Interview With Stefan Achatz Developer Of ROCCAT Gaming Hardware Drivers For Linux

I took some time to have a chat with Stefan Achatz who took it upon himself to write drivers and interfaces for ROCCAT gaming hardware to make sure they work on Linux.

Linux has been known in the past to be a little iffy with driver support for many different things, so I hope everyone appreciates the work Stefan does.

So, if you have picked up anything from ROCCAT chances are you are benefiting from his work! I will be looking to ROCCAT for some devices that's for sure.

Q: First of all can you introduce yourself and how you got started with Linux

QuoteMy name's Stefan Achatz. I'm a nearly 40 Years old German who can't remember why exactly he ordered a copy of S.u.S.E. Linux 4.3 in a bookshop some 18 years ago.

Q: Can you explain the work you do for gaming peripherals on Linux

QuoteFor 4-5 years now I reverse engineer the USB communications of Roccat keyboards and mice to write according Linux drivers. Nowadays I do this with the permission and support from the Manufacturer, also I started disassembling the firmwares in search for interesting things.

Q: When you say the manufacturer supports you, how do they do this?

QuoteBy now they give me the hardware, sometimes from pilot production which enables me to provide release day support. I'm also allowed to use their graphics and sounds.

Q: What are some of the most interesting problems you have had to overcome to get ROCCAT working on Linux?

QuoteHaving no idea about kernel module programming and USB communications was quite some entry threshold. Once you can sniff the data, finding the meaning of most of it is merely a puzzle.

Q: Why did you decide to take it upon yourself to write ROCCAT drivers for Linux?

QuoteSeeing the Valo at the Games Convention in 2009 I asked the hired booth-guy about Linux support. Him saying yes without getting red led me to write a mail to the company. Not having planned such a thing, they encouraged me to do it myself. While the Valo was delayed I got me a Kone and dug into USB and kernel driver programming.

Q: Why do you choose ROCCAT for your gaming peripherals on Linux?

QuoteI liked Valo's macro keys and wanted to utilize them under Linux. Fun fact: I never finished the Valo driver because the device had quite some design flaws and finally broke down on me. After their firstborn Kone and Valo, Roccat made a big leap in design quality e.g. their devices being really HID compatible. All in all, Roccat devices are the most feature rich which makes them appealing not only to use but to reverse engineer.

Q: What Linux distro and desktop do you personally use and why?

QuoteLinux distros are numerous and every single one has their own peculiarities that change over time. Seeing a couple distros over the years I finally landed using Fedora, my main development system being a mixture of Fedora 13 and 15. I have no plans of upgrading soon as it enables me to make my drivers backwards compatible. I like my desktop classical and slick, using Gnome 2 at the moment but leering at Cinnamon or MATE as future options.

Q: Will ROCCAT look to support you further given all the news about Linux gaming recently?

QuoteThere's nothing to be said against it, the response to their support and my work seems to be quite positive. I'm looking forward to which of last CES novelties will be the next I'm getting to work on.

Q: What are your hopes for the future of gaming on Linux and ROCCAT?

QuoteCurrently I split up the roccat project, creating a library providing manufacturer independent components. Hopefully this provides a unified look and feel and eases the development for others. Generally I'm looking forward for GOG to finally support Linux. And Roccat? They already have the best Linux support for their devices, maybe we should hope for a Linux version of Power-Grid.

Thank you Stefan Achatz for having a chat with me, now go buy yourself some gaming hardware. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.