HID Sensor Hub orientation and inclinometer sensors
Orientation sensors exposed through the HID Sensor Hub specification, covering device rotation (reported as a quaternion) and 3D inclinometers. These power screen auto-rotate and tilt detection on tablets, 2-in-1 convertible laptops, and embedded devices that route motion sensors through Intel's Integrated Sensor Hub or similar HID-based microcontrollers.
recommendation
Worth keeping but documenting its niche, because the hardware is still shipping in current tablets and convertibles and the code is being actively maintained — patches as recent as 2024 and 2026 show timestamp fixes and subsystem refactoring rather than neglect. No alternative driver covers the same HID sensor usage pages, so removing it would break working devices. A short note clarifying that this serves HID-based sensor hubs (as opposed to direct I2C/SPI motion sensors) would help users understand when it is needed.
repository signals
sources
- lore.kernel.org
March 2026 linux-iio patch fixes hid-sensor-rotation userspace ABI/timestamp handling, showing active maintenance for deployed users.
- lore.kernel.org
March 2026 linux-iio patch updates hid-sensor-rotation to use ext_scan_type, showing current subsystem refactoring rather than abandonment.
- lore.kernel.org
September 2024 linux-iio patch touches hid-sensor-incl-3d, indicating both drivers in this directory still receive upstream attention.
- docs.kernel.org
Kernel docs say HID sensor hubs are found in tablets, 2-in-1 convertible laptops, and embedded products, and Intel ISH appears across multiple CPU generations and commercial devices.
- cateee.net
LKDDb shows CONFIG_HID_SENSOR_DEVICE_ROTATION remains present through current 6.x kernels and 7.0-rc+HEAD.
- cateee.net
LKDDb shows CONFIG_HID_SENSOR_INCLINOMETER_3D remains present through current 6.x kernels and 7.0-rc+HEAD.
codex reasoning notes (technical)
Local shell inspection showed this directory contains two real HID Sensor Hub IIO drivers: quaternion rotation and 3D inclinometer. `mcp__lore_http__.lore_activity` on both .c files returned fresh 2024-2026 linux-iio/stable patches, including bug fixes and API cleanups, with no evidence of a removal series in the returned history. Deployment evidence came from web search results opened from docs.kernel.org and LKDDb: HID sensor hubs are still used in current tablets/2-in-1s/embedded systems, and both configs are still built in current kernels. Hardware is niche rather than mainstream, but still present and maintained; no direct replacement driver covers the same HID usage pages, so removal would be premature.