How to use a Nintendo Wiimote with Elisa

This guide will show how to get the Nintendo Wii Remote working with Elisa.

Hardware needed:

Software needed:

General info

The Nintendo Wii Remote is a controller for the Nintendo Wii [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii] console. Because the Wiimote communicates with the Nintendo Wii trough bluetooth, some hackers managed to write software that made possible the use of the Wiimote with the GNU/Linux operating system. Wminput allows us to assign a keyboard key to each Wiiremote button.

Wminput installation

To install Wminput in Ubuntu Gutsy, we need to activate the universe repository in the file /etc/apt/sources.list This is the line that should be included in the /etc/apt/sources.list: 

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ gutsy universe

then the following commands must be run: 

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install wminput

Wminput configuration file

Now we need to create a configuration file for wminput. The file contains info on how the keys of the wiimote are mapped. We start creating the directory /opt/etc/wiimote running: 

sudo mkdir -p /opt/etc/wiimote

Then we can create the wminput-elisa file inside the /opt/etc/wiimote directory. The following is the content of the file: 

# This is the /opt/etc/wiimote/wminput-elisa file
Wiimote.A       = KEY_ENTER
Wiimote.B       = KEY_SPACE
Wiimote.Up      = KEY_UP
Wiimote.Down    = KEY_DOWN
Wiimote.Left    = KEY_LEFT
Wiimote.Right   = KEY_RIGHT
Wiimote.Minus   = KEY_UP
Wiimote.Plus    = KEY_DOWN
Wiimote.Home    = KEY_F23
Wiimote.1       = KEY_SPACE
#Wiimote.2      = KEY_Q

Start/Stop Elisa

The last thing we need is a script that starts Elisa, if Elisa isn't running, and stops Elisa, if it's running. We start by creating the directory /opt/bin using the following command: 

sudo mkdir -p /opt/bin

In the /opt/bin directory we should create a file called elisa-mmplayer containing the following lines: 

# This is the /opt/bin/elisa-mmplayer file
if pidof -x elisa; then killall elisa; else elisa; fi

Thanks to twi_ from the #elisa irc channel for the script.

The last thing to do, is to mark the /opt/bin/elisa-mmplayer file as executable running the following command: 

sudo chmod ugo+x /opt/bin/elisa-mmplayer

Configure Gnome

We can now run wminput providing the configuration file we have created before with this command: 

wminput -w -c /opt/etc/wiimote/wminput-elisa

For the above command, we might need to run it using sudo in this way: 

sudo wminput -w -c /opt/etc/wiimote/wminput-elisa

At this point we should press the buttons 1 and 2 (at the same time) on the Wiimote, and wminput should connect to it. We now need to configure Gnome, so Elisa can be launched using the Wiimote. Fist we need to open System->Preferences->Keyboard Shoutcuts and find the Multimedia Player, then click on the shourtcut key, and press the home key on the Wiimote. We now should be able to open Rhythmbox (with a default Gnome configuration) using the home key of the Wiimote. Next thing is to open System->Preferences->Preferred Applications, select the Multimedia tab, and select Custum from the selectable items. In the Command area, we need to insert /opt/bin/elisa-mmplayer.

Now, pressing the home key on the Wiimote, we should be able to start Elisa (if it isn't running), and stop Elisa (if it's running). The Wiimote can also be used to navigate inside the Elisa interface.

TipsAndTricks/HowToUseNintendoWiimote (last edited 2008-05-23 10:10:21 by core)