Ipac2 player 2 Question?
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@mattyl42 if it is detected as a controller and not a keyboard download the keyboard update for your ipac.
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@mattyl42 also if it is seen as a keyboard, you cant setup player 2 in emulationstation. You have to open /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch.cfg and manually add the player 2 controls for retroarch emulators.
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@edmaul69 ok so I managed to bind the keys in the retroarc menu, player 2 joystick works... on some emulators though the buttons seem to be in conflict, the iPac will have the button switch recognised as 'tab' which I can bind too...when you press it... Tab also comes up with a menu (mame arcade optiions) e.g. hit light punch and get a menu open
Its like I need to set the iPac keys up to unbound unused keys?
Any suggestions?Thanks
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@mattyl42 I created a first draft for setting up keyboard controllers in general, with IPAC as a specific example here. This doc has not yet been incorporated into the fancy-format Docs pages, and I consider it a first draft.
Have you used the WinIPAC utility to configure your IPAC as a keyboard first? I would start there. I know, hooking it up to a windows machine to run the utility is not the most convenient step, but it can save a lot of headaches down the road.
You mentioned TAB is bound somehow. Can you explain exactly when you are seeing this? What I mean by that is: Can you say which emulator has this problem, and what IPAC switch is triggering it? I am guessing you have IPAC "2A" wired to a button. I would not do that. I would stick to using "2 SW1" through 8 for the pushbuttons. I know, having buttons "A" and "B" on the IPAC seem logical to wire to what you might think of as A and B on a gamepad controller, but the keys that get sent by default by the IPAC for these switches are NOT aligned with MAME defaults, whereas switches 1-8 are. It seems like the "A" and "B" switches are more akin to administrative buttons. TAB for the MAME menu, ESC for exit, P for pause, ENTER for making menu selections.
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@caver01 I just updated the WIKI page with a paragraph about the A, B switches on the IPAC, as this could become a point of confusion. Bottom line: Don't wire the A, B switches to player pushbuttons. Use SW1-SW8 instead.
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@caver01 Thanks for the posts! Your posts are great for helping people to understand! After reading I might be able to shed more light...
I've had a look at the preset iPac key map, initially I was getting this 'tab' problem before I switched to the A&B admin type switches. But thank you for spotting that and pointing out the functions. I was getting conflicting inputs (one was Tab menu) from keys 2sw2 5 and 6. I switched to the A&B switches to try and find some 'unbound key's after... explains why im still getting the problem!
Getting a Tab input from one of the standard preset switches...this seems not that likely?
Perhaps my problem is to do with the shift key player 1 A and being A (or B lol) on retro arch/Es so my inputs are acting like shift/hotkeys when i configure the binds??? Could that be it? I press A to input the key bind and it's reading it as a shifted input?
I have a keyboard so could maybe manually enter the player 2 binds using that?I've not changed the iPac settings in windows yet...ive built my cabinet at work so I will take the laptop in and see if I can do it tomorrow. Hopefully that will do it!
Its I think Mame 2003, I tried it in another game which I think was in 2010 and set them up nicely.Whichever one it is I can remember getting into the Tab menu off my controller but I had to press 2 buttons at the same time to do it like a hotkey b.
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@caver01 Just to say thanks again for the help!
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@mattyl42 I think we need a little more detailed tracing of the button you press (exactly what that button is wired to on the IPAC) which will in turn generate a keyboard keypress (defaults, probably--if you have not modified them with the WinIPAC utility), then we trace what keyboard key you have mapped to a particular function in ES/RetroArch.
For example, say you are playing Donkey Kong in lr-mame2003. You have directional switches which are probably wired to UP Down Left Right--easy enough. But JUMP. . . What switch is that for you? If you follow defaults, you are probably using the first action pushbutton on your panel and that should be wired to 1SW1 (Player 1, Switch 1) on the IPAC. That should be configured by default from the manufacturer to send the keypress LEFT_CONTROL (the Control key, on the left side of a normal keyboard).
For standalone MAME emulators, we would be done. End of story, because Switch 1 is sending L-Control and MAME default would make Mario Jump. However, we have a RetroArch framework too, so there is a potential for re-routing here. On my cabinet, SW 1 (L_control) is mapped in ES and RetroArch as "Button A". SW2 is mapped to "Button B". Note that A and B applies more to home consoles, and not as much to arcade since arcade games don't really have letters on buttons like that.
So far, none of this has to do with hotkeys or the IPAC Shift function, both of which can cause confusion. So, to troubleshoot your example, we should work our way from the physical wired connections, and we can trace the keypress settings and figure out what is going on. You need describe it like this: "When I press the <first, second, whatever> button on my control panel, it is wired to my IPAC on <say where the wires go> which should be sending the default key of <we can check defaults> and that key is mapped in Emulation Station and Retroarch as <describe how you have it mapped>, and it is bringing up the TAB menu in emulator <lr-mame2003 for example>."
Then, we probably need to look at your
/opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch.cfgand see how you have your mapping defined. -
@caver01
Hi, I've changed the firmware on my ipac2 to game pad enabled version. I had a connection issue with doing this and thought I'd killed my ipac. The dude at the Ultimarc factory was really helpful so it's all done now!I'm using the standard key map, I've removed the shift functions off though for now.
I will wire it back up tomorrow...just wondering what the differences is with the game pad mode enabled with Retroarc? Is it something to do with the way the input is registered?
Slowly getting more confident!
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@mattyl42 Game pad looks like a handheld gaming/joystick device to the computer you connect it to vs. keyboard mode which looks like a keyboard. In gamepad mode you define gamepad buttons and joystick moves, in keyboard mode you define keyboard keys.
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@caver01 Does that make any difference to the way it works or feels? Can you still set up player two in the retro arch menu?
Thanks for the continued help -
@mattyl42 I am a bad person to answer this because my IPAC is so old it does not have gamepad capability. However, if given a choice with a new one today, I would set it to keyboard. It responds the same, but I have heard people complain that controllers sometimes show up as a SINGLE gamepad device which can be harder to configure when the emulator does not see two devices. I think I remember reading that the gamepad mode on the IPAC makes it appear like separate devices, but I don't have any experience to confirm it.
As a keyboard, a single device is expected, and it's OK to split inputs among different players. That's the way emulators were built initially.
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@caver01
Having a drama with this! I'm using the keyboard version of ipac2, rewired up everything. My button inputs are working fine (player jumps etc). My player 2 B (number 2 sw2 button) is still hitting the Tab menu in mame2010. Trying to play golden axe and every time player 2 jumps the Tab menu is displayed! Argh!I've tried to unbind tab in the mame 2010 menu but it just adds more keys rather than delete them. Also tried running in 2003 but does not load...need to fix 2010.
Any suggestions? Please help lol
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@mattyl42 it's keys S Q and W that seem to be bound/assigned in mame?
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@mattyl42 When you say your Player 2 B button is still hitting TAB, are you saying you have a button for Player 2 wired to the “2 B” location on the IPAC? If so, you should retire them to the SW# locations. From what I can tell, all of the “A, B” locations on the IPAC are for administrative input in MAME (TAB-Menu, ESC-Exit, P-Pause, ENTER-Enter). If you are wired to the “A” or “B” then it makes perfect sense that it would bring up the menu in MAME, as it is probably generating a “TAB” key press which MAME will “hear” as raw keyboard input and bring up the menu.
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@caver01 hey buddy, that's for the reply.
The a and b pins are all empty. I've wired the up switches 1-6. The IPac designated keys for my problem ones (2 player sw2 3 and 4) are S Q and W.On the retro arch menu- when I enter them into the binds the are coming up correctly to the corresponding letters S Q and W . No mention of tab and the other 2 functions.
The problem seems to be my mame has those keys bound for sub functions...as i only get this in mame 2010 and 2003. The other emu's I don't have this problem. All my button inputs work ok. i don't know how to check and unbind them in mameany suggestions?
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@mattyl42 for 2003 you could try this: go into your roms folder, find the mame2003 folder, then inside that, the cfg folder, and delete the default.cfg file plus any file for a game you are having trouble. Re-launch and see what happens.
This effectively resets the in-game mapping for mame2003.
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if its any help, i suffered the same kinds of issue, I also thought i had bricked my ipac2 at one point, what I have done is simply set half the ipac as keyboard and half as a gamepad, then you can map both of them in the GUI,
I then have another gamepad connected to the system just to keep it happy.
I use the joystick selector tool to select the otehr gamepad as player one in all systems, the keyboard and player one controller can both work simultaneously, then I use the ipac gamepad as player two.
it more or less works, although not in PSX yet :( -
Great advice, thanks fellas!
First, how do I access the location to delete the cfg date? I have a micro sd reader...can I do it from windows?
Second mapping player 2 as a controller is a good idea! How does retro arch react when you configure it initially? By that I mean plug in or configure input...with two? I will give this a try this week mate!
Third...im new to all this. I've not needed to use pcs much for years... can anyone recommend any reading on modifying the config values? Could do with learning a little more about retropie.
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@mattyl42 hook up another keyboard and exit emulation station. Learn basic command line commands like how to change directories, how to copy and delete files, how to edit config files with sudo nano and so on. Getting a custom configuration to work well on the Pi is not trivial. You will need to learn some Linux. No easy way around that for some things. Read all of the Docs that you think apply to your build. They reference file locations and describe many of the details. If something is over your head, google it.
Seriously, this is how we all learned over the years and there are no real shortcuts. The Pi is an educational device after all, so consider that part of the fun journey.
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