Controller and IPAC issue

DetroitKp

Background:

I am using a raspberry pi 3 model b
I am using NES usb controller (wired)
IPAC 4 with connected joystick and buttons
Updated RetroPie software

I’m having trouble setting up my control panel. The NES controller works great for games and menus, but I’m having issues with various buttons connected to IPAC4. A few questions:

I can SSH into retro pie via my Mac, but I’m not sure what software/appplication to use to view and edit my global Retropie config files to make sure the buttons are correctly designated. Any suggestions since I don’t believe Notepad++ and Putty are available for MaC (I know I can get Notepad via WineHolder, but it doesn’t allow me to access when I SSH).
Example of button issue: I can escape a game by pressing start+select on the NES controller, but I can’t escape when I press the coin (I tried to designate this as the “select” button in the Emulation Station config) + start buttons on my control panel. Should I instead have a separate “select” button? Would this be the “enter” or “return” button the keyboard? I understand I can later update these in RetroArch via hotkeys. Seems confusing to have the coin button as your select button.

Finally, for IPAC4, do I need to designate each button in the RetroPie/Arch initial configuration (like when you first plug in a controller) or I can bypass since the buttons are already assigned a keystroke?

Sorry if my questions don’t make any sense. Thanks in advance!

#ipac

mitu

Is your IPAC configured like a keyboard or gampead ?

You can use the Finder to open up the configuration folder via File Shares and use the normal TextEdit to edit any files. You can also use something like TextMate to edit the files, but the regular TextEdit should be able to open and edit the files without the problems that Notepad has on Windows.

You should find the global configuration file in \\retropie\configs\all\retroarch.cfg and the gamepads configurations in \\retropie\configs\all\retroarch-joypads . If your IPAC is recognized as a gamepad, you should have a standalone file under the latter folder, otherwise it will act as a keyboard and you can configure it from the global configuration file.

DetroitKp

@mitu Thanks! The IPAC is configured as a keyboard. Any suggestions for mapping the select button? Is that the same as the enter/return on the keyboard?

heavyholyman

https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/Keyboard-Controllers

caver01

I just looked at the link @heavyholyman referenced above. It had been a long time since I wrote that help. I cleaned up a confusing edit someone put in there about SELECT button input and inserted a paragraph clarifying that COIN is SELECT on keyboard interfaces like IPAC. Hopefully that helps.

Also, if you are editing the config files with a mac using textedit or some other editor program, make sure you are not adding "smart" quotes around stuff, as these will not work in a config file. For example:

BAD: input_player1_start = “num1”
GOOD: input_player1_start = "num1"

The other thing that throws me sometimes is not using "1" instead of "num1" for configuring numerical input.

DetroitKp

Thanks guys. Great write up and really good tips.

I set Coin to be Select in Emulation Station setup for my IPAC, but I couldn’t exit out of games by pressing both Start + Coin/Select buttons. I could, however, exit out of games pushing Start+Select on my usb controller. Maybe once I check my config files I will be able to figure out the issue.

DetroitKp

@caver01 Sorry, two more really dumb questions. Your write up mentions to use 1A and 1B for admin buttons (and not control buttons) (which I don’t have anyway on my ipac4). Question - is there any reason I couldn’t use SW 7 or SW8 for dedicated admin buttons (like esc)? I only use SW1-6 for my control buttons. Also, do I need a dedicated Enter button? Or do most people just use A or B button? Thanks!

heavyholyman

I left my keyboard set to defaults, launched emulationstation, mapped joysticks/buttons when it first detected my 'keyboard', and customized for each emulator by editing retroarch.cfg if needed.

caver01

@DetroitKp you can. I do. My IPAC4 is old so does not even have those 1A 1B buttons. I only have four buttons for players 3 and 4 so I use SW5,6,7,8 for admin buttons. You just have to use the config utility to configure these for other keys, or map them in your .cfg using the key inputs they are already sending.

As for coin-start for exit, you are right about it probably being a .cfg issue. You could go through the input setup again in Emulation Station with the IPAC device and make sure coin is your hot key.

DetroitKp

@caver01 Thanks! Really appreciate the help and advice!

DetroitKp

@caver01 I can’t seem to exit arcade games by pressing coin/select and start (although it works when I do it on my usb controller). Here are my config settings:

input_enable_hotkey = “num5” (which is coin/select)
and
input_exit_emulator = “num1” (which is start)

I also used correct quote type.

I assigned an IPAC button to Escape. Should I just change the exit emulator to =“esc” ?

Thanks

caver01

@DetroitKp I am assuming since you say you use the correct quote that what you actually wrote above is incorrect, since you have smart quotes there which are the wrong type.

# input_enable_hotkey_btn =
input_exit_emulator = "num1"
input_enable_hotkey = "num5"

These were configurations that worked for my old IPAC. Note that I had the gamepad hotkey DISABLED with the # at the front of that line.

However, the hotkeys always drove me nuts with my real arcade controls. There were times like playing Metal Slug when I would drop coins and press start quickly but I would accidentally press both at the same time and WHAM--exit the game. This always pissed me off, and since I have dedicated buttons for pause and exit, I never really needed to use hotkeys for that, so I disabled them completely on my setup by putting # in front of both:

# input_enable_hotkey =
# input_enable_hotkey_btn =

My dedicated exit button is wired to a switch on my IPAC that I too have setup to send the ESCAPE key, but you have that listed wrong too. You shouldn't use "esc" but rather "escape" like this:

input_exit_emulator = escape

Come to think of it, maybe the quotes are optional, since I don't have them on my exit config line. What is nice about using escape is that if you ever use a non-libretro emulator, the escape key is often already the default for exit (i.e. AdvanceMAME).

DetroitKp

@caver01 Thanks for the response! When I meant I used the correct quotes, I meant I used the non-smart type, but wasn’t able to type them using my phone. :)

Thanks for the advice with the escape key. I wasn’t sure whether I needed to type the full name “escape.”

It’s still driving my crazy that I can’t figure out why select+start on my gamepad will escape, but it won’t with my iPad configured buttons. I wonder if it has to do with a setting in the MAME GUI. Although, if the escape button works, I should be good to go.

Thanks again for your help!!!

edmaul69

@DetroitKp do you have an iphone? I have the same issue with quotations. They used to be the basic ones until an ios update that messed that up. Now it is “”. I hate that they did that. I have to copy and paste the correct ones. They also messed up the dash. Two or more dashes in a row now are just a solid line. I have to copy and paste that too. Sucks when you are regularly on a site like this trying to type out commands and code.

DetroitKp

@edmaul69 Yes, I do. Fortunately (or unfortunately), I still know close to zero about coding, so it hasn’t been an issue. Just struggling thru trying to set up my first arcade. :)

DetroitKp

@caver01 Do you think this would help? I found from another post. I’ve never tried this.

“Start RetroArch from the RetroPie's system and go to Settings -> Input -> User 1 Binds. You can map your P1 and P2 buttons from there. After you finish the configuration, go to the main menu and then use the Configuration File -> Save Current Configuration menu. This would make the P1/P2 configuration for the IPAC stick.”

caver01

@DetroitKp cannot hurt to try. You can also get there via the Emulation Station input config.

DetroitKp

@caver01 Hi caver. Once I turn my keyboard hotkey to nul, and I don’t have a usb controller plugged in, how can I access the GUI via Select + X? Or is the answer that I can’t? Thanks!

caver01

@DetroitKp I think you would need to map a key you DO have to the RGUI.

I have tried to do the work behind the scenes so to speak by setting all of my retroarch configs in the cfg files so I don’t have to bring up the menus. I know starting out that is a lot easier said than done.

mitu

@DetroitKp You can bind the input_menu_toggle key to something you have on your keyboard. By default, it's bound to F1.