Wiimote Pairing

MG expects the wii devices to be connected through your bluetooth system, bluez. Many desktop environments have GUIs for this, and bluetoothctl is the standard commandline utility.

When pairing, use the red sync button, not the (1)+(2) button shortcut. The latter does not appear to work with bluez for new wii remotes (such as those with motion plus, and a -TR suffix)?

Wii devices can be set to remember a Linux bluetooth adapter and connect automatically when any button is pressed.

The process to get the wii remote to remember appears to involve performing both the pairing and the connection process in quick succession. This is quite doable via bluetoothctl. You might need to "forget" the device from bluetoothctl in order to do a fresh repairing.

Apparently a wii remote can remember a handful of bluetooth addresses and will give priority to the latest added addresses. This is the same system used to remember connections to a Wii or Wii U.

When the wii device remembers your bluetooth adapter, all you need to do is (1) have bluetooth active (2) push any button, such as the "A" button, on the wii device. It should blink briefly and connect. You might see a dialog asking to trust the wii device on the linux side.

When it doesn't remember, you can connect like any other bluetooth device as long as the device is blinking from pushing the red sync button. (Do not use the (1)+(2) method.) If this is not immediately after pairing, this will not affect the wii device's stored bluetooth addresses.

This applies to original wii remotes, wii remotes plus, and the Wii U Pro controller. (Possibly the balance board as well...)