Summary
Linux 7.0 kernel now supports Rock Band 4 PS4/PS5 guitars (PDP RiffMaster, CRKD Gibson SG, and Gibson dongle).
The patch has merged upstream; Rock Band 4 guitars work at the kernel level for emulators and unofficial PC apps.
I can already picture someone installing Arch Linux using a guitar; absurd, iconic, and now possible.
Look, okay, I know I’ve gone on record for betting on 2026 being the year of gaming on Linux, and I still stand by that prediction. But if you asked me to make a guess as to how the Linux kernel will evolve to help gamers move to the open-source platform, “adding support for a plastic guitar controller for the PS4 and PS5” would be way down the list. And yet, the open-source community has delivered. A recent git pull has revealed that someone has been working hard to add Rock Band 4 support to the Linux 7.0 kernel, and the best bit is that the pull has already been merged.
Related
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Linux 7.0 will let you use your Rock Band 4 controllers on your OS
On the kernel level, no less
Credit:Â Harmonix
As spotted by Phoronix, we’re seeing more git pulls appear as Linus begins collecting up everyone’s work for the big 7.0 party. We’ve already had a sneak peek at a merge that will add a new self-repairing feature that automatically fixes your XFS filesystem; at the time, we didn’t know if it’d get in or not, but checking now, it seems to have been accepted. Well, if you’re less of a “will-it-won’t-it” kind of person and want to see what’s already been confirmed for Linux 7.0, then here’s a little nugget of information for you that’s been pulled already:
– Support for Rock Band 4 PS4 and PS5 guitars (Rosalie Wanders)
Proronix notes that these guitars include “the PDP RiffMaster and the CRKD Gibson SG,” along with the Gibson dongle. It’ll work regardless of whether the guitar is in PS4 and PS5 mode, too. I’ve never heard of you prior to this, Rosalie Wanders, but you’re already my favorite Linux developer. Here’s hoping she keeps the momentum going.
Obviously, the intended use for this patch is to allow people to use their plastic guitars when emulating a game, or while playing one of the unofficial apps for the PC. However, when I read about this new feature, my mind immediately thought about someone setting up Arch Linux using a guitar. I don’t know how someone would achieve that, but if it’s going to be someone, it’s going to be an Arch Linux user. Those folks are on another level entirely.