WinWing DCS Telemetry Bridge

Synchronize your WinWing hardware LEDs and haptic motors with DCS World in real-time on Linux.

What is it for?

This bridge reads telemetry data directly from DCS World and maps it to your WinWing hardware:

• LEDs light up to match cockpit indicators (gear, flaps, master caution, stations, etc.)
• Haptic motors provide physical feedback for flight events (gun fire, weapon release, gear transit, AOA buffeting, landing impact, ground roll)

When your landing gear indicator lights up in the cockpit, the LED on your physical panel lights up too. When you fire the gun, you feel it through the throttle and stick.

Supported Hardware

• WinWing Orion 2 Throttle — Backlight, master mode LEDs (A/A, A/G), haptic motor
• WinWing Orion 2 PTO2 Panel — Backlight, 13 LEDs (gear, flaps, hook, master caution, stations, gear handle)
• WinWing Orion 2 Joystick — Haptic motor

Supported Aircraft

Aircraft	LEDs	Haptics
F/A-18C Hornet	Full (all indicators)	Full
F-16C Viper	Partial (gear, master caution)	Full

Haptic effects are universal — they work on any aircraft without per-module configuration. LED support requires per-aircraft cockpit argument mappings (see Adding Aircraft).

Haptic Effects

Effect	Trigger
Gun fire	Ammo count decrease
Weapon/ fuel tank release	Station count decrease (weight-scaled intensity)
Ground wobble	G-force while on ground (carrier compatible, detects acceleration, not speed)
Gear transit	Gear position between 0 and 1
Gear lock clunk	Gear reaches locked position
AOA buffeting	AOA > 15° (scales to 35°)
Landing impact	Strut compression spike on touchdown

Requirements

• Linux (tested on Ubuntu/Debian)
• Python 3.6+
• DCS World (via Steam/Proton)
• WinWing Orion 2 devices (PTO2, Throttle, and/or Joystick)

Installation

1. Clone This Repository

git clone https://github.com/W0lsZcZ4n/DCS-Linux_Winwing-bridge.git
cd DCS-Linux_Winwing-bridge

2. Install Export.lua

Copy the telemetry export script to your DCS ../Saved Games/DCS/Scripts folder:

# For Steam .deb install:
cp Export.lua ~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/223750/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/Saved\ Games/DCS/Scripts/Export.lua

# For Flatpak Steam:
cp Export.lua ~/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/223750/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/Saved\ Games/DCS/Scripts/Export.lua

3. Set Up USB Permissions

sudo cp 99-winwing.rules /etc/udev/rules.d/
sudo udevadm control --reload-rules
sudo udevadm trigger
sudo usermod -a -G input $USER

Log out and log back in for the group change to take effect.

4. Run the Bridge

Directly:

python3 telemetry_bridge.py

As a systemd service (recommended):

# Edit the ExecStart path in the service file to match your install location
cp winwing-dcs-bridge.service ~/.config/systemd/user/
systemctl --user enable winwing-dcs-bridge
systemctl --user start winwing-dcs-bridge

The bridge uses adaptive sleep — it idles at 1Hz when DCS isn't running (near-zero CPU) and ramps up to 100Hz when telemetry data is flowing. Safe to leave running permanently.

5. Use It

1. Start the bridge (or let systemd handle it)
2. Launch DCS World
3. Enter a cockpit
4. LEDs sync and haptics activate automatically

Service Management

# Check status
systemctl --user status winwing-dcs-bridge

# View logs
journalctl --user -u winwing-dcs-bridge -f

# Restart after code changes
systemctl --user restart winwing-dcs-bridge

# Test LEDs (run directly, not via service)
python3 telemetry_bridge.py --test-leds

# Debug mode — verbose output showing LED state changes, haptic triggers, AOA, etc.
python3 telemetry_bridge.py --debug

Troubleshooting

No WinWing devices found

# Check if devices are connected
lsusb | grep 4098

# Check USB device files
ls -la /dev/hidraw*

# Verify you're in the input group
groups

No telemetry data

1. Make sure DCS World is running and you're in the cockpit
2. Make sure Export.lua is installed in the correct ../Saved Games/DCS/Scripts folder
3. Check the DCS log at Saved Games/DCS/Logs/WinWing_Export.log

LEDs not changing

1. Run python3 telemetry_bridge.py --test-leds to verify hardware works
2. Make sure you're flying a supported aircraft (F/A-18C or F-16C)
3. Check bridge output for error messages

Adding Aircraft LED Support

LED argument numbers differ per aircraft module. To add a new aircraft:

1. Use ArgDiscover.lua to find the correct argument numbers
2. Add a new entry to the AIRCRAFT_ARGS table in Export.lua
3. Copy the updated Export.lua to your DCS Scripts folder

Haptic effects require no per-aircraft configuration — they use universal DCS telemetry APIs.

Architecture

DCS World → Export.lua (Lua, UDP) → telemetry_parser.py → telemetry_mappings.py → WinWing Hardware
                                                                    ↓
                                                        ┌───────────┴───────────┐
                                                        ↓                       ↓
                                                  LEDs (PTO2, Throttle)   Motors (Throttle, Joystick)

• Export.lua runs inside DCS, reads cockpit arguments and telemetry APIs, sends JSON via UDP at 30Hz
• telemetry_parser.py receives packets, tracks state changes, fires callbacks
• telemetry_mappings.py maps telemetry data to hardware outputs (LEDs and haptic effects)
• winwing_devices.py communicates with WinWing hardware via HID

Credits

• Protocol reverse engineering: Based on PTO2-for-BMS by ExoLightFR
• DCS-Bios: tool was helpful in initial version and reverse engineering efforts, now deprecated, still great project!
• Development: Built for the DCS Linux community

Other DCS on Linux with WinCtrl troubleshooting

• The Orion2 Throttle 80 buttons cap: There's an great kernel module for that-linux-winwing. Should be by default on kernels above v.6.10. The setup is pretty straightforward.
• The Orion2 joystick buttons not reading: I tried to write something to fix that, but I mostly did break stuff. It could be related to the weird naming convention, which is rejected by the way proton/wine handles those. Personally i use input-remapper and map everything to the keyboard combinations with right ctrl key. Axes work fine, and if there are issues, i map those to the virtual gamepad. Not elegant, but works.
• OpenTrack- head tracking: I recommend using opentrack-launcher that runs opentrack inside proton layer. There was issue with proton versions >10.17, so i just stick to 10.17 at the time of writing this. Generally it's pretty reliable.