Xbox Input Devices - Revision history

JohnVeness: /* XID Overview */ Typos

2026-02-25T22:12:35Z

‎XID Overview: Typos

Useruser: Add Chihiro baseboard

2024-08-07T13:26:32Z

Add Chihiro baseboard

Show changes

QuantX: Updated description of Steel Battalion Controller input/output format

2024-02-06T07:42:46Z

Updated description of Steel Battalion Controller input/output format

Benryves: /* Light guns */ Added notes on standard Xbox light gun input/output reports

2023-01-27T22:59:58Z

‎Light guns: Added notes on standard Xbox light gun input/output reports

Benryves: /* bType = 1: Xbox Gamecontroller */ Added bSubType value for light guns

2023-01-27T22:14:49Z

‎bType = 1: Xbox Gamecontroller: Added bSubType value for light guns

Ryzee119: bMaxOutputReportSize in xremote xid desc added

2021-05-18T09:55:58Z

bMaxOutputReportSize in xremote xid desc added

DiscoStarslayer: Add microphone descriptors

2021-03-15T21:35:44Z

Add microphone descriptors

Ryzee119: /* bType = 3: Xbox DVD Movie Playback IR Dongle */

2021-03-15T06:35:29Z

‎bType = 3: Xbox DVD Movie Playback IR Dongle

Ryzee119: /* bType = 128: Steel Battalion */

2021-03-15T06:34:58Z

‎bType = 128: Steel Battalion

Ryzee119: /* Example XID reports */

2021-03-15T06:34:35Z

‎Example XID reports

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 XIDs are USB devices.
-The hardware side is USB with a different plug while the software side is USB without HID-descriptors.
+The hardware side is USB with a different plug while the software side is USB without HID descriptors.
-Technicly a XID is a USB-hub for the Memory-Units and the XBL Communicator.
+Technically a XID is a USB hub for the Memory Units and the Xbox Live Communicator.
 The logical XID gamepad USB device is internally connected to that hub.
 === USB Adapters ===
-The Xbox's Input devices are USB devices. As such, you can connect a keyboard to the Xbox, or a gamepad to your PC. In fact, Linux already has drivers for the gamepad. In order to preserve Xbox hardware, please do not cut OEM Xbox cables to make an adapter; decent adapters can be acquired cheaply (~$10 USD ea. on 2017.04.30).
+The Xbox's input devices are USB devices. As such, you can connect a keyboard to the Xbox, or a gamepad to your PC. In fact, Linux already has drivers for the gamepad. In order to preserve Xbox hardware, please do not cut OEM Xbox cables to make an adapter; decent adapters can be acquired cheaply (~$10 USD ea. on 2017.04.30).
 [[File:Xboxmaletousbfemale.png|thumb|right|Wiring diagram to show how male Xbox controller plug maps to standard female USB connector. White cable color is depicted as gray for better visibility. The yellow cable is not connected to the USB side, as it's exclusive to Xbox.]]
@@ Line 51: / Line 51: @@
 |4
 |Yellow
-|VBlank signal from video output (for Lightguns)
+|VBlank signal from video output (for light guns)
 |-
 |5
@@ Line 61: / Line 61: @@
 === Protocol ===
-XID are similar to HID but have custom Vendor requests
+XID are similar to HID but have custom Vendor requests.
 ==== Control Transfers ====
@@ Line 90: / Line 90: @@
 bDescriptorType is probably always 0x42.
-====== bType = 1: Xbox Gamecontroller ======
+====== bType = 1: Xbox game controller ======
 * bSubType:

@@ Line 1,600: / Line 1,600: @@
 |AimingX
 |9
-|0xFF, maybe 0xFFFF at offset 8?
+|0xFFFF
-|"Aiming Lever" joystick on the right.  X Axis value.
+|"Aiming Lever" joystick on the right. Unsigned X Axis value: 0 (Left) to 0xFFFF (Right).
 |-
 |AimingY
 |11
-|0xFF, maybe 0xFFFF at offset 10?
+|0xFFFF
-|"Aiming Lever" joystick on the right.  Y Axis value.
+|"Aiming Lever" joystick on the right. Unsigned Y Axis value: 0 (Top) to 0xFFFF (Bottom).
 |-
 |RotationLever
 |13
-|0xFF, maybe 0xFFFF at offset 12?
+|0xFFFF
-|"Rotation Lever" joystick on the left.
+|"Rotation Lever" joystick on the left. Signed X Axis value: -0x7FFF (Left) to 0x7FFF (Right)
 |-
 |SightChangeX
 |15
-|0xFF, maybe 0xFFFF at offset 14?
+|0xFFFF
-|"Sight Change" analog stick on the "Rotation Lever" joystick.  X Axis value.
+|"Sight Change" analog stick on the "Rotation Lever" joystick. Signed X Axis value: -0x7FFF (Left) to 0x7FFF (Right)
 |-
 |SightChangeY
 |17
-|0xFF, maybe 0xFFFF at offset 16?
+|0xFFFF
-|"Sight Change" analog stick on the "Rotation Lever" joystick.  Y Axis value.
+|"Sight Change" analog stick on the "Rotation Lever" joystick. Signed Y Axis value: -0x7FFF (Top) to 0x7FFF (Bottom)
 |-
 |LeftPedal
 |19
-|0xFF, maybe 0xFFFF at offset 18?
+|0xFFFF
+|
 |-
 |MiddlePedal
 |21
-|0xFF, maybe 0xFFFF at offset 20?
+|0xFFFF
+|
 |-
 |RightPedal
 |23
-|0xFF, maybe 0xFFFF at offset 22?
+|0xFFFF
+|
 |-
@@ Line 1,651: / Line 1,651: @@
 |25
 |0xFF
-|The gear lever on the left block.
+|The gear lever on the left block. R = -2, N = -1, 1st = 1, 2nd = 2, 3rd = 3, 4th = 4, 5th = 5. If the shifter is between two gears this value will be 0.
 |}
@@ Line 1,669: / Line 1,669: @@
 |0
 |0x00
+|This will always be 0x00
 |-
-|bLen (22 bytes)
+|bLen
 |1
 |0x16
+|This will always be 0x16 (22 bytes)
 |-
 |EmergencyEject

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:59, 27 January 2023
Line 742:		Line 742:

	== Light guns ==		== Light guns ==
		+
		+	Light guns use similar input and output reports to standard gamepads. Their bSubType is set to 0x50. They report where they are aimed in place of the left stick coordinates, and an extra bit at offset 3 in their input reports flags whether the light gun is currently pointed at the screen or not. Light guns may not function properly if they are not supplied with a video sync signal (they may not populate their input reports correctly, or even fail to enumerate as USB devices entirely).
		+
		+	=== Controller to Xbox ===
		+
		+	20 bytes
		+
		+	{\| class="wikitable"
		+	!Field
		+	!Offset (Bytes)
		+	!Mask
		+	!Notes
		+	\|-
		+	\|{{input-dy+}}
		+	\|2
		+	\|0x01
		+	\|
		+	\|-
		+	\|{{input-dy-}}
		+	\|2
		+	\|0x02
		+	\|
		+	\|-
		+	\|{{input-dx-}}
		+	\|2
		+	\|0x04
		+	\|
		+	\|-
		+	\|{{input-dx+}}
		+	\|2
		+	\|0x08
		+	\|
		+	\|-
		+	\|{{input-start}}
		+	\|2
		+	\|0x10
		+	\|
		+	\|-
		+	\|{{input-back}}
		+	\|2
		+	\|0x20
		+	\|
		+	\|-
		+	\|Light visible
		+	\|3
		+	\|0x20
		+	\|Set to 1 if the gun is pointed to a bright screen, 0 if no light visible.
		+	\|-
		+	\|Unknown 1
		+	\|3
		+	\|0x40
		+	\|rowspan="2" \| Light guns from different manufacturers include these two bits in their GET_CAPABILITIES reports, but they always seem to read back as 0 in GET_REPORT.
		+	\|-
		+	\|Unknown 2
		+	\|3
		+	\|0x80
		+	\|-
		+	\|{{input-a}} Trigger
		+	\|4
		+	\|0xFF
		+	\|rowspan="6" \| Digital only, either 0 or 255
		+	\|-
		+	\|{{input-b}}
		+	\|5
		+	\|0xFF
		+	\|-
		+	\|{{input-x}}
		+	\|6
		+	\|0xFF
		+	\|-
		+	\|{{input-y}}
		+	\|7
		+	\|0xFF
		+	\|-
		+	\|{{input-black}}
		+	\|8
		+	\|0xFF
		+	\|-
		+	\|{{input-white}}
		+	\|9
		+	\|0xFF
		+	\|-
		+	\|{{input-lx}}
		+	\|12
		+	\|0xFFFF
		+	\|rowspan="2" \| Absolute position using the full stick range.
		+	(0, 0) is the center of the screen and is also reported if the light gun is pointed off-screen.
		+	\|-
		+	\|{{input-ly}}
		+	\|14
		+	\|0xFFFF
		+	\|}
		+
		+	=== Xbox to Controller ===
		+
		+	==== Force feedback: wValue: 0x0200, wLength: 6 ====
		+
		+	6 bytes
		+
		+	{\| class="wikitable"
		+	!Field
		+	!Offset (Bytes)
		+	!Mask
		+	!Notes
		+	\|-
		+	\|Actuator strength
		+	\|2
		+	\|0xFFFF
		+	\|
		+	\|-
		+	\|(Unused)
		+	\|4
		+	\|0x0000
		+	\|
		+	\|}
		+
		+	The 4Gamers-branded gun (which appears to be sold by a number of different manufacturers) only reports it has the left actuator, however it only responds to force feedback output reports for the ''right'' actuator. Games appear to always enable both actuators, whether the controller reports it has both or not.
		+
		+	==== Calibration: wValue: 0x0201, wLength: 10 ====
		+
		+	10 bytes
		+
		+	{\| class="wikitable"
		+	!Field
		+	!Offset (Bytes)
		+	!Mask
		+	!Notes
		+	\|-
		+	\|Center calibration X
		+	\|2
		+	\|0xFFFF
		+	\|rowspan="2"\|Gun's reported value subtracted from (0,0)
		+	\|-
		+	\|Center calibration Y
		+	\|4
		+	\|0xFFFF
		+	\|-
		+	\|Top left calibration X
		+	\|6
		+	\|0xFFFF
		+	\|rowspan="2"\|Gun's reported value subtracted from (-25000,25000)
		+	\|-
		+	\|Top left calibration Y
		+	\|8
		+	\|0xFFFF
		+	\|}
		+
		+	Light guns are expected to handle their own calibration, i.e. the game will tell the gun the offsets between its reported position and the expected position and then expect the gun to offset and scale its output to compensate. The calibration process runs as follows:
		+
		+	# The game will first send a calibration report with all four offsets reset to (0, 0), (0, 0) to reset any offsets and scaling.
		+	# The game will now display a target in the centre of the screen and ask you to shoot it. This will tell it how "wrong" the gun is when aimed at where it thinks (0, 0) should be on the screen. If the gun normally shoots slightly too high and further to the right, it might report (1000, 3000) for example.
		+	# The game sends a calibration report to the gun to negate the offset, e.g. (-1000, -3000), (0, 0) using our example of (1000, 3000) from before.
		+	# The game will now display a target in at (-25000, 25000) on the screen and ask you to shoot it. This will tell it how "wrong" the gun is when aimed at the top left of the screen.
		+	# The coordinates received from the gun will be subtracted from the expected (-25000, 25000) and sent back to the gun in the second part of the calibration report along with the values previously determined for the centre position. If the first calibration was enough to adjust the screen offset we might have seen the "perfect" coordinates of (-25000, 25000) in which case the report would be (-1000, -3000), (0, 0) again. However, if our gun read the coordinates slightly closer the the middle of the screen at (-20000, 22000) then the report would be (-1000, -3000), (5000, -3000).
		+
		+	If the light gun does not handle the calibration output report then you will not be able to get past the calibration screen in ''The House of the Dead III''.

	=== EMS TopGun II ===		=== EMS TopGun II ===

@@ Line 97: / Line 97: @@
 ** 0x10 = Steering wheel
 ** 0x20 = Arcade Stick
 ====== bType = 3: Xbox DVD Movie Playback IR Dongle======

@@ Line 142: / Line 142: @@
 bSubType             0x00
 bMaxInputReportSize  0x06 (6 bytes)
 </pre>

@@ Line 1,020: / Line 1,020: @@
 Device Status:     0x0000
    (Bus Powered)
 </pre>

@@ Line 107: / Line 107: @@
 * bSubType:
 ** 0x01
 This is an example XID descriptor taken from a Controller-S (VID 0x045E / PID 0x0289).

@@ Line 120: / Line 120: @@
 </pre>
 This is an example XID descriptor taken from a Steel Battalion controller.
 <pre>