Gamepad Config - Buttons not recognized - Pi Zero

christalclear

Hello there,

I was trying to set up a Retropie system as my vacation project and ran into the following issue.

When I start the system after the installation of retropie it asks me to configure my gamepad.

It detected all gamepads I plugged in.
I can hold down a button to start the configuration process.
But when I try to configure the buttons no button presses are recognized.

My system:
Pi Model or other hardware: (B, B+, 2 B, 3, X86 PC etc..)
Raspberry Pi Zero W
Power Supply used: (If using a Pi)
OTB-R07-0525 // 5V / 2.5A
RetroPie Version Used (eg 3.6, 3.8.1, 4.1 - do not write latest):
4.6
Built From: (Pre made SD Image on RetroPie website, Berryboot, or on top of existing OS etc.. - please provide the filename of any image used)
Retropie-buster-4.6-rpi1_zero
Downloaded from Retropie-Website on 30.07.2020
Used balenaEtcher to write the image on a Sandisk 64GB Micro SD-Card (FAT32)
USB Devices connected:
Amazon Basics USB 2.0 4-Port Ultra Mini Hub via Micro-USB-Adapter
Generic ASUS Keyboard
Controller used:
iNNEXT USB SNES Controller
PS4-Controller via USB-Cable
an old speedlink USB-Controller
Error messages received:
none
Guide used: (Mention if you followed a guide)
https://howchoo.com/g/mti0oge5nzk/pi-cart-a-raspberry-pi-retro-gaming-rig-in-an-nes-cartridge

What I tried already:

Switched the Power Supply to an Samsung Tablet Power Supply (5V / 2.0A)
--> nothing changed
Switched the SD-Card (first I tried a Sandisk 64GB MicroSD-Card which I formated to FAT32 using Mini Tool Partition Wizard Free; then I tried an older Sandisk 16 GB)
--> nothing changed
Switched the USB-Hub to a TUSITA 3-Port Charging OTG Host Cable Cord Adapter (Modelno. KR-AP-1 )
--> nothing changed
I ran "jstest"
--> the input of all controllers was recognized
I did a new installation using Raspberry Pi Imager
--> nothing changed

I tried everything I could think of.

I really hope someone can help me with my problem.

Thank you in advance!

mitu

If jstest works for a controller, it should be recognized and configured by EmulationStation also.
Exit EmulationStation (F4) and then run emulationstation --debug from the command line, then try to configure the gamepad. Post the resulting log file (from $HOME/.emulationstation/es_log.txt) to pastebin.com.

christalclear

@mitu
Thank you for your response :-)

I tried out what you asked.

I used the debug-command emulationstation --debug
Which resulted in a reboot of emulationstation
I pressed F4 to reenter the command line and used $HOME/.emulationstation/es_log.txt
and I got this response:
-bash: /home/pi/.emulationstation/es_log.txt: Permission denied

Could the missing permission be part of the issue?

mitu

@christalclear said in Gamepad Config - Buttons not recognized - Pi Zero:

Could the missing permission be part of the issue?

No, it's not a permissions issue - you're trying to execute a text file, which is not executable.

You need to open the file with a text editor to see its contents. The same file is accessible via file shares at \\retropie\configs\all\emulationstation. Open it with a text editor and post the contents on pastebin.com, then provide the link you get from the site here.

christalclear

I didnt know how to access it via file shares.

Therefore I had to view it via nano and use a picture-to-text-tool to convert it into text form.

I hope it will suffice.

https://pastebin.com/NuVLKtaW

mitu

Did you try to configure the gamepad in EmulationStation, after starting it with --debug ? I see the gamepad is detected:

	Feb 13 16:23:16 lulZ:	Added unconfigured joystick USD Gamepad (G111D: 03000000790000001100000010010000, instance ID: O dtuice ihdtx: 0)

christalclear

I dont think that I did

christalclear

I tried again.

This time it even recognized the first button.

https://imgur.com/a/0zhXKBB

But then there was no more response.

I couldnt even enter command line with F4.

mitu

My guess is that the USB hub disconnects during configuration. If you have Wi-Fi enabled, can you also enable SSH and try connecting to the system before you do the configuration, then run dmesg -w and look to see if any error messages appear on the screen during the configuration ?

christalclear

So I enabled WIFI and SSH and successfully connected with the Pi using WinSCP.

It needed to reboot three time because my keyboard was not recognized again.

I ran dmesg -w but there were no obvious error messages.

mitu

Can you run dmesg > $HOME/RetroPie/roms/dmesg.txt after booting and then browse to \\retropie\roms\ and post the dmesg.txt file's contents on pastebin.com ?

christalclear

I did what you asked.

https://pastebin.com/sD6DFUQD

mitu

Looking at the system log you posted, I don't see any errors. The hub is detected and so is the keyboard and the gamepad. There are no error or disconnects like I imagined.

christalclear

Gotta be honest... I dont know what to do next...

Could it be an issue with the Raspberry Pi Zero itself?

mitu

I don't think the Pi is faulty.
You could manually create the input configuration - based on the values reported by jstest - and adding it to \\retropie\configs\all\emulationstation\es_input.cfg.

Can you add the following lines to the file, before the last line with </inputList>:

<inputConfig type="joystick" deviceName="Sony Interactive Entertainment Wireless Controller" deviceGUID="030000004c050000cc09000011810000"
>
    <input name="rightanalogup" type="axis" id="4" value="-1"/>
    <input name="rightanalogdown" type="axis" id="4" value="1"/>
    <input name="rightanalogright" type="axis" id="3" value="1"/>
    <input name="rightanalogleft" type="axis" id="3" value="-1"/>
    <input name="pageup" type="button" id="4" value="1"/>
    <input name="pagedown" type="button" id="5" value="1"/>
    <input name="up" type="hat" id="0" value="1"/>
    <input name="left" type="hat" id="0" value="8"/>
    <input name="down" type="hat" id="0" value="4"/>
    <input name="right" type="hat" id="0" value="2"/>
    <input name="select" type="button" id="8" value="1"/>
    <input name="start" type="button" id="9" value="1"/>
    <input name="y" type="button" id="3" value="1"/>
    <input name="x" type="button" id="2" value="1"/>
    <input name="b" type="button" id="0" value="1"/>
    <input name="a" type="button" id="1" value="1"/>
    <input name="leftanalogdown" type="axis" id="1" value="1"/>
    <input name="leftanalogup" type="axis" id="1" value="-1"/>
    <input name="leftanalogright" type="axis" id="0" value="1"/>
    <input name="leftanalogleft" type="axis" id="0" value="-1"/>
  </inputConfig>

This should configure a PS4 Dualshock controller - see if, after adding these lines and restarting EmulationStation, your PS4 controller is recognized and functioning.

christalclear

I used WinSCP to SSH into the Pi.

I could not find the directory that you suggested.

Did I do something wrong?

mitu

The \\retropie\configs\all\emulationstation path is for using File Shares to access the Pi.
If you're using SSH/SCP, then the same folder can be accessed at $HOME/.emulationstation or at /opt/retropie/configs/all/emulationstation.

christalclear

I added the lines.

The es_input.cfg file looks now like this.

https://pastebin.com/KQ9dG59w

But the PS4-Controller is still not recognized after rebooting.

mitu

The file looks right, but I still can't pinpoint why this doesn't work.
Can you run again emulationstation --debug and then post the log (now with the new configuration file) ?

christalclear

Here is the new es_log.txt

https://pastebin.com/KCjthYzU

After running emulationstation --debug I tried to configure the PS4-Controller.

It recognized the first button press but after that I got a error message.

I recieved that message a couple of times now.

I already checked the gpu_split which seemed to be ok.
It was set to the same values as in the documentation.

gpu_mem_256=128
gpu_mem_512=256
gpu_mem_1024=256