DS4 controller fails to connect wired with message "failed to retrieve feature report 0x81 with the DualShock 4 MAC address"

[TAvenger]

The issue is not new and can be found on the internet.
I'm using MiSTer release_20250402.
It happens when you connect Sony DualShock 4 V2 using cable.
lsusb sees this controller Sony Corp. DualShock 4 [CUH-ZCT2x]

/root# lsusb

Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 006: ID 2357:011e TP-Link 802.11ac WLAN Adapter 
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 046d:c545 Logitech, Inc. USB Receiver
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 2357:0604 TP-Link TP-Link Bluetooth USB Adapter
Bus 001 Device 035: ID 054c:09cc Sony Corp. DualShock 4 [CUH-ZCT2x]
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 1a40:0201 Terminus Technology Inc. FE 2.1 7-port Hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

but cannot initialize it.
dmesg -w output

/root# dmesg -w

[    7.300251] sony 0003:054C:09CC.0005: failed to retrieve feature report 0x81 with the DualShock 4 MAC address
[    7.315550] sony 0003:054C:09CC.0005: hidraw3: USB HID v81.11 Gamepad [Sony Interactive Entertainment Wireless Controller] on usb-ffb40000.usb-1.7/input3
[    7.315583] sony 0003:054C:09CC.0005: failed to claim input

Possible reasons:

• issue with cable. Checked 5 different USBA - MicroUSB cables. The same result
• checked if USB hub has enough power. I have 30w power supply unit.
• checked controller. Most likely it is not original, but it works in MacOS and in Windows with microUSB cable without any issues. Checked on https://hardwaretester.com/gamepad webpage
• checked kernel version. It is 5.15.1-MiSTer

Among possible reasons why controller is not connected using cable I found this one in this github https://github.com/Kyuunex/hid-sony-clone-fix-dkms repo:

hid-sony-clone-fix-dkms

A quick hack to the hid-sony driver for kernels 5.13 - 6.1, meant for the third party / clone DS4 controllers that do not support HID feature report 0x81.

Not needed since kernel 6.2

Since kernel 6.2, a new hid-playstation driver is included in the kernel which works with controllers that do not support HID feature report 0x81, and thus, this patch is no longer needed.
When you plug your controller in, it will make use of the new hid-playstation driver.

How to know if you need this patch

If you see the following in your kernel logs, this patch is meant to work around that.
failed to retrieve feature report 0x81 with the DualShock 4 MAC address

According to this description it is exactly this issue. Unfortunately it is applicable to ArchLinux.

the fix looks like one line change

Is it possible to create similar patch for MiSTer?
Ready to help with testing if needed.

[sorgelig]

i don't see how proposed change above supposed to fix the issue. Originally that part of code requests MAC address of controller through report 0x81. The change simply skips that call and move forward copying the MAC address from replied buffer which is empty or with garbage. So MAC address will be wrong and it should get other problems because of that.

[sorgelig]

From more check, it seems may work. You can try this build. It will still show "failed to retrieve feature report 0x81 with the DualShock 4 MAC address" error but will continue to execute the rest of code. So my fix won't impact original DS4 controller providing MAC address.

zImage_dtb.zip

You need to unzip it and replace included files in /media/fat/linux folder then power cycle the MiSTer.

[TAvenger]

Thank you so much, it works!