Re: [PATCH 0/3] xpad: Add support for Thrustmaster, Inc. Ferrari 458 Spider Racing Wheel

[Vicki Pfau <vi@endrift.com>]

Hi Pär,

On 8/5/25 12:20 PM, Pär Eriksson wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> This patch series adds support for the Thrustmaster, Inc. Ferrari 458 Spider Racing Wheel (USB ID 044f:b671) to the xpad driver. The implementation is inspired by the work in https://github.com/Capure/xpad.
> 
> The wheel reports steering and pedal data at non-standard offsets, so custom axis mapping is introduced via a new mapping flag.
> I have tested the changes with the actual hardware on Fedora 42 (kernel 6.15.7-200.fc42.x86_64), and confirmed correct input reporting.
> 
> If you prefer a different name for the mapping flag, please let me know.
> 
> Please consider this for upstream inclusion.
> 
> Pär Eriksson (3):
>   Input: xpad - Add MAP_FERRARI_458_CUSTOM_AXES mapping flag
>   Input: xpad - Add Thrustmaster Ferrari 458 Spider (044f:b671) device
>     entry
>   Input: xpad - Implement custom axis mapping for Ferrari 458 Spider
> 
>  drivers/input/joystick/xpad.c | 35 ++++++++++++++++++++++++-----------
>  1 file changed, 24 insertions(+), 11 deletions(-)
> 

So I have several concerns with this series in general. First of all, it should be just one patch, but more importantly, the device *does* have standard offsets...just not standard *gamepad* offsets. GIP, the Xbox One controller protocol, uses GUIDs to specify the type of device in question. Most devices you're familiar with use the gamepad GUID, but the wheels use a different one which have a different set of mappings. So ideally, the name of the flag would be MAP_WHEEL.

However, the problem runs deeper. This is all easily detectable from the metadata. xpad *in general* does not support the metadata parsing, so we can't autodetect it without parsing it. Unfortunately, the metadata message is fragmented. xpad *in general* does not support fragmented messages. xpad is based on a very rudimentary understanding of the protocol, which is very obsolete at this point.

I have a new driver I've been working on for a few months that supports all of this stuff properly, including wheels, that I am hoping to support for the 6.17 merge window. I may be too late, but if I submit it soon you can at least pull it downstream while waiting for the 6.18 merge window. I'll see if I can get it ready before the end of the week.

Vicki