PC Controller Tester & USB Joystick Diagnostic
In-page browser diagnostics for wired USB gamepads, 2.4GHz wireless dongles, 8BitDo, Logitech, Razer, GameSir, and arcade fight sticks. Inspect W3C standard vs. non-standard browser mappings, thumbstick centering, and raw button states.
Plug in your controller & press any button, or test using keyboard emulation / auto demo.
Connect Your PC Generic & USB to Begin Live Testing
Plug in via USB or pair over Bluetooth, then press any button (such as A or Menu) to wake the browser Gamepad API and launch the full diagnostic suite on this page.
mapping: "standard") across buttons B0–B17, primary thumbstick axes (Axes 0–3), analog or digital trigger switches (B6/B7), 8-way D-Pad / arcade fight stick microswitches (B12–B15), resting deadzone & Hall Effect/potentiometer centering analysis, 72-sector outer circularity trace, and dual-rumble vibration in Chromium desktop browsers.D mode), multi-axis HOTAS throttles, or rudder pedals often report mapping: "" (raw HID), where button indices may be reordered and auxiliary axes beyond Axes 0–3 are not plotted on the dual-stick diagram. Rear remappable paddles (8BitDo, Razer, Scuf) report as the standard button they are bound to in firmware, and browser polling rate reflects requestAnimationFrame frame cadence rather than raw 125Hz–1000Hz USB hardware interrupts.PC Generic & USB Hardware Architecture & Subsystems
Physical sensor technology, switch types, and mechanical engineering details
Many third-party PC gamepads now use contactless Hall Effect or Tunnel Magnetoresistance (TMR) sensors alongside traditional ALPS potentiometers. Note that several controllers ship with an optional "0% Deadzone" or "Raw Circular/Square" toggle in their vendor software, which directly changes the resting coordinates and outer trace shape reported here.
Analog Hall Effect or potentiometer triggers mapped to B6 (LT) and B7 (RT). Controllers with physical hair-trigger lock sliders shorten the lever stroke and typically switch B6/B7 in firmware to step straight to 1.000 on click.
PC controllers span conductive silicone membranes (Logitech F310/F710, standard 8BitDo pads), low-travel tactile mechanical switches (Razer Mecha-Tactile, Scuf Envision, Flydigi), and 24mm/30mm arcade pushbuttons (Sanwa OBSF, Seimitsu, or hot-swappable Kailh switches on leverless hitboxes). 4-way cross pads, faceted dish pads, or 8-way arcade joystick levers/leverless directional buttons. On arcade fight sticks, a physical toggle switch usually routes directional inputs to D-Pad (B12–B15), Left Stick (Axes 0/1), or Right Stick (Axes 2/3).
Dual-rumble grip motors are accessible in Chromium desktop browsers when the OS driver and transport mode expose a compatible haptic interface (commonly when a PC controller is set to its XInput hardware mode); controllers using non-standard or legacy modes often do not expose vibrationActuator to the browser.
Recommended PC Generic & USB Diagnostic Procedure
Step-by-step verification order to detect intermittent or subtle hardware defects
Check the MAPPING badge in the live HUD bar after connecting your controller. Gamepad.mapping === "standard" means the browser recognized the device and applied the canonical W3C Standard Gamepad layout; Gamepad.mapping === "" (shown as non-standard) means the browser has not applied standard remapping and exposes indices in their unremapped driver order. Neither property alone proves whether Windows is using native XInput or DirectInput APIs, though changing a controller’s hardware mode switch often changes whether the browser can apply standard mapping.
Release both sticks to check resting offset on Axes 0–3, then click "Test Circularity" and rotate each stick slowly around the outer rim across all 72 five-degree sectors. Observe whether your controller’s firmware normalizes the outer boundary to a unit circle (r ≈ 1.000 at all angles) or scales X and Y independently into a rounded-square polygon (where diagonal radius exceeds 1.000), and verify that all four cardinal directions reach full travel without flat spots or dropouts.
With trigger locks disengaged, squeeze LT (B6) and RT (B7) to confirm smooth progression from 0.000 to 1.000. If your controller has physical hair-trigger stops, engage them and verify that each click still reaches 1.000 (100%).
On an arcade stick or leverless controller, verify whether the directional switch is set to DP (highlights B12–B15), LS (moves Axis 0/1), or RS (moves Axis 2/3), and test all four diagonals (Up-Left, Up-Right, Down-Left, Down-Right).
PC Generic & USB Button Mapping & Standard Pinout
Standard W3C Gamepad API index assignments for PC Generic & USB
| API Index | PC Generic & USB Physical Label | Sensor Type |
|---|---|---|
| B0 (Bottom) | A / Primary Action | XInput / W3C Pos 0 |
| B1 (Right) | B / Secondary Action | XInput / W3C Pos 1 |
| B2 (Left) | X / West Action | XInput / W3C Pos 2 |
| B3 (Top) | Y / North Action | XInput / W3C Pos 3 |
| B4 / B5 | LB / RB Shoulder Bumpers | Digital Tactile |
| B6 / B7 | LT / RT Triggers | Analog or Digital Stop |
| B8 / B9 | Back (Select) / Start (Menu) | Menu Buttons |
| B10 / B11 | LS / RS Stick Click | Stick Depress |
| B12 - B15 | D-Pad / Arcade Lever (DP Mode) | 8-Way Directional |
| B16 / B17 | Guide / Aux Function (Driver Dependent) | System / Aux |
Common PC Generic & USB Hardware Issues & Diagnostics
Symptom analysis and verified testing procedures
How to Connect PC Generic & USB to PC or Mac
- 1Wired USB Connection: Plug your controller, arcade stick, or USB joystick directly into a motherboard USB port or powered USB hub.
- 22.4GHz Wireless Dongle: Plug the 2.4GHz USB receiver into your PC, power on the controller, and wait for the status LED on both the controller and receiver to turn solid.
- 3Check the Hardware Mode Switch (X / D / S): If your controller (such as an 8BitDo, Logitech F310/F710, or Mayflash adapter) has a physical mode switch, selecting "X" (XInput mode) typically helps desktop browsers recognize the device and apply the W3C Standard Gamepad layout (17 canonical buttons B0–B16 plus 4 axes, with an 18th slot B17 displayed in our UI when exposed).
- 4Activate Browser Polling: Click inside this browser window and press any face or start button to begin live input diagnostics.
On PC, XInput controllers automatically map to the W3C "standard" 17-button layout, whereas legacy DirectInput gamepads, flight sticks, and raw USB HID encoders often report mapping: "", exposing buttons and POV hat-switch D-Pads in the hardware vendor’s raw byte order.
Explains architectural differences between modern XInput gamepads and DirectInput HID devices on Windows.
Defines how web browsers indicate canonical button remapping versus unmapped raw HID controllers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my 8BitDo or third-party PC controller show up as an Xbox 360 Controller?
When a third-party PC gamepad is set to its XInput hardware mode, it often presents an Xbox-compatible controller descriptor to the operating system. Browsers then recognize that descriptor and apply Gamepad.mapping === "standard" (the 17-button B0–B16 and 4-axis W3C Standard Gamepad layout, plus B17 in our 18-slot UI when exposed), though the browser’s mapping property itself only reports W3C layout remapping rather than inspecting the native Windows driver stack.
Can I test arcade fight sticks and leverless (Hitbox-style) controllers here?
Yes. Arcade fight sticks and leverless controllers from Hori, Qanba, Victrix, Razer, Mayflash, and Haute42 enumerate as standard USB gamepads. Set the controller’s directional mode switch to DP to test the directional switches on the D-Pad gauge (B12–B15), or LS to test them on the Left Stick radar.
How do I test the back paddles on an 8BitDo, Razer, Scuf, or Flydigi controller?
Extra rear paddles and claw bumpers are processed by the controller’s internal firmware rather than having dedicated W3C button slots beyond B17. Assign each rear paddle to a standard button (such as A, B, L3, or R3) using the controller’s onboard remap button or vendor app, then press the paddle here to verify that the assigned button highlights reliably.
Can I test flight sticks, throttles, and racing wheels on this page?
Basic USB joysticks and racing wheels that map their primary steering or pitch/roll to Axes 0–3 and buttons to B0–B17 can be inspected in the Button Matrix, Stick Radars, and Step 4 Event Monitor. However, multi-axis HOTAS throttles and rudder pedals often use raw DirectInput axes beyond Axis 3 that are not plotted on a standard two-stick gamepad diagram.