Gamepads Detected by Computer but NOT by RPi

[jenny18]

Pi Model: 3 (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01C6Q2GSY)
Power Supply used: 5V, 2.5A (came with https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01C6Q2GSY)
RetroPie Version Used: 4.4
Built From: retropie-4.4-rpi2_rpi3.img
USB Devices connected:
(1) USB Keyboard recognized and configured
(2) USB joystick and buttons (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XHLVUBM) NOT DETECTED
(3) USB ultimarc SpinTrak (http://www.ultimarc.com/SpinTrak.htm) NOT DETECTED

The interesting thing is that these two USB devices are immediately detected when I plug them into USB ports on my computer. So I'm not sure why they are not being recognized by the RPi.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions! I apologize in advance for being a beginner and not having a background in programming. But I am willing to learn. I was able to press F4 and get a prompt. :)

[DougA]

@jenny18 Have you tried plugging one of them in without the keyboard and booting up your Pi? If not, try that.

To test of the.joystick is actually working on the Pi, go to the command line prompt and type

jstest /dev/input/js0

Try moving the joystick and pressing the buttons and it should respond. If not try with js1, js2 or js3. One of them should work if it is being detected.

The spinner is detected as half a mouse (the x axis I think), so if you have the PIXEL desktop installed, turning it should move the pointer.

[jenny18]

Thank you SO much for such a quick response!!

1. I have the gamepad plugged into the top left USB port (the one closest to the ethernet port). Unfortunately, when I reboot without the keyboard still the RPi doesn't recognize the gamepad. (After rebooting, I did have to plug in the keyboard in order to move to the right screen to configure a device.)
2. When I press F4 and go into the command prompt, it says "pi@retropie:~ $" -- that is what you mean by the command prompt, correct?
3. At this prompt, when I put in "jstest /dev/input/js0" it responds with "jstest: No such file or directory". The same thing happens when I try js1, js2, and js3.
4. Sorry, but what is the "PIXEL desktop" and how do I install it?

Thanks so much again for any responses. Again I apologize that I am such a newbie at this!!

[DougA]

Ok, maybe jstest inst installed. Go to the command prompt (yes, the pi@retro... prompt)
Type
sudo apt-get install joystick to install Jstest and try again..

Pixel is the standard software on a Pi that looks roughly like the desktop on Windows on a PC. We can work on that once you get the joystick going.

[mitu]

@douga I think it's installed (a RetroPie image includes it already), the no such file or directory means the /dev/input/js0 file does not exist.
Most likely the devices are not detected as gamepad/joystick, but as keyboard (?). @jenny18 try running lsusb and report what's the output. To also see how the devices are detected, you could run sudo dmesg tail immediately after connecting the devices - this will show the last lines in the system log with the devices being detected and configured.

[DougA]

@mitu that makes more sense. I thought it was installed as standard.

[jenny18]

Thank you all so much for your help!

So here's the follow up: My RPi was defective. A friend came over and did some electrical testing and found that the USBs were not generating enough amperage. So even though it was a good power supply, there was not enough juice to power the USB devices. So, he let me use an RPi he had around and voila! Done. The joystick and buttons setup works great!

The system is still not sensing the spinner as a gamepad, though. I think that has to do with what Doug mentioned earlier ... it needs to be installed as a mouse somehow. I will look into that, but if you have any hints that will be much appreciated!

Thanks again!! :)

[edmaul69]

@jenny18 a spinner automatically detects as a mouse. You shouldnt have to do anything to get it working. In a mame game you might have to enable spinner/trackball/mouse in the game. A spinner never will detect as a controller.