8BitDo M30 6-button gamepad coexisting with SF30 Pro 8BitDo SN30 Pro+?

Cats Godot

Hello,

I've dug around to get this to work, but maybe it doesn't.

I have a SF30 Pro 8BitDo SN30 Pro+ controller that I do almost all my gaming on with my RetroPie. I recently purchased a 8BitDo M30 6-button Gamepad for the MasterDrive system, for games that use/require 6 buttons.

I've been able to configure the M30 in EmulationStation, then map the buttons in the Retroarch menu (launch game, Hotbutton+Y) and save the mapping to content directory remap for the masterdrive.

However, when I switch controls, the button mapping on the SF30 Pro 8BitDo SN30 Pro+ controller is all messed up. I can change the controller mappings again to work with the SN30, but then the M30 doesn't work.

Is it possible to have controllers existing like this?

Hardware:
RaspPi 5 using (I think) SD Image provided by this website, version 4.8.8
From the login text:
Linux 6.6.31+rpt-rpi-v8 aarch64 GNU/Linux

Thanks!

mitu

Normally, if your remap is only for the mastersystem (masterdrive ?), it shouldn't affect the mapping of the Pro+ controller when a game is started on another system.

There's a patch for RetroArch (here) that will solve this kind of situations by separating remaps by controller, but it's not yet approved/included in RetroArch.

RaspPi 5 using (I think) SD Image provided by this website, version 4.8.8

we don't have such an image - how exactly did you install RetroPie ?

Cats Godot

@mitu said in 8BitDo M30 6-button gamepad coexisting with SF30 Pro 8BitDo SN30 Pro+?:

Normally, if your remap is only for the mastersystem (masterdrive ?), it shouldn't affect the mapping of the Pro+ controller when a game is started on another system.

Ah, sorry....I just refer to it as Genesis, so it's a little weird to refer to it as masterdrive. You are correct.

And the issue is that it carries over the mappings and applies it to both controllers. So if I mapped A to B for the M30, it might be correct; but A might need to be mapped to A on the SN30. The only way that I know of so far is to remap the controls each time I want to use the M30, or, say, if I want to play Mortal Kombat 3, I must use the M30 and not the SN30 (by saving the mappings specifically to MK3, not the masterdrive as a whole).

RaspPi 5 using (I think) SD Image provided by this website, version 4.8.8
we don't have such an image - how exactly did you install RetroPie ?

I'm trying to remember-bear with me, sorry--I think it was using Raspberry Pi Imager, Raspberry Pi OS Lite 64-bit. I thought I downloaded the then-current image (I set up the RaspPi 5 a few months ago) and installed it, but now that I'm retracing my steps, that doesn't seem to make sense. I think I ran the directions in https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Manual-Installation/ and have updated the system since then.

My version is wrong, as I was using retropie_setup.sh to get the version. I thought it might be the version of the script, but when I saw that 4.8 is the current version, I figured it was referring to RetroPie as a whole, since I recently updated my system and 4.8 was released in March. Apologies if I was wrong.

mitu

@Cats-Godot said in 8BitDo M30 6-button gamepad coexisting with SF30 Pro 8BitDo SN30 Pro+?:

Ah, sorry....I just refer to it as Genesis, so it's a little weird to refer to it as masterdrive. You are correct.

That's Megadrive.

Can you get a verbose log from starting the game with the Pro controller that shows the remap loading ? Normally the remap shouldn't be loaded if a game is started outside of the genesis/megadrive folder.

Post the log on pastebin.com and provide the link.

Cats Godot

This post is deleted!

Cats Godot

@mitu Sorry for the delay. Long story short, I'm going through a lot of serious health issues. This is also why I kept getting the names for the Sony Megadrive (and, yes, that is what it is) incorrect.

I may need some additional information on how to be complete in giving the log you require. For the current setup:

-Only the Pro is connected (via BT) to the RP5.
-The controls for EmulationStation are mapped properly to the control; that is, A->A, B->B, X->X, Right Shoulder->Right Shoulder, etc.
-The Pro works as expected under other cores; that is, press A while using the NES core behaves as if I had pressed A on an original NES controller. Same with SNES.
-I launched Golden Axe. What I would want for the Pro controller is that A on the controller maps to C in-game; X and/or B maps to B; and Y maps to A.
-If I do not re-assign the mapping in-game (Hot Button+X), these map (IIRC).
-As it stands right now, I changed the in-game mapping to match the M30. Screenshot attached. (Sorry, from iPhone, best I could do)
-Now, on the Pro, controller A maps to B in-game; B to A, Y to X (which is not supported in Golden Axe and most Sega games), and in-game C to the right shoulder

I've attached the log as you've asked, with, again, just the Pro controller attached. However, the real question is: is there way to support both controllers, so that I don't have to re-map every time I want to change controllers?

Log: https://pastebin.com/ZXH8Mqas
Screenshot: https://imgur.com/a/JXsVh8W

Ristul

Try using different "modes" on the two controllers.

If I remember correctly, there is a toggle on the back of the controller to change mode, there are 4 modes, Switch, Android, D-input and X-input. Chose one input mode for one of the controllers and another for the second controller and you should have no issues. Hope it helps!

Cats Godot

@Ristul For what it's worth, I did that already with the Sega Controller. (One mode....XInput? Is not advised, as RetroPie doesn't pick up on some of the buttons, so they're functionally useless). But thank you!

I believe the problem is that "Auto Gamepad" is being picked up for both controllers. I found that if I change the settings (and, pardon me, I'm going by memory) for 6-button Gamepad, the Auto Gamepad also changes (and persists). If I can have a setting that I remap for the Sega Controller, which does not carry into the Auto Gamepad settings, this would resolve this whole matter.

mitu

@Cats-Godot said in 8BitDo M30 6-button gamepad coexisting with SF30 Pro 8BitDo SN30 Pro+?:

However, the real question is: is there way to support both controllers, so that I don't have to re-map every time I want to change controllers?

At the moment, no. RetroArch will apply the remap for the P1 controller regardless of what controller model is connected. My impression was that the M30 remap for the megadrive/genesis system was 'spreading' to other system, hence my request for the detailed log.

As I said in my first reply, with this patch it will be possible in the next RetroArch version to apply the remaps only for the controller where they have been saved, so if you connect the Pro then the remapping for the M30 will not be applied (and vice-versa). At the moment, though, this next version is not yet released to be included in RetroPie.

Cats Godot

@mitu Cool, thank you for looking into this, and I look forward to the release that will resolve this!