Can't play steam games with controllers [Solved]

Tefrem34 · Last edited by Tefrem34 on Tue Mar 05, 2019 8:01 am; edited 2 times in total

Hello.
I have been struggling with getting my steam controller and ps4 to work with my steam games. I have fallowed the wiki for both controllers as well as the bluetooth setup.
I used to be able to use my ps4 in Rocket League, but not any more.
I can use both the controller on the desktop, in big picture mode, and in some of the steam games menus. But as soon as I start a game, such as in Rocket League, the only button that will work is the menu button; it is the same with the steam controller. In other games such as FEZ, Limbo, and Castle Crashers, neither controller is not detected.
Another strange thing is, that steam does not detect the ps4 controller if it is connected via bluetooth, only if it is plugged in to the usb.
I would greatly appreciate help or suggestions.
Thank you.

Ant P. · Watchman Joined: 18 Apr 2009 Posts: 6920

IIRC some games support it directly, but you have to go into Big Picture Mode and set a controller layout to enable it for all games. The bluetooth controller is also technically a separate device from the USB connection, so you may have to repeat the process for it. Make sure it works without steam running too (the touchpad should work in X11)

Tefrem34 · Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2019 10:31 am Post subject:

@Ant.P I have both controllers working without steam running. I have also gone into full screen mode and set a controller setting for the games using the community configurations. But no dice. The frustrating part is the ps4 controller used to work in all my games, now it doesn't. But with the steam controller, I could never get it to work in game. So at least I have gotten farther along with it working in the menu of the games. That is why I am turning to the forum for help. I know that I am missing one last key component.
(edit) I guess my ps4 controller is not working on the desktop now. Strange.
"set a controller layout to enable it for all games" is there a example of doing this?
Thanks.

Tefrem34 · Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2019 11:00 am Post subject:

So the ps4 controller will connect via bluetooth but after a second it will disconnect. But after using bluetoothctl and plugging in the usb cable I can use it on the desktop like the steam controller. Does this mean that the controllers bluetooth is the problem or my bluetooth usb adapter?

Tefrem34 · Posted: Sun Mar 03, 2019 12:01 pm Post subject:

So I have gotten the both controllers to work but not the way that they should be working. I have to assign them to the keyboard short cuts, which causes them to stop working in the game menus. So the controller options do no work in game only the game menus. Something with steam is prioritizing my keyboard over the controllers, which is supper frustrating because I have no idea how to make it stop this behavior. I am using qmk keyboards that I have set to colemak, so I do not know if that might be contributing to the issue. But even if I unplug my keyboard, it still does not work.
If anyone has an idea to what I can do I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks

Tefrem34 · Posted: Tue Mar 05, 2019 8:05 am Post subject:

So I finally found the issue with my controllers not working in my games, most notably Rocket League. I had to enable the proton support in the game for it to ignore the keyboard as the primary input. From messing with this I am sure it is a Steam/Linux bug with the input priorities. I am stoked to be able to finally use my steam controller!!

Thanks.