How to change controller layout for splinter cell: conviction for PC?

It is most likely the controller. I have the xbox 360 controller with the pc usb plugin receiver. EVERY pc game that I have played, when using the xbox controller, it is immediately recognized by the game & I am able to see the button layout & change what I want each button to do. (since it is all microsoft) There is a work around for your problem…I don’t own that splinter cell (yet) but your best bet would be to download a button logger program, something third party, in which you would run that program along with the game. You just tell the program what remote you have, what game you are playing & assign each button the action you want. It’s a bit of a pain, but it works & for a game like splinter cell.. I’d want to play it with the best experience.

And before you do what @rpmpseudonym suggested, go through the in-game options menu and see if the game lets you manually assign buttons.