Overview
Dust is meant for be played using a XBOX controller. If you have one, excelent, but if you don’t, some controllers won’t work 100% out of the box. For example, PS2 controller + USB adapter missplaces some buttons: A is where Y should be, X is where A should be etc. There is a way to correct this and remap all your buttons/axis to the right place. On Windows you’ll use a program called x360ce and on Linux you’ll use xboxdrv. I’ll explaing how to set xboxdrv for your USB controller on Linux.
1. Installing xboxdrv
If your distro already has xboxdrv packed, install it from repositories. If it doesn’t, download the source code from their website (http://pingus.seul.org/~grumbel/xboxdrv/) and compile it. Since this step is distro specific, I won’t cover it. If you’re not sure how to do it, ask for help in your distro’s forum.
2. Avoiding xpad conflict
Check if your distro loads xpad module to handle XBOX controller events:
# lsmod | grep xpad
If it returns a blank line, you’re fine, go straight to the next section. If it returns something else, you must unload xpad module before loading xboxdrv by executing this command:
# rmmod xpad
3. Finding the proper input event
List all your available input events:
# ls /dev/input/ | grep event*
It will probably range from event0 to event20. You’ll have to test each one of them until you find out which one is the event associated with your USB controller. To do so, enter the following command and press your controller buttons (press CTRL+C to exit after checking):
# evtest /dev/input/event11
If you got the wrong event, nothing will happen when you press buttons. When you get the right event, you’ll now it because as soon as you press a button there will be a corresponding terminal output. Keep testing your available events until you find out which one is correct. In my case, event11 is associated with my PS2 controller.
4. Mapping your USB controller
If you have a PS3 controller, you can skip this section and go stragth to section 5. If you have any other controller, you must map it. To do so, while using evtest with the event associated to your controller (for example, # evtest /dev/input/event11), each time you press a button you’ll receive a terminal output like this:
Event: time 1380985017.964843, type 4 (EV_MSC), code 4 (MSC_SCAN), value 90003
Event: time 1380985017.964843, type 1 (EV_KEY), code 290 (BTN_THUMB2), value 1
In this case, I pressed the button corresponding to where the A button is on the XBOX controller, and this button is mapped as BTN_THUMB2. Then I pressed the button corresponding to where the B button is on the XBOX controller, and the output was this:
Event: time 1380985018.460841, type 4 (EV_MSC), code 4 (MSC_SCAN), value 90002
Event: time 1380985018.460841, type 1 (EV_KEY), code 289 (BTN_THUMB), value 1
This output tells me that this button is mapped with the name BTN_THUMB. Take note of all these names. Do this for all your buttons and all your axis. You must take note of their names to be able to map them properly later. In the end, you’ll have a list with all names and the corresponding XBOX buttons. You must map these buttons to valid XBOX buttons symbols:
Buttons: A, B, X, Y, RB (frontal upper right), RT (posterior upper right), LB (frontal upper left), LT (posterior upper left), START, BACK
Directionals: DPAD_X (horizontal D-pad), DPAD_Y (vertical D-pad), X1 (left analog horizontal), Y1 (left analog vertical), X2 (right analog horizontal), Y2 (right analog vertical)
Analog clicks: TL (left analog click), TR (right analog click)
I made an image to illustrate these valid XBOX buttons symbols[lh4.googleusercontent.com] you’ll use to map your controller events. For a PS2 + USB adapter, this is how the final mapping list will look:
BTN_THUMB2=a
BTN_THUMB=b
BTN_BASE3=back
BTN_BASE4=start
BTN_BASE=lb
BTN_BASE2=rb
BTN_TOP2=lt
BTN_PINKIE=rt
BTN_BASE5=tl
BTN_BASE6=tr
ABS_X=x1
BTN_TOP=x
BTN_TRIGGER=y
ABS_Y=y1
ABS_RZ=x2
ABS_Z=y2
ABS_HAT0X=dpad_x
ABS_HAT0Y=dpad_y
-Y1=Y1
-Y2=Y2
Note that if you have a PS2 controller too, you won’t have to map all your buttons again, since I already did this (just copy this list for further use). To see what each XBOX button is named after, you can use the built in xboxsrv help to see the valid names:
$ xboxsrv –help-button
$ xboxsrv –help-axis
$ xboxsrv –help-abs
5. Initializing xboxdrv
If you have a PS3 controller, you don’t have to map your controller nor nothing. Just initialize xboxdrv like this and everything will be working:
# xboxdrv –silent –detach-kernel-driver
If you have any other controller, now that you have all your buttons and axis mapped, you must initialize xboxdrv properly. To do so, you’ll have to initialize it like this:
# xboxdrv –evdev [EVENT] –evdev-absmap [ABS MAP] –axismap [AXIS MAP] –evdev-keymap [BUTTONS MAP] –mimic-xpad –silent &
[EVENT] is the event associated with your controller (section 3 of this post) and [ABS MAP], [AXIS MAP] and [BUTTONS MAP] are your controller mapping (section 4 of this post). In my case, my PS2 controller + USB adapter is associated with /dev/input/event11 and has the above mapping, so I initialize xboxdrv like this:
# xboxdrv –evdev /dev/input/event11 –evdev-absmap ABS_X=x1,ABS_Y=y1,ABS_RZ=x2,ABS_Z=y2,ABS_HAT0X=dpad_x,ABS_HAT0Y=dpad_y –axismap -Y1=Y1,-Y2=Y2 –evdev-keymap BTN_TOP=x,BTN_TRIGGER=y,BTN_THUMB2=a,BTN_THUMB=b,BTN_BASE3=back,BTN_BASE4=start,BTN_BASE=lb,BTN_BASE2=rb,BTN_TOP2=lt,BTN_PINKIE=rt,BTN_BASE5=tl,BTN_BASE6=tr –mimic-xpad –silent &
Note that if you have a PS2 controller too, you will initialize xboxdrv exactly the same way I do, except for the event, which might be another one.
6. Initializing xboxdrv during system startup
Everytime you restart your computer, you must unload xpad module (section 2) if it’s loaded in your distro and properly initialize xboxdrv (section 5). To do these things automatically, you can put them on /etc/rc.local or whatever your distro calls it. It’s distro specific, so go to your distro’s forum and ask them where is your /etc/rc.local if you can’t find it. In my case, I use OpenSUSE 13.1 and this file is located at /etc/rc.d/boot.local
7. Final words
I hope this helps you and that you can play game that uses the XBOX controller by default using any USB controller you have, just as I can.