Linux 7.4 Introduces New Driver For The Nintendo Switch 2 – Thanks To Valve

The HID subsystem updates have been merged for the Linux 7.4 kernel that included a few new drivers.

Arguably most notable with the Linux 7.4 HID pull is the introduction of a new driver for the Nintendo Switch 2 <a href="https://comicvibe.com/gamesir-expands-global-lineup-with-g7-pro-8k-phantom-blade-zero-controller/” title=”GameSir expands global lineup with G7 Pro 8K Phantom Blade Zero controller”>controllers. Vicki Pfau has been leading the work on this preliminary support for Nintendo Switch 2 controllers and after sixteen rounds of revisions, it’s been merged for Linux 7.4.

Vicki explains of the Switch 2 controller support for Linux in the prior patch series:

“This adds a new driver for the Switch 2 controllers. The Switch 2 uses an unusual split-interface design such that input and rumble occur on the main HID interface, but all other communication occurs over a “configuration” interface. This is the case on both USB and Bluetooth, so this new driver uses a split-driver design with the HID interface being the “main” driver and the configuration interface is a secondary driver that looks up to the HID interface, sharing resources on a common struct.

Due to using a non-standard pairing interface as well as Bluetooth communications being extremely limited in the kernel, a custom interface etween userspace and the kernel will need to be designed, along with bringup in BlueZ. That is beyond the scope of this initial patch, which only contains the generic HID and USB configuration interface drivers.

This initial work supports general input for the Joy-Con 2, Pro Controller 2, and GameCube NSO controllers.”

Vicki worked on this Nintendo Switch 2 controller driver on the behalf of Valve Software.

Another new HID driver in Linux 7.4 is hid-pulsar as a driver for Pulsar gaming mice. This driver has been tested with Pulsar wireless gaming mice like the X2 V2, X2H, X2A, and Xlite V3. This driver exposes the battery level, voltage, charging status, and more. With Pulsar devices this driver supports wired and 1KHz / 4KHz wireless dongle connectivity. The Pulsar driver also supports the Kysona M600 ATK, VXE R1 SE+ and VXE Dragonfly R1 Pro mice that end up using the same protocol.

The HID pull request for Linux 7.4 also adds support for new AMD Zen 6 Ryzen SoCs to the AMD Sensor Fusion Hub (SFH) driver, a power management fix for the Apple Touch Bar on Linux, a power management fix for the ASUS ROG Ally handhelds, and other fixes.