Multiple mice support in RetroArch cores (lightguns, spinners, trackballs)

BGallagherLA

@mediamogul So @hooperre is saying this air mouse that I just bought doesn't work in PicoDrive or Genesis-Plus-GX. You said you've tested those cores with air mice and they've worked, and I can't imagine that the one I got is drastically different than yours. So, are there certain settings I need to change, and if so, how do I do so? I'm not entirely adept at tweaking certain settings through SSH/Putty, but if you show me where to change these things, I can figure it out. Thanks!

mediamogul

@bgallagherla

Mine is an iPazzPort model that doesn't seem to be listed on Amazon anymore. It really doesn't surprise me, as it has a couple of design flaws that I've never been happy with. However, the airmouse functionality worked in all the emulators I tested with without any modifications to the software. The only thing I might suggest is something that I've had to do with xboxdrv in the past for the keyboard that it virtualizes. RetroArch won't recognize it as being valid keyboard input unless you create a udev rule like the following:

SUBSYSTEM=="input", ATTRS{name}=="Microsoft X-Box 360 pad - Keyboard Emulation", GROUP="users", MODE="0666", ENV{ID_INPUT_KEYBOARD}="1"

It could be that a similar rule could be created to allow RetroArch to recognize the mouse as a valid input device. This would require a certain amount of trial and error, but it may be worth a shot. It could also be that the Genesis/MegaDrive cores are in need of a little love upstream to fix the issue.

hooperre

@mediamogul said in Multiple mice support in RetroArch cores (lightguns, spinners, steering wheels):

Mine is an iPazzPort model that doesn't seem to be listed on Amazon anymore. It really doesn't surprise me, as it has a couple of design flaws that I've never been happy with. However, the airmouse functionality worked in all the emulators I tested with without any modifications to the software. The only thing I might suggest is something that I've had to do with xboxdrv in the past for the keyboard that it virtualizes. RetroArch won't recognize it as being valid keyboard input unless you create a udev rule like the following:
SUBSYSTEM=="input", ATTRS{name}=="Microsoft X-Box 360 pad - Keyboard Emulation", GROUP="users", MODE="0666", ENV{ID_INPUT_KEYBOARD}="1"
It could be that a similar rule could be created to allow RetroArch to recognize the mouse as a valid input device. This would require a certain amount of trial and error, but it may be worth a shot. It could also be that the Genesis/MegaDrive cores are in need of a little love upstream to fix the issue.

Thanks for posting this, but a lot of it is going over my head as a Linux noob. Any references I can look at to get more comfortable with udev? Again, apologies, but my brain is failing to put together the xboxdrv reference you made. If you're virtualizing a keyboard with an X-Box Controller using xboxdrv, what would the equivalent utility be for a random air mouse. I'm probably in too far over my head here, but I wish I could learn. At the same time, I understand explaining it to me would be a big ask.

markwkidd

One update: casdevel has just added Wiimote/Dolphinbar support to RetroArch's Windows raw input driver. I just had a fun session with Area 51, using the Wiimote as a lightgun.

casdevel seems to be ready to move onto adding this absolute coordinates support to the Linux udev input driver, so I'm trying to set up a Linux environment that will be appropriate for that testing process. Things are gradually improving!

hooperre

@markwkidd said in Multiple mice support in RetroArch cores (lightguns, spinners, steering wheels):

One update: casdevel has just added Wiimote/Dolphinbar support to RetroArch's Windows raw input driver. I just had a fun session with Area 51, using the Wiimote as a lightgun.

casdevel seems to be ready to move onto adding this absolute coordinates support to the Linux udev input driver, so I'm trying to set up a Linux environment that will be appropriate for that testing process. Things are gradually improving!

Area 51 with which emulator? PS?

markwkidd

@hooperre I was playing Area 51 via MAME 2003.

hooperre

@markwkidd said in Multiple mice support in RetroArch cores (lightguns, spinners, steering wheels):

@hooperre I was playing Area 51 via MAME 2003.

Noooooooo kidding. Thanks.

HurricaneFan

@markwkidd I always thought the light gun games only worked in advanced mame. What other light gun games do you have working in Mame 2003?

markwkidd

@hurricanefan You're right that until now only AdvanceMAME has had this support but times are changing. This is new RetroArch functionality that, for at least a little while, is Windows-MAME 2003 only (so no RetroPie until casdevel gets time to add that support).

I have only been using Area 51 and Terminator 2 but this should work for all lightgun games in MAME 2003 --- if not, it would be appropriate to report as a bug. Theoretically 'absolute coordinate' support for lightgun emulation will not just for RetroArch's MAME emulator cores either.

HurricaneFan

@markwkidd I look forward to when this works out of the box on raspberry pi. :)

dankcushions

lightgun games are controllable by a single mouse in mame2003 already, just not multiple mice (as is my understanding).

i'm sure i tested a single mouse on mame2003. it definitely works for all the trackball games etc.

markwkidd

@dankcushions multiple mice work in RetroArch with the udev driver, I'm pretty sure. I think I have verified this myself, but there has been a lot of mouse input testing in my life lately so I guess there is a chance I could be misremembering.

Frustratingly, the "flatpak" install method for Ubuntu gives me every input driver except udev, and I'm having an issue compiling RA from source right now too. Once I get properly setup for Linux testing again I will keep moving forward.

hooperre

@markwkidd Hmm... My Area 51 doesn't work with lr-MAME 2003. Is that area51.zip you're using? Hope my last message didn't come off as ungrateful. I was just surprised because I don't recall getting mine to work. Must have a mismatched ROM.

markwkidd

@hooperre said in Multiple mice support in RetroArch cores (lightguns, spinners, steering wheels):

@markwkidd Hmm... My Area 51 doesn't work with lr-MAME 2003. Is that area51.zip you're using? Hope my last message didn't come off as ungrateful. I was just surprised because I don't recall getting mine to work. Must have a mismatched ROM.

Yes, I'm running area51.zip with the matching CHD in a subfolder folder that is named area51. If you're on rPi hardware it should at least run, even if very slowly.

hooperre

@markwkidd said in Multiple mice support in RetroArch cores (lightguns, spinners, steering wheels):

@hooperre said in Multiple mice support in RetroArch cores (lightguns, spinners, steering wheels):

@markwkidd Hmm... My Area 51 doesn't work with lr-MAME 2003. Is that area51.zip you're using? Hope my last message didn't come off as ungrateful. I was just surprised because I don't recall getting mine to work. Must have a mismatched ROM.

Yes, I'm running area51.zip with the matching CHD in a subfolder folder that is named area51. If you're on rPi hardware it should at least run, even if very slowly.

Thank you!

markwkidd

@dankcushions said in Multiple mice support in RetroArch cores (lightguns, spinners, steering wheels):

lightgun games are controllable by a single mouse in mame2003 already, just not multiple mice (as is my understanding).

Hi @dankcushions I'm having no trouble with multiple simultaneous mice via the udev input driver in Ubuntu 17.04.

If you're tracking the 'absolute coordinates' github Issue you probably know that udev support for Wiimote/Dolphinbar is also getting closer and closer. :D

Edit: casdevel's new input debugging libretro core is pretty handy in case anyone else wants to see exactly how their mouse/lightgun/etc report input to RetroArch: https://github.com/casdevel/input-debugger-libretro

Right now there are barely any instructions, but if you ever try it out the most important thing to know is that you have to use the RetroArch F1/Quick Menu to get into the Core options once you first start it up.

markwkidd

Hi folks -- these features are now polished up a part of RetroArch's udev input driver. Support for absolute devices like Dolphinbar/Wiimote should just work. Woohoo!

There is a new section of the spinners and trackballs doc devoted to 'multi-mouse' and how to configure it: https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/Spinners,-Trackballs,-Lightguns,-and-other-Mouse-Devices#configuring-retroarch-emulators-for-multi-mouse-use

space invader

Hi, I'm trying to apply this in order to hace two trackballs for marble madness or three wheels for súper sprint, but I'm too dumb and can't for my life get it working.

Could somebody put here some detailed instructions please? I will thank.

markwkidd

@space-invader said in Multiple mice support in RetroArch cores (lightguns, spinners, steering wheels):

Hi, I'm trying to apply this in order to hace two trackballs for marble madness or three wheels for súper sprint, but I'm too dumb and can't for my life get it working.

Could somebody put here some detailed instructions please? I will thank.

Have you tried these instructions? https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/Spinners,-Trackballs,-Lightguns,-and-other-Mouse-Devices#configuring-retroarch-emulators-for-multi-mouse-use

If you have, where in the process did you run into problems?

space invader

@markwkidd
I know the mouse indexes with the cat order, I verified that the input driver in retroarch is udev and I set one of he mouse indexes for each player, but no results.

What am I doing wrong or what am I missing?