Using spinner and trackball on Pi4 mame2003

[corminos]

I'm setting up my raspberry pi 4 (Retropie 4.6) and using mame2003.

I have both a trackball (mouse0) and a spinner (mouse1), which I've confirmed are working by looking at the /dev/inputs/mouse* files.

My trackball is working fine for games like centipede and such. Looking at the RGUI menu, I see that my mouse index is set to 0. But games like Arkanoid will only respond to the trackball and not the spinner.

From this article, https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/Spinners,-Trackballs,-Lightguns,-and-other-Mouse-Devices lr-mame2003 can support both a trackball and spinner. But the documentation just says "once configured...." without going into details on how to configure.

The same article talks about in advancemame you can add settings in advmame-1.4.rc like:
input_map[p1_trackballx] mouse[0,x] mouse[1,x] mouse[2,x] mouse[3,x]
input_map[p1_trackbally] mouse[0,y] mouse[1,y] mouse[2,y] mouse[3,y]
input_map[p1_dialx] mouse[0,x] mouse[1,x] mouse[2,x] mouse[3,x]

So my question is how to properly configure the trackball and spinner in mame2003 so that both will work?

Alternatively, is there a way to change the mouse index per game? If I just have to go into a couple of games and manually set the mouse index to 1 for those games, that won't be a problem. But the only way I know how to adjust the settings for a single game is from the <Tab> menu and that doesn't allow me to pick a mouse index.

[corminos]

I would love to hear if you've found a solution for this. I have the exact same configuration as you and I've been struggling with this for months now and there are no good articles on how to do it.

For setting the mouse index for an individual game, I've read that in the same directory as the rom, you can create a file <romname.zip>.cfg

In there you should be able to put:
input_player1_mouse_index="1"

But again, this has never worked for me. My belief right now is that only the mouse0 is recognized by mame2003 and there is something I need to configure to get it to recognize mouse0 and mouse1.

If you have found a solution for this, please, please, please let me know!

[mahoneyt944]

@corminos

How is it mapped in the mame menu under "input this game"?

[zetof]

For me, arkanoid works with fbneo-libretro (with my spinner) :

I put this in config :
input_libretro_device_p1 = "773"
input_player1_mouse_index = "2"

(773 for "Mouse (ball only")

Zetof

[corminos]

@mahoneyt944

I'm not sure which menu you're referring to. Could you please clarify?

[mahoneyt944]

@corminos the black and white mame menu
You can activate it with tab on a keyboard or L3 on a retropad. Or there's a core option to turn it on in retroarch.

[corminos]

@mahoneyt944
From that menu, I don't see any options for choosing the mouse index. I tried changing it from the retroarch menu, but that didn't seem to help either.

It is like mame2003 doesn't even know about mouse1, but advanceMame does.

[Chupachups]

@corminos if it can be useful, always connected to my RPI4, I have a transmitter key for wireless keyboard (with touchpad), a transmitter key for airmouse (for shooter games), a trackball and a steering wheel/spinner (mouse). In mame2003-plus I select index mouse 0-2-4-6 from retroarch input menu to choose which one to use. I would also like to set an index per game without having to change it every time.

I try never to disconnect them, to avoid recognition problems (and reboots of mame2003-plus or Retropie).

Everything works.
And I use trackball and wheel-mouse (and arcade joystick) on a USB hub inside joystick.

Mame2003 roms are ok with Mame2003-plus, so you can try with "plus" version.
I use it because actually i don't see no more the input configuration in tab menu in mame2003 (I don't know if it's due to an update and if it's wanted).

[bollwerk]

I was never able to get lr-mame2003 to work with a trackball or spinner, so I ended up using AdvanceMame. Maybe lr-mame2003plus will work better?

[Chupachups]

Before switching to mame2003-plus it also worked for me on mame2003. I don't think it changes much.

A year ago I had problems starting the mouse for first time.
Then I found a line to add manually to a configuration file:

on: \Opt\retropie\configs\all\retroarch-core-option.cfg

i put: mame_current_mouse_enable = "enabled"

I have now this line, and you?

@corminos have you tried with index mouse=2 in retroarch input config? I use 0 or 2 or 4 or 6 for my peripherals with 2 axis each one. I understood that 0 and 1 was to use 2 axis (one for player) if you have 2 spinners

[Chupachups]

2 spinner in 1 usb port, I meant

[corminos]

@chupachups

Both the spinner and trackball are plugged directly into the pi, so the mouse index should not change.

I found out that even though using the mouse indexes from /dev/inputs/mouse(x), the trackball was 0 and the spinner was 1, to get the spinner to work in a game, I had to go into the retroarch menu and set the mouse index to 2.

But I believe that the retroarch config is for all games, and not specific ones. I then read that I could override that by adding a file in the /configs/all/retroarch/config/MAME 2003/tron.cfg.
In there I put in
input_player1_mouse_index = "2"

But that didn't work either. But at least by using the mouse index of 2, I can get it somewhat working.

This video got me pretty far, even though he is using Mame 2010:

I'm going to try the suggestions for mame2003plus

[YFZdude]

@corminos said in Using spinner and trackball on Pi4 mame2003:

But I believe that the retroarch config is for all games, and not specific ones. I then read that I could override that by adding a file in the /configs/all/retroarch/config/MAME 2003/tron.cfg.

I've usually found that the best way to create the overrides (or remaps depending on which you need) is to use the RetroArch menu to save the override/remap file. It will place it and name it correctly for you.

I think for controls changes you probably need to save a game remap file rather than a game override file. Both overrides and remaps can be create per "core" or per ROM. In this case "core" would refer to the system (MAME, NES, Atari, etc.)

https://retropie.org.uk/docs/RetroArch-Configuration/#core-input-remapping
This should be helpful but the instructions are for core rather than game remap. Adjust accordingly.

[Chupachups]

@corminos said in Using spinner and trackball on Pi4 mame2003:

...using the mouse indexes from /dev/inputs/mouse(x), the trackball was 0 and the spinner was 1....

I think is practically the device number

... to get the spinner to work in a game, I had to go into the retroarch menu and set the mouse index to 2....

I think is the axis number (if you have 3 mouse connected, you have 6 axis avaiable, from 0 to 5)

I am also interested in saving the correct mouse index for each mame2003 game.
But with override/mapping for game/core it's not very simple for noobs. For a game in lr-Flycast I was saving configuration in every way and every time time was always different from what I wanted!

I'll retry with YFZdude advice (although i don't know if remap game file also saves reatroarch mouse index number)

[Chupachups]

I have try with Quick Menu>Option and Quick menu>controls to create "game option file" and also save "remap game file" , without success.
I try 2 games, one with index mouse 4 (my mouse-whell) and one with index mouse 6 (my trackball).
Index mouse number not saved for each game. :(

However the index mouse number isn't in quick option menu (only other controls for each player=buttons).

I must set it every time i close one and launch the other.

PS: in quick menu>option there is the option for share the 2 axes of a mouse and create 2 spinners with just ONE usb mouse (and use mouse index 0 for player1 and mouse index 1 for player2)

[YFZdude]

@chupachups
I could not remember which of the two screens contained the mouse axis. I think my suggestion for remaps would only apply to items in the Quick Menu -> Controls. Since the mouse axis isn't in there it must be the override that is supposed to save it.

I think there have been reports of some settings not saving correctly as expected. I read someone was able to save settings by opening the retroarch menu from within Emulation Station and therefore no ROM was loaded. Might be worth a try if you haven't already.

EDIT: I can confirm that neither overrides nor remaps will save a mouse index setting for me either.