Not sure if you need more help but my github account is esmith13 https://github.com/esmith13 What I bring to the table is a collection of every model Raspberry Pi, except the Zero for now (I have Models A, B, 2B and 3B). I also have original and gasia PS3 controllers as well as wired and wireless xbox controllers (360 and XBOne), in addition to a collection of generic USB controllers and an IPAC2 board.

@David You said once you cable your controller for 10 seconds and unplug it and press PS button it flashes and then settles on a steady #1 light. This means you're good to go. You don't need to configure the controller in the ES menu. PS3 controllers are pre-configured. It should simply work at this point to control the ES GUI. Can you move left-right at the main system menu?

I can confirm this. It shows as yellow text across the bottom - exactly the same as when retroarch identifies your controller when you first launch a game. It usually pops up within 5 seconds of doing whatever is needed to earn the achievement. If you retro achievement configuration/login/password are correct you will know it is active whenever you launch an emulator that does support achievements with a game that does NOT support achievements. You will see the yellow text appear at the bottom about your controller and then the message "This game doesn't support achievements".     Eric

What method are you using to transfer the roms to your recalbox? If on a PC try WinSCP.  https://winscp.net/eng/download.php If on Mac or Linux try a similar application. Do not use the SMB share or the web interface. Larger files don't always copy over correctly when using those methods. I'll test Super Mario All-Stars with my PS3 controllers but I don't have a 360 wireless adapter to try with them for you. I'm pretty sure I've played it with no issues but that could be a problem specifically with wireless 360 pads since a different driver and controller config is used for them than for my PS3 controllers. I heard the unstable builds like I'm on fixed some controller issues for specific controllers but I'm not sure if your issue is one of them or not. May be worth switching to unstable and giving it a try. The unstable builds have all been ironically quite stable for me and add some nice features anyway. Couldn't hurt to try. Have you put your roms thru clrmamepro to verify them? I can't send you roms, sorry. I could be banned for that kind of thing, sorry.   Eric

I did not have any of the issues you mention on any of those roms. I got three battles in on SFII:WW and SFII:HF before I gave up. I did 3 full fights on FF2 as well with no issues. I'm on a Pi3 using the latest unstable release (v4.0.0-build-102 2016/06/07 12:22). Perhaps your roms are the incorrect version? they should be 0.2.97.37 for FBA Libretro and 0.78 (mame2003) for MAME/NeoGeo. If in your post "v 0.174" refers to the mame set you are using then roms are definitely your issue - unless you then put that set thru clrmamepro and gave it a dat file for the correct versions so it could correctly recompile the roms to the older set specifications.   Eric

@David You said once you cable your controller for 10 seconds and unplug it and press PS button it flashes and then settles on a steady #1 light. This means you're good to go. You don't need to configure the controller in the ES menu. PS3 controllers are pre-configured. It should simply work at this point to control the ES GUI. Can you move left-right at the main system menu?

Based on what is stated  HERE the answer would be YES for versions 4.0.0 and higher. I believe you have to edit the configuration file to enable the xbox driver first though... This is assuming you meant an official Xbox wireless dongle or one of the 100% compatible Chinese clones. For the record they are not bluetooth, they are 2.4GHz wifi with a proprietary configuration. (NO you cannot use a regular wifi internet adapter to talk to a XB360 controller).

Just my 2cents, but I have been on the unstable branch for weeks now and I haven't had any issues with the last handful of nightlies. As a bonus the new power on/off button options and fast shutdown ROCK!!! Also if you're concerned about unstable releases and do use/can use a USB HDD or Flash Drive as external storage you can wipe and reinstall any version without having to reconfigure or reload anything since the OS stays on SD and all your customizations/settings/roms/saves/etc stay on the USB device.

three things to check: 1) SD card should be 8GB to 64GB in size 2) Make sure SD card is formatted FAT32 - not ExFAT or FAT 3) root of your SD card should have three folders (defaults, os & overlays) and about 13 files.   Hope that helps.   Eric

my Pi uses an external HDD for the recalbox share that is formatted FAT32. I simply shutdown recalbox and plug the hard disk in to my PCs USB port and copy the files over. Prior to using external storage for capacity and convenience, I use a wired ethernet connection and WinSCP to copy the roms. Their are known issues with copying large quantities of files and/or large sized files over the SMB share or web interface to recalbox - wired or wireless.   If your using the SMB share or web interface via windows/linux/mac to copy data over wifi, first I would try keeping it on wifi but using software like WinSCP to connect and copy files over. If you still have issues then try ethernet - again with WinSCP or similar.     Eric

I have verified on my own Pi3 recalbox (i'm on today's unstable release) that the 0.78 mame set and 0.2.97.37 fba set still work fine (using KOF 97 and 99 as my only tests). I do not believe the emulators were updated to use a newer romset although retroarch itself was updated recently to 1.3.4 (not in beta3 tho, just in current unstable builds like I use or possibly not even those yet). Keep your eye on these two links for changes to recalbox: Milestones & Changelog   Also it's worth mentioning that their is a known issue that bios files with extensions in CAPS get ignored. your neogeo.zip in fba-libretro may either be missing or listed as neogeo.ZIP (needs to be lowercase). MAME issues are odd since you got a neogeo game to work (bios issues would break EVERY neogeo game for that system). Have you run your roms thru clrmamepro to verify them?   Eric

any ideas then why tested controller, cable and usb BT dongle that work on a Pi2 might fail on a Pi3? any linux commands I can run to visually monitor the attempt to pair or connect?   thanks in advance for any help.