Retroarch - Keyboard seemingly not mappable, not working in games

[AngelisDania]

Hi,

I'm using a wireless Logitech keyboard with a USB dongle plugged into the front of my Wii U.
I have a very recently downloaded Retroarch (days old at most, from the nightlies) installed directly on my Wii U via SD card.

When in Retroarch, I can navigate menus using the keyboard, and when I go to map keyboard keys to the RetroPad buttons, my keyboard key presses are detected, however the keys I enter are not displayed next to the mappings, so Up, Down, Left, Right, etc will all have a blank value. There is also no "Keyboard" option to select when choosing the Device Type of the Input. Device Type is currently set to "Disabled", because if I try to select any other device, such as the Gamepad, WiiMote, or Wii U Pro Controller, Retroarch crashes and dumps.

Regardless, I did the key mapping on Input Device 4, then tried starting a game, such as KOF2003, and from the Quick Menu I mapped Input Device 4 to Port 1 so the keyboard would be player one. None of the keyboard keys register in-game, be it the ones I tried to map, or the default ones.

I've also tried turning Game Focus on, and Unified Menu Controls off.

I've not found this specific issue raised anywhere, and couldn't find any information that has helped.

Is the issue that I need to have a "Keyboard" Device Type option, and if so, how do I add that in?
If not, where have I gone wrong here? Feels like I've missed something that should be obvious.

Thanks.

 

[AngelisDania]

After searching further, it does seem to be that a keyboard should show up in some form in the device list while it's connected, and that is not the case for me, despite the keyboard actually working when navigating the Retroarch menu.

I've tried also plugging in a wired USB keyboard, and I get the same result.

Is there some driver I might be missing for Retroarch?

For anyone successfully using a keyboard to play games in Retroarch on the Wii U, if you could tell me what Device Type the keyboard is configured as in your instance, that may help point me in the right direction.

Thanks.

 

[Dudee15]

After searching further, it does seem to be that a keyboard should show up in some form in the device list while it's connected, and that is not the case for me, despite the keyboard actually working when navigating the Retroarch menu.

I've tried also plugging in a wired USB keyboard, and I get the same result.

Is there some driver I might be missing for Retroarch?

For anyone successfully using a keyboard to play games in Retroarch on the Wii U, if you could tell me what Device Type the keyboard is configured as in your instance, that may help point me in the right direction.

Thanks.

Try plugging in your keyboard after a game starts.

 

[AngelisDania]

Try plugging in your keyboard after a game starts.

Thanks. I gave that a go, but the Device Index options in the Input settings are still only Gamepad or Disabled. It’s set to Disabled by default, and if I try to set it to Gamepad then Retroarch crashes. I really think I need some help getting the keyboard to be selectable from the Device Index list, as I have no idea how to get to that point.

Edit: Forgot to mention that the keyboard didn't work in-game when following this suggestion.

 

[AngelisDania]

I've also gone ahead and tried HID to VPAD, unsuccessfully.

Once I've mapped the keyboard to a device (I've tried the GamePad as well as a Wii U Wireless Pro Controller), and tested the buttons, I click + to apply the patches. Then when I try to run Retroarch via the forwarder in the Wii U Menu, it doesn't load (I tested again to make sure it loads before applying patches).

If instead after applying patches I launch Homebrew again to run Retroarch from there, it loads, but none of the mapping seems to be in effect. I'm guessing that's because the mapping is lost once you run Homebrew again?

If anyone who has a USB keyboard working in-game on Retroarch on the Wii U could give me a rundown of their settings, it may help point me in the right direction, and would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Youpla]

Hi,

Just installed RetroArch on my WiiU and get the same problems.

if I try to select any other device, such as the Gamepad, WiiMote, or Wii U Pro Controller, Retroarch crashes and dumps.

Indeed, reassigning the control devices in the Input menu is very likely to crash the WiiU

None of the keyboard keys register in-game, be it the ones I tried to map, or the default ones.

Same here. keyboard is working in RetroArch menus, but not in the cores.

After searching further, it does seem to be that a keyboard should show up in some form in the device list while it's connected, and that is not the case for me, despite the keyboard actually working when navigating the Retroarch menu.

The keyboard is not showing up for me neither when plugging it in. And it does not appear in the device list neither.
But after comparison with RetroArch on Windows it seems to be the normal behavior (even though it doesn't seem very logical).


My first impressions is that RetroArch on WiiU does not handle WiiU's pecularities very well (even though the games I tried so far work perfectly once configured). For example, sometime, it shut downs the WiiU when I ask to restart RetroArch

I also notices that it is unable to save the core specific "remaps" files (quick menu -> controls -> manage remap files) unless I've manually created the core specific subfolder in the remaps folder.

I hope it will be fixed in the futur because the WiiU is a great game console for retrogaming.