How to use Wiimotes w/ Linux

posted Nov 28th 2009 8:55am by
filed under: linux hacks, wii hacks

[Sprite_tm] has whipped up yet another interesting tutorial – software-based this time. He basically describes how he connected his Wiimotes to an HTPC. A USB Bluetooth receiver, and a little bit of Linux scripting,  was all that was necessary to get the system up and running. To add to the fun, [Sprite_tm] configured a the controllers to work with MAME (an arcade machine emulator), allowing one to play Duck Hunt on a computer in its full glory!



20 Responses to How to use Wiimotes w/ Linux

  • Juan Cubillo says:
    November 28, 2009 at 9:10 am

    wake up, have some coffee, then post.

    double check for typing errors ;)

    Cool guide though (:

    Reply Report comment
  • monkeyslayer56 says:
    November 28, 2009 at 9:10 am

    now all i need is a wiimote…

    Reply Report comment
  • dext3r says:
    November 28, 2009 at 9:21 am

    o hurr, its down.

    Warning: mysql_connect() [function.mysql-connect]: Lost connection to MySQL server at ‘reading initial communication packet’, system error: 111 in /var/www/spritesmods/connectdb.php on line 7
    Lost connection to MySQL server at ‘reading initial communication packet’, system error: 111

    Reply Report comment
  • tulcod says:
    November 28, 2009 at 9:51 am

    What a bummer. I used to live with the wonderful thought that each day, I could wake up and find hackaday posting new, exciting hacks. But this is just old, and since when are drivers considered “hacks”? What a bummer.

    Reply Report comment
  • bothersaidpooh says:
    November 28, 2009 at 10:02 am

    maybe hackaday needs to include a “locally cache page” option, so people with low network bandwidth aren’t penalised if their site gets overwhelmed with traffic.
    koff MAFF /koff

    Reply Report comment
  • James says:
    November 28, 2009 at 10:24 am

    tulcod – get a grip. Hackaday is about both reviewing hacks and spreading the ability to do them (self propagation in a way). Many people have great ideas but don’t have the ability to put them into action easily, it’s nice that HaD points people to such tutorials to help others get involved. Scoffing at this sort of post is just elitist and unhelpful.

    Reply Report comment
  • davi jordan says:
    November 28, 2009 at 10:51 am

    Alternative option
    http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/linux-wiimote-via-bluetooth/

    Reply Report comment
  • tiggeryay says:
    November 28, 2009 at 11:38 am

    @bothersaidpooh

    like google does?

    http://209.85.229.132/search?q=cache:ErgjeUZ7FQkJ:spritesmods.com/%3Fart%3Dwiimote-mamegun%26page%3D2+http://spritesmods.com/%3Fart%3Dwiimote-mamegun&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&client=firefox-a

    Reply Report comment
  • oys says:
    November 28, 2009 at 12:45 pm

    @monkeyslayer: check out http://www.dealextreme.com/search.dx/search.wiimote.

    Reply Report comment
  • jordan says:
    November 28, 2009 at 12:51 pm

    @tulcod

    i thought it was very interesting…so speak for yourself.

    Reply Report comment
  • Quvmoh says:
    November 28, 2009 at 3:43 pm

    I found this quite interesting and hope to try it soon as i add Bluetooth to my trusty Linux box, I am sure that those of you who complained about this article have posted much more important and inspiring articles but i was unable to search for them using your nics :-)

    Reply Report comment
  • GCL says:
    November 28, 2009 at 4:09 pm

    Hello!
    And this is nothing new. Linux Journal reported on this approximately three years ago.

    Reply Report comment
  • Nate says:
    November 29, 2009 at 12:37 am

    @GCL
    Even though this article has been posted elsewhere, it still brings it to the attention of people like me who don’t check every blog. It does stink that it is down right now, though.

    Reply Report comment
  • GCL says:
    November 29, 2009 at 10:33 am

    @Nate
    True. And the displayed error message tells me that his site must have suffered from an amazing amount of hits since the whole thing went live.

    That is a very easy error to reproduce with regards to dynamic websites driven by PHP and MySQL.

    Reply Report comment
  • Sprite_tm says:
    November 29, 2009 at 10:45 am

    Ahrg, it’s fixed. I’m sortta slowly migrating my site to a new server, but I seem to have forgot to restart the mysql server :X Everything should be OK now.

    The things I do that I haven’t seen anyone else do is making the WiiMotes absolute input devices. That, plus I’ve made a patch to make 2 WiiMotes act as 2 Mame-lightguns, which I haven’t seen anyone else do either.

    Reply Report comment
  • Shyft says:
    November 30, 2009 at 12:14 pm

    We shouldn’t discourage folks from posting items of interest to hacker community. Less experienced hackers may be inspired by a repost of old information. Everyone reinvents the wheel a time or two. Hackaday is just as valuable now as it ever was. That being said, I’ve been using a wiimote with my htpc (myhtbuntu) for a couple years now.

    Reply Report comment
  • Ryan says:
    November 30, 2009 at 4:00 pm

    Drivers are considered hacks because you are using something that was designed for something else for another purpose (what an awkward sentence). What do you expect form the Wii.. there are mod chips… stick a flashlight on it and you have a light saber. I think we are all waiting for homebrew which is why there is no news.

    Reply Report comment
  • secure wifi leeds says:
    January 26, 2010 at 5:29 pm

    adding to twitter this is great info.

    Reply Report comment
  • GCL says:
    July 10, 2010 at 7:03 pm

    @Nate:
    Its been just about two years since the article in LJ was read by me, and nearly a year since this was seen. I therefore decided to see for myself if I could get my Slackware Linux box to work with a WiiMote, and a BlueTooth device. Well it works.

    Reply Report comment
  • Pietro says:
    April 13, 2011 at 7:02 am

    WiildOs 1.3.2 is out,
    WiildOs is an educational live and installable GNU/Linux distro build
    from the Ardesia stuff and thinking for teaching purposes. It includes
    the software that enable you to use a wiimote whiteboard.

    WiildOs includes lubuntu-desktop, python-whiteboard, ardesia, sankore,
    spotlighter, curtain, florence-ramble, wmgui, wiican, easystroke,
    whyteboard, vmg, shutter, gimp, tuxpaint, tuxmath, tuxtype, dia,
    scribus, audacity, stellarium, xournal, gcompris, geogebra, wxmaxima,
    openoffice.org, jokosher, musescore, solfege, stellarium, dasher,
    eviacam and more!

    More info on http://code.google.com/p/ardesia/wiki/WiildOs

    Build a wiildOs4win wubi like installer that allow to install wiildOs
    inside windows without partitioning the hard disk.
    http://ardesia.googlecode.com/svn/wiki/wiildOs/wiildOs4win.exe

    Changelog
    - new kernel 2.6.35; this add the support to some new devices including
    the toshiba bluettoth
    - thunderbird in now the default mailer instead of sylpheed
    - firefox is the default browser instead of chromium
    - removed xscreensaver for performance issue
    - remove all the gnome office suite; we use openoffice suite
    - fix the wiican program; now you can you use the wiimote as controller
    usinf the infrared camera or the accelerometers in a visual user
    friendly way

    Reply Report comment

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