Controller as a Mouse

[Skeeter]

I have a 8bitdo SN30 Pro (wired) that I've been using on my MiSTer setup. I had it set up for using as a primitive mouse on some of the computer cores and it worked well enough that I could get by without connecting a real USB mouse. For some reason it's now stopped working as a mouse, still works great for playing games. I've went back in the main menu and remapped the controls but it still doesn't work as a mouse even though I've set it up just as before.

Does anyone have any ideas what's causing this? The USB mouse still works but I like the controller option for basic desktop navigation. Thanks.

[YLFAndy]

This is probably silly, but is the controller in X-input mode? It's pretty easy to accidentally enable Switch mode.

Again, probably not the case, but worth checking.

[Skeeter]

I don't think there is any way to switch modes on this controller. It's the wired version, not the bluetooth/wired version, and I haven't been able to switch modes at all by any means of button presses.

One thing I noticed when it was working I would see a pop up in the top left corner of the screen that said "mouse mode on/off". I don't see that now and I don't see anything in the MiSTer.ini regarding mouse mode.

Ah well, it's not a deal breaker. The controller still works great for everything else, it was just nice using it to navigate the desktop for things like Amiga, Atari ST, and Win95 in the ao486 core without the need for a real mouse.

[YLFAndy]

Ah, per: https://download.8bitdo.com/Manual/Cont ... ro-USB.pdf they have modes, but they activate over USB. I couldn't find the manual so I was just going on the 'features' list on the website. But yeah, shouldn't impact it, for sure. I was hoping this thing had some other secrets, but sadly it's very straight forward.
Did you do any updates at all? Main, etc?

[Skeeter]

Thanks Andy. Yeah, that's the manual and controller I have. And as you can see there's no way to switch modes unless you plug it into a different device which I haven't done. I got it just for the MiSTer and I've only had them both a short time. That said, after this "mouse" problem started I did plug it into my PC just to see what it would do and Windows recognized it fine. But this was only after the mouse mode quit working on the MiSTer.

I run the update_all script almost on a daily basis to keep things current. I had updated earlier that day and it was still working fine.

I had been using it on the Amiga core and switched over to the ao486 w/win95 when I noticed the controller as a mouse wasn't functioning. Switching back to the Amiga it wasn't working there either. Rebooted the MiSTer, remapped the controller, and even deleted the .map file in config/inputs and started over with no luck. The only thing I haven't tried is a new SD card.

I'm at a loss at this point. No matter what I try I can't get that "mouse mode" happening anymore. The controller still works great for everything else, the dual sticks in Robotron are pretty sweet and it sure beats dragging out my TankStick for that. I've just resigned myself to using a real mouse for those times I need one.

[YLFAndy]

The next troubleshooting step then, IMO, would be to grab a Main release from before last week, when a bunch of changes were made. Rename your current to MiSTer_back or something and throw MiSTer_20200907 in the folder as MiSTer. Note, this will cause instability with the new ao486 core likely so I'd just quickly check if it works in Amiga, then set everything back after, and if it does work, bug it on the Linux forum. I'll check as well today, wired and BT.


UPDATE:
No luck using older MiSTer main either. It maps fine, but I get no mouse in-core for Minimig unless an actual mouse is attached. I've swapped player assignment, removed all custom minimig mapping, etc. It works in Apple//e fine, but I think that uses analog flight stick input, not the "Mouse" input from the MiSTer config.

[Skeeter]

Yeah, I gave up for now and just use a USB mouse for when I need one. The controller as a mouse isn't nearly as good as the real thing anyway, it was just a nice convenience to have.

Also, this didn't happen right after I ran an update. I had updated earlier but it was still working. It just kinda quit on it's own, heh.

Thanks for your help though, it's appreciated.

[YLFAndy]

Yeah, convenience is sometimes the best option, when it's available anyway. I was testing with an Xbox One controller over USB and had the chat keyboard attached at first. I removed it for testing, but when I was done, i put it back on juuuuust to see if it worked. Sadly, it did not. If it had, that would have been a convenient-but-not-great solution as well (doubly so if stick-as-mouse worked!).

[telengard]

I'm trying to do the same thing w/ my 8BitDo, how exactly can you map the mouse to an analog stick (and the mouse buttons to controller buttons)?

There doesn't seem to be a per core option for this (at least I don't see it in the Amiga core), and I had done the remap in the main MiSTer settings and when it came to the mouse options I used my controller and it continued through, but that stick isn't controlling the mouse in the Amiga core.

I'm missing something simple here...

[FoxbatStargazer]

Far as I know after mapping literally everything in the core menu, by default you have to hold down the defined mouse EMU button while using other defined mouse buttons to control the mouse in a core. I think there's some way to toggle mouse emulation on (emu+menu?) so that you don't have to keep the EMU button held down, but don't recall.

[cyberruss]

Working perfectly with sn30pro with latest Mister as long as you define the sniper button which must be held down to use the mouse (analog stick).

Hope this helps.

[rsn8887]

You can also press sniper+menu once which switches to permanent mouse mode. Then you don’t have to keep the sniper button pressed to use the analog stick mouse emulation.

See here: https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/Main_Mi ... -emulation

or here: https://youtu.be/8tGPDTcuDSE