The Feather RP2040 USB Host and Metro RP2350 devices both support USB Host and can be used with this game controller.
Wiring Feather RP2040 USB Host
Connecting to the Feather RP2040 USB Host requires plugging in a USB C cable to the Feather's Host port and connecting the other end to a USB Hub breakout such as the CH334F.
Wiring Metro RP2350
Connecting to the Metro RP2350 USB Host port requires soldering pins to the broken out USB Host connections as shown in this guide page. Make the following connections between the Metro USB Host pins and CH334F host connection opposite the USB C connector.
- GND to GND with Black or Blue
- D+ to D+ with Green
- D- to D- with White
- 5V to 5V with Red
Note that the data pins are swapped on the Metro compared to the CH334F breakout. On the Metro D- is next to 5V, whereas on the CH334F D- is next to GND.
Be sure to connect D- on the breakout to D- on the Metro, and D+ on the breakout to D+ on the Metro.
USB Host is under active development. At the time of writing, the SNES-like controller only works when connected through a USB hub such as the CH334F.
Demo Code
Connect the USB game controller while the microcontroller is unplugged from power. Only power up the microcontroller once the USB host connections are made securely.
Press the 'Download Project Bundle' button below to download a zip file containing the demo code. Connect your computer to your Feather or Metro via a known good data+power USB cable. Copy code.py and the required libraries to the CIRCUITPY drive on your device which appears when the board is connected to your computer via good USB cable.
The code will scan for connected USB devices, printing out information about each one it finds.
Then it will start a loop reading from the first device it found and printing messages when each of the gamepad buttons are pressed. Check the serial console to see the output.
# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2025 Tim Cocks for Adafruit Industries
#
# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
import array
import time
import usb.core
import adafruit_usb_host_descriptors
# Set to true to print detailed information about all devices found
VERBOSE_SCAN = True
BTN_DPAD_UPDOWN_INDEX = 1
BTN_DPAD_RIGHTLEFT_INDEX = 0
BTN_ABXY_INDEX = 5
BTN_OTHER_INDEX = 6
DIR_IN = 0x80
controller = None
if VERBOSE_SCAN:
for device in usb.core.find(find_all=True):
controller = device
print("pid", hex(device.idProduct))
print("vid", hex(device.idVendor))
print("man", device.manufacturer)
print("product", device.product)
print("serial", device.serial_number)
print("config[0]:")
config_descriptor = adafruit_usb_host_descriptors.get_configuration_descriptor(
device, 0
)
i = 0
while i < len(config_descriptor):
descriptor_len = config_descriptor[i]
descriptor_type = config_descriptor[i + 1]
if descriptor_type == adafruit_usb_host_descriptors.DESC_CONFIGURATION:
config_value = config_descriptor[i + 5]
print(f" value {config_value:d}")
elif descriptor_type == adafruit_usb_host_descriptors.DESC_INTERFACE:
interface_number = config_descriptor[i + 2]
interface_class = config_descriptor[i + 5]
interface_subclass = config_descriptor[i + 6]
print(f" interface[{interface_number:d}]")
print(
f" class {interface_class:02x} subclass {interface_subclass:02x}"
)
elif descriptor_type == adafruit_usb_host_descriptors.DESC_ENDPOINT:
endpoint_address = config_descriptor[i + 2]
if endpoint_address & DIR_IN:
print(f" IN {endpoint_address:02x}")
else:
print(f" OUT {endpoint_address:02x}")
i += descriptor_len
# get the first device found
device = None
while device is None:
for d in usb.core.find(find_all=True):
device = d
break
time.sleep(0.1)
# set configuration so we can read data from it
device.set_configuration()
print(
f"configuration set for {device.manufacturer}, {device.product}, {device.serial_number}"
)
# Test to see if the kernel is using the device and detach it.
if device.is_kernel_driver_active(0):
device.detach_kernel_driver(0)
# buffer to hold 64 bytes
buf = array.array("B", [0] * 64)
def print_array(arr, max_index=None, fmt="hex"):
"""
Print the values of an array
:param arr: The array to print
:param max_index: The maximum index to print. None means print all.
:param fmt: The format to use, either "hex" or "bin"
:return: None
"""
out_str = ""
if max_index is None or max_index >= len(arr):
length = len(arr)
else:
length = max_index
for _ in range(length):
if fmt == "hex":
out_str += f"{int(arr[_]):02x} "
elif fmt == "bin":
out_str += f"{int(arr[_]):08b} "
print(out_str)
def reports_equal(report_a, report_b, check_length=None):
"""
Test if two reports are equal. If check_length is provided then
check for equality in only the first check_length number of bytes.
:param report_a: First report data
:param report_b: Second report data
:param check_length: How many bytes to check
:return: True if the reports are equal, otherwise False.
"""
if (
report_a is None
and report_b is not None
or report_b is None
and report_a is not None
):
return False
length = len(report_a) if check_length is None else check_length
for _ in range(length):
if report_a[_] != report_b[_]:
return False
return True
idle_state = None
prev_state = None
while True:
try:
count = device.read(0x81, buf)
# print(f"read size: {count}")
except usb.core.USBTimeoutError:
continue
if idle_state is None:
idle_state = buf[:]
print("Idle state:")
print_array(idle_state[:8], max_index=count)
print()
if not reports_equal(buf, prev_state, 8) and not reports_equal(buf, idle_state, 8):
if buf[BTN_DPAD_UPDOWN_INDEX] == 0x0:
print("D-Pad UP pressed")
elif buf[BTN_DPAD_UPDOWN_INDEX] == 0xFF:
print("D-Pad DOWN pressed")
if buf[BTN_DPAD_RIGHTLEFT_INDEX] == 0:
print("D-Pad LEFT pressed")
elif buf[BTN_DPAD_RIGHTLEFT_INDEX] == 0xFF:
print("D-Pad RIGHT pressed")
if buf[BTN_ABXY_INDEX] == 0x2F:
print("A pressed")
elif buf[BTN_ABXY_INDEX] == 0x4F:
print("B pressed")
elif buf[BTN_ABXY_INDEX] == 0x1F:
print("X pressed")
elif buf[BTN_ABXY_INDEX] == 0x8F:
print("Y pressed")
if buf[BTN_OTHER_INDEX] == 0x01:
print("L shoulder pressed")
elif buf[BTN_OTHER_INDEX] == 0x02:
print("R shoulder pressed")
elif buf[BTN_OTHER_INDEX] == 0x10:
print("SELECT pressed")
elif buf[BTN_OTHER_INDEX] == 0x20:
print("START pressed")
# print_array(buf[:8])
prev_state = buf[:]
Page last edited April 21, 2025
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