Option to disable native Steam Deck Controller driver on distro different from SteamOS

[dragon99919]

Your system information

• Steam client version (build number or date): 29.08.2024
• Distribution (e.g. Ubuntu): Linux Mint
• Opted into Steam client beta?: No
• Have you checked for system updates?: Yes
• Steam Logs: shown below
• GPU: Steam Deck

Please describe your issue in as much detail as possible:

So, I've tried to use Steam Deck with another Linux Distro, and I have one particular problem, that is a Steam Deck controller driver itself. When SteamOS version of Steam is launched (or when using "steam -steamdeck" command) the controller seems to be gone from the devices list and is only used via Virtual Steam Controller. It can be even seen when launched via terminal:

Removing HIDAPI device 'Valve Software Steam Controller' VID 0x28de, PID 0x1205, bluetooth 0, version 768, serial 123456789ABCDEF, interface 0, interface_class 0, interface_subclass 0, interface_protocol 0, usage page 0x0001, usage 0x0002, path = /dev/hidraw1, driver = NONE (DISABLED)

Removing HIDAPI device 'Valve Software Steam Controller' VID 0x28de, PID 0x1205, bluetooth 0, version 768, serial 123456789ABCDEF, interface 1, interface_class 0, interface_subclass 0, interface_protocol 0, usage page 0x0001, usage 0x0006, path = /dev/hidraw2, driver = NONE (DISABLED)

Removing HIDAPI device 'Steam Deck' VID 0x28de, PID 0x1205, bluetooth 0, version 768, serial 123456789ABCDEF, interface 2, interface_class 0, interface_subclass 0, interface_protocol 0, usage page 0xffff, usage 0x0001, path = /dev/hidraw3, driver = SDL_JOYSTICK_HIDAPI_STEAMDECK (ENABLED)

This is the behaviour I would like to gain on any other distro, because when Steam is launched normally, most games switch to the "Steam Deck" device as controller by default and this can cause some problems as not all games can read it properly. This is best seen in RetroArch - when loading it on Steam Deck via SteamOS, only the virtual controller is detected and added, being the default one. When launching on Steam Deck via Linux Mint, two devices are added - Steam Deck controller itself, and Steam Virtual Controller. This can be seen on screenshots that I've attached below:

Can you please add some option to disable the Deck Controller as HID device on other distros as well, in general? I've tried a couple of solutions to this problem (including blacklisting the hid_steam driver) and none seem to help. I would be gladly using steam with "-steamdeck" launch parameter, but for some reason this makes Steam forget my login credentials each time it's launched, and when Steam is not open, it's not possible to login without phone as no keyboard is present.

Steps for reproducing this issue:

1. Launch Steam with "-steamdeck" parameter using Deck hardware and launch RetroArch.
2. Launch Steam with no parameters using Deck hardware and launch RetroArch.
3. Check for differences in controller devices list.

BTW. This was originally posted on Steam Deck Feature Requests Steam Community HUB, but seeing how threads there are going into oblivion I've decided to post it here, hope it's not a problem.