Homebrew Snes9x GX forked: Added Retrode 2 SNES gamepad adapter

[revvv]

Hi folks, I'm proud to present a patched version of Snes9x GX which supports the Retrode 2: An USB adapter for the original SNES controllers:

https://github.com/revvv/snes9xgx-retrode

I published also a small test app for the SNES gamepads. (It also supports my Speedlink Hornet gamepad, which is very unlikely that you have one , so it's an undocumented feature)

As I don't have a SNES mouse I didn't add support for it. However my test app shows its output. (Contact me, tell me what you see and I'll add it to Snes9x.)
In theory it supports 4 players (2 SNES controllers and 2 Genesis controllers), but I also did not test that. I never had 4 player games back in the days...

 

[niuus]

Hi folks, I'm proud to present a patched version of Snes9x GX which supports the Retrode 2: An USB adapter for the original SNES controllers:

https://github.com/revvv/snes9xgx-retrode

I published also a small test app for the SNES gamepads. (It also supports my Speedlink Hornet gamepad, which is very unlikely that you have one , so it's an undocumented feature)

As I don't have a SNES mouse I didn't add support for it. However my test app shows its output. (Contact me, tell me what you see and I'll add it to Snes9x.)
In theory it supports 4 players (2 SNES controllers and 2 Genesis controllers), but I also did not test that. I never had 4 player games back in the days...

This looks very nice for Retrode users, reminds me of how useful HID support would be. Why not make a pull request to integrate it in GX and RX?

 

[revvv]

This looks very nice for Retrode users, reminds me of how useful HID support would be.

Thanks

Why not make a pull request to integrate it in GX and RX?

I already asked before I finished my project, but he refused. That's was a pity, because I had do it all by myself.
On the other hand, I understand their decision: Starting support for USB gamepads is like a can of worms.
I'm surprised that Nintendont and RetroArch did it.

In RetroArch the USB support got broken for the Wii after 1.7.0 and nobody seems willing to fix it. I guess, the market is very small now

 

[niuus]

In RetroArch the USB support got broken for the Wii after 1.7.0 and nobody seems willing to fix it.

The controllers weren't detected because the PID/VID were wrong. It was fixed 18 days ago: https://github.com/libretro/RetroArch/pull/9099

I guess, the market is very small now

It is normal because of the Wii's age, though the console has proven very reliable and incredibly good for homebrew and emulation, which is why the scene is not dead, far from it.

If you want to submit a pull request to Snes9x RX, to add the Retrode support , you're more than welcome, i'll check it, compile, and approve it. I don't have the means to test it because i don't have the Retrode, but someone could check it out.

 

[Bladeoner]

Thanks



I already asked before I finished my project, but he refused. That's was a pity, because I had do it all by myself.
On the other hand, I understand their decision: Starting support for USB gamepads is like a can of worms.
I'm surprised that Nintendont and RetroArch did it.

In RetroArch the USB support got broken for the Wii after 1.7.0 and nobody seems willing to fix it. I guess, the market is very small now

I will try to add it to Snes9x GX, if its added could you test it?
I don't own a Retrode 2: An USB adapter.

 

[revvv]

I will try to add it to Snes9x GX, if its added could you test it?
I don't own a Retrode 2: An USB adapter.

That's great news. Thanks a lot. Of course I'll test it.

 

[Bladeoner]

@revvv just compiled the emulator (see attachment), could you test it?

Left out the part where you can check if its connected or not.

Thanks in advance.

 

[revvv]

@revvv just compiled the emulator (see attachment), could you test it?

Left out the part where you can check if its connected or not.

Thanks in advance.

Works like a charm! Thank you!

Tested with Super Mario World, Street Fighter 2, Doom and Super Bomberman.
(For 4 players you have to enable 4 controllers)

Some notes:

• If the Retrode does not react, you just have to restart Snes9x GX. I never had to restart HBC or the Wii. This happens with my fork, too. But not very often.
• Doom is a good testcase: My first build had a huge lag, but only with this game. After polling the Retrode only for player 1, the lag disappeared. (Doom is a single player game, so it's strange that they poll player 2.)

 

[Bladeoner]

Works like a charm! Thank you!

Tested with Super Mario World, Street Fighter 2, Doom and Super Bomberman.
(For 4 players you have to enable 4 controllers)

Some notes:

• If the Retrode does not react, you just have to restart Snes9x GX. I never had to restart HBC or the Wii. This happens with my fork, too. But not very often.
• Doom is a good testcase: My first build had a huge lag, but only with this game. After polling the Retrode only for player 1, the lag disappeared. (Doom is a single player game, so it's strange that they poll player 2.)

Thank you for testing and the quick response. I will send the change in so it can be merged.

I had to adjust the code a little bit, it was not compiling Snes9x GX for the Gamecube.

 

[revvv]

I had to adjust the code a little bit, it was not compiling Snes9x GX for the Gamecube.

I was aware of that, now I really have a bad conscience
But as the GC has no USB ports my fork will never release GC builds...

 

[Bladeoner]

I was aware of that, now I really have a bad conscience
But as the GC has no USB ports my fork will never release GC builds...

Don't worry, the change I implement only adds the code to support Retrode in the Wii build not to the GC build, actually the GC build skips all of that.

You can see the changes and compare over here, I only used the code needed, left out the check:
https://github.com/dborth/snes9xgx/pull/870/commits/349b1d044050bba7cc4259ea5493bc2613491c0c

 

[revvv]

Fine. Merged your ifdefs.

I just realized that I always do the USB call even if there is no Retrode present.
https://github.com/revvv/snes9xgx-retrode/commit/fe22adc7b9f8d47cdef3071c76b45995c1478880

@niuus and I invested a lot of time getting an elder devkitpro version to run with his fork on my PC. Unfortunately the USB device gets closed somewhere. So reading the Retrode right after opening works, but not in the next decodepad() call. If you have any idea where this happens...?
The Retrode is also an USB mass storage device which contains 1-3 files (Retrode config, ROM, savegame) if this information helps...

 

[Bladeoner]

Fine. Merged your ifdefs.

I just realized that I always do the USB call even if there is no Retrode present.
https://github.com/revvv/snes9xgx-retrode/commit/fe22adc7b9f8d47cdef3071c76b45995c1478880

@niuus and I invested a lot of time getting an elder devkitpro version to run with his fork on my PC. Unfortunately the USB device gets closed somewhere. So reading the Retrode right after opening works, but not in the next decodepad() call. If you have any idea where this happens...?
The Retrode is also an USB mass storage device which contains 1-3 files (Retrode config, ROM, savegame) if this information helps...

Thanks for pointing to the change, I added it in my Pull Request.

 

[Bladeoner]

@revvv Retrode support has been added to Snes9x GX, Tantric slightly modified the PR before merging:
https://github.com/dborth/snes9xgx/commit/4c15d552473882e559b1b829d9432cc67031524f

@niuus you could try backport the above commit into Snes9x RX and let @revvv test see if that works.

 

[revvv]

@revvv Retrode support has been added to Snes9x GX, Tantric slightly modified the PR before merging:
https://github.com/dborth/snes9xgx/commit/4c15d552473882e559b1b829d9432cc67031524f

@niuus you could try backport the above commit into Snes9x RX and let @revvv test see if that works.

Perfect header file! Thank you. I intended to do it later, but [...whatever excuse you like..]
@niuus fork turns off all USB interrupts during emulation. I could not indentify what line of code is the root of all evil. This really drives me nuts.

 

[Ch3ma1980]

Nice job ,
it would be incredible to be able to use hid gamepads in emulators...

 

[niuus]

@revvv Retrode support has been added to Snes9x GX, Tantric slightly modified the PR before merging:
https://github.com/dborth/snes9xgx/commit/4c15d552473882e559b1b829d9432cc67031524f

@niuus you could try backport the above commit into Snes9x RX and let @revvv test see if that works.

I'll give it a try, sure. As always, thanks for the heads up.

 

[Bladeoner]

Perfect header file! Thank you. I intended to do it later, but [...whatever excuse you like..]
@niuus fork turns off all USB interrupts during emulation. I could not indentify what line of code is the root of all evil. This really drives me nuts.

Could you please try the file below and see if it works with Retrode, it is compiled with the latest libogc and devkitppc:
https://gbatemp.net/attachments/snes9xrx-4-1-0_test-zip.175628/

 

[revvv]

Could you please try the file below and see if it works with Retrode, it is compiled with the latest libogc and devkitppc:
https://gbatemp.net/attachments/snes9xrx-4-1-0_test-zip.175628/

My Retrode 2 works perfectly! Thanks a lot!

 

[revvv]

Added XBOX360 controller support!

For the moment I only checked in the sources. Binary will follow later.

Rumble is also possible, but I'm not sure if Snes9x GX uses this feature in games
And by default this is for player 1 only. Maybe XBOX button could iterate through players. (LED control works, too.)

Ah yeah, I tested with the wired controller, wireless has the same VID/PID, so it should work, too.