all, i'm kind of new, to how HID devices operate, but i'm willing to read more on those

i was able to get very far with my project, and the user input translates very well in various monitoring apps (windows10 gaming controller properties, joysticktest_092.exe application, and gamepadviewer.com)

but as soon as i jump into an emulator program, i get constant input: sometimes it's pressing "down" (may be Dpad or analog command, or a button?!) constantly/repeatedly ^but this is NOT visible in the monitoring apps i mentioned.

i tried looking around in the library files, but i couldn't find something like "default send"

also it doesn't seem to be a certain button, like button1, or dpad etc. it's just controller name, and a space; like this "Joypad "

but it gets received repeatedly by the emulator program (and it seems to me, this background command is somehow blocking my ability to use my buttons, to interact with the emulation)

i haven't tested it on android, but will these days

i'm very thankful this library, it's great, and i got good results for my controller after a few hours, thanks!!

P.S.: is there an ability, to disable certain instances like "slider1, slider2" etc., since i don't need those, and my thought here is, can this probably somehow make the Bluetooth-"Bus" a little bit lighter, and less loaded with unused data?! since from the 64bit value, it seems with the ble-report, i always send all instances, that were created, and i thought they are send serially, so a smaller variable could means faster interaction?!?

thank you, if you can find time to respond

[lemmingDev]

Hi

Can you please tell me the name of an emulator you're having trouble with so I can test it out?

As for an option with less features, you could try out version 1.6. https://github.com/lemmingDev/ESP32-BLE-Gamepad/releases/tag/0.1.6 It doesn't have the sliders and has a reduced number of buttons

[impatience-cmd]

the emulators are 'retroarch' and 'virtual boy'

in virtual boy the mapping was constantly taken over by this default repeatedly sending, so i wasn't able to map the controller in retroarch, it was better, i was able to map the controller, but still in-game the button event was received by the game

i also did a short test with the example sketch 'multiple buttons', but it also appeared there, the character constantly walks down in gb files; in z64 files, the menu keeps rotating, as if i would be holding a down dpad/or control stick

should i add the code?

[impatience-cmd]

it also appeared, with all button press, setHat etc. disabled

might it be in the bluetooth server? (while it's connected) i would like to try to troubleshoot myself, but my knowledge is not enough i might try to read some more on it, and keep updating new finds,

thank you so far! :)

[impatience-cmd]

another update: tested on android - successfully.

the gamepad worked without issues on my android device

while scrolling through the settings of an app, that monitors gamepad input, i saw a checkbox: that pointed towards status/ID messages, something like: ~"ignore status ID messages", the checkbox was true

so my question as of right now is:

• within the library, can i disable constant status commands/messages, the bluetooth device sends (~while connected?)
• if not so, would it be an issue of my windows10 laptop needing to ignore those commands, and NOT pass them on, to the emulator programs, as it does right now?

from my little 2 year experience on arduino so far, my feeling says, it might be able to disable these messages/commands withing the library (i stumbled onto something like "bluetooth server", that the device (ESP32) creates), although i don't know for sure

my knowledge about BLE protocol (HID) is not deep enough to judge upon that - what do you think?

[lemmingDev]

A couple of suggestions:

If it's not already, set your Core Debug Level to None (and perhaps disable any Serial stuff in the sketch too)

If that doesn't work, are you aware that there is another version of the gamepad library I maintain that uses the new NimBLE server instead of the default one?

It's more optimised, is updated regularly, more efficient and may just solve your problem.

Delete the current gamepad library from your libraries folder Download and install the alternate gamepad library here: https://github.com/lemmingDev/ESP32-BLE-Gamepad/tree/NimBLE You'll also need to have the NimBLE library installed through library manager, or here: https://github.com/h2zero/NimBLE-Arduino

Let me know how you go

[lemmingDev]

Send your code through if you're still having issues...

[impatience-cmd]

i tried your options, the issue still occurs.

how did your testing go? (quoted below):

Hi

Can you please tell me the name of an emulator you're having trouble with so I can test it out?

(1) as far as example code goes, i'm using your example library, with digitalRead and != if state has changed from the blink sketch example from arduino ide; i commented out all serial monitor stuff, and also the debug level was none

(2) version 1.6. did not work at all

(3) using the NimBLE build, as you suggested didn't change anything.

i'm still getting constant events as stated in my first post.

[lemmingDev]

I tested with Retroarch and I was unable to reproduce the issue.

Are you using input pullups on your buttons?

If you'd like further support, can you please provide your full code and the core and game you are trying to use in Retroarch.

Also, when you say Virtual Boy, I'm not sure what you mean. Can you link me to the specific emulator?

Thanks

[impatience-cmd]

yes the pins were with internal pullups

since the issue occured with the original example sketches, with commented out serial monitor, and also commented out functions: buttonpress, setAxes etc., my guess is that the commands are coming from somewhere within the library structure (maybe BT server), since they appear with the device idle (with the example sketch)

regarding the emulator: my bad, the emulator is called: "visual boy advance" - when trying to assign buttons (within the menu under 'joypad' (their name for gamepad)), the ghost command takes place repeatedly, and blocks button assignments (quickly overrides assignments). Usually an assignment looks something like "Joy 1 Button 1", but in the case of the idle command it's only "Joy 1 " (repeatedly sent).

link to the emulator: http://www.emulator-zone.com/doc.php/gba/vboyadvance.html

checking again, in retroarch: the game "wario blast featuring bomberman" (core: TGB Dual), the character still walks down all the time

another thought i had: could it be my hardware? i have a esp32 (wroom) clone from ebay

for my project it's ok to shrink it to android, (it works fine there!), the idle command appears under windows only; i was hoping i could find the source of the command, but i'll reduce the bluetooth gamepad to android, and as for windows, i'll use my functioning build with a leonardo under USB

[lemmingDev]

Hi

Mapping the buttons in virtualboy advance works perfectly fine for me.

Please post your complete code so I can check it for problems

[impatience-cmd]

i tried posting with < > but it didn't catch my code correctly

so here's the file directly as .ino: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1haqXyhtnJn5gfhDoP5ac7Rp4-5_Lci7p/view?usp=sharing

the file was created with arduino 1.8.13 and uses v2.0 of BleGamepad.h (library via arduino library manager: "ESP32-BLE-Gamepad")

thank you

[lemmingDev]

Wow

There is a lot going on in your code.

May I suggest that you start a fresh sketch with just the button code only (no analogs, hats, sliders etc) and confirm that there are no extra events.

If that works, then slowly add one feature at a time until you find the culprit.

FYI, I am working on a new version of the library that has a customisable HID where you only enable the features you want.

It currently supports any number of buttons from 0 to 64, plus any combination of axes out of X, Y, Z rZ, rX and rY

When I get motivated, I'll finish adding the hats, sliders and even some racing simulator controls.

[impatience-cmd]

thank you for verifying, and trying to recreate the issue i had.

on all my other projects in arduino i was able to find the cause of the issue; this is the first arduino sketch, where i somewhat "blamed it on the library";

because in the example sketches, even with disabling the button.press() etc. commands, (and leaving .begin(false) on, the issue still appeared;

the code that i made works fine under a leonardo over usb. so i took from that build, adjusted it, towards your library commands/functions, and then troubleshooted it with the serial.monitor

i still think my code should be fine, since the gamepad-monitoring apps do not receive a permament 'hold down some button'; and disabling all the button events etc. still caused the issue... that's what's mysterious about it to me.

but anyway thank you for your time, and thoughts; since android doesn't face the issue i can still find a good use for the amount of time&work put in.

it's a good library thank you :) and i'm also hyped about the upcoming option to tailor the elements (less buttons etc.) to the needed ones! that's a cool feature i think if you like, you can close this issue

[lemmingDev]

Have you tried it on another Windows machine, another Bluetooth dongle or another ESP32 board? I can't seem to reproduce the issue at all.

Your code seemed a bit weird with pin 2 being used for an LED output, and then used again repeatedly for different button inputs.

But removing your code from the equation and just using the MultipleButtonsDebounce example for testing, I am able to open the two emulators and map the buttons without issue. There's no "phantom" presses or the like.

So, let me know if you have another Windows machine to test with. Fire up either the SingleButtonDebounce or MultipleButtonsDebounce sketch (make sure to edit the pin variables to suit) and test for me

[lemmingDev]

Try out this new test version https://github.com/lemmingDev/ESP32-BLE-Gamepad/issues/54#issue-849162930

It allows you to enable only the features your controller is using