[RESOLVED] Joystick no longer works in emulators if launched from GameEx Arcade *edited*

[GreggV]

When I launch an emu through GameEx arcade my Ultimarc joystick (keyboard emulated through ipac Ultimate) doesn't work in the  emu.  If I launch the emu by itself the joystick works fine.  The joystick can be used just fine to navigate menus in GameEx and  registers keys properly in keyboard testers.  It just stops working in the emu that was launched through Gameex Arcade.  The problem occurs in both CEMU and RSPC3 (both with the most current versions). I should note that I configure my emu games by creating a shortcut and running it as a PC game and just altering the shortcut command line.  I suspect this problem started occurring in one of the last one or two updates to GameEx arcade.  Thanks in advance!

*edit - the problem does not occur in MAME*

Gregg

 

GameEx.ini log.txt

[Tom Speirs]

Well its not a keyboard encoder its gamepad according to the log. Could that be an  issue?

[GreggV]

Thanks Tom, I suspected that too.  I did have two Logitech gamepads connected and configured with Logitech software, but disconnected them and uninstalled the Logitech software.  I'm not sure if that assisted in the problem, but with the gamepads disconnected and the software uninstalled, the problem is there.

 

Gregg

 

[Draco1962]

13 hours ago, GreggV said:

Thanks Tom, I suspected that too.  I did have two Logitech gamepads connected and configured with Logitech software, but disconnected them and uninstalled the Logitech software.  I'm not sure if that assisted in the problem, but with the gamepads disconnected and the software uninstalled, the problem is there.

 

Gregg

 

Is the log.txt file in your original post from before you disconnected/removed the Logitech gamepads as noted? If so, can you provide a copy of the log.txt file after you disconnected/removed the gamepads so Tom can see what is being reported?

[Tom Speirs]

Im a little confused as you said it with using a keyboard encoder but this looks like a gamepad issue which is possible I guess. Once you resolve that little bit of confusion i will look further.

if you look at the log they are gamepads, no?

[GreggV]

Thank you.  The log file is from after I disconnected the gamepads and uninstalled the software.  Here's what I think happened:  The keyboard-encoded joysticks worked fine, then I connected two gamepads and I think a stick on one of the gamepads became assigned as the new joystick, then I disconnected the gamepad and uninstalled the gamepad software (Logitech) but for some reason GameEx still tries to assign the gamepad as the joystick.  If I run CEMO or RSPC3 by themselves they use the joystick just fine.  Does that help?  I'm considering looking in my Windows 10 for a restore point from before I attached the gamepads.  But then does that mean I won't ever be able to attach the gamepads properly?  I'm afraid so.  I appreciate your responses.

 

*Edit - Theere are no previous restore points that are saved.  Only after uninstalling the gamepad software.

[Draco1962]

Have you looked in Device Manager to see if the gamepads show there still? 

You may need to investigate further to see if there may be an entry in the Windows registry that needs to be removed. Be sure you know what you are doing because a botched registry can do a lot of harm to your Windows installation.

[Tom Speirs]

I am referring to this. Not logitech.

13:47:13.09  4/3/2024:  Initialising DirectInput for Gamepad support
13:47:13.21  4/3/2024:  Using Device 1: Ultimarc Ultra-Stik Player 1
13:47:13.21  4/3/2024:  Using Device 2: Ultimarc Ultra-Stik Player 2

As for your issue, it could be a GameEx issue but it could be the emulators work differently from the command line.

Look at runitgame.bat in the data folder.

[GreggV]

When I run the runitgame.bat, the cemu game works properly with the joystick.

I've been running the cemu games from the command lines with no issues for about a year with no problems until recently.

Is there a good direction I should be taking here?  Are you suggesting that I should change all of the individual shortcuts I made (i.e. command line short cuts) to new, custom .bat files?  Thank you for any suggestions.

Gregg

[Tom Speirs]

Well, it sounds like together we troubleshooted and identified it is a bug or issue with GameEx.

It is down to me now to investigate further.

Thank you for your patience..

Tom.

[GreggV]

You're the best,Tom.  Thanks to everyone for the assistance.

Gregg

[tthurman]

May be a long shot, but maybe toggle Slik-Stik support to NO, save and then back again.

It seems I ran into this once when after having my star wars yoke hooked up, but it's been awhile and may have also involved the Direct Input setting. My iPac is an old ps2 interface model. Probably won't work, but easy enough to try.

[GreggV]

18 hours ago, tthurman said:

May be a long shot, but maybe toggle Slik-Stik support to NO, save and then back again.

It seems I ran into this once when after having my star wars yoke hooked up, but it's been awhile and may have also involved the Direct Input setting. My iPac is an old ps2 interface model. Probably won't work, but easy enough to try.

Thanks for the advice but it didn't work.  I've spent a good part of the day turning settings on and off and nothing seems to work.  I've even tried altering settings in the gameex ini.  I also reattached the gamepads to properly identify them in Windows device manager and manually uninstalled them there when they popped up then disconnected them.  Nothing solved.  From everything I can tell, the joysticks work fine in the Cemu and RSPC3 emus when Gameex arcade didn't launch them, but if Gameex arcade did launch the emus the joysticks don't work in-game even though they do control Gameex arcade menus.  Oddly enough, even the runitgame.bat allows the emus to use the joysticks in-game if the .bat wasn't launched  from Gameex, but if it was launched with Gameex with the debug option, the joysticks don't work in-game.  So basically, it seems that when Gameex arcade launches the emu it is trying to force Cemu and RSPC3 to use a controller in-game that is no longer present.  And that sucks because Gameex Arcade is pretty much useless to me & the kiddos right now.  Boo hoo.

Also, if I try to use a website keyboard tester while Gameex arcade is running, the tester acknowledges the joystick just fine, even though the joystick doesn't work in-game if Gameex arcade launched it.  So it appears that if Gameex arcade launches the emu, the joystick won't work in-game.

 

And finally, if I launch the emu from Gameex arcade, then hit escape to minimize the emu so I can alter the emu settings while they are both running, the input settings will not recognize the joystick if I try to reconfigure.  But if I start the emu without Gameex arcade running, the emu recognizes the joystick with no problems.

[Tom Speirs]

Again, I think its an issue with GameEx and my burden to bare!

You have the option of rolling back to an older version though until I get to it. There all here.

[GreggV]

11 minutes ago, Tom Speirs said:

Again, I think its an issue with GameEx and my burden to bare!

You have the option of rolling back to an older version though until I get to it. There all here.

I really hate to ask, but can you provide a link to the older versions?  I can't seem to find them in the downloads section, only the latest version.  Thx 

 

[GreggV]

5 minutes ago, GreggV said:

I really hate to ask, but can you provide a link to the older versions?  I can't seem to find them in the downloads section, only the latest version.  Thx 

 

NM, I found them...changelogs.  Thx

[GreggV]

9 minutes ago, GreggV said:

NM, I found them...changelogs.  Thx

Reverted back to 18.60 and 18.54 but the problem persists.  Going to reinstall 18.64.

[Tom Speirs]

It could be a windows update or an emu update that broke things. Windows broke background direct input in GameEx some time ago. Its possible. Its kind of why GameEx will never be finished.

 

[GreggV]

I'm happy to report that I got the joysticks working properly again.  I uninstalled Gameex Arcade with Revo Uninstaller and allowed Revo to clean up the registry for leftover files.  Then I used CCleaner for further PC & registry cleaning. Then I restarted and reinstalled Gameex Arcade (18.64, latest) from scratch and reconfigured it.  Viola.  Yes Tom, I think the Logitech Gamepads and related software messed with how Gameex was utilizing the DirectInput controllers.

Edit:  That worked for some emus like CEMU and RSPC3 but I had to manually uninstall others with their sub-located configuration files, like Dolphin.  I also had to uninstall and reinstall Joy2Key.  That basically reset everything that was using DirectInput controllers.

Thanks again for the help, everyone.  

Gregg