the thing is, if I put in a sd card with raspbian, the keyboard works just fine. also I dont have another hub.
however, because for some reason it will work when im exited from emulationstation, i can use the terminal. the reason why I even am trying to use the keyboard is so i can set up a controller to work, (a rock candy xbox one controller wired) so is there a way I can set up the controller, then just unplug the keyboard and use the controller from then on?

@jazzsunn Or failing that, not even your theme. Check your ROM names for non ASCII characters. Remove anything odd or unusual from the file names.

it will show splash scrren if my buffalo controller is plugged in....if anything else...it will not show splash screen

@edmaul69 I also remember some titles expect you to type the number of the FDD where you have the disk inserted. Back in the day, I had two floppy drives which made multi-disk access so much easier (think PrintShop Companion, or Newsroom).

@AlexMurphy Thanks!

@caver01 thanks again. I read a bit now and I think I understand the role of retroarch, acting as an interface between emulationstation and the various emulators.
That clears up a lot!
You are right about the shift function on my ipac too.
But I cannot end the Vice version on Retropie - even when using a keyboard. I need to open the vice menu (F12) and then navigate to "Quit vice".
But it's okay. For C64 emulation I find myself grabbing for the keyboard quite often.

Cheers,

Robin

@edmaul69 Any work-around?