DS5-Linux-Bridge

A Linux-focused firmware for the Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W that turns it into a latency-optimized USB-to-Bluetooth bridge for the Sony DualSense (DS5) controller — reproducing the wired experience (speaker, microphone, and native HD haptics) over Bluetooth. Windows works too, but the project's priority is getting it right on Linux / SteamOS (Bazzite).

☕ Support this project on Ko-fi  ·  📖 User guide  ·  🎮 Decky Loader plugin

Opinionated Linux fork of awalol/DS5Dongle. A downstream fork that tracks awalol's excellent upstream firmware and adds Linux-specific fixes and tuning. Not an official release of that project. All upstream work is credited under the MIT License — see License & Acknowledgement.

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Core Features

• 🎮 Full wireless controller emulation — DualSense Bluetooth reports → standard USB HID gamepad at up to 1000 Hz. Supports DualSense (DS5) and DualSense Edge (DSE), including DSE PS-app profiles.
• 📳 Wireless HD haptics — recreates the cabled audio-based haptic feedback over Bluetooth, streaming the dedicated haptic waveforms to the controller's voice-coil actuators. Compatibility mirrors the wired experience.
• 🔊 Wireless audio (speaker + mic) — speaker/headphone playback and microphone upload over standard USB Audio Class — full quality, no Bluetooth headset-profile (HSP) downgrade.
• 🔇 Hybrid hardware mic mute — driverless local mute via the physical Mute button, synced with the host sound panel, yielding to active host drivers (e.g. Linux hid-playstation) to avoid conflicts.
• 🌐 On-device web config + bond management — the adapter hosts its own configuration page (no app, no WebHID, any browser). Adjust settings and manage remembered controllers. Reachable whether or not a controller is connected.
• 🎮 Decky Loader companion plugin — a Decky Loader plugin surfaces controller status and settings in the Quick Access Menu, talking to the same on-device API as the web page.
• 🔌 Wake from sleep (S3 / S5) — wake the host by turning on the controller (S5 needs a board that wakes from a USB keyboard). The DualSense auto-powers off after the host sleeps/shuts down to save its battery.
• ⚡ Low-latency performance — Bluetooth/USB/audio hot paths run from RAM (.time_critical) to avoid Flash XIP cache thrashing, with tuned scheduling and pipelines to minimize latency and eliminate audio stutter.
• 📡 USB 3.0 RF-noise watchdog — auto-retries Bluetooth connections stalled by 2.4 GHz interference from USB 3.0 ports (USB 2.0 ports recommended).
• 🚨 Visual notifications — POST LED pattern, solid LED on a live link, and a once-per-second low-battery blink (≤10%).

📖 See the User Guide for flashing, pairing, the config page, and OS-specific (Linux / Windows) behavior and troubleshooting.

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Quick Start

1. Flash — hold BOOTSEL on the Pico 2 W, plug it into USB, and drop the .uf2 onto the mounted RP2350 volume.
2. Pair — put the DualSense in pairing mode (hold Share + PS until the lightbar double-blinks). The adapter detects, pairs, and connects; the onboard LED goes solid.
3. Configure (optional) — browse to http://10.55.55.105/ to change settings or manage paired controllers.

Full details, including how to add a second controller and per-OS audio notes, are in the User Guide.

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What's different in this fork (vs. upstream awalol/DS5Dongle)

These are the deliberate departures from upstream that define this fork's direction (upstream is actively developed and excellent — this isn't a list of things it gets wrong):

• 🌐 On-device web config instead of WebHID. The adapter serves its own config page over a USB network interface — works in any browser on any OS, no WebHID (which never worked in Firefox). Includes bond management.
• 🎮 Steam Deck Decky plugin that drives the same on-device API.
• 🔌 Config page reachable with no controller connected, and a single stable network adapter that survives controller connect/disconnect (the network interface keeps the same identity in both of the adapter's USB modes).
• 👻 No "ghost" devices when idle — when no controller is connected the adapter hides its audio/gamepad interfaces, while staying awake for remote wake and never misrouting input to the keyboard.
• 🎚️ Lightweight boxcar/linear resampler for haptics and the 512→480 speaker resample instead of WDL — cheaper on CPU, tuned to match cabled intensity.
• 🔈 Volume fully yielded to the host — held in RAM only, never written to flash.
• 🐧 Linux-first integration & docs — hid-playstation jack-detection wiring and kernel-version-aware stereo-audio notes (see the User Guide).

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Build Instructions

The build defaults to Release. Building Debug (-O0) causes audio crackling — only do so when actually debugging.

1. Ensure the Pico SDK is configured and its tinyusb library is up to date.
2. Compile with the standard Pico CMake configuration:

   mkdir build
   cd build
   cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release ..
   make

3. To disable the low-battery warning LED blink, configure with -DENABLE_BATT_LED=OFF. To turn off the web config UI, -DENABLE_WEBCONFIG=OFF.

Board targets

The default build targets the Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W (RP2350). Two other boards are supported via CMake options (mutually exclusive):

Board	Configure with	Notes
Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W (RP2350)	(default)	Full feature set.
Waveshare RP2350B-Plus-W	-DWAVESHARE_RP2350B_PLUS_W_BUILD=ON	USB-C, 16 MB flash, RM2 wireless. Ships its own board header (the RM2 module is on different GPIOs than the Pico 2 W) and forces boot2 XIP setup for its Puya flash. A convenience script lives at boards/build_waveshare_rp2350b_plus_w.sh.
Raspberry Pi Pico W (RP2040)	-DPICO_W_BUILD=ON	Legacy RP2040; no audio (gamepad + haptics only).

The release builds publish UF2s for the Pico 2 W (standard + verbose) and the Waveshare board.

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Debugging

There is no USB serial port. USB-CDC serial was removed because it shares the USB stack with the audio isochronous endpoints and perturbs the very timing you need to measure.

Diagnostic output goes to UART0 instead, which is independent of USB:

• Pico GP0 (pin 1) = UART TX → connect to your USB-serial adapter's RX
• Pico GND (pin 3) → adapter GND
• Settings: 115200 baud, 8N1, no flow control (3.3 V logic — do not feed 5 V into GP0)

For louder logs, build the verbose variant with -DENABLE_VERBOSE=ON (the CI also publishes a ds5-bridge-debug.uf2 built this way).

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License & Acknowledgement

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 — see LICENSE.

DS5-Linux-Bridge is a fork and continuation of the original DS5Dongle project created by awalol, which is MIT-licensed. Portions of this source originate from that MIT work; the original MIT notice is preserved in LICENSE-MIT as that license requires. The project as a whole is now distributed under GPLv3. This fork continues to track upstream improvements (such as the RAM-relocation infrastructure and DualSense Edge profile support).