Soon you will be able to use your PS5 controller to play on Linux

One of the main problems with Linux has always been the drivers, and it is well known that there are components and peripherals, especially old ones, that do not work. In general, manufacturers do not usually release official drivers to use the hardware in this operating system, forcing the community to create their own drivers in order to work. A task that is not exactly simple and that, sometimes, takes a long time. However, luckily, this is not always the case. And if you are one of those who like to play on Linux and with a controller, you are in luck.

Sony has its own official drivers inside the Linux kernel. These are inside the « hid-sony «, and it is the company itself who is in charge of updating them. However, a few weeks ago, the company divided its package by creating a new one: " hid-PlayStation ". This new package will be responsible for containing all the PlayStation hardware controllers (such as the controllers for PS3, PS4, and the new PS5), while the "hid-sony" package will continue to be maintained by Sony, but for other types of drivers.

Along with the new "hid-PlayStation", the Linux kernel received a total of 13 patches destined precisely to make the new PS5 controller work in this operating system. These patches came through a commit directly from a Sony worker, specifically a Gaikai worker (a cloud gaming platform owned by Sony PlayStation). And they add no more and no less than 1400 lines of code to the already extensive kernel of the free system.

What will work for the PS5 controller in Linux

This new driver allows users to connect the DualSense controller to Linux both via Bluetooth and via cable. And most of the features of this remote will be fully functional without the need for additional settings. For example, in addition to all the buttons and controls, the LEDs, the button to mute the mic, the touchpad, the vibration, the light bar, the motion sensors, and the battery status can be used natively directly in Linux.

Unfortunately, there are other features that don't work, like adaptive triggers or VCM vibration, as these functions rely on complex data structures that neither Linux nor PC games support. From Sony, they leave the door open to implement them if in the future games on platforms other than PlayStation make it worthwhile. Although, personally, we believe that this will not be the case.

Although Sony has not made it entirely clear, it is believed that additional frameworks will be needed to configure and use the remote. These can be within the games themselves or managed through an intermediate software such as Steam.

Availability

Currently, these new drivers are in the revision phase, only available in the testing versions of the Linux Kernel. At the moment, we do not know exactly what version they will arrive with, depending on the stability of these drivers and if the community considers that they have the appropriate quality to become part of the drivers.

What is clear is that with the next Linux kernel 5.11 these new PS5 drivers will not arrive. If all goes well, they may be part of version 5.12 of the Linux kernel, although it is not entirely safe either. We can only wait.

Source: Kernel