OK.. I fixed the issue, but this is a little odd.
Apparently, Controller 1 (Player 1) has to be in USB1 on these 3040's, Controller 2 (Player 2) in USB2, etc, etc.
Is this a unique situation for the 3040 or is this a universally known fact in RetroPie land? If it is, then I apologize for not doing more research.

This may just me being a little more Windows oriented than Linux oriented, but does it really matter which slot the controllers are plugged into? I'd think that the programming of the controllers would follow the unique ID and not care about the USB Slot at all.

Thoughts?

@ScoobyAA Slightly late reply. I have only just come back to this project. I finally have TwisterOS running well and Retropie does work. However, even using controller keymapping software I cannot use those controllers. This issue is clearly much deeper than just retropie because no software recognises the left and right arrow keys, unfortunately. I really appreciate all of the help from the forum though. Thanks!

Normally the Pi should switch to composite if the HDMI port is not connected, but you can force PAL by adding sdtv_mode=2 to the config.txt configuration file.
Assuming your composite cable is correct and you've switched the TV input to the RCA input, you should get an image.

if anyone is still interested in this, check out these cool devices on icode.com. they allow you to have up to 4 paddles or joysticks connected to you PC via usb. There is even a bluetooth version.

Atari paddles and joysticks usb adapter

Did you configure your controller in EmulationStation ? The configuration you set there should create automatically the configuration for RetroArch - so you don't need to re-configure it again in each libretro core.
How did you install RetroPie ?

@neurocrash Nevermind, it was supposed to be opened with the Hotkey+X button, but on the diagrams for controller buttons reverse the X and Y keys, so I had them mapped backwards.

@sirhenrythe5th said in Retroarch 1.8.5 on screen messages size:

This could be helpful:
https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/25161/changing-onscreen-notification-size?_=1588661830733

Thanks. I'm still having some issues: I installed a scratch retropie 4.6 image and I had the new retroarch interface (wonderful). After importing all my systems and anfter copyied /opt/retropie/config folder from my old distro, i have the old intarface again. How can I set the new user interface?

If you never updated in 2 years, then updating/reinstalling now produce the correct results.
Instead, open the retroarch.cfg file from \\retropie\configs\psx and make sure it only contains these lines:

# Settings made here will only override settings in the global retroarch.cfg if placed above the #include line input_remapping_directory = "/opt/retropie/configs/psx/" #include "/opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch.cfg"

Try resetting the retroarch.cfg - the global configuration file - in \\retropie\configs\all. Replace it with the retroarch.cfg.rp-dist from the same folder.
However, if you used a remap/input override, this won't help.

My arcade cabinet (from Recroommasters) has an Emulator Edition Plus controller as well, and I learned a few other tips in trying to remove my defined Hotkey from Retroarch so I thought I'd add them to this post.

First, it helps tremendously to have the keyboard mappings for the controller:
Keyboard.jpg

Most of the games in my setup use 3 buttons max, so I worked to avoid the 3 'player one' buttons to the left of the trackball conflicting with Retroarch definitions that tend to require a hotkey. I may do a little more tweaking, but these are the main changes I made within the 'default' retroarch.cfg file (located at /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch.cfg):

input_toggle_fast_forward = "nul" # input_exit_emulator = "num1" input_reset = "v" input_menu_toggle = "c" input_grab_mouse_toggle = "j" input_state_slot_increase = "nul" input_state_slot_decrease = "nul" input_enable_hotkey = "nul"

A few tips and explanations:

There are multiple copies of retroarch.cfg, especially in all of the different emulator-specific folders. But, I also found a copy in /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch/retroarch.cfg. I read a few posts in this forum indicating this shouldn't exist / isn't needed - I thought it was interfering with implementing the above changes, so I renamed it. It didn't make a difference (see #2 below), but it also didn't seem to regress anything, either. Initially, I couldn't get the 'fast forward' option to not be mapped to the 'space' key, which is right-most of the 3 'player 1' buttons. The line for this option was commented out in the 'default' retroarch.cfg file, but I found the copy mentioned in #1 above (/opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch/retroarch.cfg) had the line un-commented. However, even renaming this copy didn't help...I had to actually un-comment out the line in the 'default' retroarch.cfg file and then change the value to what I wanted ("nul" - I can't imagine wanting to fast-forward the action in a game!). I find the 'grab mouse toggle' mapping very helpful, because any game using the spinner or trackball can run into a problem with the OS mouse pointer hitting the boundary of the screen 'underneath', which prevents the game pointer from moving as well. This has been reported in the Retroarch forums, and there is a fix available that should help, but it isn't yet available in the latest version of Retropie (4.7.1, which has Retroarch 1.8.8 and the fix was released afterward). Until it is included in an upcoming release of Retropie, I need to press the 'grab mouse toggle' key to avoid problems.

@celestial Glad to help you!

I've had a number of people here help me out and help me figure out a lot of things on RetroPie. If I don't respond on a thread, feel free to tag me or send me a PM and a link to the page. If I can help, I want to.

I'm almost positive I used Keyboard Input mode. The problem is, and I'm going to post about this when I have time, every time power goes off in the barn for some reason, the file system on my SD card on my Pi messes up. I'm not sure why, but something goes wrong and it won't reboot. I've found if I take the card and plug it into another Linux system, just trying to read the data seems to fix whatever is wrong on the card.

That's where I am now. We got hit with that large ice storm and it knocked out power. (Thankfully we have our 1st floor in the house on the generator!)

So I can't check until I get the card working again. (I really need to transfer the whole RP setup to the USB drive - that survives shutdowns without issue.)

If I remember correctly, they say you can't do what I did in Keyboard Input Mode, but I really wanted to stick with it because, overall, that gave me the fewest problems to deal with.

While I can't remember the mode, one thing that makes me sure it's keyboard is because all the buttons and joystick positions do output characters when I'm in the Linux terminal.

Are you literally rebuilding your entire house? Is this a renovation? I've been involved in a few cases of tearing down most of the inside and redoing it with some historical properties.

140 tons of dirt - well, with my tractor, it can take time, since it's a smaller tractor. The big issue is it has to go from our front field to the barn (where the arcade machine goes) as part of the renovation - it needs some landscaping work. That's about a 1/2 mile round trip for each load! When I was new to dealing with all this and a contractor bailed on me for the driveway (driveway is 1/3 mile long, full roadway is 1/2 mile, including going to the barn), I had to teach myself to use a Bobcat skid steer. After about 3-5 hours of operational time to learn the Bobcat, I got to the lot early one day and moved 200 tons of dirt! (I had to make the driveway go over a 30" culvert).

Thanks!

I did everything via ssh, then when I was able to get to the machine and turn on the display, it was working and I had access to 4,705 arcade games! True, hundreds of those were just Mahjong or different versions, but all the stuff I had fun playing in arcades is all there.

@mitu thanks at least I know I am not crazy!

Yeah playing on a PC for lightgun games and lightgun support is wonky for other mame versions and for various reasons not wanting to do advance mame. I use mame-2003-plus and fb alpha on the pi.

@mitu Reinstall RetroArch didn't solve the problem. I am starting to consider reinstall RetroPie from scratch.

Honestly there is enough information out there about installing retropie or some other front end on a PC that the process is pretty easy and spelled out even for someone as tech stupid as me. Given the price vs performance of relatively old and cheap PCs vs a new pi or even a pi4 for that matter, if I had it to do over again I would just go the PC route especially after figuring out that what some people define as “acceptable” performance for emulators like dream cast and N64 is an entire galaxy removed from what I would consider even playable.

So really it all comes down to your specific needs.

If your trying to emulate simple games >25-30 years old then a pi3 or 3b+ should be able to do it and honestly there are even exceptions to that depending on the game.

If it’s after the last two decades just go PC.

But really, sit down and make a list of about 10-20 games that you basically can’t live without, research the hardware needs for them and go with the strongest one.

Arcade big joystick or small controller joystick. If you have a big one then dpad. If you have a little one then right stick/left stick.

Then unfortunately my DS3 works in PCSX as classic controller, no matter how type of device I'll set. :( Many thanks for answers, all issues, but this one, your advices helped me to resolve, even a lack of scrapping covers. :)

@Guto-Du it's a possibility it's defective. Try over volting the pi (without over clocking) to see if it's more stable. If it is then your pi isn't stable at factory settings and should be sent back for replacement. I have seen multiple reports of pi zero's not stable at factory clock speeds. I think the quality control on the pi zero might be slightly less than other models. Probably because it's a $5 computer.