Gamepad - ArchWiki

# Gamepad

Joysticks can be a bit of a hassle to get working in Linux. Not because they are poorly supported, but simply because you need to determine which modules to load to get your joystick working, and it's not always very obvious!

## Joystick Input Systems

Linux actually has 2 different input systems for Joysticks. The original 'Joystick' interface and the newer 'evdev' based one.

'/dev/input/jsX' maps to the 'Joystick' API interface and /dev/input/eventX maps to the 'evdev' ones (this also includes other input devices such as mice and keyboards).

Most new games will default to the 'evdev' ones. However many of the ones mentioned here (such as jscal, jstest and jstest-gtk) only work with the older 'Joystick' interface making calibration/mapping with those tools mostly useless. 'evdev' doesn't support any remapping or calibration leaving it up to the applications to support it.

You can override SDL and force it to use the 'Joystick' API by setting the environment variable `SDL_JOYSTICK_DEVICE=/dev/input/js0`. This can help many games such as X3.

You can normally see and test both in wine with 'wine control joy.cpl'.

It's also worth mentioning that there is also a xorg driver 'xf86-input-joystick'. It just to allow you to control the mouse/keyboard in xorg using a joystick, for most people this will be undesirable. This mean that editing xorg.conf.d files for calibration/button mapping in games is pointless.

## Determining which modules you need

For an extensive overview of all joystick related modules in Linux, you will need access to the Linux kernel sources -- specifically the Documentation section. Unfortunately, pacman kernel packages do not include what we need. If you have the kernel sources downloaded, have a look at `Documentation/input/joystick.txt`. You can browse the kernel source tree at kernel.org by clicking the "cgit" (git frontend) link for the kernel that you're using, then clicking the "tree" link near the top. Here's a link to the Documentation from kernel 3.12.6.

Some joysticks need specific modules, such as the Microsoft Sidewinder controllers (`sidewinder`), or the Logitech digital controllers (`adi`). Many older joysticks will work with the simple `analog` module. If your joystick is plugging in to a gameport provided by your soundcard, you will need your soundcard drivers loaded - however, some cards, like the Soundblaster Live, have a specific gameport driver (`emu10k1-gp`). Older ISA soundcards may need the `ns558` module, which is a standard gameport module.

As you can see, there are many different modules related to getting your joystick working in Linux, so I couldn't possibly cover everything here. Please have a look at the documentation mentioned above for details.

## Loading the modules

You need to load a module for your gameport (`ns558`, `emu10k1-gp`, `cs461x`, etc...), a module for your joystick (`analog`, `sidewinder`, `adi`, etc...), and finally the kernel joystick device driver (`joydev`). Add these to your `/etc/rc.conf`, or simply modprobe them. The `gameport` module should load automatically, as this is a dependency of the other modules.

## Testing Your Configuration

Once the modules are loaded, you should find a new device: `/dev/input/js0`. You can simply `cat` the device to see if it works - move the stick around, press all the buttons. I found my Logitech Thunderpad Digital had two buttons that weren't working with the `analog` module. After reading some docs, I saw there was a specific `adi` module for this controller. The moral of the story is, if it doesn't work the first time, do not give up, and read those docs thoroughly! I couldn't get anything working at all until I found that documentation.

Another way of testing is using `jstest` from the AUR joyutils package. That package also has `jscal` for calibrating your device. If you have too many buttons and axes to fit on a single line or your pad has an accelerometer (it continuously sends new events even when nothing really happens) you should use a graphical tool. AUR has jstest-gtk-git for that purpose. It's essential for testing and troubleshooting a sixaxis.

## USB joysticks

You need to get USB working, and then modprobe your joystick driver, which is `usbhid`, as well as `joydev`. If you use a usb mouse or keyboard, `usbhid` will be loaded already and you just have to load the `joydev` module.

## PS3 controller

The Sixaxis gamepad works out of the box when plugged in via USB (the PS button will need to be pushed to begin), force feedback is backed since kernel 3.14.

Steam properly recognizes it as a PS3 pad and Big Picture can be launched with the PS button. Big Picture and some games may act as if it was a 360 controller. Gamepad control over mouse is on by default. You may want to turn it off before playing games, see below.

## Xbox 360 controllers

The controllers should work without additional packages, but the wireless controller needs a wireless receiver (the charge-and-play cable can not be used for communicating with the controller). Both the wired controllers and the wireless receiver is supported by the `xpad` kernel module.

By default, the device associated with a controller (e.g., `/dev/input/event14`) will be owned `root`, part of the `root` group and will only allow its owner to read or write to it (i.e., `600`). As a result, applications will not be able to use the controller unless they are run with superuser privileges. To amend this, create the following `udev` rule.

    /etc/udev/rules.d/50-event.rules

    KERNEL=="event*", GROUP="games", MODE="660"

This `udev` rule allows users that are a member the `games` group to use controllers.

Unfortunately, the default xpad has problems with new wireless controllers:

- incorrect button mapping. (discussion in Steam bugtracker)
- not-working sync. All four leds keep blinking, but controller works. (discussion in Arch Forum)

The working solutions are using xboxdrv, that is an alternative driver which works in userspace and could be launched as system service or using the Wikipedia:SteamOS patched version of xpad (steamos-xpad-dkms), that fixes those issues.

If you wish to use the controller for controlling the mouse, or mapping buttons to keys, etc. you should use the `xf86-input-joystick` package (configuration help can be found using `man joystick`). If the mouse locks itself in a corner, it might help changing the `MatchDevicePath` in `/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-joystick.conf` from `/dev/input/event*` to `/dev/input/js*`.

Tip: If you use the TLP power management daemon, you may experience connection issues with your Microsoft wireless adapter (e.g. the indicator LED will go out after the adapter has been connected for a few seconds, and controller connection attempts fail). This is due to TLP's USB autosuspend functionality, and the solution is to either disable the functionality entirely, or to add the Microsoft wireless adapter's device ID to this feature's blacklist (check TLP configuration for more details).

### SteamOS xpad

If you have issues with the default `xpad` kernel module, you can install the SteamOS version, available in AUR steamos-xpad-dkms.

Before installing it, make sure you have DKMS installed and running.

Then, install the modified kernel module steamos-xpad-dkms from the AUR, during the installation you'll see that new xpad kernel module is strapped to your current kernel:

    Creating symlink /var/lib/dkms/steamos-xpad-dkms/0.1/source ->
                     /usr/src/steamos-xpad-dkms-0.1

    DKMS: add completed.

    Kernel preparation unnecessary for this kernel.  Skipping...

    Building module:
    cleaning build area....
    make KERNELRELEASE=3.12.8-1-ARCH KVERSION=3.12.8-1-ARCH....
    cleaning build area....

Now, only a reboot is needed to make this work.

### xboxdrv with two controllers

xboxdrv supports a multitude of controllers, but it works only in daemon mode. The simplest way is launch xboxdrv as service in daemon mode:

    ExecStart = /usr/bin/xboxdrv -D -c /etc/conf.d/xboxdrv

And add support of the second controller in config file:

     [xboxdrv]
     silent = true
     next-controller = true
     [xboxdrv-daemon]
     dbus = disabled

### Mimic Xbox 360 controller

xboxdrv can be used to make any controller register as an Xbox 360 controller with the `--mimic-xpad` switch. This may be desirable for games that support Xbox 360 controllers out of the box, but have trouble detecting or working with other gamepads.

First, you need to find out what each button and axis on the controller is called. You can use evtest for this. Run `evtest` and select the device event ID number (`/dev/input/event*`) that corresponds to your controller. Press the buttons on the controller and move the axes to read the names of each button and axis.

Here is an example of the output:

    Event: time 1380985017.964843, type 4 (EV_MSC), code 4 (MSC_SCAN), value 90003
    Event: time 1380985017.964843, type 1 (EV_KEY), code 290 (BTN_THUMB2), value 1
    Event: time 1380985017.964843, -------------- SYN_REPORT ------------
    Event: time 1380985018.076843, type 4 (EV_MSC), code 4 (MSC_SCAN), value 90003
    Event: time 1380985018.076843, type 1 (EV_KEY), code 290 (BTN_THUMB2), value 0
    Event: time 1380985018.076843, -------------- SYN_REPORT ------------
    Event: time 1380985018.460841, type 4 (EV_MSC), code 4 (MSC_SCAN), value 90002
    Event: time 1380985018.460841, type 1 (EV_KEY), code 289 (BTN_THUMB), value 1
    Event: time 1380985018.460841, -------------- SYN_REPORT ------------
    Event: time 1380985018.572835, type 4 (EV_MSC), code 4 (MSC_SCAN), value 90002
    Event: time 1380985018.572835, type 1 (EV_KEY), code 289 (BTN_THUMB), value 0
    Event: time 1380985018.572835, -------------- SYN_REPORT ------------
    Event: time 1380985019.980824, type 4 (EV_MSC), code 4 (MSC_SCAN), value 90006
    Event: time 1380985019.980824, type 1 (EV_KEY), code 293 (BTN_PINKIE), value 1
    Event: time 1380985019.980824, -------------- SYN_REPORT ------------
    Event: time 1380985020.092835, type 4 (EV_MSC), code 4 (MSC_SCAN), value 90006
    Event: time 1380985020.092835, type 1 (EV_KEY), code 293 (BTN_PINKIE), value 0
    Event: time 1380985020.092835, -------------- SYN_REPORT ------------
    Event: time 1380985023.596806, type 3 (EV_ABS), code 3 (ABS_RX), value 18
    Event: time 1380985023.596806, -------------- SYN_REPORT ------------
    Event: time 1380985023.612811, type 3 (EV_ABS), code 3 (ABS_RX), value 0
    Event: time 1380985023.612811, -------------- SYN_REPORT ------------
    Event: time 1380985023.708768, type 3 (EV_ABS), code 3 (ABS_RX), value 14
    Event: time 1380985023.708768, -------------- SYN_REPORT ------------
    Event: time 1380985023.724772, type 3 (EV_ABS), code 3 (ABS_RX), value 128
    Event: time 1380985023.724772, -------------- SYN_REPORT ------------

In this case, `BTN_THUMB`, `BTN_THUMB2` and `BTN_PINKIE` are buttons and `ABS_RX` is the X axis of the right analogue stick. You can now mimic an Xbox 360 controller with the following command:

    $ xboxdrv --evdev /dev/input/event* --evdev-absmap ABS_RX=X2 --evdev-keymap BTN_THUMB2=a,BTN_THUMB=b,BTN_PINKIE=rt --mimic-xpad

The above example is incomplete. It only maps one axis and 3 buttons for demonstration purposes. Use `xboxdrv --help-button` to see the names of the Xbox controller buttons and axes and bind them accordingly by expanding the command above. Axes mappings should go after `--evdev--absmap` and button mappings follow `--evdev-keymap` (comma separated list; no spaces).

By default, xboxdrv outputs all events to the terminal. You can use this to test that the mappings are correct. Append the `--silent` option to keep it quiet.

#### Playstation 3 Controllers via USB

If you own a PS3 controller and can connect with USB, xboxdrv has the mappings built in. Just run the program (and detach the running driver) and it works!

    # xboxdrv --silent --detach-kernel-driver

#### Playstation 3 Controllers via Bluetooth

To make the Playstation 3 controller work over bluetooth you will need to install the sixpair utility.

After installing sixpair connect your controller with an USB cable and run sixpair

    # sixpair

Disconnect your controller from USB and wait about 5 minutes (not sure if really needed)

Now you will need to pair it with bluez. You will need bluez-utils and bluez-plugins packages.

Disable all bluetooth utilities (like bluedevil or bluemon)

Run the bluetoothctl utility

    # bluetoothctl

A bluetooth prompt will appear.

Press the playstation button and watch for connection and disconnection messages and copy the device address (something like 38:C0:96:56:4D:AA)

Wait for the lights stop blinking.

Now, type the following:

    agent on
    default-agent
    discoverable on
    pairable on

Hit the playstation button again and while it blinks type the following

    connect <device_addr>

Keep trying this command if you see device not available (it will loop between connected and disconnected) until you see something like the following

I usually keep pressing up + enter (repeating the last command)

    [CHG] Device <device_addr> Modalias: usb:v054Cp0268d0100
    [CHG] Device <device_addr> UUIDs:
           00001124-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb
           00001200-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb

Now trust the device

    trust <device_addr>

You're done

Next time you hit the Playstation button it will connect without asking anything else.

You can also re-enable your bluetooth applets/monitors.

Just remind to disconnect the device once you are done, once it will stay connected, on and consuming battery.

If you intend to use the xboxdrv to emulate the xbox360 controller its best to create a udev rule for it

##### Creating the udev rule

Create a new udev rule (usually 99 or 98-dualshock.rules into /etc/udev/rules.d/) with the following content

    KERNEL=="event*", SUBSYSTEM=="input", ATTRS{uniq}=="<device_addr_you_got_on_pairing>", SYMLINK+="input/dualshock3"

Now run xboxdrv over the new device

    xboxdrv --evdev /dev/input/dualshock3 --mimic-xpad

If the mimic-xpad does not work, use the configuration file provided by xboxdrv [1] adding the following in the xboxdrv section:

     mimic-xpad = true

And replacing the evdev line by

    evdev = /dev/input/dualshock3 (or whatever other name you gave in the udev_rule)

Now, just run the xboxdrv

    # xboxdrv -c config_file

Have tons of fun.

#### Playstation 2 Adapter

To fix the button mapping of PS2 dual adapters and mimic the Xbox controller you can run the following command:

     sudo xboxdrv --evdev /dev/input/event* \
         --evdev-absmap ABS_X=x1,ABS_Y=y1,ABS_RZ=x2,ABS_Z=y2,ABS_HAT0X=dpad_x,ABS_HAT0Y=dpad_y \
         --axismap -Y1=Y1,-Y2=Y2 \
         --evdev-keymap   BTN_TOP=x,BTN_TRIGGER=y,BTN_THUMB2=a,BTN_THUMB=b,BTN_BASE3=back,BTN_BASE4=start,BTN_BASE=lb,BTN_BASE2=rb,BTN_TOP2=lt,BTN_PINKIE=rt,BTN_BASE5=tl,BTN_BASE6=tr \
         --mimic-xpad --silent

#### Logitech Dual Action

The Logitech Dual Action gamepad has a very similar mapping to the PS2 pad, but some buttons and triggers need to be swapped to mimic the Xbox controller.

     sudo xboxdrv --evdev /dev/input/event* \
         --evdev-absmap ABS_X=x1,ABS_Y=y1,ABS_RZ=x2,ABS_Z=y2,ABS_HAT0X=dpad_x,ABS_HAT0Y=dpad_y \
         --axismap -Y1=Y1,-Y2=Y2 \
         --evdev-keymap BTN_TRIGGER=x,BTN_TOP=y,BTN_THUMB=a,BTN_THUMB2=b,BTN_BASE3=back,BTN_BASE4=start,BTN_BASE=lt,BTN_BASE2=rt,BTN_TOP2=lb,BTN_PINKIE=rb,BTN_BASE5=tl,BTN_BASE6=tr \
         --mimic-xpad --silent

#### Playstation 4 controller

To fix the button mapping of PS4 controller you can use the following script with xboxdrv or try with the ds4drv program:

     #!/bin/bash
     sudo xboxdrv  \
       --evdev /dev/input/by-id/usb-Sony_Computer_Entertainment_Wireless_Controller-event-joys>
       --evdev-absmap ABS_X=x1,ABS_Y=y1                 \
       --evdev-absmap ABS_Z=x2,ABS_RZ=y2                \
       --evdev-absmap ABS_HAT0X=dpad_x,ABS_HAT0Y=dpad_y \
       --evdev-keymap BTN_A=x,BTN_B=a                   \
       --evdev-keymap BTN_C=b,BTN_X=y                   \
       --evdev-keymap BTN_Y=lb,BTN_Z=rb                 \
       --evdev-keymap BTN_TL=lt,BTN_TR=rt               \
       --evdev-keymap BTN_SELECT=tl,BTN_START=tr        \
       --evdev-keymap BTN_TL2=back,BTN_TR2=start        \
       --evdev-keymap BTN_MODE=guide                    \
       --axismap -y1=y1,-y2=y2                          \
       --mimic-xpad                                     \
       --silent                                         \
       "$@"

## Setting up deadzones

If you want to set up the deadzones of your analog input you have to do it separately for the xorg (for mouse and keyboard emulation) and the kernel driver (for gaming).

### Deadzones in Xorg

Add a similar line into your `/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-joystick.conf` before the `EndSection`:

    Option "MapAxis1" "deadzone=1000"

1000 is the default value, but you can set anything between 0 and 30 000. To get the axis number see the "Testing Your Configuration" section of this article. If you already have an option with a specific axis just type in the `deadzone=value` at the end of the parameter separated by a space.

### Deadzones in the Kernel Driver

The easiest way is using jstest-gtk-git. Select the controller you want to edit, then click the calibration button at the bottom of the dialog. You must set the CenterMin and CenterMax values for joysticks and analog sticks, RangeMin for triggers. Then use `jscal` for to dump the new values into a shell script:

    jscal -p /dev/input/jsX > jscal.sh # replace X with your joystick's number
    chmod +x jscal.sh

Now you need to make a udev rule (for example `/etc/udev/rules.d and name it 85-jscal.rules`) so the script will automatically run when you connect the controller:

    SUBSYSTEM=="input", ATTRS{idVendor}=="054c", ATTRS{idProduct}=="c268", ACTION=="add", RUN+="/usr/bin/jscal.sh"

To get the idVendor and idProduct use `udevadm info --attribute-walk --name /dev/input/jsX`

Finally we must announce SDL our joystick device, or else it will just ignore these to use its own settings. Add this to your `~/.bashrc` : export SDL_JOYSTICK_DEVICE=/dev/input/jsX (Again, replace X to your device number.)

## Disable Joystick From Controlling Mouse

If you want to play games with your controller, you might want to disable gamepad control over mouse cursor. To do this, edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-joystick.conf so that it looks like this:

    /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-joystick.conf

    Section "InputClass"
            Identifier "joystick catchall"
            MatchIsJoystick "on"
            MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
            Driver "joystick"
            Option "StartKeysEnabled" "False"       #Disable mouse
            Option "StartMouseEnabled" "False"      #support
    EndSection

## Troubleshooting

### Joystick moving mouse

Sometimes USB joystick can be recognized as HID mouse (only in X, it is still being installed as `/dev/input/js0` as well). Known issue is cursor being moved by the joystick, or escaping to en edge of a screen right after plugin. If your application can detect joystick by it self, you can remove xf86-input-joystick package.

More gentle solution is to Disable Joystick From Controlling Mouse.

### Joystick sending keystrokes

A couple joystick to keystroke programs exist like rejoystick and qjoypad, both work well without the need for X.org configuration.

#### via X.org

This is a good solution for systems where restarting Xorg is a rare event because it's a static configuration loaded only on X startup. I use it on my media PC running XBMC controlled with Logitech Cordless RumblePad 2. Due to a problem with the d-pad (a.k.a. "hat") being recognized as another axis, I used to run Joy2key as a workaround. Since I upgraded to XBMC 11.0 and joy2key 1.6.3-1, this setup no longer worked for me. I ended up taking a more direct approach and let Xorg handle joystick events.

First, make sure you have xf86-input-joystick installed. Then, create `/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/51-joystick.conf` like so:

     Section "InputClass"
      Identifier "Joystick hat mapping"
      Option "StartKeysEnabled" "True"
      #MatchIsJoystick "on"
      Option "MapAxis5" "keylow=113 keyhigh=114"
      Option "MapAxis6" "keylow=111 keyhigh=116"
     EndSection

Note: The MatchIsJoystick "on" line doesn't seem to be required for this to work but you may want to uncomment it.

### Joystick not recognized by all programs

Some software, Steam for example, will only recognize the first joystick it encounters. Due to a bug in the driver for Microsoft wireless periphery devices this can in fact be the bluetooth dongle. If you find you have a `/dev/input/js*` and `/dev/input/event*` belonging to you keyboard's bluetooth transceiver you can get automatically get rid of it by creating according udev rules. Create a `/`:

    /etc/udev/rules.d/99-btcleanup.rules

    ACTION=="add", KERNEL=="js[0-9]*", SUBSYSTEM=="input", KERNELS=="...", ATTRS{bInterfaceSubClass}=="00", ATTRS{bInterfaceProtocol}=="00", ATTRS{bInterfaceNumber}=="02", RUN+="/usr/bin/rm /dev/input/js%n"
    ACTION=="add", KERNEL=="event*", SUBSYSTEM=="input", KERNELS=="...", ATTRS{bInterfaceSubClass}=="00", ATTRS{bInterfaceProtocol}=="00", ATTRS{bInterfaceNumber}=="02", RUN+="/usr/bin/rm /dev/input/event%n"

Correct the `KERNELS=="..."` to match your device. The correct value can be found by running

    # udevadm info -an /dev/input/js0

Assuming the device in question is `/dev/input/js0`. After you placed the rule reload the rules with

    # udevadm control --reload

Then replug the device making you trouble. The joystick and event devices should be gone, although their number will still be reserved. But the files are out of the way.

Categories:

- Input devices
- Gaming