Gamepad detected but no input – Samsung Galaxy Tablet – "Permission denied" error on USB input devices

Hardware
1

Hey everyone,

I’m having an issue where my gamepad connects to the Driver Station but sends NO input. All values are 0.00 and buttons don’t light up the controller icon.

Setup:

  • Driver Station: Samsung Galaxy Tablet (Android [YOUR VERSION])
  • Robot Controller: REV Control Hub
  • Controllers tested: Two different controllers (both identify as Xbox 360 on PC)
  • Connection: USB OTG adapter
  • FTC SDK Version: [YOUR VERSION]
  • Both RC and DS apps are the same version

What works:

  • Controller gets power (blue LED, vibrates on connect)
  • Controller icon shows on Driver Station
  • Controller is paired as User 1 (START + A)
  • Autonomous OpMode works perfectly (motors, encoders, everything)
  • Controller works perfectly on my laptop (tested with joy.cpl)

What doesn’t work:

  • Gamepad values are all 0.00 in TeleOp telemetry
  • Pressing buttons does NOT light up the controller icon on DS
  • Tried two different controllers, same issue on both

When I installed a Gamepad Tester app on the tablet it shows this error:
Error: /proc/bus/input/devices: open failed: EACCES (Permission denied)
id: ?
name: ?
file: Vendor_???Product???

What I’ve already tried:

  • Two different controllers (same result)
  • Different OTG cables
  • Unplug and replug with sticks centered (calibration reset)
  • START + A to re-pair (icon shows, still no input)
  • Updated both DS and RC apps (versions match)
  • Checked Special Access in Settings (no USB or restricted settings option)
  • Developer Options with USB debugging ON
  • No USB OTG toggle found in Connections settings
  • No Allow restricted settings option for the DS app
  • Disabled accessibility services
  • Tried different USB configurations in Developer Options
  • Cleared cache and force stopped DS app

It seems like my tablet is blocking USB HID input at the OS level (Permission denied). Has anyone had this issue on a Samsung tablet? Is there a fix or do I need a REV Driver Hub or a different device?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

2

We do not support additional Android devices. This is one of the big reasons we stopped supporting general Android devices (like smartphones and tablets) because the Wi-Fi is not secure and the permission systems in Android became so fragmented - every manufacturer has their own personal variant with one-off permissions. The competition manual has a list of devices we support, anything beyond that is not going to be supported in any way.

-Danny

3

There are advanced gamepad features that can be enabled/disabled on the Driver Station. On the DS app, use the three dots menu to select “settings”. Then scroll down to Advanced Gamepad. I’d try turning off the advanced features first. Then experiment with some of the other gamepad options to see if you can make them show up.