[RESOLVED] Controller skipping tables (already looked at similar problems)

[kylewhite]

Hello everyone, so far i was able to set up Pinball X with VP and FP and everything i needed just by searching online, and for that i thank all of this amazing community, but this one problem bugs me and i can't find a simillar issue:

So what happens in short is that i have Left and Right (PX menu) on my LB and RB buttons on my 360 gamepad, working perfectly with all my pinball sims, etc.. all without having to use any middleware (xpadder, joy2key, etc) which is a thing i intend on preserving, since even my flight simulation doesnt require these old trappings no more.

So anyway, the only problem i have is that when i press Lb or Rb on the front end it skips 2, 3 tables, but if a give a very quick a strong tap on the button i may get it to advance only one table... keyboard keys work fine, 1 table at the time... is there any way i can prevent this within Pinball X config files or it would be something the developer would have to write some key debouncer into the software?

I know on Sim Racing all sim software have a paddle shifter debouncer because its normal that paddles will send more than one key press so on some sims you even have the option exposed with a slider for miliseconds.

So i already checked the Next Page and Prev. Page binding other users had in conflict, i set Pinball X to exclusive full screen, i enabled Vsync on the Nvidia profile, and still have the same issue, and its really hard, like 1 out of 5 times trying to give a really quick beating on the button... and i believe any middleware solution to debouce the button press would have to be turned on and off or else the debouncing will probably affect the response of the flippers in game....

Edit: So besides the 60fps nvidia vsync i also tried the half refresh rate 30fps vsync, as you can expect the interface and animations looks very sluggish and i still jump several tables with a button press, only difference is that with the "quick beating" method i MAY have a little more success on advancing one table but its pretty random...

So anyway, after days figuring stuff out for my self i stumbled upon this annoying last issue, so any help apreciated!

[Draco1962]

Would you mind attaching copies of your pinballx.ini and log.txt files? Click on the PinballX How to ask for help link in my sig below for instructions on where to find. Thanks!

[kylewhite]

Ok, thanks for the reply, i'm attaching the requested files.

Some updates, i had to revert PinballX from true fullscreen because it wouldnt change to VPX window correctly (VPX is non fullscreen cause i need to see vPinMAME).

And i noticed that same thing happens for buttons like exit, etc.. i have to give it a really abrupt and quick tap for it to work else it just open and close the exit menu really fast.

PinballX.ini

log.txt

[Draco1962]

It is usually recommended to run windowed fullscreen. 

[kylewhite]

Hi, like i said "i had to revert PinballX from true full screen because it wouldn't change to the VPX window correctly", i probably sent you my .ini before i reverted back to windowed full screen, both ways give the same result...

From what i gather so far through testing, etc... it seem to be the way PinballX handles xInput, or direct input whatever it's called, i'm pretty used to modding, fiddling around with text files etc... but i'm pretty new (like 2 days new) to PinballX so any help is really appreciated!

Thanks

[Draco1962]

Will probably be a  day or two before I can try to test it with a 360 controller.

[kylewhite]

Hey, that would be great, i really don`t know how it behaves for other people, i never had any games that would receive too many presses of a button.

My guess so far is the front end would need a "debounce" or "deadzone" of some milliseconds so the player can change tables one by one but doesn't interfere if he holds the button longer to flip through the wheel, i believe arcade buttons must have this built in and/or work differently, same for keyboard presses. Maybe the XBox controller constantly sends button presses? That would be weird, also how there wasn't any complains so far.

Just for note, i'm running a i7 4770k with an GTX 1060 GB just in case is some speed related issue.

Meanwhile back to working on my Playfield videos =D

Thanks

[Draco1962]

Did you change the Joy Codes? 

Here are the default codes from a fresh install of PinballX in the pinballx.ini:

[JoyCodes]
quit=10
left=0
right=1
select=2
rotate=3
pageleft=4
pageright=5
exitemulator=6
ingame=13
instructions=14

And here are yours..

[JoyCodes]
quit=1
left=4
right=5
select=0
rotate=9
pageleft=300
pageright=301
exitemulator=6
ingame=3
instructions=8
Credit=2
Plunger=0

In using the default codes, I get a single game advance forward by pressing B and back by pressing A, forward an alpha page by pressing Right Trigger, and back an alpha page by pressing Left Trigger.

I am not certain how you came up with your selections for left, right, page left, or page right, but they are a bit wrong IMO and could be the cause of your issues reported. Try changing them to the default settings and let's see if that improves your lot.

[kylewhite]

Thanks. I'll try it shortly and report back. 

About the button selections, 4 and 5 are the Lb and Rb (the button ones, like L1, R1 on a PS controller) and the 300, 301 were supposed to be Left and Right on the directional D-Pad, these were detected by me pressing them on the config screen, they are correctly recognized as POV Left and POV Right but they weren't working on the front end and i didn't bother to debug further cause i don't have more than 100 tables yet.

 

[Draco1962]

The list below does not necessarily match up to the Joy Codes in PinballX but still should demonstrate what is being picked up:

XBox 360 Controller Buttons (per joy.cpl in Windows 10):

LTrigger=Z Axis Decrease
RTrigger=Z Axis Increase
A=1
B=2
X=3
Y=4
LButton=5
RButton=6
Back Button=7
Start Button=8
Left Thumb Stick Press=9
Right Thumb Stick Press=10
X Button=Open Game Bar
Left Thumb Stick=X/Y Axis
Right Thumb Stick=X/Y Rotation
D-Pad=POV Hat

Pretty much any of the directional game pad items are not going to translate into a keyboard equivalent. You don't need 100 tables to troubleshoot this. I don't and was able to do so easily.

[kylewhite]

Don't worry, i'm just not home right now, instructions are clear enough for me.

Sorry, my English is really rubbish but i was just saying why i didn't bother to look why the directional D-Pad (recognized as 300 and 301) wasn't working: Because i wasn't worried about jumping pages. Sorry for the confusion.

Should get back shortly, Thanks!

[kylewhite]

Though, i was thinking now, the 2 button (B) is mapped to exit, and like i said, it acts the same as the shoulder buttons, if i press it normally, it opens and closes the Exit menu really quick so i have to do the same as with the others, press it reaally quickly and it may stop where it supposed to.

Button 1 (A), is for launching tables, same thing, if i don't give the really quick press it goes straight to the game skipping the pre-launch menu, so my guess is it's a general problem with the button presses.

Can you verify that if you map Left and Right to 5 and 6 (shoulder buttons, like its used for the flippers in all the pinball games) it works normally?

I should be home in a couple hours to make the tests as you requested.

Thanks again.

[Draco1962]

Is the behavior the same regardless of the USB port you are plugging into? I am testing with a 360 gamepad and not experiencing that kind of behavior.

[kylewhite]

Sorry Draco, took me longer than anticipated. So i changed USB port from a front one to one in the back directly on the motherboard and same exact behavior, changing the button mappings didn't make a difference like we discussed above, it seems it's all buttons.

Its an xbox 360 common wireless controller in case i didn't mention.

Well, so far no luck, batteries checked, works great with everything else...

In any case thank you for taking your time so far Draco.

[kylewhite]

Maybe its not on the controller side the issue but how my PC is running PinballX?

The only settings i tried related to PinballX were on the Nvidia inspector where i tried Vsync and Half Refresh Vsync, both didn't made much difference, and half refresh was working so i had PinballX running 30fps to confirm the settings were affecting it.

I'll try some shots in the dark like Maximum Pre Rendered frames and things like that, if i have any success i'll report back for sure.

Edit: Well, tried Maximum Pre Rendered Frames 1-4 with Vsync, no luck....

[kylewhite]

Eureka! This one was a head scratcher!

So, it's all working as intended now, here is what was causing the issues:

I had to disconnect my Logitech G27 steering wheel... well, it seems obvious but no other game i have pinball or not even flinch if i'm not using the steering wheel, even fiddlier ones like VP and FP, and to make sure i usually press some buttons on the wheel and rotate the wheel to make sure it is not interfering, and for sure it wasnt being recognized by PinballX config or on the front end.

So what gave me the clue was something i tought maybe was a lack of deadzone on my controller: when i would config buttons on PinballX sometimes the button labeled "Down" would try to supress whatever button i was really trying to press so i had to be "quicker" than whatever was sending down, but it was not like it would fire whatever function would be assigned, the wheel simply never worked with the front end, anyway sure enough upon disconnecting the wheel the button config problems went away as the rest of the problems.

I believe it is something with input handling by PinballX and i'm sure the developer would understand what's happening here, even if it may not be a priority, so i don't know where i could submit this bug report.

I know the way it handles input now is probably taking into account people with custom cabinets and buttons and switches but it would be nice to have the joystick management polished for desktop users like me.

Phew... at least i can fully enjoy it now, i had great success using PBX Recorder today so all pieces have fallen into place.

Draco, thank you for your patience and taking your time to try and help such a random issue like mine. Cheers!

[Draco1962]

Glad you got it sorted. Likely there isn't much that Tom will be able to do with regards to the input handling. If the controller is found by Windows, it runs and does so well. Since you have multiple inputs I believe a conflict was occurring. Had you told me you had a USB steering wheel in the mix, my first suggestion would probably have been to remove it from the equation.