Homebrew Retroarch WiiU - Docked vs Undocked controller configuration

[radiosilents]

Is it possible to configure they inputs such that BOTH the pro controller AND the gamepad are user/player 1? I'd like to be able to just pick up either controller and have it work without having to change any settings.

What I'd like, conceptually, is this:

If I pick up the gamepad, retroarch will accept input (both the menu and whatever emulator I'm running currently) from the gamepad.

If I dock the gamepad (displaying retroarch and whatever I'm emulating on the TV), retroarch will accept input from the pro controller.

I don't mind if they're both "active" at the same time. That would be ideal, even. This way I can either pick up they pro controller or grab the gamepad and just play without having to manually reconfigure everything every time I want to switch between holding the gamepad and docking the gamepad.

Is this possible?

 

[radiosilents]

Like, the same way I can control the Retroarch menu with either controller... But in-game.

 

[Sidou]

That's a very good question and I'm even struggling to make the pro work in parallel or take over the gamepad when using the menu, let alone use it during a game (it works sometimes and doesnt some other times. Really unstable and depends on the game).
Is there a proper procedure to activate the pro controller?

 

[arcath]

I wonder the same thing but I only want to use the pro controller in retroarch. Every time i try to swap the port 1 controls over to the pro controller, the gamepad obviously stops working but the pro controller doesnt do anything and the only way to fix it is to blow away my config and start over.

 

[MikaDubbz]

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one that was struggling with this.

 

[radiosilents]

Yeah, I'm still hoping for a solution as well. This would be the perfect emu machine if I could get this set up the way I'd like.

 

[Torbjorn]

This doesn't let you use both the Pro controller and the WiiU gamepad at the same time, but nonetheless I think people are finding this post like me wondering how to even use a Pro controller in Retroarch to begin with, so I'll share what I put up in my own post earlier.

From the Retroarch main menu, press Right on the D-pad to get to the list of Settings, then go to Input.
There should be an option for "User 1 Binds" at the bottom of the list.
From this screen you're able to designate the device for User 1 to the Pro controller.

I don't recall if it was the Input menu, but there's also an option somewhere to set it so all controllers can control the Retroarch menu.

Using the above option, my WiiU gamepad is indeed unable to send input to the console anymore while the Pro controller is active as the main device for User 1.
In any case, Retroarch can be navigated solely from the Pro controller with no issue.
The WiiU gamepad can be reactivated easy from the Input settings any time.

The only reason I can think one would want to control from the WiiU gamepad again would be to do things which can only be done by the touchpad, but that's just one of the inevitable inconveniences of the WiiU anyways.

Hope this was helpful to someone even if it didn't directly answer the main question...

 

[MikaDubbz]

From the Retroarch main menu, press Right on the D-pad to get to the list of Settings, then go to Input.
There should be an option for "User 1 Binds" at the bottom of the list.
From this screen you're able to designate the device for User 1 to the Pro controller.

I don't recall if it was the Input menu, but there's also an option somewhere to set it so all controllers can control the Retroarch menu.

The latest build of Retroarch broke the ability for all connected inputs to control the menu, so that option is actually currently removed.

Normally you can switch from the GamePad to a pro controller as you mention without issue. This latest build however, also yields issues here. If you have your gamepad and pro controller synced to your Wii U and switch the player one input from gamepad to pro controller, even though the settings claim that works, the pro controller will not be able to navigate the menu, nothing will, and you'll have to manually change the settings back on your computer or delete the config.

All this stuff used to work, but something got messed up with the latest builds of retroarch, and consequently this stuff you're pointing out that would normally work and solve these issues, are not working properly at this time (unless we go back and use earlier builds of retroarch, though I'd prefer not, because the Ozone gui on Wii U is finally fixed now).

 

[PainToad]

The latest build of Retroarch broke the ability for all connected inputs to control the menu, so that option is actually currently removed.

Normally you can switch from the GamePad to a pro controller as you mention without issue. This latest build however, also yields issues here. If you have your gamepad and pro controller synced to your Wii U and switch the player one input from gamepad to pro controller, even though the settings claim that works, the pro controller will not be able to navigate the menu, nothing will, and you'll have to manually change the settings back on your computer or delete the config.

All this stuff used to work, but something got messed up with the latest builds of retroarch, and consequently this stuff you're pointing out that would normally work and solve these issues, are not working properly at this time (unless we go back and use earlier builds of retroarch, though I'd prefer not, because the Ozone gui on Wii U is finally fixed now).

Is this still the case? Retroarch on Wii U always sounds like such a mess.

 

[double0cinco]

Guys! I'm in the club too! Man, this was a frustrating experience this morning... (Any news on this? How do we issue bug reports?)