Picade control issues

Ok, I admit I’m new to picade/retropie…

Here is my issue: Correctly mapping the buttons in Retropie. Apon startup, my buttons are correctly identified as a keyboard. But after I enter a game (any), and exit out from a game… my controls no longer work. Nothing. No buttons, joystick. Nothing works.

So I have a two part question: Anyone know why my controls are being disabled on game exit
2: What is the correct button mapping? The joystick is obvious, but what is the general button/mapping configuration? What do people normally default to?

Thanks!