SInput Protocol¶

USB HID protocol reference for the SInput gamepad standard. Designed for SDL/Steam compatibility with rich feature reporting. Based on Handheld Legend's SInput HID specification.

Reference: https://docs.handheldlegend.com/s/sinput

USB Identifiers¶

Field	Value
VID	0x2E8A (Raspberry Pi)
PID	0x10C6 (SInput generic)
bcdDevice	0x0100 (v1.0)

Report Descriptor Overview¶

Single HID collection (Game Pad) with three reports:

Report ID	Direction	Size	Content
0x01	Input	64 bytes	Gamepad state (buttons, sticks, triggers, IMU, touchpad)
0x02	Input	24 bytes	Feature response (capabilities, device info)
0x03	Output	48 bytes	Commands (haptic, LED, feature request)

Input Report (ID 0x01, 64 bytes)¶

Offset	Size	Field	Range
0	1	Plug status	0/1 (charging)
1	1	Charge level	0-255
2-5	4	Buttons	32 buttons, little-endian
6-7	2	Left stick X	-32768 to 32767 (0 = center)
8-9	2	Left stick Y	-32768 to 32767
10-11	2	Right stick X	-32768 to 32767
12-13	2	Right stick Y	-32768 to 32767
14-15	2	Left trigger	0 to 32767
16-17	2	Right trigger	0 to 32767
18-21	4	IMU timestamp	Microseconds (uint32)
22-23	2	Accel X	int16
24-25	2	Accel Y	int16
26-27	2	Accel Z	int16
28-29	2	Gyro X	int16
30-31	2	Gyro Y	int16
32-33	2	Gyro Z	int16
34-39	6	Touchpad 1	X(2), Y(2), Pressure(2)
40-45	6	Touchpad 2	X(2), Y(2), Pressure(2)
46-62	17	Reserved	Padding to 64 bytes

Button Mapping (32 bits, little-endian)¶

Bit	Button	Bit	Button
0	East (B/Circle)	16	Start/Options
1	South (A/Cross)	17	Back/Select
2	North (Y/Triangle)	18	Guide/Home
3	West (X/Square)	19	Capture/Share
4	D-Up	20	Left Paddle 2
5	D-Down	21	Right Paddle 2
6	D-Left	22	Touchpad 1 Click
7	D-Right	23	Touchpad 2 Click
8	L3 (Left Stick)	24	Power
9	R3 (Right Stick)	25-31	Misc 4-10
10	L1 (Left Bumper)
11	R1 (Right Bumper)
12	L2 (Left Trigger)
13	R2 (Right Trigger)
14	Left Paddle 1
15	Right Paddle 1

Feature Report (ID 0x02, 24 bytes)¶

Sent as an input report in response to a feature request command (output report with command 0x02), or automatically when the connected device changes.

Offset	Size	Field	Notes
0-1	2	Protocol version	uint16 LE (currently 0x0100 = v1.0)
2	1	Capability flags 1	bit 0: rumble, bit 1: player LED, bit 2: accel, bit 3: gyro
3	1	Capability flags 2	bit 1: RGB LED
4	1	Gamepad type	See enum below
5	1	Face style (upper 3 bits) / sub-product (lower 5 bits)	See enum below
6-7	2	Polling rate	Microseconds, uint16 LE (e.g., 8000 = 125 Hz)
8-9	2	Accel range	uint16 LE, +/- G (0 = not supported)
10-11	2	Gyro range	uint16 LE, +/- dps (0 = not supported)
12-15	4	Button usage masks	1 byte per button byte; bits indicate active buttons
16	1	Touchpad count	Number of touchpads (0-2)
17	1	Touchpad finger count	Max simultaneous fingers
18-23	6	Serial / MAC	Device identifier (from board unique ID)

Gamepad Type Enum (byte 4)¶

Value	Type
0	Unknown
1	Standard
2	Xbox 360
3	Xbox One
4	PS3
5	PS4
6	PS5
7	Switch Pro
8	Joy-Con L
9	Joy-Con R
10	Joy-Con Pair
11	GameCube
12	N64
13	SNES

Face Style Enum (byte 5, upper 3 bits)¶

Value	Style	Layout
0	Unknown	--
1	Xbox	ABXY
2	Nintendo	BAYX
3	Sony	Cross/Circle/Square/Triangle
4	GameCube	AXBY

Output Report (ID 0x03, 48 bytes)¶

Offset	Size	Field
0	1	Command type
1-46	46	Command data

Command Types¶

Command	ID	Data Format
Haptic	0x01	type(1), left_amplitude(1), left_brake(1), right_amplitude(1), right_brake(1). Type=2 for ERM simulation.
Feature Request	0x02	No data. Triggers a feature report (ID 0x02) response.
Player LED	0x03	player_number(1). Values 1-4.
RGB LED	0x04	red(1), green(1), blue(1). Each 0-255.

Composite Device¶

The SInput device exposes three HID interfaces:

Gamepad -- SInput report descriptor (reports 0x01, 0x02, 0x03)
Keyboard -- Standard 6-key rollover (modifiers + 6 keycodes, LED output for lock keys)
Mouse -- 5-button with X/Y movement, vertical wheel, horizontal pan