Controller support on FreeBSD 13

freebsd_controllers.md

Gamepads on FreeBSD

This tutorial will guide you through the process of setting up game controllers on a FreeBSD system.

Prerequisites

Before you start, you will need to install the devel/sdl2 port with make config and enable HIDAPI and UDEV. Then, run make install to install it system-wide.

You may also need to install the following packages, depending on your specific controller and needs:

• x11-toolkits/qt5-gamepad for use with QT applications
• multimedia/webcamd for certain controllers, such as the Xbox controller
• x11-drivers/xf86-input-joystick x11-drivers/xf86-input-evdev for extended X11 support
• devel/libgamepad devel/allegro for everything else

Also, you may need to enable some specific drivers according to your gamepad model - I'm going to go through it soon:

• hgame(4) driver for generic HID game controllers
• ps4dshock(4) driver for Sony's DualShock 4 controllers
• x360gp(4) driver for Microsoft's Xbox 360 controllers

Enabling specific modules

To enable a module, you need to add the following to your /boot/loader.conf: <module>_load="YES". For example: hgame_load="YES".

Enabling USB HID support

To enable USB HID support, you will need to add the following lines to your /boot/loader.conf file:

usbhid_load="YES"
hw.usb.usbhid.enable=1

And run this command: sysrc kld_list+=usbhid && kldload usbhid

Enabling webcamd

To enable webcamd, you will need to add the following line to your /etc/rc.conf file:

webcamd_enable="YES"

Modern Sony controllers (DS4, DS5)

If you are using a DualShock or DualSense controller, you may need to follow a few extra steps. First, add the following sections to your /usr/local/etc/devd/sony.conf file:

# DualSense
notify 100 {
        match "system"          "USB";
        match "subsystem"       "INTERFACE";
        match "type"            "ATTACH";
        match "vendor" "0x054c";
        match "product" "0x0ce6";
        action "chgrp games /dev/$cdev; chmod 660 /dev/$cdev";
};

# DualShock 4
notify 100 {
        match "system"          "USB";
        match "subsystem"       "INTERFACE";
        match "type"            "ATTACH";
        match "vendor" "0x054c";
        match "product" "0x05c4";
        action "chgrp games /dev/$cdev; chmod 660 /dev/$cdev";
};

Then, add the following line to your /etc/devfs.rules file:

[system=10]
add path 'input*' mode 0660 group games
add path 'input'  mode 0775 group games

Finally, add the following line to your /etc/rc.conf file:

devfs_system_ruleset="system"

To ensure that you can access the device, make sure you are a member of the games group by running pw groupmod games -m <username>.

Testing Your Configuration

To test your configuration, you can use the wine control joy.cpl command or try running a QT application that uses gamepad input.