Getting Select and/or Hotkey to work on a board with only Starts

[lecapitaine]

On a Pi 3b running Recalbox 8 off an SD and using USB encoders. I've done a reasonable amount of research on both Google and the forum without finding a solution.

I've been converting a Pandora's Box 4S+ cabinet, and those have both Start and Coin on the Start buttons (you hold P1 Start for 5 seconds to exit a game). So the cabinet only has those two Starts and adding buttons isn't currently an option.

I've tried to be clever about this in a few ways, none of which worked out:

• I first wanted to have both Start and Select on just Start, but that's not allowed by the bindings menu.
• Then I hoped I could use each player's Start as the other's Select, but the menu only recognises one encoder when buttons are being configured.
• I can't use the built-in Retroarch "hold start" combo because this opens the menu; this is a cabinet for use by the public, many of whom are young kids who could seriously mess something up.
• I've thought of Python scripts, but those apparently only take GPIO input.

I'd like to know if what I'm trying to do is possible and how I could go about doing it.

Thanks in advance for your time.

[Zing]

@lecapitaine What you're wanting doesn't make sense.
Even if you get what you're trying to do, it won't serve the controller's primary function: gaming. During games you need the select key separately, no wonder it comes standard on all joysticks: it's not optional.

The hotkey is something optional, you can theoretically configure it as any button (except Start, as it is the button that matches the exit function of the emulator), and theoretically you can exclude all options related to it (you would need an option to exit of the emulator).

I recommend you review again about adding other buttons to your joystick...

But, if you want to make your joystick meaningless, the only alternative solution is to use a virtual joystick to fulfill the need for the select key, or, connect a USB keyboard to fulfill this need without modifying the joystick.
What you're wanting doesn't make sense.
Even if you get what you're trying to do, it won't serve the controller's primary function: gaming. During games you need the select key separately, no wonder it comes standard on all controls: it's not optional.

The hotkey is something optional, you can theoretically configure it as any button (except Start, as it is the button that matches the exit function of the emulator), and theoretically you can exclude all options related to it (you would need an option to exit of the emulator).

I recommend you review again about adding other buttons to your joystick...

But, if you want to make your joystick meaningless, the only alternative solution is to use a virtual gamepad to fulfill the need for the select key, or, connect a USB keyboard to fulfill this need without modifying the joystick.