Joycontrol-ms Switch

From GameBrew
joycontrol-ms
Joycontrolmsnx.png
General
Authormarcus-stevenson
TypeRemote Play and Streaming
Version2020
LicenseGPL-3.0
Last Updated2020/07/08
Links
Download
Website
Source

joycontrol-ms is a modified version of Joycontrol, an open-source project that allows you to emulate Nintendo Switch Controllers on a Raspberry Pi over Bluetooth. This adds keyboard control, macro recording and playback. It also integrates the SparkFun Top pHAT and allows you to write your own custom commands.

Tested on Raspberry Pi 4B.

Features

  • Emulation of JOYCON_R, JOYCON_L and PRO_CONTROLLER.
    • button commands
    • stick state
    • nfc data
    • controller keybinding
    • controller macro recording, playback, deleting
    • SparkFun Top pHAT integration

Installation

Set up your Top pHAT by following the guide here.

Install dependencies:

  • Ubuntu:
    • Install the dbus-python libhidapi-hidraw0 and keyboard packages:
    • sudo apt install python3-dbus libhidapi-hidraw0 keyboard
  • Arch Linux Derivatives:
    • Install the hidapi and bluez-utils-compat(AUR) packages.

Clone the repository and install the joycontrol package to get missing dependencies:

  • (Note: Controller script needs super user rights, so python packages must be installed as root).
  • In the joycontrol folder run: sudo pip3 install .

Disable the bluez "input" plugin, see #8.

User guide

Command line interface example

Run the script:

  • sudo python3 run_controller_cli.py PRO_CONTROLLER
  • This will create a PRO_CONTROLLER instance waiting for the Switch to connect.

Open the "Change Grip/Order" menu of the Switch:

  • The Switch only pairs with new controllers in the "Change Grip/Order" menu.
  • Note: If you already connected an emulated controller once, you can use the reconnect option of the script (-r "<Switch Bluetooth Mac address>"). This does not require the "Change Grip/Order" menu to be opened. You can find out a paired mac address using the "bluetoothctl" system command.

After connecting, a command line interface is opened. Note: Press <enter> if you don't see a prompt.

  • Call "help" to see a list of available commands.
  • If you call "test_buttons", the emulated controller automatically navigates to the "Test Controller Buttons" menu.

Resources

Known issues

  • Some bluetooth adapters seem to cause disconnects for reasons unknown, try to use an usb adapter instead.
  • Incompatibility with Bluetooth "input" plugin requires a bluetooth restart, see #8.
  • It seems like the Switch is slower processing incoming messages while in the "Change Grip/Order" menu. This causes flooding of packets and makes pairing somewhat inconsistent. Not sure yet what exactly a real controller does to prevent that. A workaround is to use the reconnect option after a controller was paired once, so that opening of the "Change Grip/Order" menu is not required.

External links

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