Remote Gamepad allows you or your friends to use any browser-supported gamepad to mimic a Nintendo Switch Pro Controller by using a Raspberry Pi as a relay.
- Web browsers have a Gamepad API. You can check if your gamepad/controller is supported at Gamepad Tester.
- Inexpensive devices such as the Raspberry Pi Zero W are capable of imitating a Nintendo Switch Pro Controller when placed in OTG/USB gadget mode.
- Remote Gamepad provides some glue between the two by setting up button mapping and sending a stream of controller data to the Raspberry Pi which in turn will relay it to the Switch via USB.
If you have a capture card and a low latency way to share the video stream, you can game with friends who don't have a Switch over the internet. Map/redirect a port on your router/gateway to port 8085 on your Raspberry Pi and have your friend connect to it with their browser.
- Nintendo Switch
- Nintendo Switch Dock
- Raspberry Pi Zero W, Raspberry Pi 4 Model B, or other board cable of OTG mode+network
- Browser support for your controller/gamepad
Enable dwc2 USB controller driver
echo "dtoverlay=dwc2" | sudo tee -a /boot/config.txt
Enable needed kernel modules
echo "dwc2" | sudo tee -a /etc/modules-load.d/dwc2.conf
echo "libcomposite" | sudo tee -a /etc/modules-load.d/libcomposite.conf
Reboot for changes to take effect
sudo reboot
Download add_procon_gadget.sh
and run it with root privileges. By default the resulting device, /dev/hidg0 can only be used by root. You should chown/chmod like so:
sudo chown root:dialout /dev/hidg0
sudo chmod 660 /dev/hidg0
If you're going to be using the setup long-term, a udev rule should be used instead.
Download the release, extract it,
cd into the directory and run ./remotegamepad
Or get the source:
go get -u -v github.com/jolan/remotegamepad
And then build and run it:
cd ~/go/src/github.com/jolan/remotegamepad && go build && ./remotegamepad
Or cross-compile it and then copy everything to the Raspberry Pi:
env GOOS=linux GOARCH=arm GOARM=6 go build
The binary expects to find webroot in the same directory that is run from.
Finally, enter the URL to your Raspberry Pi (e.g. http://192.0.2.53:8085) into your browser.
- Go to https://gamepad-tester.com/.
- Copy/paste the full controller name and annotate the button layout for your controller in gamepadStateSend().
- Add shortname to gamepadShortName().
- Non-Switch controllers cannot be used to wake the system from sleep.
- Starting a session requires the Switch to be out of sleep mode.
- At the moment, the supported controller list is hardcoded and tiny.
- Can only use a single gamepad per computer (seems to be a browser limitation).
- Every remote gamepad requires their own Raspberry Pi/relay device.
- Add profiles for common controllers like Wii U, DualShock, Xbox 360, etc.
- Add button mapping dialog for controllers using the default profile.
- Improve binary release with systemd service, config/logging options, udev rule, etc.
- Code cleanup.
- Add mouse/keyboard support.
- Test on non-Chrome browsers to check for bugs/quirks.
- Determine if multiple controllers-on-a-single PC is possible.
- Add audio/video streaming support.
- Maybe support consoles other than the Switch one day.
@mzyy94 - remotegamepad borrows much of the functionality from his work.
- https://github.com/mzyy94/nscon
- https://github.com/mzyy94/ns-remote
- https://mzyy94.com/blog/2020/03/20/nintendo-switch-pro-controller-usb-gadget/
- https://mzyy94.com/blog/2020/04/17/nintendo-switch-audio-uac-gadget/
- https://mzyy94.com/blog/2020/05/11/play-nintendo-switch-on-smartphone/
- https://mzyy94.com/blog/2020/05/12/raspberry-pi-hdmi-edid-cec/
Thanks to others for precursor/similar/inspiring work:
- @dekuNekum - https://github.com/dekuNukem/Nintendo_Switch_Reverse_Engineering
- @shinyquagsire23 - https://github.com/shinyquagsire23/HID-Joy-Con-Whispering
- @Xfennec - https://gist.github.com/Xfennec/e1215febb15b40c21bf029b38a31640b
- @mumumusuc - https://github.com/mumumusuc/pi-joystick
- @omakoto - https://github.com/omakoto/raspberry-switch-control
- @mart1nro - https://github.com/mart1nro/joycontrol
- @javmarina - https://github.com/javmarina/Nintendo-Switch-Remote-Control
- @ndeadly - https://github.com/ndeadly/MissionControl
- Parsec - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTlwVyWobRc