Sony Publishes An Official Linux Driver For PlayStation 5 DualSense Controllers

[ChadD]

I'm sure there just ensuring their controllers can be used to stream PS games. I picked up a Sony TV recently and its got not a bad almost stock Android TV setup. I could see Sony backporting that in on their TVs to allow PS5 controller support. I'm sure that is all this is. Its good for us... still I'm sure its all about having Sony controllers supported on Sony TVs for game streaming.

[dlq84]

I'm the author of the driver, so I can share that detail at least. The hardware provides only a few levels and '0' in this field means '0-9%' capacity, 1 equals '10-19%' etcetera. In other words the '5' takes the average of a given interval. The PS5 itself uses similar logic. Also think of it in a different way. If the device happens to be connected over Bluetooth and is still communicating clearly its battery level can't be 0%.

Thanks for taking the time to explain. I kind of figured this was the case.

[Thunderbird]

I've just patched my 5.10.2 kernel and it works! I wonder why they add 5 to the battery percentage up to 100. Interesting design choice...

battery_capacity = battery_data == 10 ? 100 : battery_data * 10 + 5;

I'm the author of the driver, so I can share that detail at least. The hardware provides only a few levels and '0' in this field means '0-9%' capacity, 1 equals '10-19%' etcetera. In other words the '5' takes the average of a given interval. The PS5 itself uses similar logic. Also think of it in a different way. If the device happens to be connected over Bluetooth and is still communicating clearly its battery level can't be 0%.

[mulenmar]

Very nice, Sony. Now open up your SACD format so other optical drive makers can make firmware to read it, please.

Jailbreaking a PS3 just to rip an ISO that only a hacked console can play is a PITA.

[dlq84]

I've just patched my 5.10.2 kernel and it works! I wonder why they add 5 to the battery percentage up to 100. Interesting design choice...

battery_capacity = battery_data == 10 ? 100 : battery_data * 10 + 5;

[baryluk]

You've come up with some of the most ridiculous theories of 2020 .
A simpler theory could be that this helps sell PS controllers, as they'll work better on other platforms

Half of my post is exactly pointing that out.

Linux is a big supporter of Vulkan API which from what I understand is easiest for Sony to port or even use directly since it isn't locked down to a particular OS.

I believe the PS4 and Switch even are capable of running Vulkan API if a developer wishes, but I do not know directly since I don't have console dev kits, but someone who does might know if vulkan calls can be made available or not.

Lets be honest here, DX12 is kind-of the enemy of Linux and basically everything outside of windows10... (xbox run a streamlined version of windows10)

Well yeah, the PS4 is basically AMD x86 CPU + AMD GPU. It's definitely capable of running Vulkan. Especially the PS4 Pro which upgraded to Polaris.

Well, for one, they allow streaming PlayStation games to Android phones, and control them over Bluetooth. Maybe that's just furthering this line of thought, for Android boxes, TVs, etc... Though it might take some time to trickle down, it could be backported.

Yeah I suspected the same when they first announced it. That and hiring Feral's lead Vulkan engineer point to some Android gaming related thing - either their TVs, some kind of streaming device or their phones.

[Awesomeness]

Not quite since manufacturers only use LTS versions - and often not even the latest one.(I'd not be surprised about new phones shipping with 4.9).

Why should the maker of XPeria phones care which kernel versions their competition uses? Sony phones are among the most AOSP friendly devices out there: https://developer.sony.com/develop/open-devices/

Sony phones have long had the ability to pair PlayStation controllers out of the box. My former XPeria XZ Premium had an option to pair Dual Shock 4 controllers.

Their TVs also run Linux and they support PlayStation now on competitor's TVs like Samsung (who use Tizen).

They use FreeBSD on PlayStation and Linux literally everywhere else. The only platform they hardly care about is Windows after they sold Vaio.

[M@GOid]

My guess is that they want to have their PS Now service available from a browser and they want ChromeOS devices to be able to use all the functionality from their controllers.
There's a reason why Sony has been pushing the WebHID specs to support their devices features.

Din ding ding ding, we have a winner.