New to this, could use a bit of help

[Capricornus]

Hey everyone, my first post here.

I'm completely new to this and I've just had a look around Dolphin for about 30 minutes, trying to get my head around configuration.
I quickly realized that using a xbox one controller is not going to cut it, so I've decided to try a real wii controller with a bluetooth setup.

However, I've recently learned about something called a MayFlash Dolphinbar. Is this absolutely necessary to use with a wii controller?
Is it used in stead of a bluetooth dongle or together with one? Is it better than a dongle?

I'm considering this dongle as well, would that be a good fit?
https://www.komplett.no/product/916512/pc-nettbrett/pc-tilbehoer/adapter/asus-usb-bt400-bluetooth-usb-adapter#

If anyone could help me out a bit with a decent setup/explanation, I'd be very appreciative

[Helios]

The dolphinbar is IMO the easiest solution if you have an official first party wiimote.

It's an all in one, self contained BT and IR bar set that should work in any OS dolphin supports. You buy a Dolphinbar, as long as you have a first party official wiimote, you're set.

Is it the best? No. Bluetooth passthrough and a separate USB powered IR light bar is the "best" setup, but it's significantly more involving to setup. Especially because if you decide to go this route, you should really just solder a USB cable onto the Wii BT module you can get off aliexpress for a couple bucks. What you gain? 3rd party wiimotes work, and wiimotion plus games are less finicky.

[Capricornus]

I found a video on youtube that teaches you how to setup the bluetooth passthrough. It doesnt look that complicated, tbh.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNJMGjsxjwQ

I'm too new to this to know what "IR" means, or even what a light bar is, but I still appreciate any help I can get.

[JosJuice]

(03-16-2019, 08:03 AM)Capricornus Wrote: I found a video on youtube that teaches you how to setup the bluetooth passthrough. It doesnt look that complicated, tbh.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNJMGjsxjwQ

Doing that isn't too hard... unless you run into troubles afterwards, which can be tricky to fix, or in some cases even impossible to fix without getting a different Bluetooth adapter.

(03-16-2019, 08:03 AM)Capricornus Wrote: I'm too new to this to know what "IR" means, or even what a light bar is, but I still appreciate any help I can get.

IR stands for infrared. You need to put a "sensor bar" (which actually doesn't contain any sensors, just some infrared LEDs) above or below your screen in order for Wii Remotes to know where the screen is.

[Capricornus]

Thanks for the help so far. I'm still pretty green, so I don't know what to go for. I take it I don't need both the bluetooth dongle and the MayFlash Dolphinbar because....the Dolphinbar is a bluetooth device in itself?

Will the Dolphinbar allow me to play any kind of game, even those where you have to tilt the controller for steering? (Like Mario Kart Wii for example)
If I go for the bluetooth passthrough option, is the IR light bar 100% necessary to play? What would you recommend that I do next? I just want a simple option that works and keeps working into eternity.

[Helios]

(03-17-2019, 12:51 AM)Capricornus Wrote: I take it I don't need both the bluetooth dongle and the MayFlash Dolphinbar because....the Dolphinbar is a bluetooth device in itself?

Correct.

Quote:Will the Dolphinbar allow me to play any kind of game, even those where you have to tilt the controller for steering? (Like Mario Kart Wii for example)

Yes.

Quote:If I go for the bluetooth passthrough option, is the IR light bar 100% necessary to play?

For the most part, yes. Any game that requires pointing at things on the screen at any point needs that light bar.

Quote: What would you recommend that I do next? I just want a simple option that works and keeps working into eternity.

Since I'm guessing you're not terribly comfortable with building a USB bluetooth module out of a wii bluetooth card and you just want a low effort solution, I'd get a Dolphinbar. It does have a problem of running the lights too hard which burns them out if left on forever, but newer versions, which you can only get now, shut off the lights if nothing is synced to it (a wiimote). I've personally never had mine burn out so it's probably fine.

[Capricornus]

Allright. I'll take your advice and get a Dolphinbar. Thanks a lot. It's gonna take a while before it lands in my mailbox, but I'll come back to this thread when it does if I have any more questions. I can probably find lots of tutorials on how to set it up properly on youtube etc. so I might not need to ask. Looking forward to using Dolphin properly.

[Capricornus]

Hey all, my Dolphinbar arrived today, a full week before it was supposed to. Amazon really delivered on this, I'm so happy.
Anyway, do I need some kind of software for this? I read about a software update for the dolphinbar in various places/websites, does anyone know where to find this?

[Update] Nwm, I found the update and it says that its unecessary. However, I cannot get the dolphin bar to work. It syncs, but when I click buttons nothing happens. 
I put it in mode 4 and Im using the latest dolphin software. Apparently, the wiimote is supposed to "shake" when I click "refresh", but it doesnt do that. No idea what to do, hope I 
didnt just waste a lot of money on useless tech. Anyone else have this problem? Or know how to solve it? 

[2nd update] Nwm, I figured it out. Apparently there's a minimum distance to the signal. Once I moved back a few meters, I got a connection and I've been playing a game for the last 3 hours. Gonna test the others soon.