Gamepad Support

Gamepads, or more widely known as game controllers, can be used with many applications and games. However if you compiled the kernel yourself, the kernel drivers for gamepads are likely not enabled. Go ahead and enable the kernel options below and recompile the kernel if necessary.

Device Drivers --->
  Input device support --->
    <*> Generic input layer (needed for keyboard, mouse, ...)            [INPUT]
    [*]   Joysticks/Gamepads --->                               [INPUT_JOYSTICK]
      # For older gamepads:
      <*>     Multisystem, NES, SNES, N64, PSX joysticks and gamepads
                                                         ...  [JOYSTICK_GAMECON]
      # For Xbox gamepad support:
      <*>     Xbox gamepad support                               [JOYSTICK_XPAD]
      [ /*]     Xbox gamepad rumble support                   [JOYSTICK_XPAD_FF]
      [ /*]     LED Support for the Xbox 360 controller Guide button
                                                       ...  [JOYSTICK_XPAD_LEDS]
  [*] HID bus support --->                                         [HID_SUPPORT]
    <*/M> HID bus core support                                             [HID]
      Special HID drivers --->
      # For Nintendo Switch gamepad support:
      <*>       Nintendo Joy-Con, NSO, and Pro Controller support [HID_NINTENDO]
      [ /*]       Nintendo Switch controller force feedback support
                                                              ...  [NINTENDO_FF]
      # For Playstation gamepad support:
      <*/M>     Sony PS2/3/4 accessories                              [HID_SONY]
      [ /*]       Sony PS2/3/4 accessories force feedback support      [SONY_FF]
      # For Steam controllers:
      <*>       Steam Controller/Deck support                        [HID_STEAM]
      # For Nintendo Wii and Wii U controller support:
      < /*/M>   Nintendo Wii / Wii U peripherals                   [HID_WIIMOTE]
  [*] USB support --->                                             [USB_SUPPORT]

Now you should be able to plug in your gamepad and play. If you want to use the gamepad wirelessly, you will need to connect it via Bluetooth. You can enable Bluetooth by following the BLFS page BlueZ if you haven't already compiled it. If you have chosen to install a desktop environment, if not already done, you can likely install a bluetooth application specific to the desktop environment.