Controller causing Snes9x to act crazy

[Soultpp]

Hello, I've had this problem for a while now but finally decided to ask here about it since I could not find any solution elsewhere. For a long while now, through several versions of Snes9x, whenever I try to use my controller (SteelSteries Stratus Duo) in 2.4 GHz wireless mode, when I load up any rom, the game just goes insane:
-It ignores all my inputs
-It goes into full turbo mode, running the rom at max speed (Like 3k fps)
-It rapidly toggles several of the rapid fire buttons on and off
-I think it tends to crash the rom after a few seconds of this
-It may do other things that I haven't been able to spot

The controller works perfectly fine when it's plugged in via a USB cable to the computer, Snes9x recognizes it fine and it seems to runs perfectly, but just never when it's in 2.4Ghx wireless mode.

I THINK it might be something wrong with the input from X/Y on the two sticks, as a lot of these things (fast mode and turbo toggles for example) are actually mapped to directions on those.

Any help would be appreciated.

[odditude]

i'm guessing that the analog deadzones differ between hardwired and 2.4GHz modes; you could confirm this using a test utility such as https://hardwaretester.com/gamepad

[Soultpp]

That does sound pretty useful. I'm not sure how to use that utility though. I can see numbers, but really don't know what they mean, sadly.

[odditude]

look at how the "axis" values change when you move the thumbsticks, and then see what they return to when you leave the sticks in a neutral position (this should be very close to zero). i suspect that you'll see larger values in the neutral position when the controller is connected via 2.4GHz.

generally speaking, there's an area near the zero point that gets treated as no input - this range is called the deadzone. if the manufacturer provides a configuration utility that allows you to adjust the deadzone values, you can increase them so the neutral position falls within the deadzone.

otherwise, you could use the snes9x core in RetroArch or another libretro frontend that allows you to override controller deadzones.

[Soultpp]

Well, from what I can see of the numbers, the left stick is more sensative to input than the right one, but both do zero out when at neutral.

Sadly, as far as I can tell there is no manufacturer config utility for adjusting things like dead zone, or anything really, so I would have to use an alternate method to do it.

How would I go about doing that? I'm guessing that retroarch would be the easiest way. And this would carry over to snes9x directly, yes? Not just while using retroarch?

[odditude]

it would only apply to the snes9x core run within RetroArch - RA handles the input, and then passes that processed input into the emulator "core" that's doing the heavy lifting.

for questions on the RA side, i suggest hitting up r/RetroArch (old.reddit link).

[Soultpp]

I see... That's unfortunate then. I really don't want to try switching right now. Maybe later I'll try it but I had problems using RA in the past and don't feel like trying again. (Don't remember the problems specifically now though)
I suppose I'll be having to stick with using the cord in order to play at least for now. Not a huge deal, just a bit inconvenient at times.