RetroArcade Mini
The RetroArcade Mini (often referred to as the RS-07) is a small arcade machine that runs RetroFW.
When shopping for a RetroArcade compatible with RetroFW, it's important to carefully check the listing. There are around three different color variants that the machine comes in, all of which have six face buttons in addition to Start and Select. (A, B, X, Y, L, R) If the unit you are looking for only has four buttons, regardless of what it's called in the listing, it doesn't support RetroFW!
The A and B buttons on the main unit are swapped when compared to many other button layouts. By default, RetroFW adheres to this layout, but it is possible to swap A and B on the main unit by changing a kernel variable with the following command:
echo 1 > /proc/jz/alt
This could be run with the terminal app, but the change would be lost when you power-down your RetroArcade. One way to swap the buttons permanently would be to add the above command to autoexec.sh file present at the root of the internal SD card. Note that only the A and B buttons on the main unit are swapped. The buttons on the gamepads are not affected.
The machine often ships with two external controllers that can plug into the machine and be used instead of the arcade controls. The main controls of RetroFW consoles are read as keyboard presses. Gamepads are different in that they are read as USB Gamepads by the Linux kernel. Software needs to have Linux gamepad support added using either SDL APIs or direct reads from the /dev/input devices.
You can find software that is known to work on the gamepads on the Emulators page. Look for the 
icon for known working software. Software marked with 
has partial support for gamepads.
Additional instructions for software with additional support are below.
Use the settings menu to configure the joystick controls. (Work in progress. More precise instructions to follow.)
The game will crash if you use the Gamepad to start the game. Use the controls on the arcade unit itself to start. The gamepads can be used once the game starts.
When starting the 2 player mode, set the controls to Joystick 1 and Joystick 2.
PicoDrive needs to be configured to use the gamepad controllers.
- Pick the game you want to play
- Press start+select on the main system to enter the PicoDrive menu
- Go to Settings > Controls
- Select “Player 1”
- Use the X button to wipe out the current controls for each line item
- For each line hit A and press the button on the control pad you want to use
- Return to the Controls menu and perform steps 5 & 6 for “Player 2”
If you want to make the controls on the main unit usable, perform the following steps:
- Enter the "Emulator Controls" menu and use X to blank out all the settings except "Enter menu"
- Re-Enter the "Player 1" menu and set the main unit controls for each line. These controls will stack upon the gamepad control.
- All controls should now be working as expected.
While it is possible to save the controls to the global configuration file, the Player 1 and Emulator Controls will be reset each time you restart PicoDrive.