nowfound

Work · May 24, 2025

RP

Rotary Phone Dial Linux Kernel Driver

A Linux kernel driver that turns a rotary phone dial into an evdev input device. You might be interested in this driver if you - prefer the slow pace of dialing over typing numbers with your numpad, - want to bring your old rotary phone into the digital era, - are an educator looking for a simple example driver with a VM-based end-to-end development & test environment (no real hardware needed) - have another creative use case in mind! This driver was my introduction to embedded Linux years ago—and ultimately led to my career. However, it remained unfinished and unpublished until now.…

In plain words

This is a Linux kernel driver that converts a rotary phone dial into an evdev input device for numeric input. It serves hobbyists wanting to use vintage rotary phones digitally, educators seeking a straightforward driver example with a virtual machine-based development environment requiring no physical hardware, and anyone with creative input device applications. The driver includes end-to-end testing capabilities and represents the creator's introduction to embedded Linux development.

written from the facts on this page · September 2026

From the sources

In the maker’s words, at launch

A Linux kernel driver that turns a rotary phone dial into an evdev input device. You might be interested in this driver if you - prefer the slow pace of dialing over typing numbers with your numpad, - want to bring your old rotary phone into the digital era, - are an educator looking for a simple example driver with a VM-based end-to-end development & test environment (no real hardware needed) - have another creative use case in mind! This driver was my introduction to embedded Linux years ago—and ultimately led to my career. However, it remained unfinished and unpublished until now. Initially, I intended to reimplement the driver in Rust to explore the state of the Rust for Linux project. Unfortunately, I soon realized that the necessary bindings simply are not available yet, so that part will have to wait.

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