How To Set Up X Arcade TankStick In RetroPie 2018

[@moxxichannel5950]

X-Arcade sent me the 2 player joystick and separate track ball back in 2001 for review and I still use them. They are literally indestructable - 20 years old next year. Thanks for the video ETA! As usual, very helpful, succinct and informative!

[@classicgmr]

I've had a tankstick and an X-Arcade cabinet for 6 years now. I am loathe to remove it from my MAME setup but this would be a great project. :) Maybe I could talk the wife into a "I need another one" purchase... Not holding my breath!! Excellent tutorial as always. :)

[@oneupkoopa4980]

Id like to thank you for every one of your Retropie videos! They have been a huge help!

[@harolduriah6686]

I know I'm pretty randomly asking but does anyone know a good website to stream new series online ?

[@kashtonpeter6462]

@Harold Uriah ehh I use Flixportal. You can find it thru google:P -kashton

[@harolduriah6686]

@Kashton Peter thanks, I went there and it seems to work =) I appreciate it!!

[@kashtonpeter6462]

@Harold Uriah Happy to help =)

[@oculus9561]

I still think its hilarious how you can plug in the huge arcadestick unit into tiny little rasberry pie.

[@fernandogaleas3698]

dude I just want to say thank you all your videos are very good, I just fulfilled my dream of having my own arcade at home thanks!!!! bro

[@DTALep]

Thanks Prime! Just got mine set up, and played street fighter right away - and inner child dreams come true!!! :D

[@oldirtygamer]

I have had my Tank stick since 2011, and it is just that a friggin tank.

[@theoldar]

Best explanations on KZbin.

[@gerardcabunoc5156]

This walkthrough truly is a big help. Do you know if you connect two TankSticks to the Pi for a 4-player system?

[@michaelmunno]

I cannot seem to figure out how to do this for recalbox 7.2.2 or 8.1 cannot seem to get them to see the tankstick :/ don't have any idea hot to get to this retropie setup script as it seems recalbox locks out of that

[@CraigZuckerman]

First, thanks for all your help on KZbin, your channel rocks! I had an older version of the two stick and trackball tankstick and it worked great using Xarcade2Jstick on my Pie3b+ and Retropie. Only problem was the left mouse button froze the Pie but all the games worked with the two sticks and trackball. I purchased the new tankstick (two stick and trackball) and it's not working well. If I use mode 4 I can't navigate the RGUI Menu, but most games work with the sticks and trackball. Using the same image I used with the old trankstick, in Mode 4 I can't properly setup the controller, for some reason, as it won't let me assign the buttons properly (Xarcade2Jstick uninstalled). However, this does work on older builds I have. If I use the updated Xarcade2Jstick in Mode 1, the trackball doesn't work on any games, but at least the controller works as player 1 and 2. Any suggestions on how I can get the trackball and two player sticks working with the latest tankstick? I'm using Pi3b+ Emulation Station v2.8.3rp and Retropie v4.4.11. I've only been testing this using mame games. Mainly using trackball on advmame 1.4 but also using it with mame 2003-plus, mame 2003, mame 2010, mame 2015. I'm also new to this whole mame pie thing but loving it until I bought the new controller.

[@kevinhellar6854]

So you use mode 1 and 4? X-Arcade mentioned using 3 but who knows. At least it works for you. First evening of troubleshooting, a keyboard works but not the TS, driver in the video froze the Pi on install, updating a bunch of stuff before re-installing... time will tell what else crashes before i get there.

[@jfitts23]

Cool video. Just ordered my Tankstick. Almost went with a pandora box, but this way seems better from what i'v been researching.

[@TrevorJones1]

Slap a raspberry inside the tankstick and may have a pandora killer

[@JackTheGamer3]

Yes!! Finally I got this tankstick!!!!! Now I can finally play sega sonic the hedgehog and marble madness and beat it like it’s nothing!!

[@kevinhellar6854]

Did you mention how you have the switch in the back of the TankStick set to? (1-4)?

[@BrianBowman-c4z]

About as easy as I could imagine. I stumbled upon this as I was trying to get my trackball working with my raspberry pi 4. I had been using the tank stick already in games that didn't need the trackball successfully. I used your tutorial, and then... it all stopped working. Have you run in to this before?

[@WilsonBradleyTheOfficial]

Thanks bro.. Going to mount this in back for my 4 & 5yr old. I will also be adding Tilt sensors, ramblers inside TankStick for my VR Pinball set up ;-)

[@mightycomicsandcollectibles]

Can u do a video on how to add a spinner on retropie?

[@apap7170]

Excellent Joy Stick. My mother has it with the full machine it's very high quality.

[@muthagoose00]

Awesome video, spot on instructions. If you could go over more advanced button layouts and ways to use the tankstick for non acrade games and pinball that would be amazing. I was suprised to see how easy the setup was, here i was thinking id have to clone a Repo and SSH into the pie..

[@steveluxmore248]

ETA Prime thanks for the videos. I 'm having difficulty getting my trackball on my tankstick to work with mame. Do you have a video or advice for me? Thanks

[@killaC3P0]

Hey ETA PRIME, you should do an update video of the new x-arcade trimode board. It make the tankstick show up as 2 Xbox controllers with the flick of the switch instead of using software or cables. They are putting it in the new sticks sometime this year. X-arcade sent me one for free after purchasing a tankstick after I realized they came out with this product and I just purchased. It was easy to install. And works flawlessly so far. I think this will be valuable information for people, especially coming from you.

[@Zehrfox]

I have the new one too, but the second left flipper button causes a crash (lock up) every time it is pressed. I have the X-arcade in mode 3, because mode 4 wouldnt map all the buttons.

[@TheGTFreak]

X-Arcade Solo Stick i have and i want use on the Rasberie 3B+ Witch Cabel I need for it. Can you me give a link for this Cable ?

[@DTALep]

I've got the dual tank stick, and it just uses the USB cables. Does the solo stick have different cables?

[@steviem2462]

Eta, excellent video thanks for that. Quick question, would you know why my x-arcade stick won't turn on with my pi? The light won't come on and it'll go to the configure input screen. The only way I've found to get it to turn on is during the boot up process i have to plug in a separate usb controller and press some buttons and it almost kind of like wakes up the X arcade stick because the light will kick on and then everything will work fine after that

[@carlosfurtado8403]

Amazing video - super helpful !!

[@thomasatwell8896]

Just stumbled on your video, was wondering can you do this project with the old version tank stick?

[@EVMANVSGAS]

ETA how has this been holding up? Do you still use it? Did you ever look into fitting the pi inside of the tankstick? Thx for the good vids.

[@basiliskb.223]

Thanks for your great channel, helped a lot

[@loquito1966]

Hey ETA Prime What input do you have it on at the back of the tankstick ? 1 - 4 ?

[@kingleoification]

Quick question, is Retro Pie compatible with the older Xarcade Solo stick? I purchased one a while ago for a project but it's just collecting dust now, I'd love to build it into an custom cabinet using a Raspberry Pi, but didnt know how to map it, was just wondering if the process is similar as it is with the Tankstick? Awesome videos bro, love the channel and all the knowledge on both modern and retro gaming!

[@musickman123]

Is there a video on getting this working on Batocera?

[@TrevorJones1]

Please do an update to 2020 video with the Tri-Mode PCB for the tankstick. Should be much easier now, as the modern tankstick doesnt need the drivers . it shows up as 2 xinput controllers.

[@jeffhurd60]

Do you have a link for a raspberry pi kit?

[@saiblades6672]

Hey ETA! Next time you are on camera dont forget to say "Hi" and wave your hand =)

[@dannyvazquez2594]

Do you recommend this over the monster joystick kit? I saw you use both I figured you would have better input on both. Thanks

[@lifeofbrian4543]

Hello I realize this video is from last year, but I just ordered one of these tank sticks, and was wondering if I ordered a second could I run them both similtaniously to have 4 player action on a raspberry Pi 3 B+? I've been searching for info on this, but have come up empty? Thanks

[@DTALep]

I just got my tank stick tonight, and in the booklet they sent with it, they said that you could have dual tank sticks set up. You can't plug them into each other, but you can plug both of them into whatever console you're using. In this case raspberry pi. I plan on doing the same thing for TMNT!! Have fun!!

[@ray-may]

Dave Agnew question how did that go ?

[@thebigtexas11]

Will this work with the on without the track ball?

[@sociallyresponsiblexenomor7608]

Haha I came here because I still have not gotten this to work. 11 months later, ELEVEN FUCKING MONTHS of trying for a day and shelfing it in frustration for like a month on and off. I still have never gotten this thing to work. This thing is one of the biggest purchase regrets I have, I just hate it. Doesn't matter how durable it is if you can never get it to be detected by anything or work in anything.

[@SoPiPz]

Hi, I’m having trouble setting this tank stick on the Super Console X. I did what you did but the second stick controller doesn’t work. What do you think I should do?

[@migsgiz183]

Does the same rules apply on emulec? T95 max. Can't seem to find any of those settings and the terminal

[@christopherfisher1694]

I just bought one of these used. The trackball worked perfectly, but I couldn't get either side to work (the LED does light). I tried modes 1 + 4. For the buttons, I have a din + serial interface whereas yours is din + USB. I bought a serial to USB hoping it would work but nothing,. I have tried on a PC (using tests from their website) as well as Rasberry Pie (not sure the version though). I'm about to retrofit it to a JAMMA cable if I can't do something with it as it is.

[@UttRConcrete]

What’s the difference between the 4 modes on the top of the tank stick?

[@drywallsurgeon]

I have a dual stick x- arcade. I don't have a raspberry pie or anything. But I'd like to do what you did in this video (thanks for the videos) with my x-arcade stick. What do I need? I've messed with name for awhile.

[@jaymartin4426]

Hi would this be same setup for a pandora box to retropie as I can get 1st controller but second controller does not recognise or can configure it

[@AirtimeSigns]

Hi Mr Prime, love following along with your tuts. Hey I managed to pick up a basically brand new dual arcade for cheap. However its not the usb version. Do you have tips and advice on how to get this bad boy working with a pi? Cheers mate

[@flyndestroy]

Do you sell any these ready-to-play consoles?

[@kenny100x35]

After setting up the X-Arcade to the RetroPie, how do I go about mapping Daphne (Dragon's Lair) to it? Can I have more than one set up on the X-Arcade? I already have "Liar" installed. I'm just tryingg to map the controller for it.

[@lewisshews912]

ETA, not sure the best way to get a hold of you. Wanted to know if anyone brought the Borkin Button issues to your attention with RetroPie 4.4. It will no longer shut the Pi down BUT it will power it on as long as you shut it down and it still has power (i.e. standby). Would love to hear back from you on this as it was one of my favorite features. THANKS!!!

[@cameronpaul6848]

Will doing this erase anything on my Pie? I have everything on my setup to my liking minus the second player on my tankstick

[@DTALep]

Just did it 30 minutes ago, and everything was still intact

[@DavidLangkiet]

If you want the buttons setup for Street Fighter the buttons are as follows. 1=Y 2=X 3=LS 4=B 5=A 6=RS

[@Nickson0007]

Nice Video!! Question: Woild this work with RecalBox also?

[@georgebell117]

I have a tankstick on the way, what are the pros & cons of using Pie versus a pc? I have a spare pc not in use. TIA!

[@andy2more475]

PC is easy to set up with mame and the x-arcade.cfg from their website (not xarcade.cfg already in the ctrlr folder). Exit the game with 2nd player button and left side button (not mouse side button. Still not getting the trackball working with the pi. I'm probably doing something wrong. Good luck.

[@SateeshMaharaj]

Can the tankstick without the trackball work with this setup?

[@jodymarty3179]

Your videos have given me the push I needed to set up my own arcade. I used Batocera since it is in one of your easy to understand videos. But I am having issues transferring n64 games to batocera. The transfer seems to work but when you click on a game it just goes right back to the main batocera menu. All other consoles seems to work great. Any advice would be awesome. Thank you.

[@therexershow]

Eta , the joystick stops working once I enter the game , is this a Retroarch driver setting issue? It works at menu but doesn’t work once inside the games.

[@carlosbarquero7400]

Can I do something similar if I have a pandora's box arcade and want to use buttons that are wired to the PB if i have both a PB and rPie in same bartop cab? (I switch between two using a hdmi splitter)

[@thunderbird7780]

What do the "second" flipper button do? If I accidentally touch it while playing MLP arcade image everything freezes and I need to restart my Pi. It's the same on either side.

[@daveschultz9700]

Thunderbird 77 did you figure out how to fix this? My kids play and then press that button and it freezes. Wish it wouldn't.

[@mullen1200]

Same here!!!! I'm glad to know its not just me

[@mullen1200]

Freezes for me too! so its not just us

[@andy2more475]

It's the left and right mouse button. You might be losing "focus" when you "click" on the back-round. Try Alt+Tab to re-select it. Good luck.

[@TheBacontarian]

If you never use the side buttons I would just disconnect them inside the case

[@YouMoustard]

Very good Videoo !! bravo , Does it work with QUIMAT TWIN GAMEPAD ?

[@Wandalf666]

Duuude yes. I have been looking into a project like this

[@cwgraham78]

Question, will this also work if I am using a non X-Arcade setup? I have a Happ Trackball that I hacked into a USB trackball mouse and I'm currious if this is how i get it working. Thanks for the videos there always very usefull and clear.

[@skulltagfilms]

Do you know if the X-Arcade stick will work with an Odroid XU4?

[@louielouie4933]

Thanks ETA your instructions were spot on. I just set mine up today it works awesome!! Thanks!!

[@clintstrand6310]

Awesome. Can you do a vid for an ipac mini controller?

[@mrbecker9]

Followed all the instructions and install of driver seemed clear. Go to configure and no components found. The light is red in top corner of X arcade. Any suggestions?

[@MrKiet76]

How does the raspberry pi emulator work? Is it plug and play (came preload with games) or you have to download all the games after you get it? Btw track ball for the early 90s games like GI JOE or just shooting games in general!

[@giacomodallapozza]

what monitor should you suggest for 2 players games ??.. I was thinking about 24''

[@peasheet]

Hi. I am using retro pie 4.8 and the track ball works , but VERY SLOW ! How do I go back into retropie and make the track ball faster ? Also , when I plug the 2 USB plugs into my retropie box , and turn it on , retropie does not recognize anything . I have to plug in a third game pad and go into input config , but it sees the Xarcade as keyboard . I have the switch set to the default . I am curious why it did not recognize the Xarcade as Two gamepads ? Should the mode switch be set to default as I was set out of the box or should I set it to a different number for retropie ? Thanks

[@solchau1]

Awesome, thank you for sharing. After a few hours I figured how to work the trackball on my Rasp Pi setup. Mine doesn't recognize the trackball unless you switch the (1,2,3,4) on the top side panel around until it works. No, it's not perfect; but I figured out a way to turn it on whenever I load Missile Command or w/e trackball game. Oy vey, I knew this would get complicated before I bought the Tankstick; but it finally works.

[@Vaxovillion]

Question, have you tested 2 player much? I have this exact Tankstick and noticed it maxes out at 4 simultaneous button presses in windows. Diag on the joystick counts as two presses, you get loss of control when playing 2 players unless plugging a keyboard into it and using it as ps2 vs usb. Have you tested/experienced this?

[@thegooseman72]

A tutorial for batocera would be much appreciated.

[@midknightmist]

Just order mine on ebay..with there 20% off today it was only $139.99 shipped. .can't wait

[@gradygilchrist4923]

Could you install the RP in the tank stick?

[@oleschoolgamers]

Hey ETA, I’ve got a Xarcade tankstick and Pi and wondered if you knew how to remove it from a Pi completely. A few weeks ago I created a Pi 3B image and had mapped entries in the advmame.rc file and each cfg file for many FBA / NEO GEO roms etc. Not to mention all the Retropie / Emulation Station keys that I setup and mapped to the Xarcade... Many folks couldn’t use the image unless they had an Xarcade, and trying to remove it was daunting and I ended up creating another image that didn’t have any X-Arcade tainting haha.. Any thoughts?

[@nothingbutchappy]

Remove the diver package

[@realtime4559]

Cool video. Thank you

[@corykristy2594]

ETA PRIME I bought the tankstick from a guy and i dont have instructions so my question is there is a slider button thing on back what is that used for and i have 2 buttons on left and 2 on right and i believe 2 on back when i go to configure my buttons some of them on side and back dont register COULD I GET SOME HELP ON THAT THANK U SO MUCH AND LOVE UR VIDEOS

[@TheAccountant1000]

Do I need to purchase a Retro Pie in order to set up my X Arcade? If so where can I purchase one?

[@TheAccountant1000]

I meant to say do I need to purchase a Raspberry Pie or is that optional?

[@irkyloveone]

Downloaded retropie 4.7 on my pi3... install packs as described but no game pads detected. Please help!

[@juancedillo6011]

Is the joystick and button controller running off of a xin mo controller?

[@garfield411]

Hey ETA. Been trying to find an answer to a problem i had configuring my retropie. now im waiting for my xarcade to come so i used my wireless keyboard. how do i reset the configuration so i get that screen that says "press any key" after initial install

[@jeffhurd60]

I followed setup using the command line but I'm not getting the same screen as you it doesn't detect the tankstick only my keyboard that I have attached to the pi....any ideas?

[@josemanuelrguez]

Hi. I have the same problem with my X-Arcade bit I think the problem is with the USB Adapter. Colud you say me where can I buy your USB adapter for X-Arcade. Thanks very much.

[@PTKirkw]

This will work with ODROID also right?

[@Chuckolicious]

Hey there! How do I setup something like Robotron in order to use both sticks? Right now, it assigns movement to the left stick and firing to several buttons.

[@crbcyouthman]

This is probably late, but you should be able to setup the second stick for shooting inside of the emulator settings.

[@breedofone23]

So all the buttons work except the start buttons. Any ideas?

[@newcreationNB]

Atari ultimate vs X arcade? Which one will you prefer

[@Trentsum]

Is there a way to switch all of the games on my retropie from Kids Mode [off] to Kids Mode [on] ? or do we just have to do all 8000 games, one at a time in the 'edit metadata' menu? Please and thank you.

[@mr.breadNwater]

HELP PLEASE...I purchased a used X Arcade tankstick but I dont have anything connected to the serial/purple ps2 connectors. Do I need a special adapter from the serial connector to get 2 USB connections?

[@RyonTeachesMugen]

If i'm correct weren't these arcade sticks able to switch between a PC , PS3, and Keyboard mode?

[@oldirtygamer]

Ryon you have to buy the adapter, and they also make an adapter for the Dreamcast.

[@EcksGamer]

Gaming Review Clan for consoles you need an adapter for the Pi and PC/Mac you don't really need it.

[@marvelmaniac81]

Followed everything to the tee. However it's still not detecting it as a controller. Read something about it being in mode 4 with a tri mode pcb?? I installed it through the retropie set up and the command script and neither work. What am I doing wrong?

[@ACFLVideos]

Can you do a tutorial like this for the xtension joystick

[@ETAPRIME]

I have that video coming up on Saturday

[@MrGenaroQuispe]

When I set up my stick input button config in the same way you do my A button becomes Y and B button becomes A. Any reason why?? I’ve mapped it twice

[@dong1636]

You can also program the buttons because it detects it as a keyboard. so when you program them just make sure you dont program keys that have functions for your front end.

[@toomanyprojectstx]

No link to the vga adapter for the xarcade?????

[@giovannysaenz7627]

can u recommend where to get controler to help set up arcade1up/xarcade

[@Schmutt]

At what point do you set up the "C" button for Sega Genesis games? Thanks!

[@ivychat1]

Just saw X Arcade is out with a new tankstick that has two spinners built in. The tankstick I have works pretty well with retropie so long as I install the driver. Does anyone know if the current driver handles the spinners? How about with the Pi5?

[@DarrylTom]

How do you switch between analog and digital joystick modes with the Retropie?

[@UttRConcrete]

I think u press the left side button and the first button on player 1 side

[@CAPITANxMARVEL]

WoW thank you for the video

[@divebomb1000]

I have the dual tank stick and use the Xbox 360 cables to also play steam games works great

[@fillavorgna9346]

I purchased the xbox360 adapter to have it work on my nvida shield , would I still use those connections for a retropie?

[@3dtexan890]

Is it possible for you to do a video on the trackball of the tankstick? I have watched this video about 5 times and followed it to the letter. I have also used 4 different sd cards. I can get both sides of the tankstick to work fine, but the trackball just will not work. I have tried 2 different retropie downloads from arcade punks, but when I tried to play centipede, or missile command in MAME, my trackball just will not work. I have to use the joystick. Thanks, Danny