Pairing The Dual shock 3 controller in Linux (Ubuntu Debian)

Based on the following Guide but I made some finds/discoveries that I have documented.

I followed these steps in both raspbian 3.10.25 and Linux Mint 3.8.0-19-generic

you will need the following dependencies

• bluez-utils
• bluez-compat
• bluez-hcidump
• checkinstall
• libusb-dev
• libbluetooth-dev
• joystick

sudo apt-get install bluez-utils bluez-compat bluez-hcidump checkinstall libusb-dev libbluetooth-dev joystick pyqt4-dev-tools

sixpair tool

you will need sixpair to initiate the pairing with the controller, unfortunately it is not available using the package manager so we will need to download and build it:

wget http://www.pabr.org/sixlinux/sixpair.c

gcc -o sixpair sixpair.c -lusb

sixad tool

will allow you to finish the pairing, you can use a PPA but I would not recommend it as on both systems I set up I had to patch the source because of existing issues.

Install from source

wget http://sourceforge.net/projects/qtsixa/files/QtSixA%201.5.1/QtSixA-1.5.1-src.tar.gz

tar xfvz QtSixA-1.5.1-src.tar.gz

cd QtSixA-1.5.1/sixad

make

sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/sixad/profiles

sudo checkinstall

Install from PPA (I don't recommend)

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:falk-t-j/qtsixa

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install qtsixa

Pair and test

connect the DS3 controller now then run:

in the sixpair folder you built sixpair in the step before.

sudo ./sixpair

sudo sixad --start

you should see:

started

sixad started, press the PS button now

disconnect the DS3 Controller now and press the PS button, you should see:

started

Connected 'PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller (44:D8:32:B4:04:F2)' [Battery 05]

you can test if the controller has been paired:

you should see js0 if you run:

ls /dev/input/

you should see data if you run:

sudo jstest /dev/input/js0

Setting it up to run at start

sudo update-rc.d sixad defaults