Xbox Controller Bluetooth Disconnect/Failure Issues

Submitted by Omegawkd on #1

Hi there,

I've done a lot of troubleshooting on this issue.

At first I thought it was just the controller but used another controller and same issue.

I have a Raspberry Pi3 connected via LAN cable and is on a VLAN to the windows system -- there is no other traffic on this link and is dedicated to VirtualHere communication. 

This works perfectly and latency is minimal if any at all and in the PI I have a powered USB hub plugged in with the following:

  • Bluetooth module
  • Wireless Keyboard
  • Wireless Mouse
  • I do plug in controllers/etc. at times via USB cable (more on that later).

As a note the Raspberry Pi is only used for VirtualHere, nothing else is running on it bar the default OS installed items.

What happens is the controller seemingly disconnects -- or gets confused, while on Bluetooth but the really odd thing here is it only seems to happen -- or I have only noticed it in, Hollow Knight (the first one). It a random occurance as well but pretty consistent in that it happens over and over.

Troubleshooting:

  • Tried different controllers to rule that out.
  • Connected the controller to the windows PC directly with the on-board Bluetooth - no issue controller.
  • Connected the controller to the windows PC with the Bluetooth module - no issue with the controller.
  • Tried a USB 2.0 extension cable direct to the Pi to move the module away from the USB 3.0 stuff - has the same issue.
  • Turned off the Wireless Keyboard and Mouse - same issue.
  • I even turned off 2.4GHz on my access points - same issue.

It seems to point to the communication via VirtualHere but on that:

  • There is no disconnects/outage on the network link or no events on device disconnects.
  • I have added the command line switches --- it happens before or after adding these:
    • UseCompression=0
    • OptimizeForSpeed=1
    • DirectConnect=1

I am at a loss here as to why.

What is really confusing here is that playing Call of Duty etc. with the controller over Bluetooth there is no issue at all.

Also, if I play with the controller plugged in via USB - over VirtualHere, there is no issue at all.

Any ideas on this? Or what can I give you that might help track down the issue.

Edit:

The only thing I haven't ruled out is the Raspberry Pi itself - and perhaps removing ESET on windows (but I have whitelisted VirtualHere as much as I can).

For the Raspberry Pi at least, I could rig up VirtualHere on another device I have and see but I don't reckon the Pi is the issue here.

Submitted by Michael on Sun, 2025/09/14 - 08:39

#2

It almost sounds like its a network bandwidth and/or CPU starvation issue.

Remember on the pi3 everything goes through a single USB port including the networking. So its majorly bandwidth constrained especially if you are running busy games and the cpu% is high.  Have a look at top or htop and see what that shows when virtualhere is dropping.

 

Submitted by Omegawkd on Sun, 2025/09/14 - 23:33

#3

"Remember on the pi3 everything goes through a single USB port including the networking."

 I did not know that and it makes sense - that it is all connected via USB.

So while my actual network has adequate capacity and no interference -- being a VLAN, it could very well be a capacity issue on the "port" on the pi.

I'll have to check what you suggested.

Do you know if the later pi revisions have the same bottlenecking issue - do they also connect via a single port or perhaps might have bandwidth.

Submitted by Omegawkd on Mon, 2025/09/15 - 04:41

#4

I tried the Bluetooth adaptor on another system - much more powerful than the Pi, and had the same issue.

I've ordered a new one - 6.0 spec this time, so I'll see if changing the adaptor makes a difference.

Submitted by Michael on Mon, 2025/09/15 - 07:38

#5

The pi4 uses a separate USB system to the network system (using a VIA PCIe chip). And the pi5 is even better and completely separates the USB subsystems from each other using a custom RP1 chip.

 

Submitted by Omegawkd on Mon, 2025/09/15 - 21:57

#6

Depsite the new Bluetooth module on the way.

I did a bit more testing.

I watched htop [pi] and performance [windows] and looked at the network traffic up to, during and after the issue. For the most part traffic just drops yet if I move the mouse etc. that works fine so the connection is still there.

I then tested with Airpods connected to the module listening to the sound from the game -- music etc., and it never stopped or hissed/crackled etc. so this then also suggests the connection to the system is not stopping either.

Once I get the other dongle I will be able to see if that makes a difference -- it could end up being interference maybe.

Submitted by Omegawkd on Thu, 2025/09/18 - 05:36

#7

I got the new dongle and had the same issue.

It seems to be something then with VirtualHere maybe -- is there a way to enable verbose logging in Windows and on Linux?

Submitted by Michael on Thu, 2025/09/18 - 08:14

#8

You can use wireshark on windows and/or Linux and install the USB traffic capture option. usbpcap on windows included during install and modprobe usbmon on Linux you have to do manually. On windows you will need to find the correct host controller of virtualhere. (Use something via virtualhere and see which usbpcap interface gets busy or click the wheel settings button next to it and see what it shows as connected)

Then you can watch every single packet being transferred. The issue is there will be a lot of packets. But you could skip to the part where the bluetooth drops and look what happens there. If this is just silence or if there are a lot of "RESET" packets or "CLEAR HALT". 

Submitted by eldarkt on Sun, 2025/11/02 - 21:19

#9

Hi Omegawkd,
I have almost exactly the same issue. The only differences are that I'm using an Android TV as the host and an official Microsoft USB Xbox Adapter for the gamepads. Two of my controllers are the newer Bluetooth-enabled ones, while the other two are older wireless models without Bluetooth. Any of these 4 may randomly disconnect for a second or two every hour or so.

Let me know if you’ve managed to figure this out — it really messes up the gaming experience in some games :(