Gyro Sensor on BrickPi3 returns byte instead of short data

[salamanders]

BrickPi3, ev3dev, lejos, lego-ev3-gyro sensor, I’m getting odd readings. I was expecting degrees, but instead get 0-255 as I tilt the sensor.

Expected Outcome

From the ev3-gyro-sensor docs, it looks like it should be a signed 16-bit integer:
Which isn’t quite ideal, I can’t tell if it went in a circle, and the resolution isn’t as good as 360 degrees.

My readings over a few seconds, I was rocking it back and forth.
I confirmed this was the same reading from /sys/bus/lego/devices/spi0.1:S4:lego-ev3-gyro/lego-sensor/sensor0/device/lego-sensor/sensor0/value0 so it isn’t an artifact of Java or Kotlin.

and after some research, David L said:

"I've confirmed the problem on the BrickPi3 (firmware v1.4.6). There is a mode on the EV3 Color sensor that uses the same data format and that is working, so I am quite confident this is a BrickPi3 firmware issue. Best thing to do would be to test using Raspbian 4 Robots and if the same problem is there, file an issues with Dexter Industries."

After doing so, Nicole P. suggested I log the issue here.

Impact:

• I can't access the angle speed measurement, but I can fake it using a delta from the last read - not a blocker.
• 255 is less granular than 360, but not by much - not a blocker.
• The biggest issue is "wind-up" - I can't tell if "245" is -10, or +245, without keeping track of the history - annoying, but not a blocker.