Quoting: azuredusk10Thank you Highball and Whizse! I will try and reproduce the bug on a kernel pre 6.2 (Ubuntu 22.04 LTS looks like it comes with kernel 5.17 so I'll see if that's still the case).

Whatever the outcome, I'll file a bug in the kernel Bugzilla and post the link in this thread. I've found the category you mentioned whizse - thank you very much. Fingers crossed this ends up removing a barrier to PlayStation users who want to move Linux.

One other question, do you have the same issue when plugged into USB? I'd tests this out myself, but I only have one DS5 controller. I'd have to swing by GameStop and pick up 3 more controllers. If I remember correctly its the same driver (for DS4 and DS5) since kernel 6.2. If we can get this narrowed down, I'd be happy to hook up a kernel debugger and check it out.

Last edited by Highball on 2 March 2024 at 9:04 pm UTC

Quoting: Highball

Quoting: azuredusk10Thank you Highball and Whizse! I will try and reproduce the bug on a kernel pre 6.2 (Ubuntu 22.04 LTS looks like it comes with kernel 5.17 so I'll see if that's still the case).

Whatever the outcome, I'll file a bug in the kernel Bugzilla and post the link in this thread. I've found the category you mentioned whizse - thank you very much. Fingers crossed this ends up removing a barrier to PlayStation users who want to move Linux.

One other question, do you have the same issue when plugged into USB? I'd tests this out myself, but I only have one DS5 controller. I'd have to swing by GameStop and pick up 3 more controllers. If I remember correctly its the same driver (for DS4 and DS5) since kernel 6.2. If we can get this narrowed down, I'd be happy to hook up a kernel debugger and check it out.

I've done some more testing.

Yes, I could reproduce this problem when one controller is connected only via USB and the 3 others are connected via bluetooth. (I double checked the bluetooth settings panel only had 3 controllers connected). We were able to play for about 10 minutes before one of the bluetooth-connected controllers went unresponsive. These were the error messages in the kernel logs, similar to before. The controller went unresponsive at about 19:55 (reading from my analogue watch) and I unplugged the USB controller about 30 seconds afterwards:

 
Mar  4 19:42:36 pop-os kernel: [  104.481714] playstation 0005:054C:09CC.0007: Registered DualShock4 controller hw_version=0x0000b40c fw_version=0x0000a00a
Mar  4 19:50:58 pop-os kernel: [  606.787634] playstation 0005:054C:09CC.0007: DualShock4 input CRC's check failed
Mar  4 19:52:02 pop-os kernel: [  670.973915] playstation 0005:054C:09CC.0005: DualShock4 input CRC's check failed
Mar  4 19:54:04 pop-os kernel: [  792.308116] usb 1-2: USB disconnect, device number 6

It's worth noting that the line "DualShock4 input CRC's check failed" also gets generated when playing with 3 DS4 controllers without any issues of controllers going unresponsive, so I'm wondering if it's a red herring.

ALSO, I've found an easier way to reproduce this bug. Simply connect 4 controllers via bluetooth, wiggle the touchpads every 5 minutes or so to keep them from turning off, and after 20-30 minutes one of them will go unresponsive. It happens without any error messages in the kernel logs.

I was also able to reproduce this bug on a machine with different hardware and a different Linux distro - an Intel 12th gen Framework 13 laptop running Fedora 39, kernel version 6.7.6-200.fc39.x86_64. I left the 4 controllers connected via bluetooth, wiggled the touchpads every 5-10 minutes, then after 25 minutes one went unresponsive. All 4 controllers were still showing as connected in the Bluetooth settings panel and all 4 still had their lightbars on. There were no errors in the "GNOME Logs" program at the time the controller went unresponsive.

I tried to run a live CD of Ubuntu 21.10, but my laptop complained that there was a security violation and it asked for a MOK key. So I didn't have any luck there.

That's really kind of you to offer to look into this. If there's anything I can do to help, please let me know. Please don't feel obliged to go out and buy more controllers unless you'll get some use out of them yourself too - I know money is tight for many.

Shall I go ahead and write that kernel bug report?

Last edited by azuredusk10 on 4 March 2024 at 11:41 pm UTC

Yes, definitely log the bug. I used to do Windows Kernel audio and low power storage development. It will take me a bit to get things figured out. As long as I can repro the issue and come up with a fix, then I will submit the patch for the bug you file. Also we can patch your kernel in the interrim. If the PS devs jump on the bug and get a fix right away, that's great too. Please link your bug report here too.

Quoting: HighballYes, definitely log the bug. I used to do Windows Kernel audio and low power storage development. It will take me a bit to get things figured out. As long as I can repro the issue and come up with a fix, then I will submit the patch for the bug you file. Also we can patch your kernel in the interrim. If the PS devs jump on the bug and get a fix right away, that's great too. Please link your bug report here too.

Thank you so much. You've been so generous with your time and your help. If you do end up buying extra controllers to look into this, I'd be happy to cover the cost of them.

I've filed the kernel bug report:
https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=218564

I bought this Bluetooth USB dongle and disabled my computer’s built-in WLAN chip and the problem no longer occurs:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B2737HPS/?_encoding=UTF8

The controllers are much more responsive to inputs as well when multiple controllers are connected. Before, the more controllers were connected, the more frequently there seemed to be input lag on the controllers.

It seems like the Steam Deck could have had similar issues. In their OLED model product page, it says that they used a dedicated Bluetooth adapter (unlike on the original Steam Deck) in order to improve performance when multiple external game controllers are connected. (Source: https://www.steamdeck.com/en/oled)

Last edited by azuredusk10 on 20 March 2024 at 10:55 pm UTC

I'm happy to say that, after playing 4-player couch co-op games for over an hour today with the new Bluetooth USB dongle, I could no longer reproduce this bug.

As a result, I've closed the bug report in kernel.org.

If anyone else runs into Bluetooth connection issues when playing games with 4 controllers, it may be your computer's combined Bluetooth and WiFi adaptor causing the problem. Buying a separate Bluetooth USB dongle solved the problem for me. This is the one I bought: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B2737HPS/?_encoding=UTF8

Thank you to everyone who helped diagnose the problem and offer support! Knowing I wasn't tackling this on my own was a huge encouragement.

Last edited by azuredusk10 on 12 June 2024 at 10:39 pm UTC