1========================
2Force feedback for Linux
3========================
4
5:Author: Johann Deneux <johann.deneux@gmail.com> on 2001/04/22.
6:Updated: Anssi Hannula <anssi.hannula@gmail.com> on 2006/04/09.
7
8You may redistribute this file. Please remember to include shape.svg and
9interactive.svg as well.
10
11Introduction
12~~~~~~~~~~~~
13
14This document describes how to use force feedback devices under Linux. The
15goal is not to support these devices as if they were simple input-only devices
16(as it is already the case), but to really enable the rendering of force
17effects.
18This document only describes the force feedback part of the Linux input
19interface. Please read joydev/joystick.rst and input.rst before reading further
20this document.
21
22Instructions to the user
23~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
24
25To enable force feedback, you have to:
26
271. have your kernel configured with evdev and a driver that supports your
28   device.
292. make sure evdev module is loaded and /dev/input/event* device files are
30   created.
31
32Before you start, let me WARN you that some devices shake violently during the
33initialisation phase. This happens for example with my "AVB Top Shot Pegasus".
34To stop this annoying behaviour, move your joystick to its limits. Anyway, you
35should keep a hand on your device, in order to avoid it to break down if
36something goes wrong.
37
38If you have a serial iforce device, you need to start inputattach. See
39joydev/joystick.rst for details.
40
41Does it work ?
42--------------
43
44There is an utility called fftest that will allow you to test the driver::
45
46    % fftest /dev/input/eventXX
47
48Instructions to the developer
49~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
50
51All interactions are done using the event API. That is, you can use ioctl()
52and write() on /dev/input/eventXX.
53This information is subject to change.
54
55Querying device capabilities
56----------------------------
57
58::
59
60    #include <linux/input.h>
61    #include <sys/ioctl.h>
62
63    #define BITS_TO_LONGS(x) \
64	    (((x) + 8 * sizeof (unsigned long) - 1) / (8 * sizeof (unsigned long)))
65    unsigned long features[BITS_TO_LONGS(FF_CNT)];
66    int ioctl(int file_descriptor, int request, unsigned long *features);
67
68"request" must be EVIOCGBIT(EV_FF, size of features array in bytes )
69
70Returns the features supported by the device. features is a bitfield with the
71following bits:
72
73- FF_CONSTANT	can render constant force effects
74- FF_PERIODIC	can render periodic effects with the following waveforms:
75
76  - FF_SQUARE	  square waveform
77  - FF_TRIANGLE	  triangle waveform
78  - FF_SINE	  sine waveform
79  - FF_SAW_UP	  sawtooth up waveform
80  - FF_SAW_DOWN	  sawtooth down waveform
81  - FF_CUSTOM	  custom waveform
82
83- FF_RAMP       can render ramp effects
84- FF_SPRING	can simulate the presence of a spring
85- FF_FRICTION	can simulate friction
86- FF_DAMPER	can simulate damper effects
87- FF_RUMBLE	rumble effects
88- FF_INERTIA    can simulate inertia
89- FF_GAIN	gain is adjustable
90- FF_AUTOCENTER	autocenter is adjustable
91
92.. note::
93
94    - In most cases you should use FF_PERIODIC instead of FF_RUMBLE. All
95      devices that support FF_RUMBLE support FF_PERIODIC (square, triangle,
96      sine) and the other way around.
97
98    - The exact syntax FF_CUSTOM is undefined for the time being as no driver
99      supports it yet.
100
101::
102
103    int ioctl(int fd, EVIOCGEFFECTS, int *n);
104
105Returns the number of effects the device can keep in its memory.
106
107Uploading effects to the device
108-------------------------------
109
110::
111
112    #include <linux/input.h>
113    #include <sys/ioctl.h>
114
115    int ioctl(int file_descriptor, int request, struct ff_effect *effect);
116
117"request" must be EVIOCSFF.
118
119"effect" points to a structure describing the effect to upload. The effect is
120uploaded, but not played.
121The content of effect may be modified. In particular, its field "id" is set
122to the unique id assigned by the driver. This data is required for performing
123some operations (removing an effect, controlling the playback).
124The "id" field must be set to -1 by the user in order to tell the driver to
125allocate a new effect.
126
127Effects are file descriptor specific.
128
129See <uapi/linux/input.h> for a description of the ff_effect struct.  You
130should also find help in a few sketches, contained in files shape.svg
131and interactive.svg:
132
133.. kernel-figure:: shape.svg
134
135    Shape
136
137.. kernel-figure:: interactive.svg
138
139    Interactive
140
141
142Removing an effect from the device
143----------------------------------
144
145::
146
147    int ioctl(int fd, EVIOCRMFF, effect.id);
148
149This makes room for new effects in the device's memory. Note that this also
150stops the effect if it was playing.
151
152Controlling the playback of effects
153-----------------------------------
154
155Control of playing is done with write(). Below is an example:
156
157::
158
159    #include <linux/input.h>
160    #include <unistd.h>
161
162	struct input_event play;
163	struct input_event stop;
164	struct ff_effect effect;
165	int fd;
166   ...
167	fd = open("/dev/input/eventXX", O_RDWR);
168   ...
169	/* Play three times */
170	play.type = EV_FF;
171	play.code = effect.id;
172	play.value = 3;
173
174	write(fd, (const void*) &play, sizeof(play));
175   ...
176	/* Stop an effect */
177	stop.type = EV_FF;
178	stop.code = effect.id;
179	stop.value = 0;
180
181	write(fd, (const void*) &stop, sizeof(stop));
182
183Setting the gain
184----------------
185
186Not all devices have the same strength. Therefore, users should set a gain
187factor depending on how strong they want effects to be. This setting is
188persistent across access to the driver.
189
190::
191
192    /* Set the gain of the device
193    int gain;		/* between 0 and 100 */
194    struct input_event ie;	/* structure used to communicate with the driver */
195
196    ie.type = EV_FF;
197    ie.code = FF_GAIN;
198    ie.value = 0xFFFFUL * gain / 100;
199
200    if (write(fd, &ie, sizeof(ie)) == -1)
201	perror("set gain");
202
203Enabling/Disabling autocenter
204-----------------------------
205
206The autocenter feature quite disturbs the rendering of effects in my opinion,
207and I think it should be an effect, which computation depends on the game
208type. But you can enable it if you want.
209
210::
211
212    int autocenter;		/* between 0 and 100 */
213    struct input_event ie;
214
215    ie.type = EV_FF;
216    ie.code = FF_AUTOCENTER;
217    ie.value = 0xFFFFUL * autocenter / 100;
218
219    if (write(fd, &ie, sizeof(ie)) == -1)
220	perror("set auto-center");
221
222A value of 0 means "no auto-center".
223
224Dynamic update of an effect
225---------------------------
226
227Proceed as if you wanted to upload a new effect, except that instead of
228setting the id field to -1, you set it to the wanted effect id.
229Normally, the effect is not stopped and restarted. However, depending on the
230type of device, not all parameters can be dynamically updated. For example,
231the direction of an effect cannot be updated with iforce devices. In this
232case, the driver stops the effect, up-load it, and restart it.
233
234Therefore it is recommended to dynamically change direction while the effect
235is playing only when it is ok to restart the effect with a replay count of 1.
236
237Information about the status of effects
238---------------------------------------
239
240Every time the status of an effect is changed, an event is sent. The values
241and meanings of the fields of the event are as follows::
242
243    struct input_event {
244    /* When the status of the effect changed */
245	    struct timeval time;
246
247    /* Set to EV_FF_STATUS */
248	    unsigned short type;
249
250    /* Contains the id of the effect */
251	    unsigned short code;
252
253    /* Indicates the status */
254	    unsigned int value;
255    };
256
257    FF_STATUS_STOPPED	The effect stopped playing
258    FF_STATUS_PLAYING	The effect started to play
259
260.. note::
261
262    - Status feedback is only supported by iforce driver. If you have
263      a really good reason to use this, please contact
264      linux-joystick@atrey.karlin.mff.cuni.cz or anssi.hannula@gmail.com
265      so that support for it can be added to the rest of the drivers.
266