Linux 3.17 Has Basic Support For The Xbox One Controller

While I've written extensively about the Linux 3.17 kernel and its many new features, there is an interesting addition that was merged for Linux 3.17 that I missed out on noticing (or that of Anzwix) until today.

As pointed out today by a reader in our forums, the Linux 3.17 kernel introduces support for the Microsoft Xbox One controller.

The Xbox One controller is supported by the Linux Xpad driver within the mainline kernel, just like the controllers / game-pads for earlier versions of the Xbox game console. Supporting the Xbox One controller required just under 200 lines of new code due to differences in how the controller needs to be initialized. The support landed during the 3.17 merge window with this commit.

All key functionality of the Xbox One controller should now be supported by Linux as a gamepad except there is currently no rumble (vibration) support. The format of messages to control rumbling for the controller needs to either be documented by Microsoft (which is unlikely) or reverse-engineered so it can be implemented within the Linux input driver.