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). Please have a look at the documentation mentioned above for details. Older ISA soundcards may need the ns558 module, which is a standard gameport module.Īs you can see, there are many different modules related to getting your joystick working in Linux, so everything is not covered here. 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). Many older joysticks will work with the simple analog module. Some joysticks need specific modules, such as the Microsoft Sidewinder controllers ( sidewinder), or the Logitech digital controllers ( adi). Alternatively, see documentation from the latest kernel. You can browse the kernel source tree at by clicking the 'browse' (cgit - the git frontend) link for the kernel that you are using, then clicking the 'tree' link near the top.

If you have the kernel sources downloaded, have a look at Documentation/input/joydev/. Unfortunately, official kernel packages do not include what we need.

Unless you are using very old joystick that uses Gameport or a proprietary USB protocol, you will need just the generic USB Human Interface Device (HID) modules.įor an extensive overview of all joystick related modules in Linux, you will need access to the Linux kernel sources - specifically the Documentation section. SDL2 supports only the new evdev interface. While SDL1 defaults to evdev interface you can force it to use the old Joystick API by setting the environment variable SDL_JOYSTICK_DEVICE=/dev/input/js0. Most new games will default to the evdev interface as it gives more detailed information about the buttons and axes available and also adds support for force feedback. Symbolic links to those devices are also available in /dev/input/by-id/ and /dev/input/by-path/ where the legacy Joystick API has names ending with -joystick while the evdev have names ending with -event-joystick. dev/input/jsX maps to the Joystick API interface and /dev/input/event* maps to the evdev ones (this also includes other input devices such as mice and keyboards). Linux has two different input systems for gamepads – the original Joystick interface and the newer evdev-based interface. (Discuss in Talk:Gamepad#Joystick API vibration support) Reason: Need info about differences between API, how to switch between them.

Gamepad mapper pc