USBRetro

USBRetro is an open source controller adapter firmware for converting USB controllers, keyboards, and mice to various retro consoles' native controller protocols.

Update Instructions

USB-2-PCE controlleradapter.com/products/usb-2-pce
NUON USB controlleradapter.com/products/nuon-usb

1. Download the latest release usbretro_[console].uf2 file.
2. Disconnected adapter from the console and all connected USB devices.
3. While holding the boot(+) button, connect the USB-C port to a computer.
4. A virual drive called RPI-RP2 will appear, drag-n-drop the UF2 update file onto the drive.
5. The virtual drive will automatically unmount when the update is completed. 🚀

GC USB controlleradapter.com/products/gc-usb

1. Download the latest release usbretro_ngc.uf2 file.
2. Disconnected adapter from the console and all connected USB devices.
3. Connect the USB-C port to a computer.
4. A virual drive called RPI-RP2 will appear, drag-n-drop the UF2 update file onto the drive.
5. The virtual drive will automatically unmount and remount when the update is completed. 🚀

Compatibility

USB Host Input

• [x] USB Hubs (up to 5 devices)
• [x] USB HID Keyboards/Mice (maps to controller)
• [x] X-input Controllers (Xbox OG/360/One/SeriesX|S)
• [x] D-input Controllers (generic HID gamepad|joystick)
• [x] PlayStation (PSClassic/DS3/DS4/DualSense)
• [x] Switch (SwitchPro/JoyConGrip)
• [x] 8BitDo Controllers/Adapters
  • [x] PCEngine 2.4g
  • [x] M30 2.4g/BT
  • [ ] NeoGeo 2.4g
  • [x] Wireless Adapter 1 (Grey/Red)
  • [ ] Wireless Adapter 2 (Black/Red)
• [x] Logitech Wingman Action Pad
• [x] Sega Astrocity controller/joystick
• [x] Hori Pokken and Horipad controllers
• [x] DragonRise Generic USB controllers

Retro Console Output

• [x] PCEngine/TurboGrafx-16
  • [x] Multitap (1-5 players)
  • [x] PCEngine Mouse
  • [x] 2-button Controller
  • [x] 3-button Controller
  • [x] 6-button Controller
• [x] Nuon DVD Players
  • [x] Standard controller output
  • [x] Spinner controller output for Tempest 3000
• [x] GameCube/Wii
  • [x] Standard Controller (with rumble)
  • [x] GameCube Keyboard (scroll lock to enable)
  • [x] Copilot (combine up to 4 controllers into one)
• [x] Xbox One S (USB host controller mod)
  • [x] Full button and analog value passthrough
  • [ ] Rumble passthrough
• [ ] CD-i
  • [ ] 2-player Splitter
  • [ ] Standard Controller
  • [ ] CD-i Mouse Output
• [ ] 3DO
  • [ ] Daisy-chaining (1-8 controllers)
  • [ ] 3DO Mouse Output
  • [ ] 3DO Arcade Start/Coin (Orbatak/Shootout at Old Tucson)
• [ ] Sega Dreamcast
  • [ ] Standard Controller
  • [ ] Dreamcast Keyboard
  • [ ] Virtual VMU/Rumble Pack
• [ ] Any retro console or computer..

Bugs and Feature Requests

If you run into any issues, then please submit a bug report on the issues tab of this repo. If you would like to see support for specific USB controllers or think of something I missed, then you are welcome to open a feature request under the issues tab. Don't be shy. 👂

Button Mapping

Input Map

Output Map

Compiling

Setup

1.) Raspberry Pi Pico SDK

First, clone the pico-sdk repo to your local dev environment. Then point the PICO_SDK_PATH environment variable to it.

cd ~/git
git clone https://github.com/raspberrypi/pico-sdk.git

cd ~/git/pico-sdk
git submodule init
git submodule update

export PICO_SDK_PATH=~/git/pico-sdk

2.) TinyUSB

Then the TinyUSB library within pico-sdk should be on the latest master branch. Change to that directory and checkout master if not already on it.

cd ~/git/pico-sdk/lib/tinyusb
git checkout master

3.) Clone USBRetro and Submodules

Once you have cloned this repo to your local environment. The external submodule dependencies must be initialized and updated.

cd ~/git
git clone https://github.com/RobertDaleSmith/usbretro.git

cd ~/git/usbretro
git submodule init
git submodule update

4.) RP2040 Board Setup

Finally, run the specific microcontroller build script to create a src/build directory.

cd ~/git/usbretro/src
sh build_ada_kb2040.sh

Build Firmwares

Build All

To build all the various console specific firmwares:

cd ~/git/usbretro/src/build
cmake ..
make

Build Individual

If you ever want to build firmware for only a single output console, then you can use make usbretro_[console].

make usbretro_pce
make usbretro_ngc
make usbretro_nuon
make usbretro_xb1

Discord Server

Join 👉 discord.usbretro.com

Acknowledgements

• Ha Thach's excellent TinyUSB library and controller example
• David Shadoff for building PCEMouse which laid the foundation
• Ryzee119 for the wonderful tusb_xinput library for X-input support
• SelvinPL for the robust lufa-hid-parser example for generic HID gamepad support
• JonnyHaystack for the awesome joybus-pio for GameCube controller output