joystick.rst (18697B)
1.. include:: <isonum.txt> 2 3.. _joystick-doc: 4 5Introduction 6============ 7 8The joystick driver for Linux provides support for a variety of joysticks 9and similar devices. It is based on a larger project aiming to support all 10input devices in Linux. 11 12The mailing list for the project is: 13 14 linux-input@vger.kernel.org 15 16send "subscribe linux-input" to majordomo@vger.kernel.org to subscribe to it. 17 18Usage 19===== 20 21For basic usage you just choose the right options in kernel config and 22you should be set. 23 24Utilities 25--------- 26 27For testing and other purposes (for example serial devices), there is a set 28of utilities, such as ``jstest``, ``jscal``, and ``evtest``, 29usually packaged as ``joystick``, ``input-utils``, ``evtest``, and so on. 30 31``inputattach`` utility is required if your joystick is connected to a 32serial port. 33 34Device nodes 35------------ 36 37For applications to be able to use the joysticks, device nodes should be 38created in /dev. Normally it is done automatically by the system, but 39it can also be done by hand:: 40 41 cd /dev 42 rm js* 43 mkdir input 44 mknod input/js0 c 13 0 45 mknod input/js1 c 13 1 46 mknod input/js2 c 13 2 47 mknod input/js3 c 13 3 48 ln -s input/js0 js0 49 ln -s input/js1 js1 50 ln -s input/js2 js2 51 ln -s input/js3 js3 52 53For testing with inpututils it's also convenient to create these:: 54 55 mknod input/event0 c 13 64 56 mknod input/event1 c 13 65 57 mknod input/event2 c 13 66 58 mknod input/event3 c 13 67 59 60Modules needed 61-------------- 62 63For all joystick drivers to function, you'll need the userland interface 64module in kernel, either loaded or compiled in:: 65 66 modprobe joydev 67 68For gameport joysticks, you'll have to load the gameport driver as well:: 69 70 modprobe ns558 71 72And for serial port joysticks, you'll need the serial input line 73discipline module loaded and the inputattach utility started:: 74 75 modprobe serport 76 inputattach -xxx /dev/tts/X & 77 78In addition to that, you'll need the joystick driver module itself, most 79usually you'll have an analog joystick:: 80 81 modprobe analog 82 83For automatic module loading, something like this might work - tailor to 84your needs:: 85 86 alias tty-ldisc-2 serport 87 alias char-major-13 input 88 above input joydev ns558 analog 89 options analog map=gamepad,none,2btn 90 91Verifying that it works 92----------------------- 93 94For testing the joystick driver functionality, there is the jstest 95program in the utilities package. You run it by typing:: 96 97 jstest /dev/input/js0 98 99And it should show a line with the joystick values, which update as you 100move the stick, and press its buttons. The axes should all be zero when the 101joystick is in the center position. They should not jitter by themselves to 102other close values, and they also should be steady in any other position of 103the stick. They should have the full range from -32767 to 32767. If all this 104is met, then it's all fine, and you can play the games. :) 105 106If it's not, then there might be a problem. Try to calibrate the joystick, 107and if it still doesn't work, read the drivers section of this file, the 108troubleshooting section, and the FAQ. 109 110Calibration 111----------- 112 113For most joysticks you won't need any manual calibration, since the 114joystick should be autocalibrated by the driver automagically. However, with 115some analog joysticks, that either do not use linear resistors, or if you 116want better precision, you can use the jscal program:: 117 118 jscal -c /dev/input/js0 119 120included in the joystick package to set better correction coefficients than 121what the driver would choose itself. 122 123After calibrating the joystick you can verify if you like the new 124calibration using the jstest command, and if you do, you then can save the 125correction coefficients into a file:: 126 127 jscal -p /dev/input/js0 > /etc/joystick.cal 128 129And add a line to your rc script executing that file:: 130 131 source /etc/joystick.cal 132 133This way, after the next reboot your joystick will remain calibrated. You 134can also add the ``jscal -p`` line to your shutdown script. 135 136Hardware-specific driver information 137==================================== 138 139In this section each of the separate hardware specific drivers is described. 140 141Analog joysticks 142---------------- 143 144The analog.c driver uses the standard analog inputs of the gameport, and thus 145supports all standard joysticks and gamepads. It uses a very advanced 146routine for this, allowing for data precision that can't be found on any 147other system. 148 149It also supports extensions like additional hats and buttons compatible 150with CH Flightstick Pro, ThrustMaster FCS or 6 and 8 button gamepads. Saitek 151Cyborg 'digital' joysticks are also supported by this driver, because 152they're basically souped up CHF sticks. 153 154However the only types that can be autodetected are: 155 156* 2-axis, 4-button joystick 157* 3-axis, 4-button joystick 158* 4-axis, 4-button joystick 159* Saitek Cyborg 'digital' joysticks 160 161For other joystick types (more/less axes, hats, and buttons) support 162you'll need to specify the types either on the kernel command line or on the 163module command line, when inserting analog into the kernel. The 164parameters are:: 165 166 analog.map=<type1>,<type2>,<type3>,.... 167 168'type' is type of the joystick from the table below, defining joysticks 169present on gameports in the system, starting with gameport0, second 'type' 170entry defining joystick on gameport1 and so on. 171 172 ========= ===================================================== 173 Type Meaning 174 ========= ===================================================== 175 none No analog joystick on that port 176 auto Autodetect joystick 177 2btn 2-button n-axis joystick 178 y-joy Two 2-button 2-axis joysticks on an Y-cable 179 y-pad Two 2-button 2-axis gamepads on an Y-cable 180 fcs Thrustmaster FCS compatible joystick 181 chf Joystick with a CH Flightstick compatible hat 182 fullchf CH Flightstick compatible with two hats and 6 buttons 183 gamepad 4/6-button n-axis gamepad 184 gamepad8 8-button 2-axis gamepad 185 ========= ===================================================== 186 187In case your joystick doesn't fit in any of the above categories, you can 188specify the type as a number by combining the bits in the table below. This 189is not recommended unless you really know what are you doing. It's not 190dangerous, but not simple either. 191 192 ==== ========================= 193 Bit Meaning 194 ==== ========================= 195 0 Axis X1 196 1 Axis Y1 197 2 Axis X2 198 3 Axis Y2 199 4 Button A 200 5 Button B 201 6 Button C 202 7 Button D 203 8 CHF Buttons X and Y 204 9 CHF Hat 1 205 10 CHF Hat 2 206 11 FCS Hat 207 12 Pad Button X 208 13 Pad Button Y 209 14 Pad Button U 210 15 Pad Button V 211 16 Saitek F1-F4 Buttons 212 17 Saitek Digital Mode 213 19 GamePad 214 20 Joy2 Axis X1 215 21 Joy2 Axis Y1 216 22 Joy2 Axis X2 217 23 Joy2 Axis Y2 218 24 Joy2 Button A 219 25 Joy2 Button B 220 26 Joy2 Button C 221 27 Joy2 Button D 222 31 Joy2 GamePad 223 ==== ========================= 224 225Microsoft SideWinder joysticks 226------------------------------ 227 228Microsoft 'Digital Overdrive' protocol is supported by the sidewinder.c 229module. All currently supported joysticks: 230 231* Microsoft SideWinder 3D Pro 232* Microsoft SideWinder Force Feedback Pro 233* Microsoft SideWinder Force Feedback Wheel 234* Microsoft SideWinder FreeStyle Pro 235* Microsoft SideWinder GamePad (up to four, chained) 236* Microsoft SideWinder Precision Pro 237* Microsoft SideWinder Precision Pro USB 238 239are autodetected, and thus no module parameters are needed. 240 241There is one caveat with the 3D Pro. There are 9 buttons reported, 242although the joystick has only 8. The 9th button is the mode switch on the 243rear side of the joystick. However, moving it, you'll reset the joystick, 244and make it unresponsive for about a one third of a second. Furthermore, the 245joystick will also re-center itself, taking the position it was in during 246this time as a new center position. Use it if you want, but think first. 247 248The SideWinder Standard is not a digital joystick, and thus is supported 249by the analog driver described above. 250 251Logitech ADI devices 252-------------------- 253 254Logitech ADI protocol is supported by the adi.c module. It should support 255any Logitech device using this protocol. This includes, but is not limited 256to: 257 258* Logitech CyberMan 2 259* Logitech ThunderPad Digital 260* Logitech WingMan Extreme Digital 261* Logitech WingMan Formula 262* Logitech WingMan Interceptor 263* Logitech WingMan GamePad 264* Logitech WingMan GamePad USB 265* Logitech WingMan GamePad Extreme 266* Logitech WingMan Extreme Digital 3D 267 268ADI devices are autodetected, and the driver supports up to two (any 269combination of) devices on a single gameport, using a Y-cable or chained 270together. 271 272Logitech WingMan Joystick, Logitech WingMan Attack, Logitech WingMan 273Extreme and Logitech WingMan ThunderPad are not digital joysticks and are 274handled by the analog driver described above. Logitech WingMan Warrior and 275Logitech Magellan are supported by serial drivers described below. Logitech 276WingMan Force and Logitech WingMan Formula Force are supported by the 277I-Force driver described below. Logitech CyberMan is not supported yet. 278 279Gravis GrIP 280----------- 281 282Gravis GrIP protocol is supported by the grip.c module. It currently 283supports: 284 285* Gravis GamePad Pro 286* Gravis BlackHawk Digital 287* Gravis Xterminator 288* Gravis Xterminator DualControl 289 290All these devices are autodetected, and you can even use any combination 291of up to two of these pads either chained together or using a Y-cable on a 292single gameport. 293 294GrIP MultiPort isn't supported yet. Gravis Stinger is a serial device and is 295supported by the stinger driver. Other Gravis joysticks are supported by the 296analog driver. 297 298FPGaming A3D and MadCatz A3D 299---------------------------- 300 301The Assassin 3D protocol created by FPGaming, is used both by FPGaming 302themselves and is licensed to MadCatz. A3D devices are supported by the 303a3d.c module. It currently supports: 304 305* FPGaming Assassin 3D 306* MadCatz Panther 307* MadCatz Panther XL 308 309All these devices are autodetected. Because the Assassin 3D and the Panther 310allow connecting analog joysticks to them, you'll need to load the analog 311driver as well to handle the attached joysticks. 312 313The trackball should work with USB mousedev module as a normal mouse. See 314the USB documentation for how to setup a USB mouse. 315 316ThrustMaster DirectConnect (BSP) 317-------------------------------- 318 319The TM DirectConnect (BSP) protocol is supported by the tmdc.c 320module. This includes, but is not limited to: 321 322* ThrustMaster Millennium 3D Interceptor 323* ThrustMaster 3D Rage Pad 324* ThrustMaster Fusion Digital Game Pad 325 326Devices not directly supported, but hopefully working are: 327 328* ThrustMaster FragMaster 329* ThrustMaster Attack Throttle 330 331If you have one of these, contact me. 332 333TMDC devices are autodetected, and thus no parameters to the module 334are needed. Up to two TMDC devices can be connected to one gameport, using 335a Y-cable. 336 337Creative Labs Blaster 338--------------------- 339 340The Blaster protocol is supported by the cobra.c module. It supports only 341the: 342 343* Creative Blaster GamePad Cobra 344 345Up to two of these can be used on a single gameport, using a Y-cable. 346 347Genius Digital joysticks 348------------------------ 349 350The Genius digitally communicating joysticks are supported by the gf2k.c 351module. This includes: 352 353* Genius Flight2000 F-23 joystick 354* Genius Flight2000 F-31 joystick 355* Genius G-09D gamepad 356 357Other Genius digital joysticks are not supported yet, but support can be 358added fairly easily. 359 360InterAct Digital joysticks 361-------------------------- 362 363The InterAct digitally communicating joysticks are supported by the 364interact.c module. This includes: 365 366* InterAct HammerHead/FX gamepad 367* InterAct ProPad8 gamepad 368 369Other InterAct digital joysticks are not supported yet, but support can be 370added fairly easily. 371 372PDPI Lightning 4 gamecards 373-------------------------- 374 375PDPI Lightning 4 gamecards are supported by the lightning.c module. 376Once the module is loaded, the analog driver can be used to handle the 377joysticks. Digitally communicating joystick will work only on port 0, while 378using Y-cables, you can connect up to 8 analog joysticks to a single L4 379card, 16 in case you have two in your system. 380 381Trident 4DWave / Aureal Vortex 382------------------------------ 383 384Soundcards with a Trident 4DWave DX/NX or Aureal Vortex/Vortex2 chipset 385provide an "Enhanced Game Port" mode where the soundcard handles polling the 386joystick. This mode is supported by the pcigame.c module. Once loaded the 387analog driver can use the enhanced features of these gameports.. 388 389Crystal SoundFusion 390------------------- 391 392Soundcards with Crystal SoundFusion chipsets provide an "Enhanced Game 393Port", much like the 4DWave or Vortex above. This, and also the normal mode 394for the port of the SoundFusion is supported by the cs461x.c module. 395 396SoundBlaster Live! 397------------------ 398 399The Live! has a special PCI gameport, which, although it doesn't provide 400any "Enhanced" stuff like 4DWave and friends, is quite a bit faster than 401its ISA counterparts. It also requires special support, hence the 402emu10k1-gp.c module for it instead of the normal ns558.c one. 403 404SoundBlaster 64 and 128 - ES1370 and ES1371, ESS Solo1 and S3 SonicVibes 405------------------------------------------------------------------------ 406 407These PCI soundcards have specific gameports. They are handled by the 408sound drivers themselves. Make sure you select gameport support in the 409joystick menu and sound card support in the sound menu for your appropriate 410card. 411 412Amiga 413----- 414 415Amiga joysticks, connected to an Amiga, are supported by the amijoy.c 416driver. Since they can't be autodetected, the driver has a command line: 417 418 amijoy.map=<a>,<b> 419 420a and b define the joysticks connected to the JOY0DAT and JOY1DAT ports of 421the Amiga. 422 423 ====== =========================== 424 Value Joystick type 425 ====== =========================== 426 0 None 427 1 1-button digital joystick 428 ====== =========================== 429 430No more joystick types are supported now, but that should change in the 431future if I get an Amiga in the reach of my fingers. 432 433Game console and 8-bit pads and joysticks 434----------------------------------------- 435 436These pads and joysticks are not designed for PCs and other computers 437Linux runs on, and usually require a special connector for attaching 438them through a parallel port. 439 440See :ref:`joystick-parport` for more info. 441 442SpaceTec/LabTec devices 443----------------------- 444 445SpaceTec serial devices communicate using the SpaceWare protocol. It is 446supported by the spaceorb.c and spaceball.c drivers. The devices currently 447supported by spaceorb.c are: 448 449* SpaceTec SpaceBall Avenger 450* SpaceTec SpaceOrb 360 451 452Devices currently supported by spaceball.c are: 453 454* SpaceTec SpaceBall 4000 FLX 455 456In addition to having the spaceorb/spaceball and serport modules in the 457kernel, you also need to attach a serial port to it. To do that, run the 458inputattach program:: 459 460 inputattach --spaceorb /dev/tts/x & 461 462or:: 463 464 inputattach --spaceball /dev/tts/x & 465 466where /dev/tts/x is the serial port which the device is connected to. After 467doing this, the device will be reported and will start working. 468 469There is one caveat with the SpaceOrb. The button #6, the one on the bottom 470side of the orb, although reported as an ordinary button, causes internal 471recentering of the spaceorb, moving the zero point to the position in which 472the ball is at the moment of pressing the button. So, think first before 473you bind it to some other function. 474 475SpaceTec SpaceBall 2003 FLX and 3003 FLX are not supported yet. 476 477Logitech SWIFT devices 478---------------------- 479 480The SWIFT serial protocol is supported by the warrior.c module. It 481currently supports only the: 482 483* Logitech WingMan Warrior 484 485but in the future, Logitech CyberMan (the original one, not CM2) could be 486supported as well. To use the module, you need to run inputattach after you 487insert/compile the module into your kernel:: 488 489 inputattach --warrior /dev/tts/x & 490 491/dev/tts/x is the serial port your Warrior is attached to. 492 493Magellan / Space Mouse 494---------------------- 495 496The Magellan (or Space Mouse), manufactured by LogiCad3d (formerly Space 497Systems), for many other companies (Logitech, HP, ...) is supported by the 498joy-magellan module. It currently supports only the: 499 500* Magellan 3D 501* Space Mouse 502 503models; the additional buttons on the 'Plus' versions are not supported yet. 504 505To use it, you need to attach the serial port to the driver using the:: 506 507 inputattach --magellan /dev/tts/x & 508 509command. After that the Magellan will be detected, initialized, will beep, 510and the /dev/input/jsX device should become usable. 511 512I-Force devices 513--------------- 514 515All I-Force devices are supported by the iforce module. This includes: 516 517* AVB Mag Turbo Force 518* AVB Top Shot Pegasus 519* AVB Top Shot Force Feedback Racing Wheel 520* Logitech WingMan Force 521* Logitech WingMan Force Wheel 522* Guillemot Race Leader Force Feedback 523* Guillemot Force Feedback Racing Wheel 524* Thrustmaster Motor Sport GT 525 526To use it, you need to attach the serial port to the driver using the:: 527 528 inputattach --iforce /dev/tts/x & 529 530command. After that the I-Force device will be detected, and the 531/dev/input/jsX device should become usable. 532 533In case you're using the device via the USB port, the inputattach command 534isn't needed. 535 536The I-Force driver now supports force feedback via the event interface. 537 538Please note that Logitech WingMan 3D devices are _not_ supported by this 539module, rather by hid. Force feedback is not supported for those devices. 540Logitech gamepads are also hid devices. 541 542Gravis Stinger gamepad 543---------------------- 544 545The Gravis Stinger serial port gamepad, designed for use with laptop 546computers, is supported by the stinger.c module. To use it, attach the 547serial port to the driver using:: 548 549 inputattach --stinger /dev/tty/x & 550 551where x is the number of the serial port. 552 553Troubleshooting 554=============== 555 556There is quite a high probability that you run into some problems. For 557testing whether the driver works, if in doubt, use the jstest utility in 558some of its modes. The most useful modes are "normal" - for the 1.x 559interface, and "old" for the "0.x" interface. You run it by typing:: 560 561 jstest --normal /dev/input/js0 562 jstest --old /dev/input/js0 563 564Additionally you can do a test with the evtest utility:: 565 566 evtest /dev/input/event0 567 568Oh, and read the FAQ! :) 569 570FAQ 571=== 572 573:Q: Running 'jstest /dev/input/js0' results in "File not found" error. What's the 574 cause? 575:A: The device files don't exist. Create them (see section 2.2). 576 577:Q: Is it possible to connect my old Atari/Commodore/Amiga/console joystick 578 or pad that uses a 9-pin D-type Cannon connector to the serial port of my 579 PC? 580:A: Yes, it is possible, but it'll burn your serial port or the pad. It 581 won't work, of course. 582 583:Q: My joystick doesn't work with Quake / Quake 2. What's the cause? 584:A: Quake / Quake 2 don't support joystick. Use joy2key to simulate keypresses 585 for them.