Note

xboxdrv is deprecated.

While I may entertain pull requests or minor fixes to keep it usable a little longer, users are encouraged to consider other options.

• Kernel modules: xpad, xpadneo, xone

• Set SDL_GAMECONTROLLERCONFIG for simple remapping.

  • SDL_GameControllerDB
  • SDL3 testcontroller.

• Other input remap utilities

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Xbox/Xbox360 USB Gamepad Driver for Userspace

xboxdrv is a Xbox/Xbox360 gamepad driver for Linux that works in userspace. It is an alternative to the xpad kernel driver and has support for Xbox1 gamepads, Xbox360 USB gamepads and Xbox360 wireless gamepads. The Xbox360 guitar and some Xbox1 dancemats might work too. The Xbox 360 racing wheel is not supported, but shouldn't be to hard to add if somebody is interested.

Some basic support for the Xbox360 Chatpad on USB controller is provided, Chatpad on wireless ones is not supported. The headset is not supported, but you can dump raw data from it.

This driver is only of interest if the xpad kernel driver doesn't work for you or if you want more configurabity. If the xpad kernel driver works for you there is no need to try this driver.

Compilation

Required libraries and tools:

• compiler with C++20 support
• libusb-1.0
• pkg-config
• libudev
• meson
• ninja
• uinput (userspace input kernel module)
• git (only to download the development version)
• X11
• libdbus
• glib

On Ubuntu, required libraries may be installed with:

$ sudo apt-get install \
    g++ \
    meson \
    ninja \
    pkg-config \
    libusb-1.0-0-dev \
    git-core \
    libx11-dev \
    libudev-dev \
    x11proto-core-dev \
    libdbus-glib-1-dev

Once everything is installed, you may compile by typing:

$ meson setup build .
$ ninja -C build

To load the uinput kernel module automatically on boot, add it to /etc/modules. To load it manually type:

$ sudo modprobe uinput

The compilation procedure may differ on other distributions.

Installation

There is no need to install xboxdrv. You may run it directly from the build directory.

If you prefer, you may install xboxdrv after compilation by running:

$ meson install -C build

You can also change the install PREFIX and DESTDIR with:

$ meson install -C build --prefix=/usr --destdir "/tmp"

If you want to run xboxdrv in daemon mode on boot, copy data/org.seul.Xboxdrv.conf into /usr/share/dbus-1/system.d/, otherwise xboxdrv will complain with:

[ERROR] XboxdrvDaemon::run(): fatal exception: failed to get unique dbus name: Connection ":1.135" is not allowed to own the service "org.seul.Xboxdrv" due to security policies in the configuration file

Running

Extensive documentation about running xboxdrv can be found in the RUNNING XBOXDRV section of the xboxdrv manpage. When not installed, the man page can be found at doc/xboxdrv.1. Read it with:

$ man -l doc/xboxdrv.1

xboxdrv-daemon is a daemon that will automatically launch xboxdrv when a gamepad is plugged in. Documentation can be read with:

$ man -l doc/xboxdrv-daemon.1