Advice how to get Wii Remote to work with Dolphin

[steve1977]

I know there are quite a few threads out there on this topic. Not clear to me though what the very latest is on Wii Remote / Nunchuk / Remoteplus support.

Context on my setup: using Dolphin on Windows and have 4 Xbox One S controllers connected via bluetooth. I am considering to buy Wii Remote & Nunchuk. If I go ahead, I will buy original Nintendo Wii Remotes / Nunchuks (not 3rd party). I have a few questions:

1) Is it better for me to connect the Wii Remotes to bluetooth directly or do a Mayflash Dolphinbar. Some posts suggest directly to bluetooth is better, some the other...

2) If I were to connect the wii remotes directly to bluetooth, would the Mayflash Dolphinbar still be my best option as sensor bar or any other recommendation? Maybe something without a cable?

3) Does the answer to above change if I want to connect the controllers to a Shield and then gamestream Dolphin from my Windows PC/


Thanks in advance for your help!!!

[JosJuice]

(03-09-2019, 02:48 PM)steve1977 Wrote: 1) Is it better for me to connect the Wii Remotes to bluetooth directly or do a Mayflash Dolphinbar. Some posts suggest directly to bluetooth is better, some the other...

Generally, Bluetooth passthrough (with your own Bluetooth adapter) > Mayflash DolphinBar > "regular" Bluetooth connection (with your own Bluetooth adapter). But some Bluetooth adapters have problems with Bluetooth passthrough, so it depends on which Bluetooth adapter you're using.

(03-09-2019, 02:48 PM)steve1977 Wrote: 2) If I were to connect the wii remotes directly to bluetooth, would the Mayflash Dolphinbar still be my best option as sensor bar or any other recommendation? Maybe something without a cable?

I would not suggest the DolphinBar in that case. It's more expensive than a regular sensor bar, its LEDs can burn out due to a hardware design problem, and it might be impossible to use it as a sensor bar while not having any Wii Remotes connected to it depending on its firmware version (due to an attempt to make the LEDs not burn out as fast).

(03-09-2019, 02:48 PM)steve1977 Wrote: 3) Does the answer to above change if I want to connect the controllers to a Shield and then gamestream Dolphin from my Windows PC/

Yes. I don't think there's any good way to use Wii Remotes while doing that.

[steve1977]

Thanks for your quick reply. What's the difference between bluetooth passthrough and regular bluetooth? Would a bluetooth dongle do the trick?

Any recommendation on a sensor bar?

[Stremon]

In my case I made a usb bluetooth pass-through with a Wii Wifi board and some components.
It's pretty much the best and more reliable solution you can find, but obviously require electronic components and skills.

On this other side the dolphinbar is indeed the most simple solution you can find, but has the drawback of not being compatible with the bluetooth pass-through.

Meaning you either get the speed and compatibility, or simplicity.

For a sensor bar, I would recommend a cheap chinese one that you can power with usb, they work decent enough since most meaningful components are in the wiimote or the bluetooth adapter.
And if the LED die, it's not that expensive so no big loss.

[steve1977]

(03-11-2019, 10:44 PM)Stremon Wrote: On this other side the dolphinbar is indeed the most simple solution you can find, but has the drawback of not being compatible with the bluetooth pass-through.

I am starting to understand the issue. Are you saying that the Mayflash Dolphinbar cannot be passed-through as bluetooth adapter? If so, I'd need to emulate it and this is causing speed and compatibility issues?

The only solution to "passthrough bluetooth is adapter" is to dismantle my old Wii to get its wifi board and do a lot of other complicated things? Not possinble with Mayflash or other USB dongles?

If that's correct, I'd probably need to go with the Mayflash solution as I won't be able to solder things. How much worse is it?

[JosJuice]

(03-16-2019, 11:04 AM)steve1977 Wrote: I am starting to understand the issue. Are you saying that the Mayflash Dolphinbar cannot be passed-through as bluetooth adapter?

That is correct.

(03-16-2019, 11:04 AM)steve1977 Wrote: If so, I'd need to emulate it and this is causing speed and compatibility issues?

It isn't really slower, but it can indeed cause compatibility issues in some cases.

(03-16-2019, 11:04 AM)steve1977 Wrote: The only solution to "passthrough bluetooth is adapter" is to dismantle my old Wii to get its wifi board and do a lot of other complicated things? Not possinble with Mayflash or other USB dongles?

You can use other USB dongles with Bluetooth passthrough, just not a Mayflash DolphinBar. But they might not work as perfectly as the one that you can get from a Wii.

[steve1977]

Thanks for your help. From the wiki list (https://wiki.dolphin-emu.org/index.php?title=Bluetooth_Passthrough), it seems that other passthrough solutions are not particularly stable.

I am wondering how good/bad the Mayflash solution is and whether it is worth the hassle to get passthrough to work?

[mstreurman]

(03-17-2019, 11:19 PM)steve1977 Wrote: Thanks for your help. From the wiki list (https://wiki.dolphin-emu.org/index.php?title=Bluetooth_Passthrough), it seems that other passthrough solutions are not particularly stable.

I am wondering how good/bad the Mayflash solution is and whether it is worth the hassle to get passthrough to work?

If you get passthrough to work on a "generic" adapter, it works amazing! But if it doesn't work you can always use it as a "Real Wiimote" adapter just as you would have to do with a Dolphinbar.

Also do NOT buy the Asus BT-400 adapter, it is NOT compatible with passthrough as I have been trying to get it to work for ages but it just doesn't want to.

The next project that I will be making for myself is my own Passthrough Dolphinbar, as soon as my 3D printer is in I have the dimensions and everything and am ready to go. If I will be successful in my efforts I will start making and selling these myself .