Mapping menu is confusing and may be inconsistent

First and foremost consider this:

• Only RetroArch bugs should be filed here. Not core bugs or game bugs
• This is not a forum or a help section, this is strictly developer oriented

Description

Cannot remap a controller inside a game.

Expected behavior

I know that these don't do what I'd naively expect them to do, but I don't actually know what the intended retroarch behavior is.

I don't know if it's supposed to:

1. Not allow you to map anything (in which case the bug is that it makes it look like you can map things, rather than disabling all of the menu except the "device type" part)
2. Allow you to map retropad inputs to controllers (in which case the bug is that it doesn't)
3. Allow you to map your computer's inputs to retropad inputs (it doesn't do that either)
4. Do one of the above depending on "Remap controls for this core" (in which case the bug is that "remap controls for this core" doesn't function)

Furthermore, it is confusing to have the same menu mean something different depending on whether or not a core is loaded, with the only visual difference being the device type part. There should be two separate menus, "map computer inputs to retropad" and "map retropad to controller" (with the latter enabled only in a core).

Actual behavior

None of the above.

Steps to reproduce the bug

1. With no core loaded, go to "port 1 controls" and set "start button" to have key:enter.
2. Load a core (Flycast). Go back to the menu.
3. Make sure that "Remap controls for this core" is set.
4. Go into "port 1 controls". Set the "start button" to use "g".
5. Play a game. Notice that "enter" still functions as the start button. "g" does not function as the start button.
6. Repeat with "Remap controls for this core" not set. Same behavior. Repeat using a controller input instead of 'g', same behavior.

Bisect Results

I do not know.

Version/Commit

You can find this information under Information/System Information

• RetroArch: -- v1.9.0 -- 0bb70902a8 --

Environment information

• OS: Mageia linux 8.0g
• Compiler: g++ (Mageia 10.3.0-1.mga8) 10.3.0

Start by reproducing the reported sequence through Settings, Port 1 Controls, and Remap Controls for This Core in RetroArch v1.9.0 with the Flycast core, comparing behavior with and without the remap setting. Clarify which mapping behavior is intended and verify that the selected start-button inputs behave consistently in-game; the issue is done when the menu meaning and resulting mappings are unambiguous.