How to Set Up Player 2 in RetroPie

How to set up player 2 in RetroPie using a single controller source. I am using an i-Pac 2 board, but this should work with any controller setup.

[@smbuckley]

I probably spent 20-30 hours trying all kinds of convoluted SDL direct mapping and config file editing before happening upon this wonderful video. Solved the problem in 5 minutes. Thank you so much for taking the time to record this quick video, my nephews had a great time playing with me this week!

[@kaidenconor6153]

I guess it's kind of off topic but does anyone know of a good website to stream newly released series online?

[@MotivatedResults]

You sire are a legend. I found so many videos that over complicated things. Fixed in your 4min video!

[@Azabeal]

Very well explained, and exately what above user says. Short and simple, ty.

[@kaskenova]

Awesome finally got it working thanks to your video!

[@JoeFalcon017077]

This helped me figure out some mapping issues between fba and mame that I couldn't get certain games to control right. Like everyone else has stated, you didn't over complicate it. Straight and to the point

[@jaysonwall5926]

I've been beating my head against the wall for weeks know trying to figure this out!! I built a 2 Player Retropie setup up using the Dragonrise usb boards. My issue is that my Player 2 controls were always off. Left was right and down was up, drove me crazy!!! I searched and searched and tried multiple things, nothing ever worked and was about to junk the whole project. Everyone else said it was an EmulationStation glitch, but no solution. You're the first person to set it up in RetroArch. Great Video!!!

[@thesavagedog28t61]

i HAD the SAME problem as you

[@SoCheezy32]

I went through quite a few forums and google searches, and finally, someone with an answer! This is awesome. Thank you very much! I needed this for the 20th Anniversary Ms Pacman/ Galaga rom and had to configure "this machine's" controls

[@ranmoorsi]

still a useful video 5 years on ... great work dude

[@sergeantkitty]

Sweet goodness, thank you for the SIMPLE explanation. I searched through many convoluted answers and wasted my whole evening pulling my hair out over this. Fixed in less than 4 minutes.

[@Beef_Strokinoff]

That's one hell of a fisheye my dude

[@cforcht]

not intuitive is spot on. your video helped me get my 2 player working, thanks a million.

[@tutumannyAQUE]

Thank you so much for this! I was looking for this for a long time!

[@er1cmaurer]

Geez, you made this super easy! Thank a million!

[@thesmleys5355]

You sir are a legend thanks and you've definitley gained a sub!

[@wlbear2570]

Hey thanks! Was trying to figure out how to get the damn thing to work 😂. 👍🏻

[@Scientists_dont_lie]

Thanx man. This really helps..

[@tipsytune]

You're awesome! Thank you very much

[@plasticsman10]

Thanks for the help, can finally play street fighter in 2 player now :-)

[@HAA.0]

Thx man you are da best

[@kahhuanyap6313]

Thanks for the video! May I know what does your "1" and "2" do?

[@yourex-wife4259]

This helped a lot. Is there any way that I can have the 2nd player joystick input for the 1st player in some games?? That way I can keep a 8way and 4way joystick most of the time. I tried putting joystick #2 for inputs listed for N/A under 'port 1' but it still isnt recognized in the mame menu.

[@danielterletzkiy132]

Awesome thanks man!

[@gerhardgiessl4999]

Hi! thanks for the tutorial. This was easy at the end but really hard to figure out without your help. I love your Arcade Box!!! Did you make it yourself? I would love to have one of those. Please tell me where you got it or how you made it.

[@lukeskyrunner3]

Thanks! Yes, I made the arcade myself. I actually have a time-lapse video of some of the building process on my channel if you want to check that out. Its not a terribly hard project, but definitely requires some time!

[@pixelatedicon6579]

Fixed, thank you

[@FlintG]

Hi, I am using the mayflash sega genesis to usb cable and I want to map the c button but not sure what to set it on. How do I set it up so that I can use all a b and c buttons on a 3 button pad?

[@Nigris2]

THANK YOU !!! ALOT !!! I was going f***g nuts :D!

[@ThomasGrillo]

How does one setup a trackball, and or spinner? Thanks.

[@ryan9990]

When I power on the Raspberry Pi with both controllers plugged in, player 1’s controller functions as the second player, plus the second controller is inactive and the hotkey doesn’t work at all. The only way my 2 player can work properly is if I power on the system with one controller plugged in, then plug in player 2 while the Pi is on. Is there any way to have a 2 player setup that doesn’t force me to plug the second controller every time I turn it on? I want to make my setup as conventional as possible.

[@michaelkara1238]

Legend.

[@MrDemonsushiGuy]

I'm using arcade joysticks and buttons that are recognized as a keyboard. When I assign my hotkey, it doesnt work when in game. I can choose the default start + select hotkey, but that doesnt open up the player 2 control menu shown in this video, it just kicks me back to the retroarch menu. Any ideas anyone?

[@jodeewalker1545]

still cant get my keyboard to work with street fighter 2, followed through the whole video and even made sure the keyboard worked with the pi in the first place by using it on the menu

[@gl1tch856]

Thanks bro!

[@ericgonzalez480]

THANK YOU SO MUCH

[@aurelienbesson]

Can you provide your retroarch.cfg ?

[@twitch.kaoslamb6477]

I’m trying to connect my ps4 controllers to my b+ I’ve connected all 4 but for some reason only 1 and 3 work do you know how to fix it

[@online_now6834]

can you show how to do this with just two nes controllers?

[@daakrolb]

Dude thank you! JUST what I needed for my 2 player bartop... I assume you have to do this procedure for each system?

[@lukeskyrunner3]

No problem, glad I could help! Yes, if I can remember correctly, you will have to do it for each system.

[@ektordeltoro5497]

can you know why in mame 2010 doesnt work? i cant figure out how to set the directions on 2 player

[@charliemakescartoons]

What's that sweet looking table? want and need!!!

[@rohanverma6058]

thanks so much

[@spymike8235]

Hi where do you get does button stickers?

[@Jekyll_Island_Creatures]

I'm trying to setup my PS4 controller as player 2 and it's beyond frustrating. I followed everything in the video, but it still doesn't work.

[@gsimatty]

Thanks 👍

[@izzy3166]

Hi. How can I email you a pic of my arcade cabinet’s control layout? I have raspberry pi 4.5 and need some help reconfiguring my buttons. I can’t even exit out of my games anymore.

[@neddyf00]

select+X doesn't work for me. Any other way to access this menu ? Finally F1 worked instead !

[@Cozz87]

Hi! I have a question: I have to set up retroarch input in EVERY emulator or just one time for all?

[@lukeskyrunner3]

Yes, you have to set up the retroarch input for every emulator. As long as you save it, you will only have to set it up once for each emulator.

[@Thiccsheep1]

Do I need to do this every time

[@ijsbrandsijtsema2476]

Do you have to do this for every game or just once and the machine will copy the settings for all of the games?

[@lukeskyrunner3]

You do not have to do it for every game, but you do have to do it for every emulator. So just once per emulator.

[@taylonjudd923]

Hey, where did you get the letter inserts for your buttons? or did you make them yourself.

[@lukeskyrunner3]

I made them in Adobe illustrator and then bought them down to a local print shop and had them cut out of vinyl. I couldn't find anything anywhere else.

[@Red8675309666]

@@lukeskyrunner3 yeah I've been looking and cannot find anything either. I'll have to follow what you did I suppose

[@TheChaosContained]

Does it span across all games or do you have to do it individually for each one?

[@lukeskyrunner3]

It should span across all games for a specific game system/emulator. You will have to do this for each system/emulator, but not each game.

[@henrytischbein155]

My player 2 controller works in emulation station but not in Roms. And when I configure player 2 player ones controls become opposite and vise versa any ideas thx

[@ecohen181]

What type of USB controllers are you using? If you have game pads plugged in then I’m not sure. If you are using a USB control board (in my case I use XinmoTek) there are specific requirements. You have to make sure that player 1 and player 2 buttons are plugged into the correct pins on the board (search for the pin schematic) make sure the pins match the button you plan to map (ex X pin matches X button, Y pin matches Y button, etc.). Player 2 must match player 1 exactly. I used the joystick test app in windows to test my buttons before putting it in my barcode. Finally only configure Player 1. Player 1 and 2 should now be working. If something is still off on player 2 rearrange the button connections to pins until it all works. You cannot adjust player 2 configurations in software.

[@henrytischbein155]

Ethan C I’m using 2 dragon rise usb joysticks

[@izanpretorius81]

I have two iPega bluetooth Controllers, they both control "Player1" in a two player scenario. What am i doing wrong?

[@lukeskyrunner3]

That is a good question. Assuming you are following the steps and mapping each controller separately to player 1 and player 2, it sounds like both the controllers are being understood by the pi as a single controller input source. Is it possible to connect two bluetooth devices to the pi at a time?

[@garystinten9339]

I have this same issue except I'm using dragonrise USB encoder boards.. Need a solution.

[@garystinten9339]

Using 2x dragonrise generic boards, which under retroarch 1.6.7, report as a dragonrise n64 encoder boards. I'm planning on getting a raspberry pi 3 and I hope this alleviates my issues.. Basically, I'm getting a conflict whereby player 1 is configured and I go to configure player 2, this overrides the player 1 buttons. Is there a little bit of code or a tweak I need to be using. Anyone, this is an open question..

[@emptylogic13]

I have the same issue.. you ever have a solution?

[@mrlplays1003]

When I'm playing Mario Bros if anyone presses left both Mario and Luigi move left. also Luigi's up makes Mario go right. Any thoughts?

[@lukeskyrunner3]

My only thoughts are that it is possible that the controls are somehow connected to the same input, or that somehow whenever a player is configured, the buttons are overwriting each other. I'd try going back into the menu and checking which buttons are mapped for each.

[@taylonjudd923]

i know old, but in case others run into this issue, go to "retropie" from the main emulation station menu. choose retropie setup. next choose tools/configurations. Select "emulation station" then select clear/reset configurations. that'll clear everything then you can remap your controls after that.

[@mrlplays1003]

Does this configure player 2 controls for all games / systems or just this one?

[@lukeskyrunner3]

It should span across all games for a specific game system/emulator. You will have to do this for each system/emulator, but not each game.

[@mrlplays1003]

Thanks!

[@fernbuilds9538]

Question how did you get the numbers and letters on the buttons, did you do it of bought it like that..if you did..how... ;)

[@lukeskyrunner3]

I wish I could have bought them like that! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find any button letters, so my only option was to make them. The buttons come apart so its perfect to disassemble them and put this numbers/letters under the clear plastic. Using adobe illustrator, I made a template for the lettering and gave it to a local print/vinyl shop who was able to cut it into vinyl for me. It was very cheap. Around $4-5 actually.

[@fernbuilds9538]

i was thinking of doing that my self, but not sure if my buttons come apart..i guess there are some buttons that are easy to take apart ...

[@VOYAGEUR-YT]

How did you get the joy stick to work in the menu? It only let's me use the d pad.

[@lukeskyrunner3]

Luckily for me, the joystick worked when I first started the arcade. I never had to set it up. I did use an IPAC 2 board for my controller inputs, and plugged that into the raspberry pi via USB, so I am assuming the board was able to communicate the control stick to the pi as the d pad.

[@isco9567]

When setting up the game pad witj an arcade stick input up, down,left,right under d-pad not analog

[@finder4829]

genius

[@stephonisreal5075]

How to set up 4 players ?

[@devin5052]

Do you know any good places to get roms? I just got retropie on my raspberry pi and I could find any games online. I’m also a little scared. I don’t want to get any viruses.

[@pbj3900]

Go to emuparadise, but also get something callef tamper monkey. Nintendo took away all the downloads but tamper monkey works around it and lets you get the rom and or emulators

[@devin5052]

ppb77 thanks

[@MOHaraProductions]

Any idea why my menu looks completely different?

[@lukeskyrunner3]

What is different about it?

[@shettman9083]

Maybe you use the main menu of Retropie and not the retroarch menu! Check it out!

[@evidence62er]

Where did you get those buttons? With the letters

[@lukeskyrunner3]

I got the buttons here, on eBay www.ebay.com/itm/110934669362?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT As for the lettering on the buttons, I went to a local print shop where we were able to make an Adobe Illustrator file with the letters, and print them on vinyl. Then I disassembled the buttons and added the vinyl to them

[@TaxEvasionUS]

I like to build things arcade cabinet

[@Starlesslemon]

Do you have to do that for every single game???

[@lukeskyrunner3]

No, just for each game system.

[@Heavy_Metal1982]

If none of that works in mame try using a different version to emulate the game. I was having games that would not recognize player two no matter what. Tried everything and was about to give up. As a last resort I tried a different version of mame to run the rom and suddenly everything worked just fine. I was using mame2010 when the games was ment to use mame2003.

[@skreeus9714]

Where did you buy that arcade case?

[@lukeskyrunner3]

I made it. I based it off of an arcade build that iliketomakestuff did. Check out some of his videos, they are great for learning this type of stuff.

[@skreeus9714]

@@lukeskyrunner3 oh, thanks

[@damionhyde7913]

does this work for bluetooth also?

[@lukeskyrunner3]

Mine does not, however I'm sure you can make it work with bluetooth. The Raspberry Pi 3 has built-in bluetooth, whereas the Raspberry Pi 2 (the one I am using) does not. I have heard you can buy a bluetooth usb dongle and make it work on the Pi 2. So yes, you can make it work for bluetooth.

[@valentingonzalez3085]

I did the samething and Mine still doesnt work ....one im done with seconf played binds ...I go into the game and "Down" goes "Left" ."A" will be my "start" button can someone pls help ...Ill be happy to donate money if someone helped me

[@valentingonzalez3085]

Once Im done*

[@valentingonzalez3085]

Second player*

[@exodous02]

I don't know why they just didn't make setting up player 2 as easy as player 1. Well, maybe they have, this video is a year old but I couldn't find it.

[@forkeater8479]

It doesnt work

[@dryker7085]

This appears to be outdated

[@Jekyll_Island_Creatures]

How so?