Thanks for the help guys! Much appreciated.

no problems easy when you know there is a lot of options in to be fair

for mame2003-plus on digital only turn analog off you only turn this on for analog controllers if your using them. ie snes and joysticks use dpads (digital hat). analog off( this is the default mode) you should do the following in settings enable legacy mapping ( this is important when it needed for analog or games using analog controls even on a dpad) in analog mode : directons are on axis 0 an axis 1 (lstick) in analog mode off (dpad is used)

@redrumpanda Some things you can't dumb down much further, and the Wiki is already written (mostly) to be understood by laymen. But you'll need to be willing to learn and that always requires some time and effort. Let's start by collecting more information: Which operating system is on your Laptop? Are your Pi and Laptop connected via network?

@likethereindeer i use a Dualshock 3 and have activated the left analog stick in retroarch. Works great for me. I had Wind Commander III on my 3DO back in 1995 and loved this game even with pure digital joypads. So the analog input now on my Raspberry is a great improvment for my personal experience 😊

@teve Some additions to @Lurker 's comprehensive post: This video explains the majority of arcade joysticks on the market. A extremely detailed website about joysticks and button layouts is slagcoin.com. Its creator approaches the topic with almost scientific commitment. Another thing about the buttons you're considering: They have microswitches that make rather noisy clicks every time they're pressed and released. If you don't like that (I don't), you should look for leaf switches which are somewhat less durable but nearly inaudible. Alternatively, there are "silent" microswitches that are promoted as (nearly) noiseless, but they are more expensive and I don't have any experience with them. The choice of speakers depends on your quality standards. I didn't like the sound of cheap speakers. Now I'm happy with wideband speakers for 30€ each. See my Asteroids-themed cabinet for a picture of them where you can see their brand and model.

I remember, when reading about xboxdrv that it had a specific option for this problem. Would you be able to use xboxdrv with your current controls to work around the problem https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/Universal-Controller-Calibration-&-Mapping-Using-xboxdrv#2d-restricting-directional-control-to-four-ways

I am old SOB so from experience clean install was the only working solution. Thank you all for your help!

You could also check your ground daisy-chain to make sure they are fully connected from the 1st button to the end button in your chain. Also if you press F4 out of emulation station you can test all your buttons in the command line if you're using a zero delay encoder or something similar.

Oh... for easiest plug and play from a Pi, you probably want a controller board that identifies as a keyboard, or as a 360 controller. There are many of these on the market. Watch out for some gotchas with ones marketed as Xin-Mo, there are actually several makes being sold under that name and they aren't all the same (Paradise Arcade in particular carries ones labeled Xin-Mo that may require a fresh kernel compilation).

@ecks I have no idea what plywood putty is, but if you just use a common wood putty or wood filler there is no need to wear gloves, you just use your finger and or putty knife to apply it. Read the instructions on your wood putty.