EMS Topgun Driver Module Install

[arbrandes]

If anybody's still watching the thread, I modified Chris's driver enough that it'll compile and load cleanly in Ubuntu Gutsy. It wasn't exactly rocket science, but it took a few hours of reading and comparing it to working drivers such as the xpad360.

Oh, and it seems to work! The gun is recognized as a standard joystick with X and Y axes plus a POV hat, all of which seemed to do fine in my 5-minute test.

I just haven't gotten the buttons and trigger to be recognized yet, and there seems to be some sort of calibration issue.

Will report on further progress as it happens.

[arbrandes]

Buttons done and tested, now to fix calibration.

[arbrandes]

Here it is. It should work on all kernels up to 2.6.24, including Hardy.

To compile, you will need to have kernel headers installed, but nothing else. If you do, a "make" followed by "make install" should do the job. Then, if you plug the topgun in, by running a "jstest /dev/input/js0" you should be able to see if all is well.

You will need to do hardware calibration for it to work. Follow these instructions (no, you don't need to do it on Windows first):

* Point the gun offscreen (the floor/ceiling). Hold down the A and B button at
the same time to enter calibration mode. (you see the laser turn on)
* If Installing 'vertical' LED stands, Shoot the top-left LED group.
* If Installing 'horizontal' LED stands, Shoot the top-right LED group.
* Shoot the following in this order:
    * Center of the screen
    * Top left corner of your screen
    * Top right corner of your screen
    * Bottom right corner of your screen
    * Bottom left corner of your screen

(From: http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/wiki/...re_calibration)

I still haven't tried playing any games, though. Suggestions?

[arfink]

Sa-weet! I am so going to try this out. As for games, I would suggest the House of the Dead series, which I have successfully gotten to run in Wine before and which I think can handle joystick inputs. Also another good game that I used to play a ton is Wetlands, which was fun with a joystick and would be even more fun with a gun! I think you could run it with QEMU or DosBox.

Also give some emulators a shot. I know that emulation is frowned upon in some open source circles, so i won't get into great detail, but I know there are a ton of great lightgun games for MAME, SNES, Playstation, NES, etc. For specific games I would suggest Point Blank, (always fun) Area 51, Duck Hunt, Elemental Gearbolt, (unique and awesome) Lethal Enforcers, Police Trainer, and of course all the House of the Dead and Time Crisis games. With most emulators (except MAME) dumping your own ROMS is not too hard, I have done it on occasion in the past. Of course I cannot and will not tell you to break the law.

Finally, if you have the mad skillz to make this driver I'm sure you could find a neat way to build a game to use them. I am just learning Free Basic and once I get joystick input down I'll start experimenting.

Thanks for the drivers and keep up the good work!

[arbrandes]

House of the Dead under wine, good idea. I'm acquiring Time Crisis as we speak. Oh, and Duck Hunt is already great fun under mame! I'm also curious as to whether I'll be able to emulate PS2 shooters with the Topgun. That would be decidely awesome!

Hmm, make my own lightgun game? That would be a lot of fun.

[qgranfor]

Thanks for posting this! Been trying to get it working right for several hours now. Looks like a possible calibration issue on my end.......but I've tried both vert and horiz setups.....and still the same issue.

When I issue "jstest /dev/input/js0" the numbers jump around a bit

Event: type 2, time 1409576, number 1, value -9558
Event: type 2, time 1409592, number 0, value 5888
Event: type 2, time 1409592, number 1, value 16383
Event: type 2, time 1409612, number 0, value 17920
Event: type 2, time 1409612, number 1, value 26965
Event: type 2, time 1409636, number 0, value 19584
Event: type 2, time 1409636, number 1, value 28330
Event: type 2, time 1409652, number 0, value 15360
Event: type 2, time 1409652, number 1, value 24575
Event: type 2, time 1409668, number 0, value 17920
Event: type 2, time 1409668, number 1, value 26965
Event: type 2, time 1409724, number 0, value 20352
Event: type 2, time 1409724, number 1, value 29013
Event: type 2, time 1409740, number 0, value 21504
Event: type 2, time 1409740, number 1, value 30378
Event: type 2, time 1409764, number 0, value 19840
Event: type 2, time 1409764, number 1, value 29013
Event: type 2, time 1409780, number 0, value 19712
Event: type 2, time 1409796, number 0, value 17920
Event: type 2, time 1409796, number 1, value 28330
Event: type 2, time 1409804, number 0, value -32767
Event: type 2, time 1409804, number 1, value -32767
Event: type 2, time 1409836, number 0, value 23296
Event: type 2, time 1409836, number 1, value 32426
Event: type 2, time 1409852, number 0, value 23552
Event: type 2, time 1409852, number 1, value 32767
Event: type 2, time 1409876, number 0, value 24192
Event: type 2, time 1409892, number 0, value 25216
Event: type 2, time 1409908, number 0, value 24448
Event: type 2, time 1409924, number 0, value 25472
Event: type 2, time 1409948, number 0, value 26624
Event: type 2, time 1409956, number 0, value -32767
Event: type 2, time 1409956, number 1, value -32767

See how number 1 can be 32767 then -32767 as the next value?

Although, come to think of it......anyone use this code in a 64-bit environment? Hardy 8.04 AMD64 2.6.24-22