controls

Controls

Every screen is driven by the same ten inputs: D-pad (or left stick), Confirm, Cancel, Triangle, Square, L1/R1, L2/R2, START, SELECT and R3. Button labels follow your Confirm button setting, so Circle and Cross swap if you change it.

Confirm and cancel

Settings > Input > Confirm button chooses which face button confirms; the other cancels everywhere (default Circle confirms, Cross cancels). Footer hints and dialogs show the right icon automatically. The setting is saved as GUI_Swap_Keys. Both controller ports are read at once and a USB keyboard can be used in parallel.

Input	General meaning
D-pad / left stick	Navigate. Directions, the left stick and L2/R2 auto-repeat; action buttons never repeat.
Confirm	Open, start, select, change.
Cancel	Back, close, parent folder.
Triangle	Options/menu for the focused item. Also cancels most menus and dialogs.
Square	Favorite (applications), mark (browser), select (editor), caps (keyboards), reset one setting (theme rows).
L1 / R1	Previous / next tab.
L2 / R2	Page or jump to first/last.
START	Global dashboard menu.
SELECT	Tap: switch application view. Hold: quick-launch overlay.
R3	Home: toggle background-only view. Pickers: choose as a uLE:/ path.

Dashboard (all tabs)

Control	Action
L1 / R1	Previous / next tab in the order Home, Files, Tools, Settings (wraps). Works inside Files folders and inside Settings pages; leaving Settings with unsaved changes asks first.
START	Dashboard menu from any native screen, including the editor, viewers and dialogs: Home, Refresh application library, Settings, Reboot IOP, Power off (the Files tab is on the tab bar). Press START again to close it. Text entry and folder pickers use SELECT for Done / Use this folder; the image viewer slideshow is R3. SELECT + START still follows the START launch key.
R3 on Home (without SELECT)	Toggle the background-only display; press R3 again to restore the interface. SELECT + R3 still follows the configured launch key.
Hold SELECT + a button	Quick launch: starts the target assigned to that button under Settings > Launching > Launch keys. A short SELECT tap keeps its normal meaning.
Any button during the automatic start countdown	Cancels the automatic start.
Hold SELECT while Launchstation starts	Recovery boot (saved dashboard settings ignored for the session).

Opening a menu does not run dashboard input, device polling or library scans behind it, and animated backgrounds keep running behind menus and tools.

Home

Control	Action
Up / Down	Switch between the Continue row and the Browse & shortcuts row.
Left / Right	Move in the row (wraps).
L2 / R2	First / last entry of the row.
Confirm	Start the application / open the chip.
Square	Toggle Favorite.
Triangle	Application options.
R3	Hide/show the interface (background only). Not when SELECT is held.
Back (inside Applications)	Return to Home.

Applications

Control	Action
D-pad	Grid: 2D; List: Up/Down; Carousel: any direction.
L2 / R2	Grid: three rows; List: a page (Left/Right do the same); Carousel: five items.
Confirm / Square / Triangle	Start / Favorite / library menu (options, view, filter, refresh).
SELECT	Cycle Grid, List and Carousel.

Tools

Up/Down move (skipping group headers), L2/R2 jump six rows, Confirm runs the entry (some ask first), START opens the menu.

File Browser

Control	Action
Up / Down	Move one row (wraps).
Left, Right, L2, R2	Page up / page down.
Confirm	Open a folder, start an ELF/VCD/ISO/CUE, view an image, edit a text file.
Square	Mark/unmark and move down.
Triangle	File Browser menu (copy, cut, paste, delete, rename, new folder, size, sort, show, bookmarks...).
Back	Parent folder; at the device root Home (or close, in the modal).

Image viewer and menus are described on the File Browser page: Left/Right previous/next image, Up/Down rotate, L2/R2 zoom, left stick pan, Square fullscreen, R3 slideshow, L1/R1 slideshow delay, SELECT reset, Confirm/Back/Triangle close.

Text Editor

See Text Editor navigation. In short, with the keyboard hidden: D-pad moves, L1/R1 go to line start/end, L2/R2 page, Square selects, Confirm shows the keyboard, SELECT toggles it, Triangle or START opens the menu, Back exits. With the keyboard shown: D-pad picks a key, Confirm types, Back deletes, Square caps, L1/R1 move the cursor left/right, L2/R2 up/down, Triangle or SELECT hides the keyboard.

Settings

Control	Action
Up / Down	Move between rows (wraps).
L2 / R2	First / last row of the page.
Confirm or Right	Open a group or page; edit a path, colour, IP or launch key; open the list of a multi-value choice; run an action.
Left / Right	Step a choice or a number (screen position, delays, backup count). On other rows Left goes back.
Square	Theme rows: reset this one setting to the preset value. Launch-key rows: edit the title.
Triangle	The Changes menu: Save changes, Discard changes, Keep editing (available on every page).
Back	Up one page, keeping selection and scroll; at the overview it returns to Home (asking about unsaved changes).
L1 / R1	Switch tab (same unsaved-changes prompt).

Rows that depend on another setting stay visible; pressing them shows a toast explaining what to enable first.

Menus, choices and dialogs

Widget	Controls
Menus and choice lists	Up/Down (wraps, skipping disabled rows), L2/R2 first/last, Confirm select, Back or Triangle close.
Confirm dialogs	Left/Right switch buttons, Confirm accepts the highlighted button, Back cancels. Dangerous actions default to Cancel.
Name keyboard	D-pad picks a key, Confirm types, Back deletes, Square caps, L1/R1 move the caret, START done, Triangle cancel; bottom action row Caps, Space, Delete, Done, Cancel.
IPv4 editor	Left/Right pick an octet, Up/Down +/-1, L1/L2 -10, R1/R2 +10, Confirm or START accept, Back or Triangle cancel.
Colour editor	Up/Down choose Red, Green, Blue, Opacity (where offered) or quick picks; Left/Right -1/+1 (quick picks: previous/next colour); L1/L2 -16; R1/R2 +16; Confirm keeps; Back restores.
Theme preset list	Moving the cursor previews the preset live; Confirm keeps it, Back restores your previous theme.
File/folder picker	Up/Down, L2/R2 first/last, Confirm open/choose, Back up/cancel, Triangle cancel, START use this folder (folder mode), R3 uLE:/ path.
Folder-dates editor	Left/Right field, Up/Down change, L1/R1 pick the folder to edit, L2/R2 Next to, Confirm or START apply, Back cancels.
HDD Manager	Up/Down, L2/R2 page, Confirm or Triangle partition menu, L1 status, R1 load HDL game info, Back close. See HDD Manager.

USB keyboard

Enable Settings > Input > USB keyboard (off by default; the setting is USBKBD_USED). Wherever the dashboard expects a controller, the keyboard acts as a virtual gamepad in addition to the real ones, so you can navigate the whole interface. Most buttons have more than one key because keyboards differ:

Pad	Keys	Pad	Keys
Up	Up arrow, w	Triangle	Home, i, Esc
Down	Down arrow, z	Square	End, j
Left	Left arrow, a	Circle	Page Up, k
Right	Right arrow, s	Cross	Page Down, m
L1	F1, 1	R1	F12, 0
L2	F2, 2	R2	F11, 9
L3	F3, 3	R3	F10, 8
SELECT	Insert	START	Delete

In addition, Enter is always Confirm and Space is always Cancel, whichever way your Confirm button is mapped. While typing a name (rename, new folder, keyboard dialogs) the keyboard types directly: Left/Right/Home/End move the caret, Backspace and Delete erase, Enter accepts and Esc cancels. In the Text Editor it types straight into the document. A different USB keyboard driver or key map can be set under Settings > Input > USB keyboard. There is no mouse support. See also docs/keyboard.txt in the repository.