HOWTO : Joystick/Gamepads under Ubuntu

[kingmob]

I just updated to gutsy, and i'm having many problems with my gamepad now. First qjoypad utilized 100%cpu. I replaced it by a custom package from some frenchdude with the same problem. However, now I have a bogus extra axis being reported by all programs. This axis interferes with several others, making everything unusable. How do i tell jscalibrator the axis doesn't actually exist???

[tukuyomi]

Hi all
I'm using Debian Testing, but it happens with Gutsy too (2.6.22 kernel)
My Sidewinder Gamepad (MIDI port, not USB) runs, but is not usable.
lsmod reports that analog and emu10k1_gp (my gameport on the SBLive! soundcard) are loaded:

lsmod | grep game
gameport               15304  4 analog,emu10k1_gp

However, when I od /dev/input/js0, I see lots of garbage, even if I don't touch anything...

od /dev/input/js0 
0000000 024454 000027 000000 000201 024454 000027 000000 000601
0000020 024454 000027 000000 001201 024454 000027 000000 001601
0000040 024454 000027 000000 000202 024454 000027 000000 000602
0000060 024454 000027 106376 001202 024454 000027 106376 001602
0000100 024470 000027 000001 000001 024470 000027 000001 000401
0000120 024504 000027 000000 000001 024504 000027 000000 000401
0000140 024520 000027 000001 000001 024520 000027 000001 000401
[...]

And that doesn't stop...
Using jscal and jscalibrator don't change anything too
On Feisty and before, I solved my problem by simply blacklisting analog and loading sidewinder instead. That way, my gamepad worked flawlessly on every program I used. od /dev/input/js0 returned 5 lines right away and more as I pressed buttons.

But since 2.6.22 (I suppose) that doesn't work. When modprobe-ing -r analog and modprobe-ing sidewinder, /dev/input/js0 doesn't exist anymore

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=16089
Here is a topic describing similar problem but there is no real workaround/fix. Anyone can help? Thanks in advance (for reading^^)

[pzs]

This procedure did not work for my Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback Pro on Gutsy. After I do this:

cd /dev/input
sudo MAKEDEV js

and this

sudo modprobe joydev
sudo modprobe ns558
sudo modprobe analog 
sudo modprobe sidewinder
sudo modprobe iforce 
sudo modprobe evdev

I get this out of dmesg:

[  409.618260] gameport: NS558 PnP Gameport is pnp00:09/gameport0, io 0x200, speed 828kHz
[  409.640285] analog.c: Unknown joystick device found  (data=0x5, pnp00:09/gameport0), probably not analog joystick.
[  411.527673] sidewinder.c: unknown joystick device detected on pnp00:09/gameport0, contact <vojtech@ucw.cz>
[  411.527683] sidewinder.c: ID packet, 42 bits. [01000000000]
[  411.527689] sidewinder.c: Data packet, 16 bits. [0207]
[  417.387224] usbcore: registered new interface driver iforce

Then I try jscal or jstest and they say variants on "no such device". Is there anything else I could have missed?

Peter

[ArrayedTrouble]

My Sidewinder Gamepad (MIDI port, not USB) runs, but is not usable.

I had the same problem and fixed it (for me at least).

gameport               15304  4 analog,emu10k1_gp

The problem seems related to the analog kernel module. Please try

dmesg|grep input

If you get something like

input: Analog 4-axis 4-button joystick as /class/input/input7

the SideWinder is incorrectly detected (and the resources claimed before the sidewinder module can even detect it).

Now, for starters, remove all relevant kernel modules

sudo modprobe -r sidewinder
sudo modprobe -r joydev
sudo modprobe -r ns558
sudo modprobe -r analog

Then insert them back in without the analog module

sudo modprobe ns558
sudo modprobe sidewinder

I didn't need to specify the joydev module here - it gets auto-loaded.

Now when you try

dmesg|tail

it should say something similar to

input: Microsoft SideWinder GamePad as /class/input/input9

You can test it with jstest or whatever you choose.

To get this permanently fixed, you have to blacklist the analog module like

sudo vim /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-analog

(open in whatever editor you like)
Put the following into the file and save it

# intervenes with sidewinder module
blacklist analog

Now, if you still have ns588 and sidewinder in your /etc/modules, it should work directly after rebooting.

Hope i could help

[eightysix]

Hm, I tried ArrayedTrouble's solution, but I'm still not getting a response from dmesg saything that my Sidewinder was connected. D:

[Sockerdrickan]

Hm all I had to do was to plug it in lol :S

[tukuyomi]

Nope, it doesn't work for me... :/ the only way is to get back to an older kernel...

gameport: EMU10K1 is pci0000:01:07.1/gameport0, io 0xc400, speed 59659kHz
sidewinder.c: unknown joystick device detected on pci0000:01:07.1/gameport0, contact <vojtech@ucw.cz>
sidewinder.c: ID packet, 48 bits. [fbffffffffff]
sidewinder.c: Data packet, 16 bits. [bfff]

[eightysix]

Let's perform some thread necromancy here...

Has anyone looked into or tried using a gameport to USB adapter for the Sidewinder? It's been killing me that I haven't been able to use my Sidewinder to play games.

Any thoughts?

[tukuyomi]

Let's perform some thread necromancy here...

Has anyone looked into or tried using a gameport to USB adapter for the Sidewinder? It's been killing me that I haven't been able to use my Sidewinder to play games.

Any thoughts?

Downgrading to Feisty Kernel =)
Seriously, I think that emu10k1-gp is broken, not sidewinder => http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?t=21852
To be continued...

[Wazeem]

Hello

I am using a Ps2 to usb converter and in windows it always worked normally as a game pad.

In ubuntu the device manager shows the controllers (similar to how windows) but when i run my game (gxmame in this case) the controls dont work. Not even the buttons.

I have tried the calibrator which the controller worked for and I have also installed the Kcontrols too but that changed nothing,

Any help would be appreciated.

EDIT: SOLVED - heres the solution for future readers...

A workaround to this problem is to change .kxmame/options/default so that joytype is the one you want. In my case I want SDL joystick so it would be 5. You just have to make sure you don't go and mess with it in the GUI because then you will have to fix the file all over again.

Please fix the program so that the GUI selects the correct joytype number. ALL versions of this program seem to have this problem.

oh and that solution is for kxmame not gxmame. If your using gxmame i would suggest using kxmame as its much more easier to deal with. And your controller joytype will not be 5 like mine it could be anything. Best thing to do is play with the command line version of xmame and keep trying the joytype <a number> until mame can see your joystick.