Adding gamepads support to MXQ S805 Android TV box

I recently bought an Android TV BOX from a chinese vendor for less than 30 euros. The model is the MXQ one, embedding an Amlogic S805 quad core UC under Android 4.4 (kitkat).
Board model is "m201".

Connected via HDMI to a Samsung flat screen, I can say it does the job. I can browse my LAN with the 10/100M ethernet to watch HD movies , and that is much faster than using any WIFI connection. It also supports external NTFS USB2 hard drive.
Specifications :

• Chipset: Am logic S805 Quad-Core Cortex-A5 at 1.5GHz
• GPU: Quad-Core Mali-450 at 600MHz+
• FLASH: 8GB NAND FLASH / RAM: 1GB DDR3
• USB host: 4 High speed USB 2.0,support U DISK and USB HDD
• Card reader: SD/SDHC/MMC cards
• High Definition video output: SD/HD max.1920×1080 pixel
• LAN: Ethernet:10/100M, standard RJ-45 / Wireless: Built in WiFi
• HDMI: HDMI 1.4b with CEC / AV: Support / SPDIF/IEC958: Coaxial

I have installed the Archos Video Player app from the Google market. This small piece of software is perfect for the box, and much faster and simplier than the XBMC app on Android. It allows me to browse my SMB shares with a really cool GUI, designed especially for TV.

I own 2 PC Logitech cordless rumble pad,

so I wanted to use them with MAME, to play retro-games. But no luck. The Linux kernel of the beast doesn't include any game pad drivers, so Android apps can't see them. I tested also my Xbox 360 game pad : same result.

After a full kernel recompilation, I have now full gamepad support for both Logitech and Xbox gamepads !!

Hopefully, the box is pre-rooted, so you don't have to hack it to get superuser permissions.
Drivers can be loaded as module with the "insmod" shell command, in a terminal session (use adb or a terminal Android app). You must be in su mode.
for instance:  

insmod ff-memless.ko
insmod xpad.ko
insmod hid-logitech.ko

will load Xbox gamepads support (ff-memless is the force feedback driver) + HID Logitech support.

You have to install some "keylayout" to the /system/usr/keylayout directory if you want to use the gamepad to navigate in Android menu and applications.  The kl file maps gamepad events to keys events that Android will interpret. You can edit the mapping to build you customized controls.
To copy theses files , you must remount the system partition as writeable.

I made a zip pack containing all games pads drivers as ko modules I was able to compile with the kernel,  a set of keylayout. and a script to launch modules. I recommend to unzip on the /sdcard and to not modify system/lib.  Modules can be loaded from the sdcard.

To launch modules at each boot, you can use SManager (Script manager), an app on the market, and making the sh script to be "boot" and "root".  It is the most easy and safe way.

Download here
Enjoy !!