@ToddThomas said in RetroPie/EmuStation/RetroArch not Keeping IPAC4 Config:

Let me take one step back and ask you this. On a fresh install of Retropie, if all I have hooked up is the IPac4, should EmulationStation prompt me that there is no controller/gampad recognized (like the F310)? Or should it move on to the heart of the program?

On a fresh install, it always ask to configure controlls (even with a recognized controller). IMHO that it ain't reporting something like "keyboard detected, press any key to configure it as input" and just states that no controller was detected is a bit arguable, nevertheless on first start that is the expected behaviour.
But afterwards, if the keyboard was setup as a controller, the dialog shouldn't appear anymore - and besides /opt/.../all/retroarch.cfg I have no idea what other configs could be responsible and /core/rom override retroarch.cfgs should have no effect on ES.
Could you log into your system via ssh and look at the output from lsusb to see if the IPac is listed as a recognized Device if that Requester Pops up again after the initial setup?

yeah, its the preconfigured mame2003. It does seem that the read-only hack will work, so I guess I'll go with that.

@sammylj Hmm. That escape exit situation sounds like you still have hotkeys enabled. Scan through your retroarch.cfg for hotkey and set it to "nul" or comment out the setting. I am running with a dedicated exit (escape) and I don't need to press anything else, just my single exit button.