I could not configure my joypad to work, but found this: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=6837#p52259
tesing that I found that starting snes9x from the command line I could get everything to work just fine by:
-paddev1 /dev/input/js0
But, if I start from the command line like that, all other settings like sound don't work.
So I see two options.
1. specify the joypad device (-paddev1 /dev/input/js0) in the gui somehow
2. enter that setting in the config file and run from the gui as usual
the link above mention "Joydev1 = /dev/input/js0" but I can't get that to work in the xml config file.
Any input appreciated.