MiSTer FPGA Forum

Hello everyone,
has anyone already managed to map their 8Bitdo keyboard for the C64 core or any other computer? All attempts have failed so far. Thanks in advance for the input! I am able to change one or the other button, but most of the letters are not available and there should be a way to change a .map file with a C64 layout.

I also have TheC64 which could theoretically be the keyboard for the Mister, but for now i wanna keep it as it is, it works fine.

Many thanks in advance for the input!

outatime wrote: ↑Mon Aug 26, 2024 10:18 am

Hello everyone,
has anyone already managed to map their 8Bitdo keyboard for the C64 core or any other computer? All attempts have failed so far. Thanks in advance for the input! I am able to change one or the other button, but most of the letters are not available and there should be a way to change a .map file with a C64 layout.

I also have TheC64 which could theoretically be the keyboard for the Mister, but for now i wanna keep it as it is, it works fine.

Many thanks in advance for the input!

I have the Famicom edition of this keyboard should be the same. What does not work exactly for you?

Hello and thank you for your fast response. I was a bit confused because you mentioned that your 8BitDo keyboard worked 'out of the box,' so I was wondering what I might have done wrong. I can remap existing letters to different keys, but when many letters are missing, that method doesn’t work. The function keys (F-buttons), numbers 0-9, ESC, Backspace, and Return all work, but the letter layout is mixed up and some letters are missing. My old Raspberry Pi keyboard worked out of the box — I could easily type commands like LOAD or RUN.

outatime wrote: ↑Mon Aug 26, 2024 11:19 am

Hello and thank you for your fast response. I was a bit confused because you mentioned that your 8BitDo keyboard worked 'out of the box,' so I was wondering what I might have done wrong. I can remap existing letters to different keys, but when many letters are missing, that method doesn’t work. The function keys (F-buttons), numbers 0-9, ESC, Backspace, and Return all work, but the letter layout is mixed up and some letters are missing. My old Raspberry Pi keyboard worked out of the box — I could easily type commands like LOAD or RUN.

Try deleting any remapping files on the MiSTer. The keyboard should work out of the box. You should be able to use it as any other PC keyboard.

Make sure you haven't set your keyboard to Dvorak.

I plugged in my former Raspberry Pi keyboard, and since it's a QWERTZ layout (German), it works fine. The 8BitDo keyboards, on the other hand, all seem to use the ANSI layout, and I think that's the issue. Where can I change the keyboard settings related to language or region?

outatime wrote: ↑Tue Aug 27, 2024 9:29 am

I plugged in my former Raspberry Pi keyboard, and since it's a QWERTZ layout (German), it works fine. The 8BitDo keyboards, on the other hand, all seem to use the ANSI layout, and I think that's the issue. Where can I change the keyboard settings related to language or region?

The 8bitdo Keyboard is using the Ansi layout by default. I never tried to change it on the MiSTer, as the C64 didn't had a QWERTZ layout. Can you point me exactly which key is not working as intended. I think I may have not fully understand the problem.

That's exactly what puzzled me as well. However, I got my Mister from Europe, specifically Portugal. It’s possible that a different standard keyboard layout is pre-set there. My inexpensive Raspberry Pi keyboard with German umlauts, as well as 80% of the keys, works as it should. That means at least all the numbers, letters, F-keys, space, return, and the most important special characters function correctly. The new 8BitDo, on the other hand, comes with the American keyboard layout by default, and all the letters are mixed up, some are double-mapped, and half of them aren't even available. I haven't been able to find a setting that allows switching to other keyboard layouts, like Keyboard_US or Keyboard_UK.

outatime wrote: ↑Tue Aug 27, 2024 12:38 pm

That's exactly what puzzled me as well. However, I got my Mister from Europe, specifically Portugal. It’s possible that a different standard keyboard layout is pre-set there. My inexpensive Raspberry Pi keyboard with German umlauts, as well as 80% of the keys, works as it should. That means at least all the numbers, letters, F-keys, space, return, and the most important special characters function correctly. The new 8BitDo, on the other hand, comes with the American keyboard layout by default, and all the letters are mixed up, some are double-mapped, and half of them aren't even available. I haven't been able to find a setting that allows switching to other keyboard layouts, like Keyboard_US or Keyboard_UK.

I don't think that the keyboard layout is set up different on your MiSTer then anywhere else. Have you tried the keyboard on your PC, can you confirm it works there? Is this only affecting the C64 core? I never experienced any problems, so my guess is the remap file that you made is somhow not working. Can you try a different core?

Yes, the „wrong“ typeset is on every core the same. On my Mac or pc it works fine. I did not change any .map file in the mister config folder, as I don’t know how it works. At the same time the QWERTZ layout works fine. Maybe I have to check another 8bitdo keyboard to compare.

Update: I connected both keyboards to the MiSTer at the same time. When I remapped a key on one keyboard, the 8Bitdo keyboard ended up with the correct mapping, while the other one now has the wrong layout. This leads me to conclude that there must be a file in the config folder that needs to be deleted. Clearing the keyboard settings via the OSD alone is not sufficient.

outatime wrote: ↑Tue Aug 27, 2024 3:15 pm

Yes, the „wrong“ typeset is on every core the same. On my Mac or pc it works fine. I did not change any .map file in the mister config folder, as I don’t know how it works. At the same time the QWERTZ layout works fine. Maybe I have to check another 8bitdo keyboard to compare.

Update: I connected both keyboards to the MiSTer at the same time. When I remapped a key on one keyboard, the 8Bitdo keyboard ended up with the correct mapping, while the other one now has the wrong layout. This leads me to conclude that there must be a file in the config folder that needs to be deleted. Clearing the keyboard settings via the OSD alone is not sufficient.

I never used the mapping function, from what I see you should have a mapping file for the different keyboards in the config folder, it should be named:
/config/kbd[VID][PID].map

VID and PID are the IDs of your keyboard.

Can I delete them so that it creates a new file?

outatime wrote: ↑Tue Aug 27, 2024 7:41 pm

Can I delete them so that it creates a new file?

Yes

Thank you, i deleted my old settings now. I remember i could map the F-Buttons with some shortcuts or the OSD menu, too. But i forgot how to do it with this new keyboard.