WOO!!!!!, Linux plugin commited

Engines, Libraries and Tools JInput
#1

Hi
At last, it’s done, I’ve just dumped the first version of the linux plugin for jinput into cvs, with all the build files, as long as g++ is in your path than you need to do nothing but ‘ant’ from the main jinput directory to build it all, run the texttest and readtest scripts and enjoy.

Requirements

for joystick only mode you will need a 2.4 kernel with evdev and joydev either as modules or built into your kernel

for mouse+keyboard you will need a late 2.5 or a 2.6 kernel with evdev as a module or built into your kernel

for mouse+keyboard+joystick you will need a late 2.5 or 2.6 kernel with evdev and joydev as modules or built into your kernel

for any joystick to function correctly you will need to have it functioning correctly with the jstest program (it’s just a test, i don’t use it in the plugin, but it prooves it works), you will also need to calibrate it using jscal. These are beyond my control.

Setting up a joystick under linux is well beyond the scope of this post, and there are plenty of websites around with help in the subject, google is your friend :slight_smile:

Enjoy

Endolf

#2

Ya know - when we finish with JInput, we’ll have one of the only cross platform input libraries around. Maybe we should commission OpenInput or something.

#3

This is really amazing news. I am hoping to see binaries on the jinput page.

The people at jinput are doing a great job!

#4

Hi
just thrown together a tgz of my own builds, located in the resources section at New Dawn software

Enjoy

Endolf

#5

GREAT Job and congrats Endolf!

We’re flipping cartwheels here over the great work that you and GP have done in taking on and writing the plugins for the two other most important systems (Linux and OSX.) Now I just need to get some Sun geek to do a Solaris port :wink:

This is terrific work guys, I’m really amazed at how fast you grokked all this out despite the at times inadequate docs (I’m working on those, really. Hopefully everyone saw the updates to the Win32 build instructions this week.)

Speaking of the docs, if you’d like to email me or post here the text you’d like added to the JInput front page to explain build and such for your platforms, Ill get that added next week :slight_smile:

#6

Hi
Thanks Jeff, I suspect there are some memory leaks in the native side, i’ve and a quick look but didn’t see any, but I bet I missed some, so I would quite like it if at some point someone would read through and check the native and the java side for silly things I missed, documentation that doesn’t make sense etc etc. It’s amaizing how much work you can get done when you don’t have a job :). As for build documentation, it’s really just a case of typeing ‘ant’ at the jinput root, it goes away and builds all the native stuff underneath. The only requirements (that I know of, on my test box ‘it just worked™’ :)) are on the first post about needing a 2.6 kernel with evdev module/built in if you want keyboard/mouse access, for joystick/gamepad/digitiser only access you just need evdev and joydev on any 2.4 and up kernel.

#7

One thing of note Jeff is that I’m not natively a unix developer so the whole concepts of makefiles is foreign to me :slight_smile: (amazing that I’ve actually written native OSX code at all to be honest). XCode does generate a makefile for the project and I am going to have to bundle that with the release so it can be added to the ant file because I don’t want people to wait on testing while I learn the ins and outs of make and automake :slight_smile:

#8

I was just testing JInput, but now I read that a 2.6.x kernel is needed for keyboard. Is there no possibility to use a late 2.4.x kernel? Don’t know if there’s going to be a stable release of the 2.6.0 kernel in the near future, but it will take some time until it becomes common.

#9

There was slight discussion about whether to use the 2.6 kernel here:

http://www.java-gaming.org/cgi-bin/JGNetForums/YaBB.cgi?board=jinput;action=display;num=1058288140

I think the decision wasn’t take lightly,

Kev

#10

Thanks for the link. I’m sorry to read that. This will cut down the Linux user base for the next years. I’d suggest to add a “readme” file to the linux binaries which explicitly mentions that kernel 2.6. is required. The readme could also mention where to put which file to install JInput and how to test it. This requires little effort, but makes life a lot of easier for new developers. ;D

#11

Hi
The problems around using 2.6 like kev said were not taken lightly. Under linux unless you are using command line only, you have to have access to an X window, which with jinput you don’t have. So 2.6 is the only way to go. no 2.4 kernel has the options unless you have a USB keyboard.

Cheers

Endolf

#12

I believe you. It’s a good job you’re doing here anyway. :smiley: