Hello,
No idea why this is happening, as apparently no one else is having this issue, but my PS5 controller does not work with linux. I did a clean install of Mint today, and on my old install it was working great. Now, Steam recognizes the controller, testing the inputs shows everything works, and Linux recognizes the controller is connected with the USB, but it is not registering with any game. None of the inputs work, and even more annoyingly pressing the PS button immediately launches steam big picture mode, which I do not want.
I’ve been trying for hours to fix this and everyone else is saying it works great out of the box, but that is the opposite of the case for me. Any advice?
Hi there, having two dualsense and one ps4 controller, using them for ages on Linux and they mostly run great, but your issues doesn’t sound completely new either.
It’s very important on how you installed Steam and whether it’s native package or Flatpak. For Flatpak you might need special udev rules to allow the controller inside sandbox, usually can be installed using steam-devices package.
As others said, enable Playstation Controller support in Steam’s controller settings page.
Check if Steam overlay is functioning. In-game, press Shift+Tab and you should see the overlay and then you should be able to get to controller settings. Try out both with Steam Input enabled and disabled - by default I guess it depends on the game, but mostly enabling it will make it work for games that have issues picking up ds natively.
Test your controllers using something like jstest-gtk. Perhaps there is something else connected that acts as player 1 controller.
I figured out the issue. Really weird. Steam compatibility mode was disabled so enabling it made my controller work. No idea why. Thanks for the reply though!
Pretty much because for some reason it’s broken mess in native games with SDL, and works nicely when using Proton, I noticed that too.
You may need to install steam-devices to get controller support to work.
For me connecting it to a Windows machine and updating the controller firmware made it works. Apparently you could do that using Bottles (wine) directly on your Linux distro.
I’ve had this exact same issue with a Nintendo Switch Pro Controller; IIRC, my fix was disabling Steam input.
Unfortunately this did not work. All of the steam input settings I have turned off
This was the solution for me as well
Im an arch user, a few days ago the same happened after an update of sdl3 and sdl2_compat. I switched to steam beta and things worked.
Might try completely removing the controller from bluetooth, rebooting and repairing.
Might make sure your using the same kernel that the other people are using. Been a very long time since i used mint and dont know how easy it is to change kernels but might be worth a shot.
I’m not even using Bluetooth I’ve just been using a wired USB connection. Very perplexing.
Ignore the bt part then. Id start with steam beta and see if that works. Then try a newer kernel? Worth a shot.
Ok thanks. I’m on the newest kernel
Did you try to pair it with bt just to see if that works? Thats all I got. Hope someone comes along with some other options.
I just did. Same issue. Connected just fine, steam recognizes it, the second I launch a game all the controls stop immediately. Tried two different PS5 controllers.
You know, for linux mint spouting that they are useful right out of the box, I sure have had to spend a ton of time configuring things that didn’t work.
Shit down Steam and see if Mint itself recognizes the controller as an input device. This is possibly a steam-input issue with an discrepancy in a library version. Alternatively, try Mint LiveUSB to see if it works there, if so, you have a library or config problem in your install.
Mint does recognize the controller (checked using lsusb). I’ve shut down and restarted steam and still no luck. I’ve done everything I could think of. No one has ever seen this issue, apparently. I’m absolutely stumped.
Just logged back into windows to test games and it worked flawlessly.
I had the same issue with my PS5 controller. For me the fix was to go to steam settings -> controller -> “playstation controller support” set to enabled (the default was "enabled in games w/o support). For some reason I had to change that option to make it recognize input in games.
The plot thickens. Just tried a wired Xbox controller and same exact deal. So no controller works.
Honestly I might just switch back to windows. This is infuriating
