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    [SOLVED] how can I get the connected joypad names?

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Ideas and Development
    retroarchcontrollerinput
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    • meleuM
      meleu @Rion
      last edited by

      @Rion said in how can I get the connected joypad names?:

      I have the same problem sort of.

      I have two 8bitdo controllers, SFC30 & NES30.

      I want to have the NES30 as player 1 and SFC30 as player 2.

      This works 5 out of 10 times if I do it in this order. Start SFC30 first then NES30.
      But the other 5 times retroarch decide SFC30 is Player 1 and Player 2 is NES30.

      So an emulator specific change for what controller is p1 & p2 would be the best solution using the run command.

      Something like a joystick/gamepad hierarchy.

      Example:
      NES30 is always p1 if it's connected.
      SFC30 is always p2 if it's connected & Nes30 is connected.
      Nes30 is off = SFC30 is p1.

      @herb_fargus was talking about something like this as part of the Retropie Setup in this thread usb-controller-player-order

      As a workaround you can change this all on-the-fly inside RetroArch. Go to the RGUI (Select+X), Settings -> Input -> Input User X Binds -> User X Device Index.

      Be aware that the change is done immediately! It's a really weird behavior. If you change this field on RGUI using a controller, this same controler stops to control the RGUI and the chosen controller at the "User X Device Index" takes its place!

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
      • RionR
        Rion
        last edited by

        @meleu

        I think I will hold off on that until you made some progress on the run command script.

        But thank you for pointing it out for me :)

        FBNeo rom filtering
        Mame2003 Arcade Bezels
        Fba Arcade Bezels
        Fba NeoGeo Bezels

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
        • meleuM
          meleu @Zigurana
          last edited by meleu

          @Zigurana You are amazing!!! :D

          You pointed me out that SDL stuff and I did my research on that topic.

          I can't play with C++ but I can remember my teenager hacking days with C language!

          I wrote this small program to get the joystick names and indexes:

          /* jslist.c
           * This little program just list the joysticks connected to the system.
           * The ouput format is "index:JoystickName".
           */
          
          #include <stdio.h>
          #include "SDL.h"
          
          int main(void) {
          	int num_joy, i;
          
          	SDL_Init(SDL_INIT_JOYSTICK);
          
          	num_joy = SDL_NumJoysticks();
          
          	for(i = 0; i < num_joy; i++)
          		printf("%d:%s\n", i, SDL_JoystickNameForIndex(i));
          
          	SDL_Quit();
          	return 0;
          }
          

          The command to compile this code (as pointed in SDL Wiki):
          gcc jslist.c -o jslist $(sdl2-config --cflags --libs)

          This was my first step. The jslist needs some little improvements to avoid problems with controllers with the same name. It's easy to solve, but I will work on that later. Now I have to play with my children! :D

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
          • Z
            Zigurana
            last edited by

            Good work! interested to see where this ends!
            Have fun with the little ones!

            If tetris has thought me anything, it's that errors pile up and that accomplishments dissappear.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
            • meleuM
              meleu
              last edited by meleu

              This post is deleted!
              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • meleuM
                meleu
                last edited by

                Hey guys! I think I did it! Or, at least, started it!

                Let's talk about it at a proper thread:
                https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/1167/here-is-a-way-to-select-input-for-retroarch-players-1-4

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • BuZzB
                  BuZz administrators
                  last edited by

                  from shell

                  for js in /dev/input/js*; do path=$(udevadm info --name=$js | grep DEVPATH | cut -d= -f2); name=$(</$(dirname sys$path)/name); echo $name; done
                  

                  To help us help you - please make sure you read the sticky topics before posting - https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

                  meleuM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • meleuM
                    meleu @BuZz
                    last edited by meleu

                    @BuZz said in [SOLVED] how can I get the connected joypad names?:

                    from shell

                    for js in /dev/input/js*; do path=$(udevadm info --name=$js | grep DEVPATH | cut -d= -f2); name=$(</$(dirname sys$path)/name); echo $name; done
                    

                    pretty awesome! :)

                    It perfectly answer the topic question. But another problem arises for my application...

                    The problem is how to find out the proper SDL2/RetroArch index. The SDL2 gives to my jslist.c the correct index, and it doesn't always happen to be the same number after the /dev/input/js.

                    Example: I have 3 usb controllers (as js0, js1 and js2) and one bluetooth controller as js3. The js-RetroArch equivalence is:
                    js0 = 0
                    js1 = 1
                    js2 = 2
                    js3 = 3

                    Then I unplug the second usb controller. Now the the relation is:
                    js0 = 0
                    js2 = 1
                    js3 = 2

                    I think it's hard to find the proper index with "pure" shell script.

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • BuZzB
                      BuZz administrators
                      last edited by

                      thats ok, you just go through them and increment the index in the loop.

                      To help us help you - please make sure you read the sticky topics before posting - https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • BuZzB
                        BuZz administrators
                        last edited by BuZz

                        i=0; for dev in $(find /dev/input -name "js*" | sort); do path=$(udevadm info --name=$dev | grep DEVPATH | cut -d= -f2); name=$(</$(dirname sys$path)/name); echo $dev $i $name; ((i++)); done

                        /dev/input/js0 0 USB,2-axis 8-button gamepad
                        /dev/input/js1 1 8Bitdo SFC30 GamePad Joystick
                        

                        then unplugging the USB

                        /dev/input/js1 0 8Bitdo SFC30 GamePad Joystick
                        

                        (switched to find to avoid an error if no joysticks connected, but just for this quick one line example)

                        To help us help you - please make sure you read the sticky topics before posting - https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

                        meleuM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • meleuM
                          meleu @BuZz
                          last edited by meleu

                          @BuZz
                          Initially I was excited with this solution and went for the tests...

                          Then I realized that the SDL algorithm index assignment isn't that simple...

                          The scenario: 4 usb joysticks (js0, js1, js2 and js3) and one bluetooth controller (js4). And then I disconnected the 1st and 2nd usb joysticks (js0 and js1), and the bluetooth controller also. Several minutes later I reconnected the bluetooth controller and it took the js0 "slot". Look at the output differences:

                          [prompt]$ jslist 
                          0:Twin USB Joystick
                          1:Twin USB Joystick
                          2:8Bitdo Zero GamePad
                          [prompt]$ bash buzz-jslist.sh
                          /dev/input/js0 0 8Bitdo Zero GamePad
                          /dev/input/js2 1 Twin USB Joystick
                          /dev/input/js3 2 Twin USB Joystick
                          
                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • meleuM
                            meleu
                            last edited by

                            I think my current dilema is: C or Python?

                            The C solution is great because the SDL2 is installed by default in RetroPie. The only doubt I have is "where to put the binary?". Maybe /opt/retropie/supplementary?

                            The Python solution requires the installation of python-pygame. It means 15.2 MB of additional disk space just to list the available joysticks.

                            For the moment I think the C approach is the winner.

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • meleuM
                              meleu
                              last edited by meleu

                              Hey @BuZz , I've just realized that your method can be used to let the user choose which controller to use in runcommand.
                              I saw this line in runcommand.sh and it seems to always get the first /dev/input/js*.
                              (no need for that sermon about your priorities. :-) It's just an enhancement idea, ok...)

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote -2
                              • BuZzB
                                BuZz administrators
                                last edited by

                                The smiley doesn't make that line funny.

                                To help us help you - please make sure you read the sticky topics before posting - https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

                                meleuM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • meleuM
                                  meleu @BuZz
                                  last edited by

                                  @BuZz it represents the effect, not the cause

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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