Nintendo Nes Usb Gamepad not reconigzed on Linux mint 20
redman Jan 25, 2023
Hi! I bought two controllers a couple of years ago link and I was never able to make them work on linux. On Windows they are plug and play, but on linux they go unseen.

I'm using fceux and I try retroarch with no avail (And I didn't like it at all, so many steps just to load a game)

Is there any library that I'm missing ? Or a driver (the kernel supposedly have them all) ?

Any clue on where I can look to fix this ?

Regards
whizse Jan 25, 2023
I assume this isn't just a problem specific with fceux and you've tried the joysticks with things like jstest-gtk or evtest?

If so, you need to gather more information. Running "dmesg" in a terminal is a good first step.

The last, most recent, log messages are the ones you're after. You might want to run the command before and after plugging in the controller to figure out what is relevant.

Output should look something like this (Example from plugging in a DS4 controller):
[Wed Jan 25 21:25:55 2023] usb 1-1: new full-speed USB device number 18 using xhci_hcd
[Wed Jan 25 21:25:55 2023] usb 1-1: New USB device found, idVendor=054c, idProduct=09cc, bcdDevice= 1.00
[Wed Jan 25 21:25:55 2023] usb 1-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
[Wed Jan 25 21:25:55 2023] usb 1-1: Product: Wireless Controller
[Wed Jan 25 21:25:55 2023] usb 1-1: Manufacturer: Sony Interactive Entertainment
[Wed Jan 25 21:25:55 2023] input: Sony Interactive Entertainment Wireless Controller Touchpad as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb1/1-1/1-1:1.3/0003:054C:09CC.0012/input/input63
[Wed Jan 25 21:25:55 2023] input: Sony Interactive Entertainment Wireless Controller Motion Sensors as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb1/1-1/1-1:1.3/0003:054C:09CC.0012/input/input64
[Wed Jan 25 21:25:55 2023] usbcore: registered new interface driver snd-usb-audio
[Wed Jan 25 21:25:55 2023] input: Sony Interactive Entertainment Wireless Controller as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb1/1-1/1-1:1.3/0003:054C:09CC.0012/input/input62
[Wed Jan 25 21:25:55 2023] sony 0003:054C:09CC.0012: input,hidraw2: USB HID v81.11 Gamepad [Sony Interactive Entertainment Wireless Controller] on usb-0000:00:14.0-1/input3
redman Jan 26, 2023
Hi @whizse !

Quotediff pre-nes.txt pos-nes.txt
1159a1160,1168
> [ 582.627757] usb 1-4: new low-speed USB device number 5 using xhci_hcd
> [ 582.780114] usb 1-4: New USB device found, idVendor=0079, idProduct=0011, bcdDevice= 1.06
> [ 582.780128] usb 1-4: New USB device strings: Mfr=0, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
> [ 582.780134] usb 1-4: Product: USB Gamepad
> [ 582.801872] hid: raw HID events driver (C) Jiri Kosina
> [ 582.806664] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbhid
> [ 582.806666] usbhid: USB HID core driver
> [ 582.816876] input: USB Gamepad as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb1/1-4/1-4:1.0/0003:0079:0011.0001/input/input17
> [ 582.817066] dragonrise 0003:0079:0011.0001: input,hidraw0: USB HID v1.10 Joystick [USB Gamepad ] on usb-0000:00:14.0-4/input0

The dmesg found it, and jstest-gtk also found it an is working in there. But I can't still play.
The problem then is the emulator... What is a good simple emulator to test it ?

Regards
whizse Jan 26, 2023
For NES? mednafen, nestopia, ares, probably quite a few others.

But I would be surprised if it wasn't possible to figure out why fceux doesn't find the controller. You might get better help if you create a new thread asking for help specifically for that emulator.
Pengling Jan 26, 2023
Just dropping in with a quick suggestion that has been successful before: Did this controller come with any documentation, and if so does it mention being able to hold a button-combination upon connection, in order to change what the controller presents itself as?

This can sometimes cause issues, in my experience - I've got a retro-style controller that can be switched between appearing as an Xbox 360 controller and not, and the latter simply won't get picked up on Linux.
redman Jan 30, 2023
Hi @whizse !

I'm trying emulators to see which one works better! Thanks for the help!

@Pengling is an old controller don't have all that! Thanks anyway!
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