Dolphin, the GameCube and Wii emulator - Forums

I recently bought a wireless sensor bar off of Ebay. I really didn't do much research because I'd been operating under the assumption that a sensor bar was just some low tech LEDs that set the range of motion for the WiiMote. Well, the bar I have is very jerky and not at all smooth. I hooked up my Wii U to power a regular sensor bar, and it was undoubtedly much, much smoother. Downside is that after about 20 seconds the WiiMote pairs with the Wii U and I lose Dolphin connectivity. Also, even if there is a workaround for that behavior, that is not my preferred setup.

After reading about it here, I went to Amazon to buy a Mayflash Dolphin Bar, solely to use as a sensor bar and not as a Bluetooth pairing device. However, some reviews on there said that the Mayflash could not be used solely as a wireless sensor bar and that if there was no WiiMote attached to it via Bluetooth that it would shut itself off.

Can anybody confirm if the currently sold version of the Mayflash Dolphin Bar can be used as a stand alone Wii Sensor bar and, if so, if it works well?

There is also the "Official Nintendo Wii Wireless Ultra Sensor Bar with Extended Play Range", but it looks like it is out of production and must be purchased used. The reviews say that the battery life is not fantastic.

Lastly, there are mods to solder a DC or USB adapter to power an existing Wii sensor bar (the one that came with your Wii or Wii U). I'd prefer not to create a fire hazard through amateur electrical engineering, though.

(01-26-2021, 02:56 AM)iheartdolphin Wrote: [ -> ]Can anybody confirm if the currently sold version of the Mayflash Dolphin Bar can be used as a stand alone Wii Sensor bar and, if so, if it works well?

No, if you buy a new DolphinBar, you can't count on it working as a standalone sensor bar.

There's supposedly two revisions of the Dolphin Bar. The first revision has a hardware flaw where the IR LEDs are fed with too much current and as result they end burning out prematurely. MayFlash eventually issued a firmware update that enable the IR LEDs only when at least one Wiimote is synced and connected with the Dolphin Bar. The flaw, however, still is there and long play sessions still are prone to burn the IR LEDs prematurely (due to the way the LEDs are wired, no firmware can fix the actual flaw, just work around it).

The second revision of the Dolphin Bar is reported to have an additional switch at the back that allows turning the IR LEDs on and off independently of the Dolphin Bar's microcontroller. It's unknown, however, if the actual flaw (feeding the IR LEDs with too much current) is fixed in that revision or not.

I personally own a first revision Dolphin Bar which had the issue. I fixed it myself by replacing the burnt IR LEDs and the accompanying resistor of each LED cluster so they don't burn out prematurely anymore. It's also very very easy to make the IR LEDs be always on if you have some basic soldering skills (in fact it's actually easier than replacing the IR LEDs). I never bought another Dolphin Bar so I can't say for sure if that second revision really exists, but I had seen a few mentions of it in the past (including the separate switch at the back), both here in the forums as well as on other communities.

Edit: it has been a long while since I last visited MayFlash's website, but they have updated the pictures in the Dolphin Bar page and it looks like the second revision is indeed real. The additional switch that supposedly control the IR LEDs can be clealy seen on this picture, next to the Sync button...

which direction for the switch on the back turns on the IR?

I'm not sure. You can check if the IR LEDs are enabled by looking to the front of the Dolphin Bar through a camera, though. The LEDs will be clearly visible on the camera's viewfinder when they're enabled...