@mediamogul I used jtest as suggested and Rumblepad is detected and buttons working !!
Still ES would not detect it even if it was working before 3.8 update.
I then rebooted connecting the Rumblepad (as a second pad) together with the currently working Xbox360 Pad. That allowed me to enter Input configuration in ES and, finally, it detected rumblepad and I was able to configure it. :-)
Everything back working now !
Basically for those still having the issue, you can solve it by rpi-update command plus reconfinguring it.
Thank you all for the support!

Thank you for your quick and spot on answer, smoothing out option did it!
The size of the launch message had no link to my issue

jstest is in the "joystick" package.

see this for help on getting it working https://github.com/recalbox/mk_arcade_joystick_rpi/issues/32

thanks for your reply. It works now using the hdmi_drive=2 line in config.txt.
just found out that the pi zero seems to be too underpowered for N64 :(
guess it is just my NES/SNES station then.

It's simply requiring a valid login to reach the shares.

Search the forums. It's been discussed.
https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/754/samba-under-mac-3-7-stopped-working

@Concat
in RetroArch you can change the controllers on-the-fly:

Settings -> Input -> Input User N Binds -> User N Device Index

But keep in mind that it can bring some annoying situations, as I described here:
https://github.com/libretro/RetroArch/issues/3014

@BuZz Okey Dokey.Quick Install it is!

also please format your posts on this forum - especially console output/logs etc - see https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

Nevermind, figured it out :D Used jstest /dev/input/js0 and found the numbers.

https://github.com/raspberrypi/linux/issues/1496

rpi-update should sort it, or wait till a new kernel is packaged. Controller may still work in xinput mode.

@TruffleMonkey https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

Yeah, it is easier and cleaner than the way you were trying to do.

OK, I figured it out... if anyone is interested. It was a power issue all along. The 1tb SSD apparently uses more power than the 240gb SSD .

It was just a matter of using a usb adapter to power the 1tb SSD... Weird that the 1tb SSD draws more power than the 240... I assumed the power draw difference would be trivial between them. Apparently i was wrong. I have no idea if it is related to manufacturer. the 240 is a sandisk, while the 1tb is a PNY.

Looks like i will need seperate power supplies... Can anyone reccomend a better way to combine the seperate power sources into one?

runcommand saves the chosen emulator.

Thanks again for all your help Rascas! This little victory has created quite a lot of happiness!