Logitech X56 HOTAS on Linux

1. Done these?

   • LUG Helper AppImage downloaded and allowed to run (how).
   • Preflight Check (System Optimization) passes.
   • Install Star Citizen Launcher finished, with the default prefix ~/Games/star-citizen.
   • The game is installed from the RSI Launcher at its default path, and starts.

1. Plug it straight into the PC

   Use a USB port on the PC itself rather than an unpowered hub. Two devices means two cables: plug in both.

2. Confirm Linux sees it

   Open a terminal and run:

   lsusb | grep -iE '0738:2221|0738:a221'

   You should get one line per device: 0738:2221 = stick, 0738:a221 = throttle. Nothing printed? Try another USB port and cable before going further.

1. Optional: remove Linux’s extra deadzone

   Linux’s joystick driver adds a small center deadzone and anti-jitter smoothing on top of the hardware. Most pilots never notice. If the throttle “hitches” in the middle or the stick won’t settle exactly on center, the LUG’s fix is a udev rule that runs evdev-joystick. On Bazzite that tool isn’t installed, so this is the advanced route: layer the linuxconsoletools package and reboot, then create the rule.

   rpm-ostree install linuxconsoletools
   systemctl reboot

   After the reboot, save this as /etc/udev/rules.d/99-evdev-joystick.rules (for example with sudo nano), then unplug and replug:

   # Custom Joystick Udev Rules (Logitech X56 HOTAS)
   ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="input", KERNEL=="event*", \
     ENV{ID_VENDOR_ID}=="0738", ENV{ID_MODEL_ID}=="2221", \
     RUN+="/usr/bin/evdev-joystick --e %E{DEVNAME} --d 0 --f 0"
   ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="input", KERNEL=="event*", \
     ENV{ID_VENDOR_ID}=="0738", ENV{ID_MODEL_ID}=="a221", \
     RUN+="/usr/bin/evdev-joystick --e %E{DEVNAME} --d 0 --f 0"

   Bazzite’s own advice is to layer packages only when you need to; skip this if your controls feel fine.

1. Open Wine’s controller configuration

   In the LUG Helper choose Maintenance and Troubleshooting › Open Wine controller configuration. This is Wine’s version of Windows’ joy.cpl, running inside your game’s Wine prefix.

2. Make sure it’s a joystick, not xinput

   Both units should be listed. If one shows as Connected (xinput), select it and click Override so it is treated as a dinput joystick, as the LUG recommends. Missing entirely? Unplug, replug and reopen the window.

3. Test every axis and button

   Use the window’s test view: move every axis through its full range and press each button. Flip the throttle’s mode switch (M1, M2, S1) and watch the button numbers change, exactly as on Windows. Leave it on M1 for our profile.

Prefer to do it by hand? Download layout_AbsoluteGaming_X56.xml and copy it into ~/Games/star-citizen/drive_c/Program Files/Roberts Space Industries/StarCitizen/LIVE/user/client/0/controls/mappings.

1. Load the profile

   Start the game, open the console with ~ and run pp_rebindkeys layout_AbsoluteGaming_X56 (no .xml). Or use Options › Keybindings › Advanced Controls Customization › Control Profiles.

2. Check the device order

   Take off and push the stick forward: the nose should pitch down. If the throttle moves your nose instead, the units are swapped: run pp_resortdevices joystick 1 2, then the pp_rebindkeys line again.

3. Check the directions

   Our profile carries the same axis inverts as on Windows, but Wine can report a device under a slightly different name, and then those settings don’t attach. If an axis comes out backwards, go to Options › Keybindings, pick the joystick, open Inversion Settings and flip it there.

4. Fly a test circuit

   In the hangar or on a pad: power on, flight ready, lift off, every main axis, fire, landing gear, then quantum mode. Compare with the control map below. Anything off? Rebind it in the game or fix it in the form and regenerate.

Stick: flight and weapons.

Throttle: power, systems and modes.