Although strange, I have only declared one controller in ES.
By this way, I have no more strange behaviour on some buttons. So it's better now.
Still have the controller 1 or 2 swapping in some emulators...
Try to manage with joystick-selection, but not sure it could handle this 100%, as name and reference are always the same.

A couple of my favorites:

Logitech F710
https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Logitech-Controller/

Nintendo Switch Pro Controller
https://store.nintendo.com/pro-controller.html

The Logitech is pretty affordable, works right out of the box, and uses 2.4GHz wireless adapter so you don't have to mess with bluetooth pairing. Supports rumble.

The switch pro is more expensive, but the stick would be in a better position for N64 games. It does use bluetooth so it needs to be paired, but I had no trouble with getting it to work.

@fiddla01

Late reply, but confirming...

I wanted and did the same thing with the same result. I switched back to HDMI to composite video and audio converter and the system works well, again.

https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/29625/startup-audio-quality-is-bad-a-v-connectivity?_=1631181389467

@crush ... Ok testing complete. The powered hub will work with or without the adapter pulling power from the adapter if present.

--> Shutdown Pi.
--> Add USB hub *unpowered.
--> Add USB audio.
--> Bring back up.
Result: Same odd behavior with the controller etc. on different newer hub.

-->Shutdown Pi.
--> Plug in power adapter to USB hub.
--> Turn on.
Result: Everything works as expected.

So in my case it was a voltage issue with the X-Arcade and the USB audio being on the same USB hub.

@mitu Excellent thank you!

@Dr-Nick

Start with this youtube video:

This will help. If you still have questions, come back. I'll keep an eye on the thread.

D

@mitu thanks very much for the quick reply

@mitu It works just fine within EmulationStation, but once I start RetroArch everything freezes until I connect the USB controller.

@jakejm79 Did you ever figure this out? I was thinking it would be awesome to use the same idea to unlock the console with key inputs to be able to use a coin dispensor. But am not finding anyway to do what you were requesting either.

The 'Auto Config Buttons' dialog allows selection of single keys for each of the control functions, then, right at the end, it asks for the 'hot key' button. Without a 'hot key' assignment the control buttons work on their own. If you hold a key down for more than 2 seconds while at any selection (including for 'hot key') the dialog will assign 'nul' as the button.

If you don't have very many buttons/inputs then the use of a 'hot key' + 'game button' is the only way to control Retropie. This also is the mode you will have to use if you use genuine console pads which do not have any control buttons, just game action buttons.

If you do have spare buttons/inputs then assign the control functions to unique buttons and set the 'hot key' to nul. This can be done by running the config buttons dialog manually with - 'Settings -> Inputs -> User 1 Binds -> User 1 Bind Default All' or by manually editing the file it creates at '/opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch.cfg'

I'm also new to this and awaiting the delivery of extra hardware to experiment with how to add an extra Zero Config board that is used exclusively for the control buttons. (Maybe configure it as Player 5? does anyone know how to do this?)

bye for now ...

@PonasM

I put together a guide here for xboxdrv. It's an involved process, but very flexible.

Ahhh shoot. Thanks both.

Out of interest, is there any way to set the Logitech as the 'primary' controller - so that when I plug in the RetroFlag one the Logitech continues to be the one that can access the RGUI menu?

Nevermind solved the issue.

@classicgmr said in USB controller:

@ecks Sweet. :) Glad it worked out!

Well i would recommend that controller only if you plan on buying a Pi for a family member or friend lol.

actually i think there is a hardware problem with the controller.
as i booted retropie right now.. no controller was found. unless i plug in the other controller.

so i probably think there is a hardware issue with the one controller..

@arj5193 once you get into the game press your hotkey & X at the same time.

@stevepax Hello and belated welcome to this forum. I'm close to finishing my own arcade cabinet myself and I plan to do something similar to you but with two bluetooth controllers for players 3 + 4. I didn't dive into the matter deeply yet, however, but I'll try to answer your questions to the best of my current knowledge.

If the emulator and the game rom support four players, you should be able to configure the controls for players 3+4 just like those for players 1+2. Mind that some games come in different versions (roms). TMNT has 2 and 4 players versions, for example. Its 2 players versions have "2p" in their rom names. At least Retroarch should recognize your controllers upon reconnection. A common advice is to connect them every time to the same usb ports in the same order. There's also a script by @meleu called joystick-selection that simplifies the mapping of controllers to players, and if the controllers should be recognized by their names or by the ports they're plugged into. Alas, I don't know.

You're rightly terrified to lose your configuration if you didn't backup it recently. Do so now, because bad things happen all the time to "valuable" data, e.g. storage failure. (I put "valuable" in quotes because there is a saying that data with no backups isn't important by definition; if it were, it would have backups.)