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    [SOLVED] how can I get the connected joypad names?

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Ideas and Development
    retroarchcontrollerinput
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    • Z
      Zigurana
      last edited by

      Ok,
      What I understand of it, this is done in ES's InputManager.cpp, there is mention of no less than four different IDs for input devices:

      1. Device index
      2. SDL_JoystickID
      3. "Device ID"
      4. Joystick GUID

      This last one is a combine name which includes vendor etc. It is also used to write to the xml file.
      I am afraid they are all retrieved using SDL_somethingsomething commands, which I guess means you'll need to write a C++ program which includes SDL2, if you want to call the same.
      Not the route I would choose to take for this.

      What are you trying to achieve?

      If tetris has thought me anything, it's that errors pile up and that accomplishments dissappear.

      meleuM 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 1
      • mediamogulM
        mediamogul Global Moderator @meleu
        last edited by mediamogul

        @meleu said in how can I get the connected joypad names?:

        I want to start playing with some bash code to let the user choose what controller will be the player1, player2, etc. (at least with libretro cores).

        Very cool idea. Recalbox does this very thing right inside of the Emulation Station GUI. It's very slick. If you get stuck, you might try looking at how they achieved this.

        RetroPie v4.5 • RPi3 Model B • 5.1V 2.5A PSU • 16GB SanDisk microSD • 512GB External Drive

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
        • RionR
          Rion
          last edited by

          I have the same problem sort of.

          I have two 8bitdo controllers, SFC30 & NES30.

          I want to have the NES30 as player 1 and SFC30 as player 2.

          This works 5 out of 10 times if I do it in this order. Start SFC30 first then NES30.
          But the other 5 times retroarch decide SFC30 is Player 1 and Player 2 is NES30.

          So an emulator specific change for what controller is p1 & p2 would be the best solution using the run command.

          Something like a joystick/gamepad hierarchy.

          Example:
          NES30 is always p1 if it's connected.
          SFC30 is always p2 if it's connected & Nes30 is connected.
          Nes30 is off = SFC30 is p1.

          @herb_fargus was talking about something like this as part of the Retropie Setup in this thread usb-controller-player-order

          FBNeo rom filtering
          Mame2003 Arcade Bezels
          Fba Arcade Bezels
          Fba NeoGeo Bezels

          mediamogulM meleuM 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • mediamogulM
            mediamogul Global Moderator @Rion
            last edited by mediamogul

            @Rion

            Any finer solution to this would be welcome as it seems to be a constant user query on how to achieve this. I personally use the RGui & have the option selected to save on exit, but not everyone likes that approach.

            RetroPie v4.5 • RPi3 Model B • 5.1V 2.5A PSU • 16GB SanDisk microSD • 512GB External Drive

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            • meleuM
              meleu @Zigurana
              last edited by

              @Zigurana said in how can I get the connected joypad names?:

              What are you trying to achieve?

              My inspiration is the recalbox controller settings.

              I wanna get the controller names and their respective index (js0, js1, js2...) to show a list on a dialog (like the retropie_setup does)and let the user choose what will be the input for player1, player2 and so on (using the input_playerxx_joypad_index variable on retroarch.cfg).

              Currently I don't have enough skill to play with C++. But I think I can do it with bash script.

              mediamogulM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • mediamogulM
                mediamogul Global Moderator @meleu
                last edited by

                @meleu said in how can I get the connected joypad names?:

                Currently I don't have enough skill to play with C++. But I think I can do it with bash script.

                I'm right there with you. I hope to free up enough time at some point to learn.

                RetroPie v4.5 • RPi3 Model B • 5.1V 2.5A PSU • 16GB SanDisk microSD • 512GB External Drive

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • meleuM
                  meleu
                  last edited by

                  I'm thinking on a dialog box like this (or something closer):

                  dialog \
                  	--title 'Input selection' \
                  	--checklist 'What player you want to control with "8Bitdo Zero"' \
                  	0 0 0 \
                  	player1 '' off \
                  	player2 '' off \
                  	player3 '' off \
                  	player4 '' off
                  

                  input selection

                  Once I get the controller names/indexes and the user selection, I think it's simple to change the input_playerX_joypad_index on retroarch.cfg using the sed command.

                  I read in other topics that some users wants to, for example, play NES games with their NES-like controllers, and play SNES games with their SNES-like controller. I think it's also feasible.

                  RionR 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                  • mediamogulM
                    mediamogul Global Moderator
                    last edited by

                    Very nice! Considering multiple use cases like you are will be greatly appreciated.

                    RetroPie v4.5 • RPi3 Model B • 5.1V 2.5A PSU • 16GB SanDisk microSD • 512GB External Drive

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • RionR
                      Rion @meleu
                      last edited by

                      @meleu said in how can I get the connected joypad names?:

                      I'm thinking on a dialog box like this (or something closer):

                      dialog \
                      	--title 'Input selection' \
                      	--checklist 'What player you want to control with "8Bitdo Zero"' \
                      	0 0 0 \
                      	player1 '' off \
                      	player2 '' off \
                      	player3 '' off \
                      	player4 '' off
                      

                      input selection

                      Once I get the controller names/indexes and the user selection, I think it's simple to change the input_playerX_joypad_index on retroarch.cfg using the sed command.

                      I read in other topics that some users wants to, for example, play NES games with their NES-like controllers, and play SNES games with their SNES-like controller. I think it's also feasible.

                      Just what I was looking for!

                      FBNeo rom filtering
                      Mame2003 Arcade Bezels
                      Fba Arcade Bezels
                      Fba NeoGeo Bezels

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • meleuM
                        meleu @Rion
                        last edited by

                        @Rion said in how can I get the connected joypad names?:

                        I have the same problem sort of.

                        I have two 8bitdo controllers, SFC30 & NES30.

                        I want to have the NES30 as player 1 and SFC30 as player 2.

                        This works 5 out of 10 times if I do it in this order. Start SFC30 first then NES30.
                        But the other 5 times retroarch decide SFC30 is Player 1 and Player 2 is NES30.

                        So an emulator specific change for what controller is p1 & p2 would be the best solution using the run command.

                        Something like a joystick/gamepad hierarchy.

                        Example:
                        NES30 is always p1 if it's connected.
                        SFC30 is always p2 if it's connected & Nes30 is connected.
                        Nes30 is off = SFC30 is p1.

                        @herb_fargus was talking about something like this as part of the Retropie Setup in this thread usb-controller-player-order

                        As a workaround you can change this all on-the-fly inside RetroArch. Go to the RGUI (Select+X), Settings -> Input -> Input User X Binds -> User X Device Index.

                        Be aware that the change is done immediately! It's a really weird behavior. If you change this field on RGUI using a controller, this same controler stops to control the RGUI and the chosen controller at the "User X Device Index" takes its place!

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                        • RionR
                          Rion
                          last edited by

                          @meleu

                          I think I will hold off on that until you made some progress on the run command script.

                          But thank you for pointing it out for me :)

                          FBNeo rom filtering
                          Mame2003 Arcade Bezels
                          Fba Arcade Bezels
                          Fba NeoGeo Bezels

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                          • meleuM
                            meleu @Zigurana
                            last edited by meleu

                            @Zigurana You are amazing!!! :D

                            You pointed me out that SDL stuff and I did my research on that topic.

                            I can't play with C++ but I can remember my teenager hacking days with C language!

                            I wrote this small program to get the joystick names and indexes:

                            /* jslist.c
                             * This little program just list the joysticks connected to the system.
                             * The ouput format is "index:JoystickName".
                             */
                            
                            #include <stdio.h>
                            #include "SDL.h"
                            
                            int main(void) {
                            	int num_joy, i;
                            
                            	SDL_Init(SDL_INIT_JOYSTICK);
                            
                            	num_joy = SDL_NumJoysticks();
                            
                            	for(i = 0; i < num_joy; i++)
                            		printf("%d:%s\n", i, SDL_JoystickNameForIndex(i));
                            
                            	SDL_Quit();
                            	return 0;
                            }
                            

                            The command to compile this code (as pointed in SDL Wiki):
                            gcc jslist.c -o jslist $(sdl2-config --cflags --libs)

                            This was my first step. The jslist needs some little improvements to avoid problems with controllers with the same name. It's easy to solve, but I will work on that later. Now I have to play with my children! :D

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                            • Z
                              Zigurana
                              last edited by

                              Good work! interested to see where this ends!
                              Have fun with the little ones!

                              If tetris has thought me anything, it's that errors pile up and that accomplishments dissappear.

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                              • meleuM
                                meleu
                                last edited by meleu

                                This post is deleted!
                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • meleuM
                                  meleu
                                  last edited by

                                  Hey guys! I think I did it! Or, at least, started it!

                                  Let's talk about it at a proper thread:
                                  https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/1167/here-is-a-way-to-select-input-for-retroarch-players-1-4

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • BuZzB
                                    BuZz administrators
                                    last edited by

                                    from shell

                                    for js in /dev/input/js*; do path=$(udevadm info --name=$js | grep DEVPATH | cut -d= -f2); name=$(</$(dirname sys$path)/name); echo $name; done
                                    

                                    To help us help you - please make sure you read the sticky topics before posting - https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

                                    meleuM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • meleuM
                                      meleu @BuZz
                                      last edited by meleu

                                      @BuZz said in [SOLVED] how can I get the connected joypad names?:

                                      from shell

                                      for js in /dev/input/js*; do path=$(udevadm info --name=$js | grep DEVPATH | cut -d= -f2); name=$(</$(dirname sys$path)/name); echo $name; done
                                      

                                      pretty awesome! :)

                                      It perfectly answer the topic question. But another problem arises for my application...

                                      The problem is how to find out the proper SDL2/RetroArch index. The SDL2 gives to my jslist.c the correct index, and it doesn't always happen to be the same number after the /dev/input/js.

                                      Example: I have 3 usb controllers (as js0, js1 and js2) and one bluetooth controller as js3. The js-RetroArch equivalence is:
                                      js0 = 0
                                      js1 = 1
                                      js2 = 2
                                      js3 = 3

                                      Then I unplug the second usb controller. Now the the relation is:
                                      js0 = 0
                                      js2 = 1
                                      js3 = 2

                                      I think it's hard to find the proper index with "pure" shell script.

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • BuZzB
                                        BuZz administrators
                                        last edited by

                                        thats ok, you just go through them and increment the index in the loop.

                                        To help us help you - please make sure you read the sticky topics before posting - https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • BuZzB
                                          BuZz administrators
                                          last edited by BuZz

                                          i=0; for dev in $(find /dev/input -name "js*" | sort); do path=$(udevadm info --name=$dev | grep DEVPATH | cut -d= -f2); name=$(</$(dirname sys$path)/name); echo $dev $i $name; ((i++)); done

                                          /dev/input/js0 0 USB,2-axis 8-button gamepad
                                          /dev/input/js1 1 8Bitdo SFC30 GamePad Joystick
                                          

                                          then unplugging the USB

                                          /dev/input/js1 0 8Bitdo SFC30 GamePad Joystick
                                          

                                          (switched to find to avoid an error if no joysticks connected, but just for this quick one line example)

                                          To help us help you - please make sure you read the sticky topics before posting - https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

                                          meleuM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • meleuM
                                            meleu @BuZz
                                            last edited by meleu

                                            @BuZz
                                            Initially I was excited with this solution and went for the tests...

                                            Then I realized that the SDL algorithm index assignment isn't that simple...

                                            The scenario: 4 usb joysticks (js0, js1, js2 and js3) and one bluetooth controller (js4). And then I disconnected the 1st and 2nd usb joysticks (js0 and js1), and the bluetooth controller also. Several minutes later I reconnected the bluetooth controller and it took the js0 "slot". Look at the output differences:

                                            [prompt]$ jslist 
                                            0:Twin USB Joystick
                                            1:Twin USB Joystick
                                            2:8Bitdo Zero GamePad
                                            [prompt]$ bash buzz-jslist.sh
                                            /dev/input/js0 0 8Bitdo Zero GamePad
                                            /dev/input/js2 1 Twin USB Joystick
                                            /dev/input/js3 2 Twin USB Joystick
                                            
                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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