Linux DualSense Controller Drivers Have Been Released
The PlayStation 5 DualSense controller now has official support on Linux. The support for the controller comes with a ”hid-playstation” Kernel driver.
Haptic Feedback and Adaptive triggers of DualSense are not supported on Linux yet
These drivers were also silently released on patchwork kernel, and it appears they are in the testing stage, accessible for users to download. The list of patches does not come up with commonly known terms; instead, it uses it mentions a bulk of features in a general term that includes support for battery, touchpad, lightbar, microphone mute, accelerometer, gyroscope, and many others. DualSense support on Linux will be through USB or Bluetooth.
The patch notes state that the Linux kernel already has “hid-sony” drivers enabling most devices’ support. This newly ”hid-sony” drivers will come out with some accessibility support on Linux for DualSense controllers. In the patch notes, Sony mentions that new features like “Adaptive Triggers and the VCM Based Haptics” aren’t supported yet. As both of these features require a large amount of data.
“The Linux driver exposes DualSense functionality as a ‘compositive device’ similar to DualShock 4 in hid-sony, spanning multiple frameworks. First, it exposes 3 evdev nodes for respectively the ‘gamepad’, ‘touchpad’ and ‘motion sensors’’. Says on the patch notes.
When we also look at the technical details above, there are few takeaways. However, all of these does not mean that you will be able to use the DualSense controller on Linux efficiently. Because almost all of the drivers above eventually come from the DualShock 4 drivers. This is something similar to Windows using Xinput to implement DualSense controllers. So basically, you will be able to use your controller, but some features sadly will not be available for you to use. Also, there is no information if there will ever be haptic feedback or adaptive triggers available on Linux. But as some users report that their controllers are breaking, no one wants to test their controller on Linux I think.
