How To: Connect your Wiimote to your computer via Bluetooth

Did you know the Wiimote's capabilities reach far beyond the uses Nintendo is limiting it to? It's true, and in this tutorial I will show you how to connect your Wiimote to your computer and open up a limitless range of opportunities.

Most people don't know that the Wiimote communicates with the Wii via a Bluetooth wireless link. The Bluetooth controller is a Broadcom 2042 chip, which is designed to be used with devices which follow the Bluetooth Human Interface Device (HID) standard, such as keyboards and mice. The Bluetooth HID is directly based upon the USB HID standard, and much of the same documentation applies.

The Wiimote is capable of transmitting huge amounts of data to the Wii (Nintendo just isn't utilizing it's capabilities thus far). By using the internal Bluetooth wireless link, you can connect your Wiimote to your PC (any OS), and use it with a wide range of applications already made for the Wiimote.

So check out the next step and I will show you what you need to do.

Note: If any of you are having difficulties with this, just send me a message here. I'll be glad to answer any questions you may have.

Step 1 What you are going to need

First, you need to find out if your computer has an internal Bluetooth adapter. While some desktop computers have an internal Blutooth adapter, most require an external Bluetooth dongle. Most recent laptops come with a built-in Bluetooth adapter. To check if you have a built-in adapter, look at your PC specifications.

Note, if you need a Bluetooth adapter, I recommend buying one here . That's the exact same one that I use, it's cheap and it comes with the BlueSoleil driver 2.6.0.8 on an installation disk.

If you don't have BlueSoleil already installed, you can download the latest BlueSoleil drivers from their website

Also, you're obviously going to need a Wiimote to connect to your computer!

Comments

[crown3DS]

thanks for your sharing,i bought my Wii Bluetooth Wireless Remote and Nunchuck Nunchuk Controller from http://www.digitopz.com/wii-bluetooth-wireless-remote-and-nunchuck-nunchuk-controller-p-156.html , and follow the guide you shared,it works . Thx ~!

[kswaminathan]

Can i keep 100% belief on this? Will it work?Can i buy the wii remote believing this?

[acosmicist]

It depends specifically on what you believe about it. If you believe that you wil be able to use your wiimote as a pointing devices solely by the bluetooth connection, you have very wrong beliefs.

You'll be able to connect it as a HID (Human Interface Device) - but in order to use it as a mouse pointing device, you have to have some way of transmitting the sensor bar data to your PC

[psphaxzor]

the sensor bar doesn't transmit data.

[acosmicist]

I'm aware of that...

I don't know why the hell I said it like that.

What I should have said was that he'd need a sensor bar of some kind in order for the wiimote to detect its own orientation and transmit that data to the PC.

Thank you for pointing that out, though.

[Dallins11]

cool!!!

[Kozar]

Is there possibly a freeware bluetooth stack that can operate with the bluetooth dongle in this instructable? (that's the same one I have)

[pietzeekoe]

Will one of them mini bluetooth dongle work?

[zack247]

i just got a new-ish laptop, it has bluetooth built in and im going to try this!

[Computothought]

Bought a coupple of cheap bluetooth adapters when fry's was dumping airlink for about 5 bucks each. I think I have a wii controller clone. Worked just fine with linux.

[elmanual]

it worked fine on my ubuntu machine but its a nyko brand it wont work on my win7 machine.

[Computothought]

The little time I played with 27, I found a lot of things that will not work with it. to be honest, we have been MS free for almost 4 years. I do not have an mswindows machine to test it on.

[craig3]

Just by coincidence, i bought the same bluetooth thing as that, got it today but when i try to set it all up, on the last step rather than being the green line and all finished, on the green line is a red arrow that follows the line from remote to the orange orb, and the wii remote lights flash constantly, is this normal?

[The Uber Maker]

Hey Craig, that problem can sometimes be resolved by holding the red "sync" button in the wiimote's battery compartment for about 10 seconds and then retrying the process. Hope it all works out!

[craig3]

I appreciate the help, but unfortunately it didnt really work.
Is that red dot think move up the line meant to be there?

[elmanual]

Does it have to be a real wii controller or can it be like a nyko wii controller cause it works on my ubuntu machine but in window it disconnects all the time and i cant find whats wrong.

[wharjj01]

I cant connect my wii remote to my computer please somebody help. I can't skip the passcode process and do not know what to do.

[Winko]

No passcode needed

[vivchawda]

do i need a wii or will the wiimote work without it??

[Winko]

WiiMote will work without WII

Regards,

WInko

[The Uber Maker]

You don't need a Wii for this or any of the projects I suggest at the end. All you need is a Wiimote and for some of the projects you may need an IR LED array.

[ItsTheHobbs]

pc only? if it is my mac is too good for this

[Winko]

MAC and WiiMote works, no GlovePie there. But PureData works

Regards,

Winko

[Joanassie]

(removed by author or community request)

[flymudpie]

Not every knows that so be a little kinder next time.

[ItsTheHobbs]

That wasn't very nice, and I take "get a brain cell transplant" as an insult. (Even though a single brain cell wouldn't make a difference) I also do not understand how I, as one tiny person, could send my brainwaves, and make people start killing people.

[Joanassie]

Sorry, I was having an off day and felt annoyed. I think, though, that I meant people would copy your ignorant habits when I said "before your ignorance spreads". I happen to occasionally get angry.

[ItsTheHobbs]

Yeah, I have really bad off days.

[ItsTheHobbs]

I bet I can have a more off off day than you and get angrier!

[spock155]

-scoffs- internet trolls

[mage]

dont feed the trolls

[Joanassie]

way too biased for the tastes of anyone who isn't you.

[ItsTheHobbs]

Well, not just me, there are probably tons of people who would agree with me that in alot of ways, PCs aren't worth trying. also, Macintosh makes oh, well, lets see, ipods, iphones, all of the other cool i... things, which are all alot better than that thing you like to call Microsoft office. I support Microsoft in 2 ways only, gaming capabilities, and Xbox. My friend's PCs take like, 5 minutes to load, so we go do something else, while with my mac, it takes 5 seconds tops to load a page.

[Derin]

PEACE TO MAC AND PC USERS!Mac users can put linux on their macs,and pc users can put linux on their computers,and we all will be same and this mac vs pc thing will stop.

[abadfart]

ya and it just a hardware diff i once knew a guy that ran mac op a pc

[Joanassie]

Yeah, but there are also MORE PEOPLE THAN YOU CAN COUNT who want to improve on PCs and the reputations of those PCs. Also, Macintosh is an operating system and Apple Computers makes iPods and the special model iPhone (you forgot the proper capitalization), which CANNOT be fairly compared to that thing that I myself don't like to call Microsoft Office because those are different categories, hardware like iPods and software bundles like MS Office. I support Microsoft in the same one way you do: video games (it's redundant and therefore repetitive and unnecessary to put X-Box (you really have to learn proper capitalization) in the sentence). My Windows XP operating system (you WERE talking about your friend's operating system, obviously, since you didn't mention any internet or browser whatsoever when talking about your friend's PC) takes like 15 minutes to load, so I leave it on all the time (tell your friend to do that with their PCs), so after power outages I use my emergency Windows XP system, which takes 5 seconds for the OPERATING SYSTEM to load up, while with my normal Windows XP it takes 20 milliseconds to load a page, and that's when my ISP shuts off my connection.

[ItsTheHobbs]

Huh, now thats something to say, 'cause I can count to at least 57, which is higher than that pathetic 5 you can. and, no dip! it was explorer, because thats the only junk that'll work besides firefox, which is awesome on my mac. stop filling up my comments while they could be good stuff. I really hate going back on old arguments, so go away and leave me alone!

[Joanassie]

funny, I've been counting misspellings that I've seen on the Internet, and boy, it's way higher than your measly 57. It's exactly 13,742 as of right now.

[cstawell]

You need to get laid...

[chigozie]

http://www.iospirit.com/remotebuddy
Proprietary, but it works. I think. I haven't tried it because I don't have a wiimote.