ds4drv 0.3.0

A DualShock 4 bluetooth driver for Linux

ds4drv is a Sony DualShock 4 userspace driver for Linux.

Features

• Option to emulate the Xbox 360 controller for compatibility with Steam games

• Setting the LED color

• Reminding you about low battery by flashing the LED

• Using the trackpad as a mouse

• Custom mappings, map buttons and sticks to whatever mouse, key or joystick action you want

• Settings profiles that can be cycled through with a button binding

Installing

Dependencies

• Python 2.7 or 3.3 (for Debian/Ubuntu you need to install the python2.7-dev or python3.3-dev package)

• python-setuptools

• hcitool (usually available in the bluez-utils or equivalent package)

These packages will normally be installed automatically by the setup script, but you may want to use your distros packages if available:

• pyudev

• python-evdev

Stable release

Installing the latest release is simple by using pip:

$ sudo pip install ds4drv

Development version

If you want to try out latest development code check out the source from Github and install it with:

$ git clone https://github.com/chrippa/ds4drv.git
$ cd ds4drv
$ sudo python setup.py install

Using

Raw bluetooth mode

Prior to bluez 5.14 it was not possible to pair with the DS4. Therefore this workaround exists which connects directly to the DS4 when it has been started in pairing mode (by holding Share + PS until the LED starts blinking rapidly).

This is the default mode when running without any options:

$ ds4drv

Hidraw mode

This mode supports connecting to already paired bluetooth devices (requires bluez 5.14+) and devices connected by USB.

$ ds4drv --hidraw

Note: Unfortunately due to a kernel bug it is currently not possible to use any LED functionality when using bluetooth devices in this mode.

Permissions

ds4drv uses the kernel module uinput to create input devices in user land and module hidraw to communicate with DualShock 4 controllers (when using --hidraw), but this usually requires root permissions. You can change the permissions by copying the udev rules file to /etc/udev/rules.d/.

You may have to reload your udev rules after this with:

$ sudo udevadm control --reload-rules
$ sudo udevadm trigger

Configuring

Configuration file

The preferred way of configuring ds4drv is via a config file. Take a look at ds4drv.conf for example usage.

ds4drv will look for the config file in the following paths:

• ~/.config/ds4drv.conf

• /etc/ds4drv.conf

… or you can specify your own location with --config.

Command line options

You can also configure using command line options, this will set the LED to a bright red:

$ ds4drv --led ff0000

See ds4drv --help for a list of all the options.

Multiple controllers

ds4drv does in theory support multiple controllers (I only have one controller myself, so this is untested). You can give each controller different options like this:

$ ds4drv --led ff0000 --next-controller --led 00ff00

This will set the LED color to red on the first controller connected and green on the second.

Known issues/limitations

• The controller will never be shut off, you need to do this manually by holding the PS button until the controller shuts off

• No rumble support

References

The DualShock 4 report format is not open and had to be reverse engineered. These resources have been very helpful when creating ds4drv:

• http://www.psdevwiki.com/ps4/DualShock_4

• http://eleccelerator.com/wiki/index.php?title=DualShock_4

• https://gist.github.com/johndrinkwater/7708901

• https://github.com/ehd/node-ds4

• http://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-DS4-To-XInput-Wrapper

Release history

0.3.0

• Added hidraw mode, patch by Lauri Niskanen.

• Added config file support.

• Added custom button mapping.

• Added profiles.

• Fixed crash when using Python <2.7.4

0.2.1

• Updated ds4drv.service to read a config file, patch by George Gibbs.

• --led now accepts colors in the “#ffffff” format aswell.

• Added status updates in the log, patch by Lauri Niskanen.

0.2.0

• Added systemd service file, patch by George Gibbs.

• Added options: --emulate-xboxdrv and --emulate-xpad-wireless.

• Fixed --emulate-xpad issues.

0.1.1

• Fixed incorrect dpad parsing.

• Handle uinput errors instead of printing exception.

0.1.0

• First release.