Reply To: pifba keyboard controls stubbornly refuse configuration

[Floob]

Well, in the first post you mention pifba but then show retroarch.cfg files.

pi-fba doesnt use retroarch, so that wont pick up anything there.
Config file info here:

MAME versions and romsets on RetroPie

But yes, it should work when you edit this file:
/opt/retropie/configs/fba/fba2x.cfg

If you just plug a keyboard in, does it respond the same keys?

Are you using the latest firmware?
https://www.ultimarc.com/download.html