Standard Controller Help Thread

[Deathlike2]

Please keep the comments and question to generic help as this thread is not meant to be controller specific (if it is specific to one brand, that's ok).

1) Try tweaking joystick sensitivity in 1.50 or later. The default may make it difficult to produce a response for your controller.

2) If you have pairs of the same controller, there's chance that they both don't properly operate at the same time. It is common that computers today have front and back USB ports, so try plugging one controller in front and the other in back. This should improve detection.

3) Make sure the joystick test programs for whatever OS you are using registers the controllers properly in their test apps.

4) Pray someone improves the joystick detection code. - Please don't complain.

5) Try using (or not using) those joystick/gamepad-keyboard mapping software.

6) Do not plug in/out your joystick/gamepad while ZSNES is running.

[Madtsunami]

Also, remember to calibrate your controllers.

This is what I did to configure my wired 360 controller in Zsnes 1.51 and it would probably work with a sixaxis too...

[dfreer]

Don't even install jscalibrator in linux, as it has been known to cause controllers to not register the DPAD/Joystick Axis in emulators.

[elvisolswing]

I am a 58 yo newbie please forgive any mistakes. put my emu on a laptop w/windows 7 . i haven't played in a couple of years but have update it recently. I cannot get my usb saitek p220 controller to work . I set the keys and when i go to play, nothing happens, keyboard works. thank you

[Gamer's Creed]

My PS3 controller works fine with my N64 emulator and Team fortress 2. Why not here?

[Gil_Hamilton]

Because you play first-person shooters with a gamepad, making you a horrible creature undeserving of love.
Or possibly because ZSNES is a mess of quirky code, some of which is over a decade old.
Maybe even because the PS3 gamepad is a 14-axis'ed monstrosity that should never have been unleashed upon an unsuspecting world.

It's really hard to say.

[odditude]

My PS3 controller works fine with my N64 emulator and Team fortress 2. Why not here?

works perfectly fine for me.

[DrakeWolfe]

So, will my two six-axis controllers just not work at the same time, or is there some way to fix my problem? When I try to "set keys" in the input section of the options, it'll recognize and let me set the buttons for my first controller, but it won't work with my second. It tells me to select the button to use for up, I press up on the controller, and nothing happens. None of the buttons work, and I know the controller itself is working because when I unplug the first one it starts using it as my first controller. I'm using a laptop with one USB port, where I put a USB hub to give me 4 USB ports. Do those not work?

[Gil_Hamilton]

If I recall correctly, zsnes has issues with multiple identical gamepads. Sometimes.

[odditude]

do both pads show up properly in the OS? in Windows, check the Game Controllers control panel. also, make sure that they're configured properly in any helper software (e.g. DS3Tool).

[That_Guy]

I have a problem with my ibuffalo gamepad, Generally everything works fine except I can't press a button and a direction on the gamepad at the same time. To sum up my problem I can't run in donkey kong country. Is there anything that could help me with this on ZSNES?

[grinvader]

I have a problem with my ibuffalo gamepad

It may be related to that other thread. Try it out.

[Gil_Hamilton]

To sum up my problem I can't run in donkey kong country....

and quite a few other games.

Actually, there's a whole slew of things you can't do. Steering jumps is among them.

[XJoh_zzz]

I have two very basic gamepads. USB. Enough buttons and controllers to simulate a real SNES-controller. Problem is: only one works. I tried connecting both devices to different USB-ports. They both work, but not at the same time.

1) Try tweaking joystick sensitivity in 1.50 or later. The default may make it difficult to produce a response for your controller.
It's a 4-direction thingy.

2) If you have pairs of the same controller, there's chance that they both don't properly operate at the same time. It is common that computers today have front and back USB ports, so try plugging one controller in front and the other in back. This should improve detection.
I have only 3 USB-ports on my laptop.

3) Make sure the joystick test programs for whatever OS you are using registers the controllers properly in their test apps.
How?

4) Pray someone improves the joystick detection code. - Please don't complain.
I don't know what that means but I will not complain.

5) Try using (or not using) those joystick/gamepad-keyboard mapping software.
What's this?

6) Do not plug in/out your joystick/gamepad while ZSNES is running.

[odditude]

3) Make sure the joystick test programs for whatever OS you are using registers the controllers properly in their test apps.
How?

what OS? under Windows, use joy.cpl.

[Agozer]

5) Try using (or not using) those joystick/gamepad-keyboard mapping software.
What's this?

Software that maps keyboard keys to gamepad buttons, like Joy2Key and others. Often used in programs that do not have gamepad support built-in.

If you're running Windows, just make sure that gamepad is calibrated in Windows control Panel, and all gamepad buttons/sticks are properly regonized.

[emmabe90]

I figured it out! it's Zsnes, i was just having some issues and i went into options to play about with the settings, i unticked GFX Engines and suddenly it was letting me config the keys! i can see many of you also having issues suddenly, well there you go... try that and see if it works because it did for me.

[Tumics]

I'm having issues with setting up my SNES USB controller through zsnes. When I go to config->input, I click 'Keyboard/Gamepad' and then click 'Set Keys,' yet; when I try to make an input, nothing happens. I'll also not get any input when I press on the keyboard (as I discovered when I tried to use escape to leave the menu). I have the latest version of the emulator (1.51) and I am running this on Windows 8. The emulator runs fine except for the fact that I can't configure my controls. If it helps, I have also calibrated my controller through vJoy.

[odditude]

If it helps, I have also calibrated my controller through vJoy.

that's likely the source of the problem. disable vJoy and try again.

[Tumics]

If it helps, I have also calibrated my controller through vJoy.

that's likely the source of the problem. disable vJoy and try again.

I'm unsure how to go about disabling vJoy without removing the entire driver. If it helps, I am able to use my controller in another emulator called snes9x, but I still want to use zsnes because it is more familiar. Again, I cannot even configure keyboard controls for whatever reason so I don't think it is an issue with vJoy.

[odditude]

If it helps, I have also calibrated my controller through vJoy.

that's likely the source of the problem. disable vJoy and try again.

I'm unsure how to go about disabling vJoy without removing the entire driver. If it helps, I am able to use my controller in another emulator called snes9x, but I still want to use zsnes because it is more familiar. Again, I cannot even configure keyboard controls for whatever reason so I don't think it is an issue with vJoy.

that's precisely WHY i think it's an issue with vJoy. it's likely grabbing all of the input devices and targeting a higher level of DirectX than zsnes can interpret.