Google Revises New Driver For Stadia Controller Rumble Support On Linux

While Google shutdown their Stadia game streaming service, with updated firmware there is Bluetooth (BLE) support for the controller as well as USB wired connectivity for those wishing to continue using this gaming controller. Google engineers have also been working on a new Linux driver for enabling force feedback "rumble" support with this controller.

Google engineers on the Chromium team have been working on "hid-google-stadiaff" as a kernel module to enable the rumble-based force-feedback for the Google Stadia controller. This controller has been working on Linux already both via Bluetooth and USB wired connectivity via the existing HID code albeit not with force feedback unless the application engages the raw HID "hidraw" interface directly.

The pending "hid-google-stadiaff" driver enables rumble support using the Linux input interface to complement the hidraw path. The force feedback support has been tested successfully on the Google Stadia controller both via wired and wireless connections.

On Sunday the v3 driver patch was submitted as this new driver works its way to the mainline kernel.