Ok this is what I figured out so far. Also BTW, i am using akishop ps360 PCBs to hook up joysticks and pushbuttons.
For some reason, my left set of buttons and joystick reads as player 2 and the right side as player 1. i can uninstall them and then do one by one, reinstall them and set the joysticks correctly so they are working. after i reinstall them and configure them, i try them out in hyperspin and everything is working. if i turn off the computer and then turn it back on, it goes back to my left side reading as player 2 and my right side as player 1.
its weird because i can uninstall them both, install the left side as player again 1 but not touch anything with player 2 and player 1 will be working fine, i can then turn off my computer and boot it back up with player 1 still working correctly. but for some reason when i try and incorporate 2 players it reads wrong. any help would be much appreciated, ive been working on this issue for like a week and some.
after typing this, im thinking maybe my boards cant be used at the same time since they are separate, unlike an ipaq where its all in one piece.