Steam Deck controller not detected by SDL 3.2.24/sdl2-compat 2.32.56 and older Wine versions

[casasfernando]

I'm launching games from Steam through Heroic Games Launcher (flatpak) on my Steam Deck and found that since last Heroic flatpak update (Freedesktop runtime 25.08 using SDL versions from the title), Steam Input is not working anymore (no inputs registered in Wine).
I'm using WineGE-8-26 as the compatibility layer and this setup was working fine with Freedesktop runtime 23.08 (SDL 2.28) but then it broke with Freedesktop runtime 24.08 (SDL 2.30) and remains broken on Freedesktop runtime 25.08 (SDL 3.2.24/sdl2-compat 2.32.56): https://gitlab.com/freedesktop-sdk/freedesktop-sdk/-/issues/1818

I tried to troubleshoot the problem by enabling SDL logging and it looks like the problem is SDL can't detect Steam Input's virtual controller (apologies if I'm not using the correct terminology). If I connect a PS4 controller to the Steam Deck and leave Steam Input enabled for it, SDL does detect the PS4 controller but since it's filtered/blacklisted (SDL_GAMECONTROLLER_IGNORE_DEVICES env var) by Steam Input it's not enabling it. If I disable Steam Input and the game supports the controller then it will work but unfortunately Steam Input is required for the Steam Deck controls and also for Steam Controller to work and can't be disabled.
In Wine log I saw the messages below (I can provide the full log if needed):

0090:trace:hid:bus_main_thread L"SDL" main loop starting
0090:trace:hid:sdl_bus_init args 0xdcf6a0
sdl2-compat 2.32.56, built on Nov 10 2011 at 15:00:00, talking to SDL3 3.2.24
sdl2-compat: This app appears to be named: wine-preloader
INFO: App name: SDL Application
INFO: App version: <unspecified>
INFO: App ID: <unspecified>
INFO: SDL revision: SDL-3.2.24-GIT-NOTFOUND
007c:fixme:wineusb:query_id Unhandled ID query type 0x5.
007c:fixme:wineusb:query_id Unhandled ID query type 0x5.
DEBUG: Container detected, disabling HIDAPI udev integration
007c:fixme:wineusb:query_id Unhandled ID query type 0x5.
007c:fixme:wineusb:query_id Unhandled ID query type 0x5.
007c:fixme:wineusb:query_id Unhandled ID query type 0x5.
007c:fixme:wineusb:query_id Unhandled ID query type 0x5.
007c:fixme:wineusb:query_id Unhandled ID query type 0x5.
007c:fixme:wineusb:query_id Unhandled ID query type 0x5.
007c:fixme:wineusb:query_id Unhandled ID query type 0x5.
DEBUG: Added HIDAPI device 'HJZ Mayflash Wiimote PC Adapter' VID 0x057e, PID 0x0306, bluetooth 0, version 256, serial NONE, interface 0, interface_class 0, interface_subclass 0, interface_protocol 0, usage page 0x0001, usage 0x0005, path = /dev/hidraw0, driver = NONE (DISABLED)
DEBUG: Added HIDAPI device 'HJZ Mayflash Wiimote PC Adapter' VID 0x057e, PID 0x0306, bluetooth 0, version 256, serial NONE, interface 1, interface_class 0, interface_subclass 0, interface_protocol 0, usage page 0x0001, usage 0x0005, path = /dev/hidraw1, driver = NONE (DISABLED)
DEBUG: Added HIDAPI device 'HJZ Mayflash Wiimote PC Adapter' VID 0x057e, PID 0x0306, bluetooth 0, version 256, serial NONE, interface 2, interface_class 0, interface_subclass 0, interface_protocol 0, usage page 0x0001, usage 0x0005, path = /dev/hidraw2, driver = NONE (DISABLED)
DEBUG: Added HIDAPI device 'HJZ Mayflash Wiimote PC Adapter' VID 0x057e, PID 0x0306, bluetooth 0, version 256, serial NONE, interface 3, interface_class 0, interface_subclass 0, interface_protocol 0, usage page 0x0001, usage 0x0005, path = /dev/hidraw3, driver = NONE (DISABLED)
DEBUG: Added HIDAPI device 'Wireless Controller' VID 0x054c, PID 0x09cc, bluetooth 1, version 0, serial a4:ae:12:ec:5f:2c, interface -1, interface_class 0, interface_subclass 0, interface_protocol 0, usage page 0x0001, usage 0x0005, path = /dev/hidraw6, driver = NONE (DISABLED)
007c:fixme:wineusb:query_id Unhandled ID query type 0x5.
DEBUG: Container detected, disabling udev integration
0090:trace:hid:bus_main_thread L"SDL" main loop started
0090:trace:hid:process_device_event Received action 605
0090:trace:hid:sdl_add_device ignoring {vid 054c, pid 09cc, version 0001, input -1, uid 00000000, is_gamepad 0}, in SDL blacklist
0090:trace:hid:process_device_event Received action 653

I searched the issues in the repo and tried some environment variables I found (e.g.: setting STEAM_COMPAT_PROTON=1 since SDL_GAMECONTROLLER_ALLOW_STEAM_VIRTUAL_GAMEPAD=1 was already defined) but nothing helped.

Any ideas on how to get this working again with SDL3 / sdl2-compat version mentioned in the title?

System details:

• Hardware: Steam Deck OLED
• Kernel: Linux 6.11.11-valve24-2-neptune-611-gfd0dd251480d
• OS: SteamOS 3.7.17 (problem was the same with 3.7.15)

Thanks

[slouken]

Can you give detailed step by step instructions on reproducing this? Assume I know nothing :)

[casasfernando]

Thanks for your quick reply @slouken and not disregarding the issue right away after reading I'm using an older version of Wine (actually the last release of Wine-GE since it was discontinued in favor of Proton-GE+umu).
The reason I suspect the issue is related to SDL is because Wine-GE 8-26 is using SDL instead of hidapi to detect controllers and the only thing that changed is the flatpak Freedesktop runtime version which provides different libraries inside the flatpak sandbox, including SDL.

I can repro the issue on SteamOS 3.7.15 and 3.7.17 at least. Is not Steam Deck specific, I can also reproduce it on a PC (also running SteamOS -all AMD hardware-). On the Steam Deck the problem is worst because the controller requires Steam Input enabled. I can't confirm this is also happening on other distros but I can try to repro on Debian 13 if needed.

Required software:

• Steam linux client (latest stable version)
• Heroic Games Launcher (latest flatpak release)
• Wine-GE 8-26 (you can download this version directly from within HGL)
• A Wine-GE 8-26 prefix (you can create a new one or I can share an empty one that you can use for repros)
• An application or game that supports controller input (optional since you can use Wine's gamepad control panel applet for testing)

Repro steps:

1. Install Heroic Games Launcher (HGL) flatpak from Flathub
2. Launch HGL
3. In HGL download Wine-GE 8-26 (it is the latest Wine-GE version available)
4. Add a new game using the "Add game" button in the library view and select Wine-GE 8-26 as the Wine version to use for the new prefix.
5. In the wizard clic on "Run installer" to create the prefix but then once you get the dialog to select the installer EXE file you can cancel it since the prefix will be already created. You don't really need to install a game, any app would do or even selecting notepad.exe inside the prefix as the game executable. The reason is that just opening Wine's Control Panel (control.exe) to access Wine's gamepad configuration is enough to confirm if the controller is detected or not. Alternatively you can install any game you may have with controller support.
6. Once you finish the wizard to add a new game, edit the game settings (if needed) and select control.exe inside windows\system32 as the game executable (this will launch Wine's control panel instead of the game to test faster). Alternatively you can use the game executable if you installed an actual game with controller support.
7. Add the HGL game to Steam using HGL's "Add to Steam" button. This will add HGL game to Steam as a non-Steam game.
8. Close HGL.
9. In Steam, make sure Steam Input is enabled for the new game added (you may need to restart Steam client to see the new game added to your Steam library)
10. From Steam client, launch the game/Wine's control panel. Controller will be missing.
11. Close the application.
12. Back in Steam, disable Steam Input for the game.
13. Launch the game again. This time the controller would be detected. (You can also test the same with an external controller. E.g.: DS4)

Additional steps in case you want to confirm that with Flatpak's Freedesktop runtime 23.08 Steam Input is working with Wine-GE 8-26 as expected:

1. Open a terminal window
2. Run: flatpak update --commit=c45c6ff163a601137f103809261e3bf72becfa6f10263efb9721cb9a1429bc91 com.heroicgameslauncher.hgl (sudo may be required if you installed HGL flatpak at system level). This command will rollback HGL to the previous flatpak package release which only difference with current one is that it uses Freedesktop 23.08 (SDL 2.28) instead of 25.08 (SDL 3.2.24/sdl2-compat 2.32.56).
3. Run steps 9 to 11 above to confirm that Steam Input virtual gamepad is detected successfully.

Apologies for the long post but I tried to be as detailed as possible, as you requested.
BTW this issue seems to be affecting Lutris and Bottles as well but since many people is using Proton-GE latest version (10.x), it seems the problem is not reproducible and it's only affecting users using older versions of Pronto/Proton-GE/Wine-GE.

If you don't want to go through all the testing/repro hassle, I can do it. Just need your guidance to setup SDL logging as needed or to collect any information you may need.

Thanks!

[slouken]

I'm not able to reproduce this. Am I missing something?

[casasfernando]

I don’t know to be honest. I’m not doing anything special.
I’m wondering if it's SteamOS related or what (you are using Ubuntu right?)
Can I download testcontroller so I can try it out in my Wine environment or I have to build it myself?
Also I will try to reproduce the issue on my laptop (Debian 13).

Do you want me share the output of printenv or something else to compare with yours?
It’s really frustrating that you can't repro. I promise I don't do anything special and I'm not insane lol
Does the controller appear as detected in Wine’s control panel?
Is your controller connected over USB? Bluetooth?

[casasfernando]

I was able to reproduce the issue on my laptop running Debian 13 with a DS4 controller regardless of using USB or Bluetooth to connect it. As soon as I disable Steam Input, the controller is working again in Wine, no problem.

Are you sure that Steam Input is enabled in your test? If you are using an Xbox controller, I think Steam Input is not enabled by default for it:

[slouken]

Ah, I can reproduce this now. The trick is that I have to close the Heroic Games Launcher before launching the shortcut from within Steam.

[slouken]

Where do you find that log file?

If I run the SDL2 testgamecontroller with the same libraries and environment as winedevice.exe, it sees a Steam Virtual Gamepad.

[slouken]

Hmm, I dropped in SDL 2.28 into the 25.08 runtime, and that didn't fix it. I also rolled back hgl and confirmed it was using the older runtime and that also didn't fix it.

[casasfernando]

Ah, I can reproduce this now. The trick is that I have to close the Heroic Games Launcher before launching the shortcut from within Steam.

Indeed. You need to launch HGL (or the game if you added the game within HGL to Steam) from the shortcut within Steam.
The log file can be found if you open HGL and go to Settings => Log select the game/title and then Show log file in folder. The log file is named launch.log.
But I think you need to enable the log first and then at least run the title once for the log to be generated. Go to Library click on the game settings button (next to the play button) and then go to Advanced. There make sure that you check Enable verbose log. In the same dialog you can add any additional environment variables. You will find the option scrolling down.
E.g.: in the log I shared above I configured Wine to increase log verbosity for the channels related to gamepad input WINEDEBUG=+hid,+dinput,+xinput,+input,+rawinput.

About rolling back to HGL with runtime version 23.08, that works for me 100% of the time. Did you restart HGL (or close it, rollback, open it again) after the rollback?

Thanks

[ivyl]

I did some testing and it looks like it's related to handling of SteamVirtualGamepadInfo=....

If you run Proton Steam passes it as SteamVirtualGamepadInfo_Proton and then depending on version we have special handling for that. Released Proton 8.0 just ignored this variable completely.

For non-Steam apps that doesn't look like Proton I believe that Steam just passes SteamVirtualGamepadInfo= directly. At least it did to my test program. AFAIU this results in faked vid/pid and trips Proton's controller blacklist handling.

You can try changing the shortcut to SteamVirtualGamepadInfo="" %command% or an equivalent to see if it makes any difference?

Not sure what have changed between those SDL versions in particular though to cause this behavior change.

[casasfernando]

@ivyl you are right.
SteamVirtualGamepadInfo=/home/deck/.local/share/Steam/config/virtualgamepadinfo.txt when I'm launching the non-Steam game.
I tried SteamVirtualGamepadInfo="" as suggested and now Steam Input virtual gamepad is working fine again!

Content of /home/deck/.local/share/Steam/config/virtualgamepadinfo.txt:

[slot 0]
name=PS4 Controller
VID=0x054c
PID=0x09cc
handle=0x0000a4ae12ec5f2c
type=ps4

And these VID/PID pair is blacklisted in SDL_GAMECONTROLLER_IGNORE_DEVICES.
Is this something that needs to be looked into from SDL? Steam linux client?

Thank you both for looking into this!

PS: I test the same on my Steam Deck because I also want to check the VID/PID pair there in /home/deck/.local/share/Steam/config/virtualgamepadinfo.txt.