xinput

The xinput commandline tool is the most important tool to get information about X input devices and their properties. This page describes the most common usage patterns for xinput.

Listing devices

The xinput parameter ''list'' will list all currently available devices and their device name. Use this to find the device name and device ID of your device. Below you can see the example output on a machine with a Intuos4 tablet attached:

$ > xinput --list
⎡ Virtual core pointer                    	id=2	[master pointer  (3)]
⎜   ↳ Virtual core XTEST pointer              	id=4	[slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜   ↳ SynPS/2 Synaptics TouchPad              	id=14	[slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜   ↳ Wacom Intuos4 6x9 eraser                	id=17	[slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜   ↳ Wacom Intuos4 6x9 cursor                	id=18	[slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜   ↳ Wacom Intuos4 6x9 pad                   	id=19	[slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜   ↳ Wacom Intuos4 6x9 stylus                	id=20	[slave  pointer  (2)]
⎣ Virtual core keyboard                   	id=3	[master keyboard (2)]
    ↳ Virtual core XTEST keyboard             	id=5	[slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ AT Translated Set 2 keyboard            	id=13	[slave  keyboard (3)]

The device name in quotes should be used in other xinput commands to retrieve or apply settings from or to a device.

# Listing device-specific information #

Detailed information about a specific device can be shown by specifying the device name (or the device ID):

$ > xinput --list "Wacom Intuos4 6x9 eraser"

For example, looking at the eraser tool-specific values reveals this:

$ > xinput --list "Wacom Intuos4 6x9 eraser"
Wacom Intuos4 6x9 eraser                	id=17	[slave  pointer  (2)]
	Reporting 8 classes:
		Class originated from: 17
		Buttons supported: 9
		Button labels: None None None None None None None None None
		Button state:
		Class originated from: 17
		Keycodes supported: 248
		Class originated from: 17
		Detail for Valuator 0:
		  Label: Abs X
		  Range: 0.000000 - 44704.000000
		  Resolution: 200000 units/m
		  Mode: absolute
		  Current value: 0.000000
		Class originated from: 17
		Detail for Valuator 1:
		  Label: Abs Y
		  Range: 0.000000 - 27940.000000
		  Resolution: 200000 units/m
		  Mode: absolute
		  Current value: 0.000000
		Class originated from: 17
		Detail for Valuator 2:
		  Label: Abs Pressure
		  Range: 0.000000 - 2048.000000
		  Resolution: 1 units/m
		  Mode: absolute
		  Current value: 0.000000
		Class originated from: 17
		Detail for Valuator 3:
		  Label: Abs Tilt X
		  Range: -64.000000 - 63.000000
		  Resolution: 1 units/m
		  Mode: absolute
		  Current value: 0.000000
		Class originated from: 17
		Detail for Valuator 4:
		  Label: Abs Tilt Y
		  Range: -64.000000 - 63.000000
		  Resolution: 1 units/m
		  Mode: absolute
		  Current value: 0.000000
		Class originated from: 17
		Detail for Valuator 5:
		  Label: Abs Tilt Y
		  Range: -64.000000 - 63.000000
		  Resolution: 1 units/m
		  Mode: absolute
		  Current value: 0.000000

The above shows 9 buttons, and several axes with their label and their min/max values. For example, the absolute x axis has a min/max of 0 - 44704 units, with 20000 units/m.