Hello.
Just last night I connected Wii remotes to my PC for the first time, using a cheap bluetooth adapter I had lying around for the last few years. The initial connection and integration into Dolphin was so incredibly smooth and painless that I was actually surprised, having been accustomed to struggle with the difficulties of emulation, peripherals, etc. I was able to pair, connect and start playing a game in a matter of minutes.
However, after that initial luck, I'm finding that getting the wiimotes to connect is more of a hit or miss proposition. Sometimes they are recognized right away, sometimes I have to fiddle with the Windows setting screen, etc.
Is the connection process for Wii remotes with bluetooth adapters known to be temperamental, or are some adapters much more robust than others and I should be looking to buy another one?
I'm using Windows 10 and a dolphin build from last week.
On a related note, I'm trying to use per-game settings to tell Dolphin for which games I want to use the real Wiimote, and for which ones I just want to emulate one with my xbox 360 controller. I've used per-games successfully to disable GCN gamepads or wii remotes (emulated) on Wii games that support both. However, if I selecte emulated wii remotes instead of real wii remotes in dolphin's general settings, and enable it on the per-game settings screen, the real remote will not work at all, but the emulated one will.
I've found that it can take a few minutes before the dongle, controller and emulator work together to pick up my wii remote.
I'm using a wii motion plus remote, with Windows 10 x 64 and a Bluetooth Adapter, which while inexpensive, still has v4.0 bluetooth, so still quite capable.
My dolphin version is 4.0 -8325.
I put the adapter in , open up Dolphin, then press 1 & 2 together on the remote, to get Windows to connect it. It shows connected, but then I find the blue leds on the wii remote, go off. So I press 1 & 2 together again. I usually end up, lightly mashing the 1 & 2 buttons together, so that if the remote light stop blinking, they start immediately again. Eventually after doing this for anything between 1-2 minutes, I get the vibrate and it all connects.
I'm quite happy for the moment with that and even happier, that once connected it has never dropped out, even after playing games for a session of 4 or 5 hours.
It's better to press the red SYNC button. Also, make sure you hit refresh on Dolphin while your Wiimote is paired to the Bluetooth.
Thanks for the feedback, folks.
I can now get the wiimotes to reconnect fairly quickly. That is when the computer does not boot up with the driver disabled due to an error. I think it is my crappy adapter so I ordered a different one. We'll see when I get it if things are better.
Coincidentally, after I posted above, I checked my mail and the new dongle had arrived. I plugged it in and it worked right away with the Windows 10 drivers without having to do anything at all. My wiimotes reconnected and I was not asked for a confirmation code or anything. I did not even have to use the red sync button; I just pressed 1+2. This worked the same with both, Wii MotionPlus (first generation, packed in with Sling Smash), and white original controllers.
The initial experience with the new dongle was incredibly smooth. The controllers take less than 20 seconds to reconnect and the dongle is always enabled after several restarts of the computer, unlike the previous one. To boot, I am able to use the dongle at the end of a USB extension cable of about 12ft. This allows me to move it a bit closer to my sitting position in the family room upstairs, where the TV connected to the PC in basement with a long HDMI cable. The older dongle would simply not work with the extension cable.
I'm guessing the fact that the new dongle is BT 4.0 may have something to do with it, whereas the older one was who knows what BT version (I had had it in a drawer for years). The funny part is that I only paid $3.24 for it. It is this guy
here. It took two weeks to arrive from China, it is generically branded and was packed very cheaply so I was highly skeptical when I got it that it would even work. I just took a chance on it because it was so cheap.
Last night I played a couple of cups (four races each) of Super Mario Kart Wii and did not lose connection at any time after I connected the dongle to the USB extension cord. Plugged directly into the computer was causing drops and eventually disconnections as the signal is going going through the floor from the basement to the room upstairs. Moving the dongle several feet in the direction of my couch with the extension cord was enough to get it work solidly. Eventually I will consider a powered hub upstairs if the connection is not robust enough.
All in all, I'm pretty well set up now with the adapter and my wiimotes.
I think in my case it is definitely getting the connection between the dongle and remote stable enough.
I have a PS4 controller already paired, when I turn that on, the dongle connects to it within seconds and until I take out the dongle it remains connected, regardless of whether I'm using the controller or not.
In the case of the remote it is also paired, so I'd expect it to do the same. I.E see it is the paired device and mearly connect and stay connected. But looking at the Bluetooth settings it shows paired, then the taskbar flashes and I see device set up. It then shows connected, but then drops back to paired again.
I don't think it's dolphin that is the issue, more that the remote doesn't simply connect to Windows and stay connected first time every time.
I actually find that dolphin's BT code helps connect the controllers more easily. Maybe its dumb of me to expect the controllers to connect to Windows by just pressing 1+2 but it does it just it once I start Dolphin, and rather quickly. It's quite an improvement to the old adapter, if it lasts.