1 Linux Joystick driver v2.0.0
2 (c) 1996-2000 Vojtech Pavlik <vojtech@ucw.cz>
4 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
8 This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
9 under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free
10 Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option)
13 This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
14 WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY
15 or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for
18 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
19 with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59
20 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
22 Should you need to contact me, the author, you can do so either by e-mail
23 - mail your message to <vojtech@ucw.cz>, or by paper mail: Vojtech Pavlik,
24 Simunkova 1594, Prague 8, 182 00 Czech Republic
26 For your convenience, the GNU General Public License version 2 is included
27 in the package: See the file COPYING.
31 The joystick driver for Linux provides support for a variety of joysticks
32 and similar devices. It is based on a larger project aiming to support all
33 input devices in Linux.
35 Should you encounter any problems while using the driver, or joysticks
36 this driver can't make complete use of, I'm very interested in hearing about
37 them. Bug reports and success stories are also welcome.
39 The input project website is at:
41 http://atrey.karlin.mff.cuni.cz/~vojtech/input/
43 There is also a mailing list for the driver at:
45 listproc@atrey.karlin.mff.cuni.cz
47 send "subscribe linux-joystick Your Name" to subscribe to it.
51 For basic usage you just choose the right options in kernel config and
56 For testing and other purposes (for example serial devices), a set of
57 utilities is available at the abovementioned website. I suggest you download
58 and install it before going on.
62 For applications to be able to use the joysticks,
63 you'll have to manually create these nodes in /dev:
68 mknod input/js0 c 13 0
69 mknod input/js1 c 13 1
70 mknod input/js2 c 13 2
71 mknod input/js3 c 13 3
77 For testing with inpututils it's also convenient to create these:
79 mknod input/event0 c 13 64
80 mknod input/event1 c 13 65
81 mknod input/event2 c 13 66
82 mknod input/event3 c 13 67
86 For all joystick drivers to function, you'll need the userland interface
87 module in kernel, either loaded or compiled in:
91 For gameport joysticks, you'll have to load the gameport driver as well;
95 And for serial port joysticks, you'll need the serial input line
96 discipline module loaded and the inputattach utility started:
99 inputattach -xxx /dev/tts/X &
101 In addition to that, you'll need the joystick driver module itself, most
102 usually you'll have an analog joystick:
106 For automatic module loading, something like this might work - tailor to
109 alias tty-ldisc-2 serport
110 alias char-major-13 input
111 above input joydev ns558 analog
112 options analog map=gamepad,none,2btn
114 2.5 Verifying that it works
115 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
116 For testing the joystick driver functionality, there is the jstest
117 program in the utilities package. You run it by typing:
121 And it should show a line with the joystick values, which update as you
122 move the stick, and press its buttons. The axes should all be zero when the
123 joystick is in the center position. They should not jitter by themselves to
124 other close values, and they also should be steady in any other position of
125 the stick. They should have the full range from -32767 to 32767. If all this
126 is met, then it's all fine, and you can play the games. :)
128 If it's not, then there might be a problem. Try to calibrate the joystick,
129 and if it still doesn't work, read the drivers section of this file, the
130 troubleshooting section, and the FAQ.
134 For most joysticks you won't need any manual calibration, since the
135 joystick should be autocalibrated by the driver automagically. However, with
136 some analog joysticks, that either do not use linear resistors, or if you
137 want better precision, you can use the jscal program
141 included in the joystick package to set better correction coefficients than
142 what the driver would choose itself.
144 After calibrating the joystick you can verify if you like the new
145 calibration using the jstest command, and if you do, you then can save the
146 correction coefficients into a file
148 jscal -p /dev/js0 > /etc/joystick.cal
150 And add a line to your rc script executing that file
152 source /etc/joystick.cal
154 This way, after the next reboot your joystick will remain calibrated. You
155 can also add the jscal -p line to your shutdown script.
158 3. HW specific driver information
159 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
160 In this section each of the separate hardware specific drivers is described.
164 The analog.c uses the standard analog inputs of the gameport, and thus
165 supports all standard joysticks and gamepads. It uses a very advanced
166 routine for this, allowing for data precision that can't be found on any
169 It also supports extensions like additional hats and buttons compatible
170 with CH Flightstick Pro, ThrustMaster FCS or 6 and 8 button gamepads. Saitek
171 Cyborg 'digital' joysticks are also supported by this driver, because
172 they're basically souped up CHF sticks.
174 However the only types that can be autodetected are:
176 * 2-axis, 4-button joystick
177 * 3-axis, 4-button joystick
178 * 4-axis, 4-button joystick
179 * Saitek Cyborg 'digital' joysticks
181 For other joystick types (more/less axes, hats, and buttons) support
182 you'll need to specify the types either on the kernel command line or on the
183 module command line, when inserting analog into the kernel. The
186 analog.map=<type1>,<type2>,<type3>,....
188 'type' is type of the joystick from the table below, defining joysticks
189 present on gameports in the system, starting with gameport0, second 'type'
190 entry defining joystick on gameport1 and so on.
193 -----------------------------------
194 none | No analog joystick on that port
195 auto | Autodetect joystick
196 2btn | 2-button n-axis joystick
197 y-joy | Two 2-button 2-axis joysticks on an Y-cable
198 y-pad | Two 2-button 2-axis gamepads on an Y-cable
199 fcs | Thrustmaster FCS compatible joystick
200 chf | Joystick with a CH Flightstick compatible hat
201 fullchf | CH Flightstick compatible with two hats and 6 buttons
202 gamepad | 4/6-button n-axis gamepad
203 gamepad8 | 8-button 2-axis gamepad
205 In case your joystick doesn't fit in any of the above categories, you can
206 specify the type as a number by combining the bits in the table below. This
207 is not recommended unless you really know what are you doing. It's not
208 dangerous, but not simple either.
211 --------------------------
220 8 | CHF Buttons X and Y
228 16 | Saitek F1-F4 Buttons
229 17 | Saitek Digital Mode
241 3.2 Microsoft SideWinder joysticks
242 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
243 Microsoft 'Digital Overdrive' protocol is supported by the sidewinder.c
244 module. All currently supported joysticks:
246 * Microsoft SideWinder 3D Pro
247 * Microsoft SideWinder Force Feedback Pro
248 * Microsoft SideWinder Force Feedback Wheel
249 * Microsoft SideWinder FreeStyle Pro
250 * Microsoft SideWinder GamePad (up to four, chained)
251 * Microsoft SideWinder Precision Pro
252 * Microsoft SideWinder Precision Pro USB
254 are autodetected, and thus no module parameters are needed.
256 There is one caveat with the 3D Pro. There are 9 buttons reported,
257 although the joystick has only 8. The 9th button is the mode switch on the
258 rear side of the joystick. However, moving it, you'll reset the joystick,
259 and make it unresponsive for about a one third of a second. Furthermore, the
260 joystick will also re-center itself, taking the position it was in during
261 this time as a new center position. Use it if you want, but think first.
263 The SideWinder Standard is not a digital joystick, and thus is supported
264 by the analog driver described above.
266 3.3 Logitech ADI devices
267 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
268 Logitech ADI protocol is supported by the adi.c module. It should support
269 any Logitech device using this protocol. This includes, but is not limited
272 * Logitech CyberMan 2
273 * Logitech ThunderPad Digital
274 * Logitech WingMan Extreme Digital
275 * Logitech WingMan Formula
276 * Logitech WingMan Interceptor
277 * Logitech WingMan GamePad
278 * Logitech WingMan GamePad USB
279 * Logitech WingMan GamePad Extreme
280 * Logitech WingMan Extreme Digital 3D
282 ADI devices are autodetected, and the driver supports up to two (any
283 combination of) devices on a single gameport, using an Y-cable or chained
286 Logitech WingMan Joystick, Logitech WingMan Attack, Logitech WingMan
287 Extreme and Logitech WingMan ThunderPad are not digital joysticks and are
288 handled by the analog driver described above. Logitech WingMan Warrior and
289 Logitech Magellan are supported by serial drivers described below. Logitech
290 WingMan Force and Logitech WingMan Formula Force are supported by the
291 I-Force driver described below. Logitech CyberMan is not supported yet.
295 Gravis GrIP protocol is supported by the grip.c module. It currently
299 * Gravis BlackHawk Digital
301 * Gravis Xterminator DualControl
303 All these devices are autodetected, and you can even use any combination
304 of up to two of these pads either chained together or using an Y-cable on a
307 GrIP MultiPort isn't supported yet. Gravis Stinger is a serial device and is
308 supported by the stinger driver. Other Gravis joysticks are supported by the
311 3.5 FPGaming A3D and MadCatz A3D
312 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
313 The Assassin 3D protocol created by FPGaming, is used both by FPGaming
314 themselves and is licensed to MadCatz. A3D devices are supported by the
315 a3d.c module. It currently supports:
317 * FPGaming Assassin 3D
321 All these devices are autodetected. Because the Assassin 3D and the Panther
322 allow connecting analog joysticks to them, you'll need to load the analog
323 driver as well to handle the attached joysticks.
325 The trackball should work with USB mousedev module as a normal mouse. See
326 the USB documentation for how to setup an USB mouse.
328 3.6 ThrustMaster DirectConnect (BSP)
329 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
330 The TM DirectConnect (BSP) protocol is supported by the tmdc.c
331 module. This includes, but is not limited to:
333 * ThrustMaster Millenium 3D Inceptor
334 * ThrustMaster 3D Rage Pad
335 * ThrustMaster Fusion Digital Game Pad
337 Devices not directly supported, but hopefully working are:
339 * ThrustMaster FragMaster
340 * ThrustMaster Attack Throttle
342 If you have one of these, contact me.
344 TMDC devices are autodetected, and thus no parameters to the module
345 are needed. Up to two TMDC devices can be connected to one gameport, using
348 3.7 Creative Labs Blaster
349 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
350 The Blaster protocol is supported by the cobra.c module. It supports only
353 * Creative Blaster GamePad Cobra
355 Up to two of these can be used on a single gameport, using an Y-cable.
357 3.8 Genius Digital joysticks
358 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
359 The Genius digitally communicating joysticks are supported by the gf2k.c
360 module. This includes:
362 * Genius Flight2000 F-23 joystick
363 * Genius Flight2000 F-31 joystick
364 * Genius G-09D gamepad
366 Other Genius digital joysticks are not supported yet, but support can be
369 3.9 InterAct Digital joysticks
370 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
371 The InterAct digitally communicating joysticks are supported by the
372 interact.c module. This includes:
374 * InterAct HammerHead/FX gamepad
375 * InterAct ProPad8 gamepad
377 Other InterAct digital joysticks are not supported yet, but support can be
380 3.10 PDPI Lightning 4 gamecards
381 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
382 PDPI Lightning 4 gamecards are supported by the lightning.c module.
383 Once the module is loaded, the analog driver can be used to handle the
384 joysticks. Digitally communicating joystick will work only on port 0, while
385 using Y-cables, you can connect up to 8 analog joysticks to a single L4
386 card, 16 in case you have two in your system.
388 3.11 Trident 4DWave / Aureal Vortex
389 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
390 Soundcards with a Trident 4DWave DX/NX or Aureal Vortex/Vortex2 chipsets
391 provide an "Enhanced Game Port" mode where the soundcard handles polling the
392 joystick. This mode is supported by the pcigame.c module. Once loaded the
393 analog driver can use the enhanced features of these gameports..
395 3.13 Crystal SoundFusion
396 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
397 Soundcards with Crystal SoundFusion chipsets provide an "Enhanced Game
398 Port", much like the 4DWave or Vortex above. This, and also the normal mode
399 for the port of the SoundFusion is supported by the cs461x.c module.
401 3.14 SoundBlaster Live!
402 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
403 The Live! has a special PCI gameport, which, although it doesn't provide
404 any "Enhanced" stuff like 4DWave and friends, is quite a bit faster than
405 its ISA counterparts. It also requires special support, hence the
406 emu10k1-gp.c module for it instead of the normal ns558.c one.
408 3.15 SoundBlaster 64 and 128 - ES1370 and ES1371, ESS Solo1 and S3 SonicVibes
409 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
410 These PCI soundcards have specific gameports. They are handled by the
411 sound drivers themselves. Make sure you select gameport support in the
412 joystick menu and sound card support in the sound menu for your appropriate
417 Amiga joysticks, connected to an Amiga, are supported by the amijoy.c
418 driver. Since they can't be autodetected, the driver has a command line.
422 a and b define the joysticks connected to the JOY0DAT and JOY1DAT ports of
425 Value | Joystick type
426 ---------------------
428 1 | 1-button digital joystick
430 No more joystick types are supported now, but that should change in the
431 future if I get an Amiga in the reach of my fingers.
433 3.17 Game console and 8-bit pads and joysticks
434 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
435 See joystick-parport.txt for more info.
437 3.18 SpaceTec/LabTec devices
438 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
439 SpaceTec serial devices communicate using the SpaceWare protocol. It is
440 supported by the spaceorb.c and spaceball.c drivers. The devices currently
441 supported by spaceorb.c are:
443 * SpaceTec SpaceBall Avenger
444 * SpaceTec SpaceOrb 360
446 Devices currently supported by spaceball.c are:
448 * SpaceTec SpaceBall 4000 FLX
450 In addition to having the spaceorb/spaceball and serport modules in the
451 kernel, you also need to attach a serial port to it. to do that, run the
454 inputattach --spaceorb /dev/tts/x &
456 inputattach --spaceball /dev/tts/x &
458 where /dev/tts/x is the serial port which the device is connected to. After
459 doing this, the device will be reported and will start working.
461 There is one caveat with the SpaceOrb. The button #6, the on the bottom
462 side of the orb, although reported as an ordinary button, causes internal
463 recentering of the spaceorb, moving the zero point to the position in which
464 the ball is at the moment of pressing the button. So, think first before
465 you bind it to some other function.
467 SpaceTec SpaceBall 2003 FLX and 3003 FLX are not supported yet.
469 3.19 Logitech SWIFT devices
470 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
471 The SWIFT serial protocol is supported by the warrior.c module. It
472 currently supports only the:
474 * Logitech WingMan Warrior
476 but in the future, Logitech CyberMan (the original one, not CM2) could be
477 supported as well. To use the module, you need to run inputattach after you
478 insert/compile the module into your kernel:
480 inputattach --warrior /dev/tts/x &
482 /dev/tts/x is the serial port your Warrior is attached to.
484 3.20 Magellan / Space Mouse
485 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
486 The Magellan (or Space Mouse), manufactured by LogiCad3d (formerly Space
487 Systems), for many other companies (Logitech, HP, ...) is supported by the
488 joy-magellan module. It currently supports only the:
493 models, the additional buttons on the 'Plus' versions are not supported yet.
495 To use it, you need to attach the serial port to the driver using the
497 inputattach --magellan /dev/tts/x &
499 command. After that the Magellan will be detected, initialized, will beep,
500 and the /dev/input/jsX device should become usable.
504 All I-Force devices are supported by the iforce module. This includes:
506 * AVB Mag Turbo Force
507 * AVB Top Shot Pegasus
508 * AVB Top Shot Force Feedback Racing Wheel
509 * Logitech WingMan Force
510 * Logitech WingMan Force Wheel
511 * Guillemot Race Leader Force Feedback
512 * Guillemot Force Feedback Racing Wheel
513 * Thrustmaster Motor Sport GT
515 To use it, you need to attach the serial port to the driver using the
517 inputattach --iforce /dev/tts/x &
519 command. After that the I-Force device will be detected, and the
520 /dev/input/jsX device should become usable.
522 In case you're using the device via the USB port, the inputattach command
525 The I-Force driver now supports force feedback via the event interface.
527 Please note that Logitech WingMan *3D devices are _not_ supported by this
528 module, rather by hid. Force feedback is not supported for those devices.
529 Logitech gamepads are also hid devices.
531 3.22 Gravis Stinger gamepad
532 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
533 The Gravis Stinger serial port gamepad, designed for use with laptop
534 computers, is supported by the stinger.c module. To use it, attach the
535 serial port to the driver using:
537 inputattach --stinger /dev/tty/x &
539 where x is the number of the serial port.
543 There is quite a high probability that you run into some problems. For
544 testing whether the driver works, if in doubt, use the jstest utility in
545 some of its modes. The most useful modes are "normal" - for the 1.x
546 interface, and "old" for the "0.x" interface. You run it by typing:
548 jstest --normal /dev/input/js0
549 jstest --old /dev/input/js0
551 Additionally you can do a test with the evtest utility:
553 evtest /dev/input/event0
555 Oh, and read the FAQ! :)
559 Q: Running 'jstest /dev/js0' results in "File not found" error. What's the
561 A: The device files don't exist. Create them (see section 2.2).
563 Q: Is it possible to connect my old Atari/Commodore/Amiga/console joystick
564 or pad that uses a 9-pin D-type cannon connector to the serial port of my
566 A: Yes, it is possible, but it'll burn your serial port or the pad. It
567 won't work, of course.
569 Q: My joystick doesn't work with Quake / Quake 2. What's the cause?
570 A: Quake / Quake 2 don't support joystick. Use joy2key to simulate keypresses
573 6. Programming Interface
574 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
575 The 1.0 driver uses a new, event based approach to the joystick driver.
576 Instead of the user program polling for the joystick values, the joystick
577 driver now reports only any changes of its state. See joystick-api.txt,
578 joystick.h and jstest.c included in the joystick package for more
579 information. The joystick device can be used in either blocking or
580 nonblocking mode and supports select() calls.
582 For backward compatibility the old (v0.x) interface is still included.
583 Any call to the joystick driver using the old interface will return values
584 that are compatible to the old interface. This interface is still limited
585 to 2 axes, and applications using it usually decode only 2 buttons, although
586 the driver provides up to 32.