Linux 2.4.x Input Events

How come input events are still disabled by default? Most new distros
come with 2.4.x, and at least RedHat and Mandrake come without the old
style joystick API, so I have to explicitly enable Input Events when
installing SDL.

Are there problems with Input Events, or does the SDL code for that API
conflict with the old style version…?

//David Olofson — Programmer, Reologica Instruments AB

.- M A I A -------------------------------------------------.
| Multimedia Application Integration Architecture |
| A Free/Open Source Plugin API for Professional Multimedia |
----------------------------> http://www.linuxdj.com/maia -' .- David Olofson -------------------------------------------. | Audio Hacker - Open Source Advocate - Singer - Songwriter |-------------------------------------> http://olofson.net -’

How come input events are still disabled by default? Most new distros
come with 2.4.x, and at least RedHat and Mandrake come without the old
style joystick API, so I have to explicitly enable Input Events when
installing SDL.

Are there problems with Input Events, or does the SDL code for that API
conflict with the old style version…?

If a system has both the event style interface and the js devices built
on top of them (and other js devices for analog joysticks) then SDL
mis-reports the number of joysticks.

Several people asked that the js interface be the only one that was
enabled by default since systems with the event interface usually have
the js support enabled on top of it.

Anyway… It’s the age old problem of what to support by default when.

Here’s what many systems have:
/dev/input/event0
/dev/input/js0
/dev/js0 -> /dev/input/js0
/dev/js1

Maybe we can use the major/minor device numbers to eliminate the symlink
problem, and then prefer /dev/input/event0 over /dev/input/js0

See ya,
-Sam Lantinga, Software Engineer, Blizzard Entertainment

How come input events are still disabled by default? Most new distros
come with 2.4.x, and at least RedHat and Mandrake come without the
old style joystick API, so I have to explicitly enable Input Events
when installing SDL.

Are there problems with Input Events, or does the SDL code for that
API conflict with the old style version…?

If a system has both the event style interface and the js devices built
on top of them (and other js devices for analog joysticks) then SDL
mis-reports the number of joysticks.

Ok.

Several people asked that the js interface be the only one that was
enabled by default since systems with the event interface usually have
the js support enabled on top of it.

Anyway… It’s the age old problem of what to support by default when.

Here’s what many systems have:
/dev/input/event0
/dev/input/js0
/dev/js0 -> /dev/input/js0
/dev/js1

This mandrake install has real dev files rather than symlinks for
/dev/js*… heh (But no drivers want to claim them… Is there some
kind of “API emulation driver” for 2.4, or is it just the /dev tree
that’s broken?)

Maybe we can use the major/minor device numbers to eliminate the
symlink problem, and then prefer /dev/input/event0 over /dev/input/js0

Well… Providing there aren’t too many users running both old and new
drivers, just because neither support all of their hardware, that should
work. Then again, if every major/minor is guaranteed to be connected to a
real driver for a unique device (ie no “API emulation drivers”), even
that should work. (/dev/input/event0 and /dev/js0 could be connected to
different devices, but then they would have different major/minor as
well.)

//David Olofson — Programmer, Reologica Instruments AB

.- M A I A -------------------------------------------------.
| Multimedia Application Integration Architecture |
| A Free/Open Source Plugin API for Professional Multimedia |
----------------------------> http://www.linuxdj.com/maia -' .- David Olofson -------------------------------------------. | Audio Hacker - Open Source Advocate - Singer - Songwriter |-------------------------------------> http://olofson.net -'On Monday 15 October 2001 00:02, Sam Lantinga wrote:

How come input events are still disabled by default? Most new distros
come with 2.4.x, and at least RedHat and Mandrake come without the old
style joystick API, so I have to explicitly enable Input Events when
installing SDL.

They are now enabled by default in the latest CVS, and shouldn’t have
the /dev/input/event* + /dev/input/js* conflict that there was before.

See ya,
-Sam Lantinga, Software Engineer, Blizzard Entertainment