RetroPad Button 2 not working (many cores - 7800, NES, SNES)

RetroArch Windows devices
#1

I’m using RetroArch 1.20 for Windows, and all the cores I’ve tried so far run the games fine, and button 1 (typically jump, shoot) works perfectly.

However when I try to use Settings -> Input -> RetroPad Binds -> Port 1 Controls, to remap keyboard input for any other button (sometimes called “2”, “Turbo A”, “Turbo B”, etc), the action for those buttons is broken.

For example, when running 1943 on NES (nestopia_libretro.dll 1.53.1) I get random actions from all 4 NES retropad inputs, such as shooting, doing a bomb, doing a loop, etc, and the gameplay skips ahead a few seconds. Holding down the button just spams random button actions and accelerates the game time.

The same thing happens for SNES (snes9x_libretro.dll - 1.63) and 7800 (prosystem_libretro.dll) on all games I’ve tried. Key 1 always works perfectly, but all other RetroPad buttons spam random actions and accelerate the game clock.

I doubt this could be a problem with all of the cores, so I’m wondering if anyone recognizes this symptom and can suggest some RetroArch settings? Or is there another way for me to customize my keyboard mappings for each core without using RetroPad?

#2

Thing is: you’re already using the RetroPad concept; it’s an imaginary gamepad to which you map your keyboard keys or controller buttons. Most of time, the core won’t even see your keyboard, just the fictional RetroPad that is operated by it.

Using Settings > Input > RetroPad Binds, you’re configuring your RetroPad. Since you’re using a keyboard, that option lets you assign a key for an imaginary button. Normally, you only change it once, if you don’t like RetroArch’s default mapping through the automatic configuration. Don’t keep changing things there if you don’t fully understand it, or it might clash with the default hotkeys (possible reason of the issue #1). To do a clean test, restore all the binds to default values.

Now, for the games: each time you load a core and a content, there will be a new menu called “Quick Menu”. Inside it, you’ll find several options related to the core and the game you’re running. It’s there you change the controls for each title (Quick Menu > Controls); afterwards, you can save your changes per game, directory or the core itself. Also, into the “Controls” submenu, make sure there are not multiple actions assigned to a single RetroPad button (possible reason of the issue #2). Again, to do a clean test, restore all the binds to default values.

#3

if pressing a single button is doing a bunch of stuff and/or triggering hotkey events, there’s likely some software outside of RetroArch that’s intercepting gamepad events and triggering keyboard events. Steam’s input layer is a common culprit.

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