WMINPUT(1)

💖 NAME 💖

okay so bestie, wminput is literally an event driver for the wiimote. that's the whole vibe. 🎮✨

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

wminput [options]

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🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

so like, this page is just a lil quick rundown of the wminput command, fr fr. it's giving "the short version."

wminput is a program that provides an event driver for the wiimote 👑 — it supports all the buttons (except Power, RIP) plus pointer tracking, and it's got a whole tracking algorithm plugin architecture, which is honestly so iconic of it.

💅 the kernel situation (yes, you have to do this)

your kernel must be configured with uinput support. in config-speak that's INPUT_UINPUT, or under menuconfig it lives at Device Drivers/Input Device Support/Miscellaneous Drivers/User Level Driver Support. you can compile it into the kernel or as a module, your call boo. 🫶

there's a guide at http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_Compile_a_Kernel_Manually if you want the kernel-compilation lore.

⚠️ okay so here's the annoying part: by default, some (most? all?) udev configurations set up a uinput device file that's readable only by root. so if you wanna run wminput as a user that isn't root, you gotta configure udev to change the permissions on uinput. no cap.

drop this line into a file in /etc/udev/rules.d (check your distro's docs for which file is the recommended one for local rules) to let anyone on the system use uinput:

KERNEL=="uinput", MODE="0666"

a more secure method 🛡️ uses this next line instead — it lets anyone in <group> use wminput, and you just add only the users you actually want to <group>:

KERNEL=="uinput", GROUP="<group>"

a uinput group can be created specifically for this purpose, or you can just use another existing group, like wheel. slay. 💅

🌈 getting X to cooperate

getting X to recognize non-standard key symbols, and mapping actions to those symbols, is not automatic. not even a little. there's an excellent tutorial at http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_Use_Multimedia_Keys that can help you set this up.

here's the overview (but fr, go read the HOWTO for the real info):

1. Edit ~/.CWiid/wminput.conf
2. Use xev, wminput, and your wiimote to find out if the key symbols are already mapped, and find the key codes if they are not.
3. If the codes are not mapped to the appropriate symbols, edit ~/.Xmodmap, and use xmodmap to map them. (a copy of my ~/.Xmodmap is included in CWiid/doc 🥺)
4. Use xbindkeys or a window-manager-specific utility to map the key symbols to specific actions.

🧚 plugin lore

wminput tracking plugins are, by default, installed to /usr/lib/CWiid/plugins. plugins may also be placed in ~/.CWiid/plugins, and plugins placed there take precedence. 👑

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✨ OPTIONS ✨

• -h — show summary of options. the classic "help me" move.
• -v, --version — output version information and exit.
• -c, --config [file] — choose config file to use.
• -d, --daemon — implies -q, -r, and -w. it's doing the most so you don't have to.
• -q, --quiet — reduce output to errors. only the drama, nothing else.
• -r, --reconnect [wait] — automatically try reconnect after wiimote disconnect. she comes back. 🔥
• -w, --wait — wait indefinitely for wiimote to connect. patient queen energy.
• bdaddr — specify the wiimote bluetooth address. the bluetooth device address (bdaddr) of the wiimote can be specified on the command-line, or through the WIIMOTE_BDADDR environment variable, in that order of precedence. if neither is given, the first wiimote found by hci_inquiry will be used. (so like, command line > env var > whatever hci_inquiry finds first 💫)

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🎀 SEE ALSO 🎀

wmgui(1)

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💜 AUTHOR 💜

wminput was written by L. Donnie Smith <cwiid@abstrakraft.org> 🫶

this manual page was written by Romain Beauxis <toots@rastageeks.org>, for the Debian project (but may be used by others).

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okay that's the whole page bestie, go forth and wiimote 💖 this was the General Commands Manual entry for wminput, dated janvier 18, 2007 — iconic, timeless, no notes. bye pookie! 🎀✨🦋