HELP!! SNES USB Controller Problems

i am semi-new to emulation, but here is as much info as i know

i have tried 3 different emulators:
zsnesw
Snes9XW_SE2_PPRO
snes9x

i bought 2 SNES controllers on eBay (first one, didn't work, so i tried another)

the first was an original controller, still in the box, made in 1997 (Nintendo logo on pad)

the second is from innovation (cannot find production date on it)

when i go to assign buttons to the pads in all emulators it will not work. the B button is the only one that even produces a response but all it does is randomly assign keys to various buttons. quite confusing. i don't understand it because i bought a USB NES controller to use for original NES games and have had no problems, worked first time, no drivers required.

i am not sure what the adapter im using is called but this is what it looks like

http://www.ztnetstore.com/images/wiisuperretroport1_large.jpg

also, yes the controllers do register in my device manager as a HID game controller

any help is appreciated! thanks

Sounds like it probably driver related. If the manufacturer can't provide a driver that supports direct input or whatever system the emulator recognises then use Joy2Key. It basically assigns keyboard key presses to each of your joypad inputs and you simply assign those keys in the emulator. So Joy2Key recognises each button you press on the joypad, converts the signal into a keypress and sends that to the emulator.

It means a bit of extra faffing about to set up but it will work.

i have followed the instructions for the joytokey however there is still a problem

the readme instructed me to try using the program in notepad and the same problem remains that only the B button is being recognized. however when i press b the text "abxy" comes up...seeing that i mapped the buttons to their corresponding letters, why would just pressing B be activating all 4 buttons? it does this in the control panel calibration as well...i cannot make sense of it

thank you for your quick response!

Any other suggestions? It would seem that the problem is either my computer or the adapter I am using...had anyone else had success with this adapter or should I try a Smartjoy or something?

Ok a few things...

randomly assign keys to various buttons

Click to expand...

- this maybe be the believer you see in snes9x. In order to assign a button you have to do one button, then close the window and go back in to assign another. A pain!! I know... but I think thats your problem there.. Now if you say none of the emulators are working do this..

first if you installed a driver you made a mistake. the snes2usb (normally smart joy) does not need drivers. But it may have done no harm installing them, personally I would suggest against that since they are HID complaint.

second go to control panel, then find the game controllers and when you open it up you should see the joystick in there. Double click on it and test all buttons. If you see one button light up two buttons on the screen its OK!!!

thirst test in snes9x the way I told you up above. Report back what what happens.


after reading your second post..

i have followed the instructions for the joytokey however there is still a problem

the readme instructed me to try using the program in notepad and the same problem remains that only the B button is being recognized. however when i press b the text "abxy" comes up...seeing that i mapped the buttons to their corresponding letters, why would just pressing B be activating all 4 buttons? it does this in the control panel calibration as well...i cannot make sense of it

thank you for your quick response!

Click to expand...

- If you get ""abxy"" each time it may be pressing multiple buttons thats normal. just unassign the b x and y keys. Now, if its random or the other buttons dont work and you installed a driver, that could be your problem. Otherwise yes its the adapter. The smart joy wont give you trouble I use them..

If the controller is activating all buttons when you hit 'B' then its either a cheap knock off controller or there's an issue with the contacts inside the case. Could be a bad bit of soldering is making multiple contacts. I would open it up and have a look. I would be 95% certain the controller is faulty though.

If the other original Snes pad you've got works with the same USB adapter then you know its the controller and not the adapter.

i think it is the adapter...as both the original SNES controller and the innovation one do not work and both perform the same way

by that i mean, the B button is the only button that can get a program to respond in any manner. when i press B in the control panel calibration it is saying that A, B, X, and Y are all being pressed...same when i try to map buttons with the emulator, only B does anything and all it does it assign a random value to that key...same for the joytokey experiment...only B is being recognized and even then it is not working its just B is the only button that will do anything

gotta be the adapter, right?

when i press B in the control panel calibration it is saying that A, B, X, and Y are all being pressed

Click to expand...

- bad adapter not joystick trust me I make them. Get a smart joy..

reelbigfish0123 said:

gotta be the adapter, right?

Click to expand...

Yep 100%. If it gives the same issue with two different controllers then its definitel the adapter. I would follow ulaolaos advice.

smartjoy has been ordered! thanks fellas for all the help

reelbigfish0123 said:

smartjoy has been ordered! thanks fellas for all the help

Click to expand...

For anyone who has this problem in the future, I had exactly the same one, and I was using a smartjoy with an original super nintendo controller. Only the B button was working on the controller.

After unplugging the controller and blowing on the smartjoy contacts, I plugged it back in and more of the buttons were working. I unplugged and plugged back in the controller a couple of times, and now all the buttons are working properly. So it seems like this was simply a problem with the contacts on the smartjoy adapter being corroded. Try unplugging and plugging it back in a few times, or try cleaning the contacts.

Hey all, first post, felt like sharing my experience on this.

Recently I have been setting up my RasperryPi after already having used various emulators for many years. As I want to have the right feel to the gaming, I got my old SNES controllers, a Mayflash adapter and started up my system.

The same that has been described above happened to me: One controller works fine, on the other one only the B button works. Tried various emulators, switched the controller-ports, did key-mapping with the functioning controller, then restarted the emulator with the controller that didnt't work... you name it, I tried every possibility that I could in order to figure out the flaw. I even got another controller from a friend (note: all original snes controllers, both ports of the adapter work with the good one) but to no avail, same problem.

So then it hit me (note: this refers to European controllers, the ones with the colourful buttons):

I don't know if any of you ever paid attention to the L and R triggers, but on some controllers the "L" and "R"are labelled in a dark grey (#1 in the following)

and on some they aren't marked by a distinguishable letter on the trigger (#2 in the following)

Long story short, the controllers that have the dark grey triggers (#1) don't work whereas the other ones (#2) do work. I have 1 of each and the controller I borrowed from the friend is a #1, too. I will borrow a second controller of #2 and update this post after I tested it, but I have a pretty solid feeling that it's gonna work with another #2 controller.

If I recall properly from my childhood, the #1 controllers were the "old" kind, the ones that came with the console and which were also sold separately around that time. After me and my brother smashed some pads beyond recognition in a fit of rage, the new controllers we would get were #2. This is underlined by a very different layout of the circuit board inside the controller (I opened them and checked/cleaned them with alcohol/cotton sticks).

So I guess that in the end the problem with the recognition of the controllers in the adapter is driver-based (as has been hinted at above), but now we know how to distinguish the working- and the non-working kind on European systems