iCode Duo Plus pro (2 port) Issues

Sorry if this has been asked/answered before.. I tried to search through the forums but I can only see like 8 topics...

I recently purchased an iCode Duo Plus pro.  It has 2 ports, 8 buttons, and a "d-pad" stick.  I'm running Batocera on (believe it or not) an Atari VCS (not to be confused with the old Atari 2600 or 2600+).  I followed various Youtube videos on how to map a joystick and paddles to the adapter/Batocera.  That worked fine.  I have 2 original CX40 Joysticks.  I also just purchased and received a set of CX30+ Paddles (only way to get it was to buy a combo box with an included game I can't play... I thought buying new like this would give me a better experience right away versus trying to figure out why a used set wasn't working).  As I said I got everything mapped fine.  I can play joystick games perfectly, but I'm having trouble with Paddle games.  I'm trying to just get Breakout for the Atari 2600 to work.  Batocera is not using the "Stella2014" core, but just the regular one (current version is 7.0_pre-4557099, on RetroArch v1.19.1).

Now for the issues.  The first, biggest issue I'm having is the "bat" on the screen doesn't go full size across the screen.  It leaves about a bat's worth of gap from the edges of the bat and the side walls of the screen.  However, if I use the "d-pad" stick on the iCode itself, I can move the bat further to the left or right.  I can't figure out what's causing it, and none of the documentation or video's I've seen so far address this.  It's troublesome, and I could live with it, if it wasn't for the fact that most of the time when I launch a ball it goes straight to the edge of the screen and I can't get over far enough to stop it.  The next issue I have is related to the wobbly/jitterness of the bat.  I watched a video where it was suggested to quickly press the Red and Green buttons to access a paddle calibration mode on the iCode.  My device doesn't do that.  Instead it just brings up the home screen.  I saw in the forums here where somebody had a similar problem and was told to do things like turn off the screen.  I can't figure out how to do that either.  The other issue I'm having with the paddles is that it feels like it's moving very slowly.  I used to have an Atari 800 and a lot of games including Breakout.  I know what it should look and feel like.  I have to turn the paddle a LOT to get the bat on the screen to move, (like 5 minutes if it was a face of a clock versus 1 minute), and when it does it moves by chunks instead of like by pixels.  

I'm not sure if the problems I'm having are related to the iCode itself, the new paddles I just got, or some configuration in the RetroArch core.  I love Atari and am very excited to get this work.  Would appreciate any kind of advice or feedback for things for me to try and do.  I had another issue a few days ago where I tried to get a Hyperkin 6-button Genesis controller to work but I couldn't get it mapped correctly.  It's a different issue though and if I try again and still can't map correctly I'll create a new post.  Thanks for any help.  I'm in this for the long haul.  No big rush, I like to tinker.  🙂