History log of /linux-master/Documentation/input/event-codes.rst
Revision Date Author Comments
# 1260cd04 28-Sep-2022 Nate Yocom <nate@yocom.org>

Input: add ABS_PROFILE to uapi and documentation

Define new ABS_PROFILE axis for input devices which need it, e.g. X-Box
Adaptive Controller and X-Box Elite 2.

Signed-off-by: Nate Yocom <nate@yocom.org>
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20220908173930.28940-4-nate@yocom.org
Signed-off-by: Dmitry Torokhov <dmitry.torokhov@gmail.com>


# 42764f97 03-Feb-2022 Benjamin Tissoires <benjamin.tissoires@redhat.com>

Input: docs: add more details on the use of BTN_TOOL

The HID core stack used to be very relaxed considering the BTN_TOOL_*
usage. With the recent commits, we should now enforce to have only one
tool at a time, meaning that we can now express that requirement in the
docs.

Signed-off-by: Benjamin Tissoires <benjamin.tissoires@redhat.com>
Reviewed-by: Ping Cheng <ping.cheng@wacom.com>
Acked-by: Peter Hutterer <peter.hutterer@who-t.net>
Signed-off-by: Jiri Kosina <jkosina@suse.cz>


# 61be51c1 02-Mar-2021 Randy Dunlap <rdunlap@infradead.org>

input: Documentation: corrections for event-codes.rst

Fix hyphenation, typos, capitalization, and a referenced file name
(.txt -> .rst).

Signed-off-by: Randy Dunlap <rdunlap@infradead.org>
Cc: Dmitry Torokhov <dmitry.torokhov@gmail.com>
Cc: linux-input@vger.kernel.org
Cc: Jonathan Corbet <corbet@lwn.net>
Cc: linux-doc@vger.kernel.org
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20210302223523.20130-3-rdunlap@infradead.org
Signed-off-by: Jonathan Corbet <corbet@lwn.net>


# 20ccc8dd 12-Jan-2021 Peter Hutterer <peter.hutterer@who-t.net>

Documentation: input: define ABS_PRESSURE/ABS_MT_PRESSURE resolution as grams

ABS_PRESSURE and ABS_MT_PRESSURE on touch devices usually represent
contact size (as a finger flattens with higher pressure the contact size
increases) and userspace translates the kernel pressure value back into
contact size. For example, libinput has pressure thresholds when a touch is
considered a palm (palm == large contact area -> high pressure). The values
themselves are on an arbitrary scale and device-specific.

On pressurepads however, the pressure axis may represent the real physical
pressure. Pressurepads are touchpads without a hinge but an actual pressure
sensor underneath the device instead, for example the Lenovo Yoga 9i.

A high-enough pressure is converted to a button click by the firmware.
Microsoft does not require a pressure axis to be present, see [1], so as seen
from userspace most pressurepads are identical to clickpads - one button and
INPUT_PROP_BUTTONPAD set.

However, pressurepads that export the pressure axis break userspace because
that axis no longer represents contact size, resulting in inconsistent touch
tracking, e.g. [2]. Userspace needs to know when a pressure axis represents
real pressure and the best way to do so is to define what the resolution
field means. Userspace can then treat data with a pressure resolution as
true pressure.

This patch documents that the pressure resolution is in units/gram. This
allows for fine-grained detail and tops out at roughly ~2000t, enough for the
devices we're dealing with. Grams is not a scientific pressure unit but the
alternative is:
- Pascal: defined as force per area and area is unreliable on many devices and
seems like the wrong option here anyway, especially for devices with a
single pressure sensor only.
- Newton: defined as mass * distance/acceleration and for the purposes of a
pressure axis, the distance is tricky to interpret and we get the data to
calculate acceleration from event timestamps anyway.

For the purposes of touch devices and digitizers, grams seems the best choice
and the easiest to interpret.

Bonus side effect: we can use the existing hwdb infrastructure in userspace to
fix devices that advertise false pressure.

[1] https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/design/component-guidelines/windows-precision-touchpad-required-hid-top-level-collections#windows-precision-touchpad-input-reports
[2] https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/libinput/libinput/-/issues/562

Signed-off-by: Peter Hutterer <peter.hutterer@who-t.net>
Acked-by: Benjamin Tissoires <benjamin.tissoires@redhat.com>
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20210112230310.GA149342@jelly
Signed-off-by: Jonathan Corbet <corbet@lwn.net>


# 52ea8996 04-Dec-2018 Peter Hutterer <peter.hutterer@who-t.net>

Input: add `REL_WHEEL_HI_RES` and `REL_HWHEEL_HI_RES`

This event code represents scroll reports from high-resolution wheels and
is modelled after the approach Windows uses. The value 120 is one detent
(wheel click) of movement. Mice with higher-resolution scrolling can send
fractions of 120 which must be accumulated in userspace. Userspace can either
wait for a full 120 to accumulate or scroll by fractions of one logical scroll
movement as the events come in. 120 was picked as magic number because it has
a high number of integer fractions that can be used by high-resolution wheels.

For more information see
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/hardware/design/dn613912(v=vs.85)

These new axes obsolete REL_WHEEL and REL_HWHEEL. The legacy axes are emulated
by the kernel but the most accurate (and most granular) data is available
through the new axes.

Signed-off-by: Peter Hutterer <peter.hutterer@who-t.net>
Acked-by: Dmitry Torokhov <dmitry.torokhov@gmail.com>
Verified-by: Harry Cutts <hcutts@chromium.org>
Signed-off-by: Benjamin Tissoires <benjamin.tissoires@redhat.com>


# ffe0e7cf 21-Nov-2018 Benjamin Tissoires <benjamin.tissoires@redhat.com>

Revert "Input: Add the `REL_WHEEL_HI_RES` event code"

This reverts commit aaf9978c3c0291ef3beaa97610bc9c3084656a85.

Quoting Peter:

There is a HID feature report called "Resolution Multiplier"
Described in the "Enhanced Wheel Support in Windows" doc and
the "USB HID Usage Tables" page 30.

http://download.microsoft.com/download/b/d/1/bd1f7ef4-7d72-419e-bc5c-9f79ad7bb66e/wheel.docx
https://www.usb.org/sites/default/files/documents/hut1_12v2.pdf

This was new for Windows Vista, so we're only a decade behind here. I only
accidentally found this a few days ago while debugging a stuck button on a
Microsoft mouse.

The docs above describe it like this: a wheel control by default sends
value 1 per notch. If the resolution multiplier is active, the wheel is
expected to send a value of $multiplier per notch (e.g. MS Sculpt mouse) or
just send events more often, i.e. for less physical motion (e.g. MS Comfort
mouse).

For the latter, you need the right HW of course. The Sculpt mouse has
tactile wheel clicks, so nothing really changes. The Comfort mouse has
continuous motion with no tactile clicks. Similar to the free-wheeling
Logitech mice but without any inertia.

Note that the doc also says that Vista and onwards *always* enable this
feature where available.

An example HID definition looks like this:

Usage Page Generic Desktop (0x01)
Usage Resolution Multiplier (0x48)
Logical Minimum 0
Logical Maximum 1
Physical Minimum 1
Physical Maximum 16
Report Size 2 # in bits
Report Count 1
Feature (Data, Var, Abs)

So the actual bits have values 0 or 1 and that reflects real values 1 or 16.
We've only seen single-bits so far, so there's low-res and hi-res, but
nothing in between.

The multiplier is available for HID usages "Wheel" and "AC Pan" (horiz wheel).
Microsoft suggests that

> Vendors should ship their devices with smooth scrolling disabled and allow
> Windows to enable it. This ensures that the device works like a regular HID
> device on legacy operating systems that do not support smooth scrolling.
(see the wheel doc linked above)

The mice that we tested so far do reset on unplug.

Device Support looks to be all (?) Microsoft mice but nothing else

Not supported:
- Logitech G500s, G303
- Roccat Kone XTD
- all the cheap Lenovo, HP, Dell, Logitech USB mice that come with a
workstation that I could find don't have it.
- Etekcity something something
- Razer Imperator

Supported:
- Microsoft Comfort Optical Mouse 3000 - yes, physical: 1:4
- Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic Mouse - yes, physical: 1:12
- Microsoft Surface mouse - yes, physical: 1:4

So again, I think this is really just available on Microsoft mice, but
probably all decent MS mice released over the last decade.

Looking at the hardware itself:

- no noticeable notches in the weel
- low-res: 18 events per 360deg rotation (click angle 20 deg)
- high-res: 72 events per 360deg → matches multiplier of 4

- I can feel the notches during wheel turns
- low-res: 24 events per 360 deg rotation (click angle 15 deg)
- horiz wheel is tilt-based, continuous output value 1
- high-res: 24 events per 360deg with value 12 → matches multiplier of 12
- horiz wheel output rate doubles/triples?, values is 3

- It's a touch strip, not a wheel so no notches
- high-res: events have value 4 instead of 1
a bit strange given that it doesn't actually have notches.

Ok, why is this an issue for the current API? First, because the logitech
multiplier used in Harry's patches looks suspiciously like the Resolution
Multiplier so I think we should assume it's the same thing. Nestor, can you
shed some light on that?

- `REL_WHEEL` is defined as the number of notches, emulated where needed.
- `REL_WHEEL_HI_RES` is the movement of the user's finger in microns.
- `WM_MOUSEWHEEL` (Windows) is is a multiple of 120, defined as "the threshold
for action to be taken and one such action"
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/desktop/inputdev/wm-mousewheel

If the multiplier is set to M, this means we need an accumulated value of M
until we can claim there was a wheel click. So after enabling the multiplier
and setting it to the maximum (like Windows):
- M units are 15deg rotation → 1 unit is 2620/M micron (see below). This is
the `REL_WHEEL_HI_RES` value.
- wheel diameter 20mm: 15 deg rotation is 2.62mm, 2620 micron (pi * 20mm /
(360deg/15deg))
- For every M units accumulated, send one `REL_WHEEL` event

The problem here is that we've now hardcoded 20mm/15 deg into the kernel and
we have no way of getting the size of the wheel or the click angle into the
kernel.

In userspace we now have to undo the kernel's calculation. If our click angle
is e.g. 20 degree we have to undo the (lossy) calculation from the kernel and
calculate the correct angle instead. This also means the 15 is a hardcoded
option forever and cannot be changed.

In hid-logitech-hidpp.c, the microns per unit is hardcoded per device.
Harry, did you measure those by hand? We'd need to update the kernel for
every device and there are 10 years worth of devices from MS alone.

The multiplier default is 8 which is in the right ballpark, so I'm pretty
sure this is the same as the Resolution Multiplier, just in HID++ lingo. And
given that the 120 magic factor is what Windows uses in the end, I can't
imagine Logitech rolling their own thing here. Nestor?

And we're already fairly inaccurate with the microns anyway. The MX Anywhere
2S has a click angle of 20 degrees (18 stops) and a 17mm wheel, so a wheel
notch is approximately 2.67mm, one event at multiplier 8 (1/8 of a notch)
would be 334 micron. That's only 80% of the fallback value of 406 in the
kernel. Multiplier 6 gives us 445micron (10% off). I'm assuming multiplier 7
doesn't exist because it's not a factor of 120.

Summary:

Best option may be to simply do what Windows is doing, all the HW manufacturers
have to use that approach after all. Switch `REL_WHEEL_HI_RES` to report in
fractions of 120, with 120 being one notch and divide that by the multiplier
for the actual events. So e.g. the Logitech multiplier 8 would send value 15
for each event in hi-res mode. This can be converted in userspace to
whatever userspace needs (combined with a hwdb there that tells you wheel
size/click angle/...).

Conflicts:
include/uapi/linux/input-event-codes.h -> I kept the new
reserved event in the code, so I had to adapt the revert
slightly

Signed-off-by: Benjamin Tissoires <benjamin.tissoires@redhat.com>
Acked-by: Harry Cutts <hcutts@chromium.org>
Acked-by: Dmitry Torokhov <dmitry.torokhov@gmail.com>
Acked-by: Jiri Kosina <jkosina@suse.cz>


# aaf9978c 30-Aug-2018 Harry Cutts <hcutts@chromium.org>

Input: Add the `REL_WHEEL_HI_RES` event code

This event code represents scroll reports from high-resolution wheels,
and will be used by future patches in this series. See the linux-input
"Reporting high-resolution scroll events" thread [0] for more details.

[0]: https://www.spinics.net/lists/linux-input/msg57380.html

Signed-off-by: Harry Cutts <hcutts@chromium.org>
Acked-by: Dmitry Torokhov <dmitry.torokhov@gmail.com>
Reviewed-by: Benjamin Tissoires <benjamin.tissoires@redhat.com>
Signed-off-by: Jiri Kosina <jkosina@suse.cz>


# ad649380 15-Apr-2017 Dmitry Torokhov <dmitry.torokhov@gmail.com>

Input: docs - freshen up introduction

Stop saying that API is experimental and that only USB is supported,
acknowledge that evdev is the preferred interface, and remove paragraph
encouraging people sending snail mail to Vojtech :) along with his email.

Signed-off-by: Dmitry Torokhov <dmitry.torokhov@gmail.com>


# e2ba5731 04-Apr-2017 Mauro Carvalho Chehab <mchehab@kernel.org>

Input: create a book with Linux Input documentation

Now that all files under Documentation/input follows the ReST markup
language, rename them to *.rst and create a book for the Linux Input
subsystem.

Signed-off-by: Mauro Carvalho Chehab <mchehab@s-opensource.com>
Signed-off-by: Dmitry Torokhov <dmitry.torokhov@gmail.com>