DualShock 3 rumble not working with Vibration Pack on Linux (Flatpak v2.7)

[anonyme-x22]

Platform / OS / Hardware: Ubuntu 26.04, x86_64, Intel Core i7-3840QM, Intel HD Graphics 4000, Mesa 26.1.6

Flycast version: v2.7 (Flatpak)

Hardware: Sony PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller (DualShock 3), USB, VID:PID 054c:0268

Description of the Issue

The DualShock 3 works correctly in Flycast for all normal controller inputs, but the Dreamcast Vibration Pack does not produce any vibration.

The same DualShock 3 vibrates correctly with Dolphin on the same Linux system.

Dreamcast accessory configuration:
VMU = slot 1
Vibration Pack = slot 2

[Record of Lodoss War] game don't produces any vibration.

Debugging Steps Tested

• Confirmed that the DualShock 3 is correctly detected by Flycast.
• Confirmed that all buttons and axes work correctly in Flycast.
• Confirmed that the same controller produces vibration in Dolphin.
• Confirmed that Linux exposes the controller as a joystick with force-feedback capabilities.
• Confirmed that udev assigns the controller to the input group correctly.
• Added the user to the input group; this made no difference.
• Tested SDL_JOYSTICK_HIDAPI=0; no difference.
• Tested SDL_JOYSTICK_HIDAPI=1; no difference.
• Tested the Vibration Pack in slot 2, with the VMU in slot 1; no vibration.

Logs Gathered

00:00:614 rend/gles/gles.cpp:606 N[RENDERER]: OpenGL version 4.2
00:00:614 rend/gles/gles.cpp:607 N[RENDERER]: Vendor 'Intel' Renderer 'Mesa Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000 (IVB GT2)' Version '4.2 (Compatibility Profile) Mesa 26.1.6 (git-ffa422e53d)'
00:00:626 sdl/dreamlink.cpp:52 N[INPUT]: GUID: 0300afd34c0500006802000011810000 VID:054c PID:0268
00:00:626 sdl/sdl_gamepad.cpp:221 N[INPUT]: SDL: Opened joystick 1 on port 1: 'Sony PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller' unique_id=sdl_joystick_1

Autre infos:
I: Bus=0003 Vendor=054c Product=0268 Version=8111
N: Name="Sony PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller"
H: Handlers=event20 js1
B: EV=20001b
B: FF=107030000 0

[flyinghead]

Please test the v2.7 AppImage to see it makes a difference.
I've been using this exact same gamepad for years so I know it works. Just tested Record of Lodoss War and it vibrates (weakly).

[anonyme-x22]

Great news!
Tested the app image, also ko, but my test could be wrong, can you confirm, moving the slider about vibration power, should make the joy vibrate?

[flyinghead]

No, moving the Rumble Power slider below will not produce any vibration:

[anonyme-x22]

Sorry, i tought that the power slider was doing this.
so retried the app image started the game, and no vibration in the option menu, playing with on off state on the option.
I suppose there should be rumble in the intro, but nothing

[flyinghead]

there's rumble when you start fighting for real

[anonyme-x22]

I'm sorry, but whether you're fighting or not, there is no rumble at all!

Furthermore, it would be great to add vibration feedback to the slider, like most emulators do, so you can quickly test whether the rumble is working without any game!

[kihato]

Have you tried it with other games?
For example, in titles like Sonic Adventure 2 or the Resident Evil series, you can test the Jump Pack's vibration in real-time via the options menu.

[anonyme-x22]

The issue is not game‑specific. On Dreamcast, vibration is triggered everywhere — menus, combat events, damage feedback, and especially the console’s own “Vibration ON/OFF” test.
That test alone is decisive: every game triggers a rumble when switching from OFF → ON.
If that doesn’t fire, nothing else will.

So the problem is clearly not “try another game” or “maybe this title doesn’t support rumble”.
The haptic pipeline is failing somewhere between Flycast, SDL, evdev, or the Flatpak sandbox.

And just to be absolutely clear: the fact that it works on your machine does NOT invalidate the fact that it doesn’t work on mine.
Different kernels, different permissions, different input stacks — your setup working does not magically fix mine.

Also, on Rosalie, rumble works exactly as expected.
This means Flycast is missing a piece somewhere, regardless of what that missing piece is.
The hardware, the controller, and the system can all produce rumble correctly — Flycast is the only component in the chain that fails to do so.

So either we identify what’s broken in my environment, or we don’t.
But we need to stop going in circles:
“It works for me” is not a diagnosis, and it’s not a solution.

Right now, the console‑level vibration test doesn’t trigger anything on my side, and that alone proves the issue is deeper than game compatibility.

[anonyme-x22]

Ps: it's not an isolated issue other emu like pcsx2 which i currently dealing with have also the issue, it's somewhere in the new sdl library but not sure! Rosalie use another sdl and it works!

[anonyme-x22]

Actually my test are ko with:
Duckstation
PCSX2
Flycast
with dualshock 2/3 and ok with rosalie.
All of them load a different (more recent) sdl library than rosalie