@Nickelino
I did the same as @cresfang using Lubuntu but with a quick Google search, I found this on another forum:

https://github.com/Aloshi/EmulationStation/issues/223
derlehmann commented on Aug 22, 2014

found a solution that work for me. i install openbox and run this sh script:

#!/bin/bash #!/bin/sh xboxdrv -l 3 -s --dpad-as-button --trigger-as-button & openbox & emulationstation killall openbox killall xboxdrv