Windows

Windows

Requirements

• Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit.
• An Xbox controller (360, One, Series or another XInput pad) or a PS4 controller (DualShock 4) over USB.
• For MIDI: loopMIDI by Tobias Erichsen (free). Windows cannot create virtual MIDI ports without a driver; loopMIDI does that.

Install

Put padbridge-<version>-windows-x86_64.exe from the Releases into a folder of its own, e.g. C:\PadBridge\, and double-click it. The program is not signed: if Windows SmartScreen warns, click More info → Run anyway. On the first start the Windows firewall asks: allow it for private networks.

MIDI ports in loopMIDI

In loopMIDI, type the name at the bottom and click +:

Port	Direction	Needed?
PadBridge	pads → DAW	yes, for MIDI
PadBridge In	DAW → PadBridge (e.g. MIDI clock for the LED ring)	only for clock
PadBridge <device>	a MIDI device of the peer, e.g. PadBridge Launch Control XL	only for that

The names must match exactly. PadBridge looks for the ports when it starts, so start loopMIDI before PadBridge. A loopMIDI port echoes back everything that goes in, which is why the way back needs a port of its own.

Virtual game pad (ViGEmBus)

For the PC to pass a peer's pads to games as a real Xbox 360 controller, it needs the free driver ViGEmBus (file ViGEmBus_…_x64_x86_arm64.exe). It is no longer developed, but the last version works on Windows 10 and 11. Note: the "Oculus Virtual Gamepad Emulation Bus" installed by the Meta Quest software is a different variant and is not enough; the two coexist fine. Without the driver the log says "ViGEmBus ist nicht installiert" (not installed); MIDI and keyboard/mouse from the peer still work.

What is different on Windows

• Xbox controllers run through XInput. Windows drives the LED ring itself, so the LED buttons in the monitor are greyed out. Rumble works.
• PS4 controller: if it is still paired over Bluetooth with another computer, it stays dark on the cable. Disconnect it there first.
• MIDI devices (Launch Control XL, MIDImix, …) can only be opened by one program at a time on Windows. While PadBridge reads a device, the DAW does not see it directly; it gets it through the PadBridge port. If another program holds the device (DAW, MadMapper), PadBridge takes it over as soon as it is released there.
• Keyboard/mouse go out as scancodes, i.e. by key position as on Mac and Linux. They do not reach windows running as administrator unless PadBridge runs as administrator too.
• Virtual game pad for a peer through ViGEmBus (see above). It does not show up in the monitor as a controller of its own; the peer's pads appear there as "Pad n der Gegenstelle" (pad n of the peer).

Build from source

The .exe is cross-built on a Mac or Linux machine and copied to the PC:

rustup target add x86_64-pc-windows-gnu
brew install mingw-w64                 # Mac; on Linux the mingw-w64 package
cd PadBridge/rust
scripts/build-windows.sh               # prints where the .exe is

Without mingw-w64 installed, build-windows.sh builds in Docker instead. scripts/build-remote.sh <ssh-host> builds the Linux and Windows release files on another machine with Docker.