Mi Box and emulators

by Mezmaron

So I finally got around to installing some emulators on my Xiaomi Mi Box, and I have some questions.

First off, MAME4Droid... how do you load a game? I'm using a Gamesir G3s gamepad. I put my ROMs on an external USB drive, and was happy to see that it actually let me choose my ROMs folder on it. It detected the games and displayed the list, but no matter what buttons I press, I either get a menu that has Help, Settings, and Netplay, or I get a prompt to exit MAME4Droid. WTF?

Retroarch... how in the hell do you configure the gamepad? I cannot navigate the menus at all, neither with the gamepad or the remote. The only thing I can do is exit the emulator with the remote.

And other emulators, such as Mupen64... how do you choose your ROMs folder when it's on an external drive? I thought I was having the same issue on an SNES emulator, but I somehow eventually navigated to the USB storage, though I'm not sure how I did it.

Thanks!

Dinierto

Mame4droid is really fucked up about directories. Basically, what it does, is create a directory in the folder you picked, possibly called 'mame4droid'. That's what I think it does, from memory. So if that's there I'd either move your roms to that new directory, or try a MAME core in Retroarch (if you can get it working)

Do you have a keyboard? You might try that to navigate RA's menus, or another gamepad like a USB one or the Nvidia one. Retroarch's gamepad system is great when it works, but completely ridiculous when it doesn't. Once you can get into the menus, go to the settings menu, then input, then input User 1 binds. Make sure you pick your gamepad under Device index, then bind all. If that doesn't work get on one of their forums, or do a Google search for your exact gamepad with Retroarch.

kimhuli

Where did you get yours? I just saw the XIAOMI Mi Box 3S at geekbuying for $65. Doesn't look too bad (2GB/8GB).

Mezmaron

I guess I should give an update on this. My last plan wasn't successful, which was to plug in a USB hub with the Gamesir wireless dongle plugged in (which works) along with the PS2 controller-to-USB adapter, assigning inputs to the PS2 controller, then unplugging the wireless dongle and then using the PS2 controller to assign inputs to the Gamesir in bluetooth mode.

I thought for sure that being able to navigate to the input menus with a control method that worked would allow me to assign it to one of the other controllers that didn't initially work but which Retroarch did detect. The only control method that I can get to work is the Gamesir in Xinput mode with it's dongle. It even allowed me to select the PS2 controller adaptor in the controller selection menu, but then I would lose all control once that was selected, forcing me to have to clear the data for Retroarch and start over.

So, I gave up on perfection (being able to use the Gamesir in Bluetooth mode for everything, since it works for everything else on the MiBox except Retroarch) and just used the Xinput mode of the Gamesir, using a USB hub to plug in the dongle along with an external USB drive. Unfortunately, scanning ROMs is crazy slow, and I assume this is due to the USB hub possibly being an older USB 1.1 model.

dude_mc_dude_dude

Hi. I have hit the same problem as you in mame4droid. I can see the list of ROMs, but no button will allow me to launch one. I either get a popup menu, or an exit prompt. Have you had any further success? I have the mibox controller and mi gamepad