You can run jstest (joystick test) in the terminal by selecting Quit EmulationStation (a keyboard will be required for the following steps).

RetroArch and libretro provide a way to take an existing emulator and load that emulator as a library or core.

RetroArch then handles the input (controls) and output (graphics and audio) while the emulator core handles the emulation of the original system.

With a few simple changes to the emulator source code, almost any existing emulator could become a libretro core.

For example, lr-snes9x2010 is the libretro core of the SNES emulator called snes9x2010.

However, RetroArch also provides the freedom to configure specific emulators individually and even individual games differently if the user wants.

This allows a specific setting or button mapping for a certain console or even just for a certain game.

A RetroPad does not exist in real life, its a concept only within RetroArch.

If your real controller has less buttons than a DualShock, then the virtual RetroPad also has less buttons, thats perfectly fine.

The mapping for many consoles is represented by the pictures below and on each systems wiki page.

If you wish, you can reconfigure this control mapping, either for all RetroArch, for a specific system, or even for a specific ROM.

You can also access it from the start menu within EmulationStation under the Configure Input option.

Your joypad is automagically configured for libretro (RetroArch) emulators when you configure your controller in EmulationStation.

Youll know if your controller has been automagically configured if you see a flash of yellow text on the bottom of the screen with your gamepad ID when you start a game.

They can be used as a reference when configuring your controllers.

Each emulator page on the wiki has a diagram of the original controller for its respective console that will correspond to the same inputs listed below.

When setting up the controller in EmulationStation, these values are then assigned a respective action on RetroArch.

When setting up the controller, EmulationStation would prompt you to press the A button on your controller.

Pressing the A button would then record into the config file as inputabtn 1, so RetroArch will know that the A button on your physical controller corresponds to the A button on RetroArchs virtual controller, the RetroPad.

Therefore, the next time you play a game such as Super Mario Bros.

If you accidentally pressed the B button with a value of 2 during setup when it prompted for A, then it would be recorded into the config file as inputabtn 2, so if you want to jump in Super Mario Bros., you would have to press B on your controller.

The following defaults are set automatically the first time you set up your controller from EmulationStation (the numbers will vary depending the controller you use).

Usually the relationship between the two can be deduced by looking at the file and noting the entries names along with the values next to them, assuming that the values have not been jumbled from previous edits or been mixed up due to unknown issues.

For example, the USB gamepad above has an entry for inputxbtn 0, indicating that the X button on the controller (or the button that you associated as X during controller setup in EmulationStation) has a value of 0.

Emulator Mac Controller Support