The problem: X-Plane doesn't read joystick directional hats in linux correctly (you know, the little thumb thingy to look around with).
This is because the linux kernel reports directional hat events as two axes, and they always read either -32767, 0, or +32767. Windows reports them as 4 buttons (up, down, right, left). X-Plane runs on linux, but the author isn't gracious enough to make the easy fix (in his own words) to support his linux users. There have been patching efforts floating around, but they are very fragile and rely on hardcoding the joystick number (which can change easily if you have multiple joystick devices like me - I have 4 that are in frequent use) and button numbers. So my question is, in this day and age, shouldn't it be possible to write a joystick façade, or proxy, or filter or whatever you want to call it, which converts those joystick hat axis events into button events? It would detect the joystick by name or product id or some other sane mechanism, and provide an X-Plane friendly façade. Ideally it wouldn't break other programs (like FlightGear) that are not broken to begin with. Ideally it would be a userspace solution, but I'm open to making a kernel module or even a patch to joydev.c, if someone can point me in the right direction. Any kernel hackers with some sage advice, before I go jump in the shark pool and ask on the LKML? -- Hans Fugal ; http://hans.fugal.net There's nothing remarkable about it. All one has to do is hit the right keys at the right time and the instrument plays itself. -- Johann Sebastian Bach /* PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug Don't fear the penguin. */
