Connection monitor
A controller that lags, repeats buttons or disconnects is not always out of range. Something on the computer can take radio time away from it. The connection step of a paired device opens a monitor page to find out what.
The monitor only measures while it is on screen. Going back or closing the window stops all measuring.
The monitor starts with three counts:
- Connections: how often the kernel set up a device of this model in the last hour, read from the kernel log. It is complete even for the time Bindrune was not running, but it cannot tell two devices of the same model apart.
- Drops: disconnects and their reason, such as a lost signal, and for a device with both radios which one dropped. Only Bindrune sees the reason, so this count starts when Bindrune started, and the monitor says so.
- Device errors: warnings the kernel logged for devices of this model in the last hour, also from the kernel log.
The monitor charts the last two minutes, one bar per second:
- Report rate: how many input reports the device sent. A controller in use sends a steady rate, so dips mean lost or late input.
- Worst gap: the longest wait between two reports. Two dashed lines mark when a gap becomes noticeable and when the link counts as unstable.
Both charts shade the time the adapter spent scanning, and mark connection drops, kernel errors for the device and kernel errors for the radio. When a gap lines up with a shaded band or a mark, that is the likely cause.
Below the charts, the monitor checks these causes:
| Cause | Why it hurts |
|---|---|
| The radio reports errors | A radio that stops answering the computer drops input until it recovers. This can come from USB power saving or faulty firmware. |
| The adapter is scanning | Scanning takes radio time from connected devices. Bindrune can stop its own scan; scans started by other programs end when you close them. |
| Another Bluetooth radio is on | Two radios in one computer share the same band, and built-in radios also share it with Wi-Fi. Bindrune can turn off the one you don’t use. |
| USB power saving on the radio | The radio may sleep and miss input. |
| Enhanced retransmission | Some game controllers don’t work reliably with it. |
When the device is connected through a built-in radio while a plug-in radio is also on, the monitor suggests moving the device to the plug-in radio, rather than turning off the radio the device is using. Turning a radio off from Bindrune lasts until the computer restarts.
USB power saving and enhanced retransmission need a change to the kernel settings. The monitor names the setting for each one.
When a check cannot run, for example because a setting file cannot be read, the monitor shows why.
Bindrune measures input timing by reading the device’s raw input reports. When it has no permission to read them, for example in a sandbox, the monitor says so and only shows the checks.