D-Pad Inputs on PiBoy XRS Running Emulation Station / Retropie + Moonlight Qt (6.1.0) Not Registering

[nine19n]

READ ME FIRST!
If you're here because something basic is not working (like gamepad input, video, or similar), it's probably something specific to your setup, so make sure you've gone through the Troubleshooting Guide first: https://github.com/moonlight-stream/moonlight-docs/wiki/Troubleshooting

If you still have trouble with basic functionality after following the guide, join our Discord server where there are many other volunteers who can help (or direct you back here if it looks like a Moonlight bug after all). https://moonlight-stream.org/discord

Describe the bug
I'm running Moonlight Qt on my PiBoy XRS (a handheld Retropie / Emulation Station PC) which has built in controls (i.e. D-Pad, left & right analog joysticks, XYAB buttons, Start, Select, L1L2R1R2 controls). I followed the instructions from Vegz78 to launch Moonlight Qt from the Emulation Station front-end.

Moonlight Qt launches just fine (i.e. audio, graphics), and I can control / move the cursor around using the left joystick. The D-Pad however doesn't register.

Steps to reproduce
N/A

Screenshots
n/a

Affected games
All

Other Moonlight clients

• Does the issue occur when using Moonlight on iOS or Android?

No. Seems to only be an issue with running Moonlight Qt from my PiBoy XRS.

Moonlight settings (please complete the following information)

• Have any settings been adjusted from defaults? No.
• If so, which settings have been changed? None.
• Does the problem still occur after reverting settings back to default? n/a

Gamepad-related issues (please complete if problem is gamepad-related)

• Do you have any gamepads connected to your host PC directly? Yes.
• Does the problem still remain if you stream the desktop and use https://html5gamepad.com to test your gamepad? Not able to test.
  • Instructions for streaming the desktop can be found here: https://github.com/moonlight-stream/moonlight-docs/wiki/Setup-Guide

Client PC details (please complete the following information)

• OS: Retropie 4.8.9
• Moonlight Version: v6.1.0
• GPU: Raspberry Pi 4b (4GB RAM)
• Linux package type (if applicable): n/a

Server PC details (please complete the following information)

• OS: Windows 11 Pro Build 22000
• Sunshine or GeForce Experience version: Sunshine v2025.115.190029
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050
• GPU driver: Game Ready Driver 566.36

Moonlight Logs (please attach)

• On Windows, Moonlight-###.log files can be found in %TEMP%. Simply type that into the File Explorer path field to navigate there.
• On macOS, Moonlight-###.log files can be found in /tmp. In Finder, press Cmd+Shift+G, then type /tmp to navigate there.
• On Linux with the Flatpak, logs print to the terminal when running with the command: flatpak run com.moonlight_stream.Moonlight
• On Linux with the Snap, logs print to the terminal when running with the command: moonlight

Additional context
Anything else you think may be relevant to the issue

[Bobbar]

I believe I'm having a similar issue with a Switch NSO N64 or Pro controller.

I have the controller connected via bluetooth to my Raspberry Pi 4. All buttons work fine with jstest, it's recognized correctly by Moonlight (per the logs) and I can enter and navigate settings and launch the desktop using the controller. But once connected via Sunshine, many of the buttons are not even being passed or reported by Sunshine. In my case, the DPad, Z-Button, and I think even the Start button doesn't come through. (I enabled debug logs in Sunshine and confirmed that the button states don't change at all for the effected buttons)

I'm almost certain it used to work as I had previously played the Perfect Dark PC port with the NSO N64 controller, and I had even scripted the bluetooth pairing process for the controller as I was using it frequently.

I've been assuming the issue is something on the host, but now I'm not so sure.

The only potentially relevant changes I can find related to gamepad handling occurred around these commits:
moonlight-stream/moonlight-common-c@372eb94
LizardByte/Sunshine@70dc582

[cgutman]

Can you try running Moonlight with SDL_EVENT_LOGGING=1 to see if the button presses are registering with Moonlight?

[Bobbar]

I fear I'm hijacking this issue, however here are snips from Moonlight and Sunshine logs with an NSO N64 Controller, connected via bluetooth to an RPi4. The D-Pad and the Z-button do not register in Windows.

I pressed the buttons in the following order:

Wiggle Joystick, L, R, Z, Start, B, A, D-pad (U,D,L,R), C-pad (U,D,L,R)

moonlight_nso_n64_debug.txt
sunshine_nso_n64_debug.txt