Automatic Linux Wii guitar remapping using evsieve
This is built with SteamOS as its primary consumer. Specifics will differ per distro. I develop for SteamOS in an Arch Linux container using Distrobox, and for Bazzite in a Fedora toolbox container using toolbx.
- Rust
libudev
evsieve
libevdev
pkg-config
sudo pacman -S rust systemd-libs libevdev pkgconf
sudo dnf install cargo systemd-devel libevdev libevdev-devel
sudo apt install pkg-config cargo libudev-dev libevdev-dev libevdev2 && curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh
Compiling requires rustc >1.70.0, but Debian 12's apt repository goes up to 1.63. Hence the rust installer from https://www.rust-lang.org/tools/install is used instead.
From Debain 13 onward, you can use apt install rustup
instead of the Rust install script.
This is tested with a Wii MotionPlus Wiimote, and a Guitar Hero World Tour guitar. It should work with the other Guitar Hero Wii guitars (which have a slot for a Wiimote), and other Wiimotes, as long as both are recognised by the Linux kernel, though they have not been tested.
Provided in the etc
folder are an example udev rule and systemd service to automatically run Roadii when a supported Wii guitar controller is connected. This presumes you are using SteamOS, adapting to other Linux systems is left as an exercise for the reader.
- Install
roadii
andevsieve
executables to/home/deck/bin
- Copy
etc/systemd/system/roadii@.service
to/etc/systemd/system
, andetc/udev/rules.d/99-roadii.rules
to/etc/udev/rules.d
. - Reload the udev rules with
sudo udevadm control --reload
Now you're ready to connect your Wii guitar via Bluetooth!
- Install
roadii
andevsieve
executables anywhere, as long as it's in PATH - Run the code below
# Use a path lookup to determine install locations
evsieve_path=$(type -a -P evsieve)
roadii_path=$(type -a -P roadii)
# Replace default Steam Deck locations with fetched locations
sed -i "s~/home/deck/bin/roadii~$roadii_path~g" etc/systemd/system/roadii@.service
sed -i "s~/home/deck/bin/evsieve~$evsieve_path~g" etc/systemd/system/roadii@.service
# Copy the service & udev rules to their target locations
sudo cp etc/systemd/system/roadii@.service /etc/systemd/system
sudo cp etc/udev/rules.d/99-roadii.rules /etc/udev/rules.d
# Reload the udev rules
sudo udevadm control --reload
Now you're ready to connect your Wii guitar via Bluetooth!
With the udev rules and systemd service configured, the guitar will appear as several devices; ignore any which mention Nintendo, as evsieve
has taken exclusive access to them - the one you care about now is simply called "Wiitar".
It's configured to match a PlayStation 3 guitar controller as closely as possible, providing a reasonble mapping for both navigating SteamOS, emulators, and your game of choice.
- Only one connected Wii guitar controller is supported