Configuration

Remap your Pulsar

Change what every Dreamcast control sends, try it live on the adapter, and save. The map is stored on the adapter itself — it works on every console and PC you pair with, no page needed after today.

  • Chrome or Edge

    Desktop, or Chrome on Android. Remapping runs on Web Bluetooth, which Safari and Firefox do not support.

  • Firmware 243 or later

    Older firmware has no configuration mode. If the adapter never shows up, or this page refuses it, update it first — it takes about a minute.

Connect to your adapter

Put the adapter in configuration mode first (steps below), then connect. Your console or PC will be disconnected from the adapter for the whole session.

How to enter configuration mode

While you configure, the adapter leaves your console or PC — it disconnects for the session and comes back the moment you exit (or after the timeout). You cannot configure mid-game.

  1. Tap, then hold Sync

    On the adapter, tap Sync once briefly, then press and hold it through 3.5 seconds. Keep holding until the adapter resets — releasing early during the hold triggers pairing instead, which clears the console's pairing.

  2. Connect

    The adapter advertises as Pulsar Configure for 60 seconds. Press Connect above and pick it from the browser's device list.

  3. Remap with the controller in hand

    Press a button on the Dreamcast controller and its row lights up; every change previews on the adapter immediately. When it feels right, press Save to adapter — then exit, and the adapter returns to your console with the new map.

Details and troubleshooting

Preview is real, and so is Save. A preview runs on the adapter itself — what the panel shows is what the console would receive — but it is not stored. Disconnecting, timing out or power loss discards an unsaved preview; only Save to adapter writes it, and this page confirms a save by reading it back from the adapter.

The session ends on its own. Two minutes of inactivity — or ten minutes total — resets the adapter back to controller mode, so an abandoned tab can never hold your controller hostage. Your unsaved edits stay in this browser and are offered back on the next session.

The saved map applies to both identities. Xbox or Generic profile, same map — there is one map on the adapter, and it survives power cycles, profile switches and firmware updates.

If a bad map leaves the pad unusable, enter configuration mode again and use Reset defaults — the Sync-button gesture never passes through the map, so it always works.

If the chooser never shows Pulsar Configure even though the adapter reset: make sure Bluetooth is on and no other configuration tab is connected, and give it a fresh gesture — the 60-second advertising window may simply have lapsed. If your computer shows the adapter as already connected in this mode, forget the device in the OS Bluetooth settings and pair the controller once again afterwards.

Nothing here needs an account or leaves your machine. The map travels directly between this page and the adapter over Bluetooth; Export/Import writes a small JSON file wherever you choose, as a backup or to share.