I think I have zeroed-in on the issue (but not solved it yet). The missing puzzle piece was SDL.

Emulationstation is built on top of SDL, which has its own keyboard library. Something is not accounting for modifier keys: either the SDL the way emulationstation is written.
I think there is still hope as the debug log (see end) can see that both Arrow key and Shift and it even shows that my keys are mapped to both down and up in es_input.cfg. Just need to find a way to access that second option in some way.

Anyone has an idea how I can access the second value of my key, or knows their way around emulationstation source so I can add the function myself?

Edit:
I found where F4 is hardcoded for emulation station, which makes me think I can hardcode arrows + shifted arrows in a similar manner. It is not a great solution, but it is something...
The only problem I have is that I don't know how to build my own version of emulation station with the changes if I made a copy to my own github.

Also, I don't know SDL well enough to code it myself. Anyone able to translate my pseudocode into actual SDL and cpp?

IF keydown(shift) AND keydown(down) THEN return up END

Also, happy to hear any other solutions!

I highly recommend splurging for a i-pac when setting up controls. I have a 2 player 6 button joystick setup, 2 start and coin buttons, and 4 misc button (exit emulator, pause, rewind, and config menu).

0_1538008193088_IMG_20180926_202558.jpg

@tuta1986 To configure a bluetooth keyboard, try to use the Bluetooth menu in the RetroPie menu to pair the keyboard (https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Bluetooth-Controller/). It's meant to be used for adding a BT gamepad, but it might work for your keyboard.

@new2pi I think you need to install something like https://github.com/pwr/Solaar - which is already packaged in Raspbian - and run the cli utility to switch the Fn on at boot.

Thanks @zerojay ! I will try that tonight :)

@linuxarcadeguy

Edit: I had something here about killing Joy2key, but after reading your post more carefully, it wouldn't apply. I'm not sure keyboard input can be ignored here. I assume you know that the Runcommand menu can be deactivated altogether.

Please give more information about your system as requested in https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first. Answer the question there and also specify what setting have you changes in RetroArch.

@mitu said in Is it possible to run MAME without keyboard?:

@mulder32 Which emulator are you using ? The Libretro based emulators have Hotkey + Start as exit combination (Select + Start) - https://retropie.org.uk/docs/RetroArch-Configuration/#hotkeys

I am using mame4all. I will try using the other one you mention and see what happens.

@chuck_b Yes, whenever you update all installed packages or just ES from the setup script.

I would keep a copy of the new ES binary with the remapped quit key and then, after updating, you can overwrite the ES binary with your modded version, unless, of course, there is a new feature in ES that you desire, in which case, you would need to recompile.

@edmaul69 Great :-( Thanks for the warning

Nevermind solved the issue.

Thanks for the resource, this will definitely be something I'm looking into for another possible project. You are absolutely right about the syncing of two being a problem. As weird as my use case is, I only need one Raspberry (from a kooky angle, the video is being distributed to one/both players). After looking into wedges I think that's the route I'm going to go as I easily have access to USB HID injectors at work/off ebay I can utilize that I didn't realize I could use. Thanks for the link though, I'll definitely be using it.

@nanonacho you need to edit the keyboard controls section in /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch.cfg You need to remove the # in front of them as well dont edit any that have _btn in the name as those are for controllers.

I have already tried all of what you tell me.
Anyway thanks for trying helping me.
If someone has the same problem, the solution for me is to download retropie 4.3... - -‘

@sixstring396 if I am remembering this right, you can install another locale, but you still need to SELECT it for it to take effect. Does that sound right? I seem to remember that one of the items in the long list has an asterisk by it which is the selected one being used.

<EDIT> Yeah, here is a site describing what I mean. You hit spacebar to select the locale. That page has commands to bring up these screens, but this is all accessible through raspi-config

@rsn8887 RetroPie doesn't automatically maps the keyboard as a controller - it only saves the gamepad configuration from the configuration you made in Emulationstation. Unless you explicitely map the keyboard in ES, it shouldn't generate any configuration for it.
You can find the saved configurations - one per gamepad configured - in the /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch-joypads folder.

Must be a new RA thing, does it do the same without the keyboard plugged in ?

@quicksilver I already knew that, but thanks anyway, I am starting to use that until I get a new keyboard.