RetroArch Multiple Controllers

[Peter Rumbles]

I have launchbox in a custom made arcade cabinet with 2 joysticks always plugged in.  I also have 2 USB ports in the front, so that I can plug in another controller if it is better for certain games.  My desire is that when plugging in a controller into one of the USB ports (i.e. XBOX controller), that it would become player #1, and the 2 other joysticks would then become players #2 and #3.  I cannot figure out how to do this in retroarch.  You can find articles that suggest this is possible, but the articles seem to be for a version of RetroArch that I don't have because the options mentioned in RetroArch don't even exist in my version.  This is a little bit of a bummer, because these arcades previously were running Linux with RetroPie.  The custom-made version of RetroArch that comes with RetroPie has this feature out of the box and I used it frequently.  Is there anyway to do this with LaunchBox?

[Headrush69]

What version of Retroarch are you using?

What driver are you using for Controllers in Retroarch?

I have a similar set up but with more controllers and using the latest version of Retroarch and XInput for controllerdriver and Dinput for input driver in Retroarch, my Xbox controllers always jump to #1 and #2 unless I use some controller ordering tool like Tur Game-Controller Order or devreorder.

 

[Peter Rumbles]

I used LaunchBox to install Retroarch - it installed 1.10.2.  Retroarch is set to use Xinput for controller driver and Dinput for input driver... just like yours.  What is your setup in Settings->Input?  Did you ever change anything there - I originally did set up Port 1 and Port 2 and maybe that screwed things up.  I just tried with another PC and made sure I didn't touch anything in Settings->Input and it recognized my controller i just plugged in.  I'm gonna try re-installing retroarch and see if it fixes my issue.

[Peter Rumbles]

I re-installed retroarch to see if I could get it working.  The controller ordering is just not consistent in Retroarch (for Windows).  I got it working perfectly when plugging in an old controller (RumblePad).  It would be assigned to Port 1, and the built-in joysticks would move to Ports 2 and 3.  Unplugging would then move the built-in joysticks to ports 1 and 2.  However, as soon as I plug in a new controller (i.e. Playstation Dual Sense), it throws everything off.  I wonder why Retroarch doesn't have a controller ordering feature where you map controller types to different priority orders.  Or some other type of ordering priorities for the USB slots.  I have no idea why more people aren't asking this same question... it seems like a really common use-case, but maybe not.

[Headrush69]

3 hours ago, Peter Rumbles said:

 I wonder why Retroarch doesn't have a controller ordering feature where you map controller types to different priority orders.  Or some other type of ordering priorities for the USB slots.  I have no idea why more people aren't asking this same question... it seems like a really common use-case, but maybe not.

I believe their idea is that if you hot plug a device in you probably want to use that device and it makes it ready to run if you move it to the first device.

I would check out Tur Controller Order Utility. It has a daemon that actively makes sure controller stay in a set order. 

[faeran]

On 4/5/2022 at 3:37 PM, Peter Rumbles said:

I have launchbox in a custom made arcade cabinet with 2 joysticks always plugged in.  I also have 2 USB ports in the front, so that I can plug in another controller if it is better for certain games.  My desire is that when plugging in a controller into one of the USB ports (i.e. XBOX controller), that it would become player #1, and the 2 other joysticks would then become players #2 and #3.  I cannot figure out how to do this in retroarch.  You can find articles that suggest this is possible, but the articles seem to be for a version of RetroArch that I don't have because the options mentioned in RetroArch don't even exist in my version.  This is a little bit of a bummer, because these arcades previously were running Linux with RetroPie.  The custom-made version of RetroArch that comes with RetroPie has this feature out of the box and I used it frequently.  Is there anyway to do this with LaunchBox?

I think the reason people may not want this to happen is, imagine 2 people are using controller 1 and 2, and you plug in controller 3. In your scenario, you want the third controller to push the other 2 players off. If they were playing a game, all of a sudden player 3 takes over whatever player 1 was doing, and player 2 has been shoved out of the game.

In saying that, there are some third party utilities, like x360ce, where you can force a specific controller to always be a specific player. Which means, you could have multiple controllers that are always player 1, or player 2. You might find luck there.

[Peter Rumbles]

I just went with this solution: https://github.com/briankendall/devreorder.  Solved my issue.

[TBachVanWa]

Here's a good thread on how to run devreorder for those that come across this topic and need some more insight on how to get it to work:

It came from this reddit post

Use this, Devreorderhttps://github.com/briankendall/devreorder

Download and unzip where ever you want go to "\devreorder-master\release\x64" and take the dinput8.dll file, and copy that into the same directory that Retroarch.exe is in (devreorder will only effect the program this file is in)create the directory/folder "C:\ProgramData\devreorder" and copy the "devreorder.ini" file from "\devreorder-master\release" folder (the folder "ProgramData" is hidden by default)plug in all the controllers you use or want to use at some point and open "Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Devices and Printers", right click any controller and click "game controller settings". This will give you a list of all your controllers connect by wireless or USB

With your list on controllers now shown, open "devreorder.ini" in the "C:\ProgramData\devreorder", you can ignore and delete everything in that ini, because all you need to bother with is these two sections [order] ;order of controllers[hidden] ;controllers you want hidden from program Place your controllers as listed (case sensitive) in the order you want them to be in the [order] section of the ini file. if you don't want to hide any controllers you can leave [hidden] blank or delete it out right.

Example of my devreorder.ini I use in my Retro Box system

[order]

Pro Controller

Bluetooth XINPUT compatible input device

Wireless Gamepad

usb gamepad

Controller (Dinput)

Controller (XBOX 360 For Windows)

Controller (Xbox One For Windows)

Controller (ZD Game For Windows)

Core (Plus) Wired Controller

8BitDo SN30 Pro for Android

[hidden]

Mayflash Wiimote PC Adapter

Mayflash Wiimote PC Adapter

Mayflash Wiimote PC Adapter

Mayflash Wiimote PC Adapter

 

 

Edited December 29, 2022 by TBachVanWa