Controls stop working after bringing Steam Deck out of sleep mode

[BruceLeroy]

Starting maybe a week ago, I noticed an issue with controls in games not working after bringing the Steam Deck out of sleep mode. Basically, I use an Xbox Series X controller to play games while docked to my TV (via JSAUX dock). When I'm done playing, I leave the game open and put the SD into sleep mode. When I come back sometime later to continue playing, I bring the SD out of sleep mode, power on the Xbox controller, which connects with no issues. I use the Xbox controller to navigate the Steam GUI menus to resume the game (which you can see running still in the background). Now that I'm in the game, the Xbox controller does not control the game at all.

At this point, I can either choose to use the SD controls to play (which work 100% at this point), or use the Xbox controller to bring up the Steam GUI and go into the controls for the game. I can see both Steam Controller and Xbox Controller. I can make the Xbox controller work again by reordering the controllers. Before reordering controllers, note that the Xbox controller is listed at top priority. If I change the order and put Steam Controller at top priority, now the Xbox controller works 100% and the Steam Controller does not work, at all. That's right, the controls are reversed. However, this makes the game playable, albeit as long as I don't set the SD to sleep mode again...

IF I do set the SD to sleep mode again, when I bring it back out of sleep, now NO controls work in the game, except touch screen controls. If I go to the Steam GUI, all controls work as normal. I can "fix" it again, by going into the controller templates and change the template to Mouse and Keyboard. That allows me to hobble along until I can save my game and exit it completely and start over.

Some things to note:

- Steam GUI controls always work, never any problems in there. Only in games.
- I've tested with multiple games. Specifically two games: Persona 4 Golden and Persona 5 Royal. Same exact behavior in both games.
- I have bounced around between Stable/Beta/Preview, no change.
- I have reinstalled Steam OS via USB drive. No change.
- I have performed a factory reset via the System menu in the Steam GUI. No change.

I saw someone mention in another thread about an issue with the most recent SD firmware causing this. Could this be the case? Also, curious if anyone else out there is experiencing this same behavior. At this point, it's either a firmware issue or a hardware issue. Hoping it's not hardware causing the problem....

[mrzeppy68]

I’m having the same issues with Fallout 4: GOTY.
I was able to resume from sleep mode with the Xbox Series X controller until around Wednesday. Now I need to restart the game if o want to use the controller.

[DooMsDaYRangeR]

It’s

Originally posted by BruceLeroy:

Starting maybe a week ago, I noticed an issue with controls in games not working after bringing the Steam Deck out of sleep mode. Basically, I use an Xbox Series X controller to play games while docked to my TV (via JSAUX dock). When I'm done playing, I leave the game open and put the SD into sleep mode. When I come back sometime later to continue playing, I bring the SD out of sleep mode, power on the Xbox controller, which connects with no issues. I use the Xbox controller to navigate the Steam GUI menus to resume the game (which you can see running still in the background). Now that I'm in the game, the Xbox controller does not control the game at all.

At this point, I can either choose to use the SD controls to play (which work 100% at this point), or use the Xbox controller to bring up the Steam GUI and go into the controls for the game. I can see both Steam Controller and Xbox Controller. I can make the Xbox controller work again by reordering the controllers. Before reordering controllers, note that the Xbox controller is listed at top priority. If I change the order and put Steam Controller at top priority, now the Xbox controller works 100% and the Steam Controller does not work, at all. That's right, the controls are reversed. However, this makes the game playable, albeit as long as I don't set the SD to sleep mode again...

IF I do set the SD to sleep mode again, when I bring it back out of sleep, now NO controls work in the game, except touch screen controls. If I go to the Steam GUI, all controls work as normal. I can "fix" it again, by going into the controller templates and change the template to Mouse and Keyboard. That allows me to hobble along until I can save my game and exit it completely and start over.

Some things to note:

- Steam GUI controls always work, never any problems in there. Only in games.
- I've tested with multiple games. Specifically two games: Persona 4 Golden and Persona 5 Royal. Same exact behavior in both games.
- I have bounced around between Stable/Beta/Preview, no change.
- I have reinstalled Steam OS via USB drive. No change.
- I have performed a factory reset via the System menu in the Steam GUI. No change.

I saw someone mention in another thread about an issue with the most recent SD firmware causing this. Could this be the case? Also, curious if anyone else out there is experiencing this same behavior. At this point, it's either a firmware issue or a hardware issue. Hoping it's not hardware causing the problem....

It’s a problem with the latest Steam Deck update. Nothing you can do until valve fixes the problem.

[BruceLeroy]

Originally posted by DooMsDaYRangeR:

It’s a problem with the latest Steam Deck update. Nothing you can do until valve fixes the problem.

That’s definitely reassuring. I’m fine with bugs that will be fixed. The thing that worried me the most was I couldn’t find any posts of people having this issue now. I see at least one other person is having the problem, too. So at least it’s not just me.

Hoping it’s fixed soon though. One of the things I like most about the SD is the seamless experience. I just push the power button and turn on my controller and I’m good to go. Looking forward to getting back to that!

[cvg23]

Glad i saw this! I was having the same issue. Deck seems to be crashing a lot more too....

[BruceLeroy]

Originally posted by cvg23:

Glad i saw this! I was having the same issue. Deck seems to be crashing a lot more too....

Glad to hear this post has helped other people besides me! Although I’m not having any crashing issues. Is it just certain games that are crashing for you?

[76561198264707224]

Controls stop working after bringing Steam Deck out of sleep mode

This Has Happened With Computers
--- Basically It's Just Your Computer Waking Up,
But Your Devices Aren't Waking Up Along With It

In My Case Of The Last So Many Years, Has Been That
This Is Caused By A Driver Malfunctioning To Work Correctly...

Which Makes It Work With Your Devices, But If The Device Is Shut Off,
In Sleep Mode? It Might Break The Connection...

If The Driver Stops Functioning Entirely, Though?
--- Then Your Devices Won't Work At All, Even When
Your STEAM Deck Turns On From A Shut Down State...

This Is Mostly Linked To A Device Driver Not Being Compatible With The Update Version
Of The Device That Is Currently Running On The Devices Like STEAM Deck...

That Is All I Can Say Here... That Is Just My Experiences With This Myself,
But Your Problems May Not Be The Same As Mine, Or Maybe They Are??

Anyways, Good Luck

[Falkentyne]

Don't put it to sleep while a game is running, then.

[BruceLeroy]

Originally posted by GuRuAsakiFriends:

Controls stop working after bringing Steam Deck out of sleep mode

This Has Happened With Computers
--- Basically It's Just Your Computer Waking Up,
But Your Devices Aren't Waking Up Along With It

In My Case Of The Last So Many Years, Has Been That
This Is Caused By A Driver Malfunctioning To Work Correctly...

Which Makes It Work With Your Devices, But If The Device Is Shut Off,
In Sleep Mode? It Might Break The Connection...

If The Driver Stops Functioning Entirely, Though?
--- Then Your Devices Won't Work At All, Even When
Your STEAM Deck Turns On From A Shut Down State...

This Is Mostly Linked To A Device Driver Not Being Compatible With The Update Version
Of The Device That Is Currently Running On The Devices Like STEAM Deck...

That Is All I Can Say Here... That Is Just My Experiences With This Myself,
But Your Problems May Not Be The Same As Mine, Or Maybe They Are??

Anyways, Good Luck

I appreciate your post, thank you for taking the time to respond. However, this [most likely] isn't a driver issue. The controller works. Pressing the Xbox button brings up the Steam GUI, and I can move around there just fine. The controller just doesn't work in the game, unless I go through one of the processes I detailed in my original post.

[BruceLeroy]

Originally posted by Falkentyne:

Don't put it to sleep while a game is running, then.

Yes, that is the temporary workaround that I'm using.

[Mahjik]

Originally posted by BruceLeroy:

I appreciate your post, thank you for taking the time to respond. However, this [most likely] isn't a driver issue. The controller works. Pressing the Xbox button brings up the Steam GUI, and I can move around there just fine. The controller just doesn't work in the game, unless I go through one of the processes I detailed in my original post.

Ignore posts by GuRuAsaki. The user gets banned for their posts, disappears for a few months, comes back and starts spamming and will eventually be banned again.

[Veica]

To me it sounds like when you put it in Sleep mode the controller disconnects and it switches to the Deck's input, then when coming back from Sleep the game is still expecting the controller input but due to the disconnect it isn't recognizing the controller being reconnected or something. I've had something similar happen on my desktop PC fairly often in the past, I just make sure to disconnect controllers/close games and it hasn't really been a problem since.

My only recommendation once resuming from sleep is to double-check controller order and/or disconnect and reconnect the controller a couple times (NOT by unpairing).

[MathYouMinus]

This has been burning me for the past week or so as well.

Playing Final Fantasy VI Pixel Remaster with a DualSense controller. Fortunately in that game I can use mouse controls to get to the game's quick save, but this never used to be an issue until recently. Seems to affect both the DualSense and the Steam Deck controller itself.

[BruceLeroy]

Originally posted by Veica:

To me it sounds like when you put it in Sleep mode the controller disconnects and it switches to the Deck's input, then when coming back from Sleep the game is still expecting the controller input but due to the disconnect it isn't recognizing the controller being reconnected or something. I've had something similar happen on my desktop PC fairly often in the past, I just make sure to disconnect controllers/close games and it hasn't really been a problem since.

My only recommendation once resuming from sleep is to double-check controller order and/or disconnect and reconnect the controller a couple times (NOT by unpairing).

Yeah, that appears to be happening. The order is correct before going to sleep (Xbox #1, Steam controller #2). When it comes out of sleep, the order is the same. At this point, only one of them works, they don't both work (again, this is only in the game. Both work in the Steam GUI). The order is the same. Xbox #1, Steam Controller #2. But only the Steam Controller works in the game. But only the Steam Controller will control the game. Now, if you swap the order to Steam Controller #1 and Xbox #2, then the Xbox controller works and the Steam Controller stops working. Very odd behavior.

Now, the REAL kicker is if you send the SD to sleep again. When you wake it up after the second sleep, NEITHER controller works in game, and no amount of swapping the order around will make any difference. Touch screen controls do still work. And, as noted in my original post, you can switch controls to the "Mouse + Keyboard" template (I might have the name of the template wrong) and have some buttons on the controller assigned and working. I do this if I have to, in order to save the game and exit. Once exited and game launched again, the controls ingame work normally again, and the "sleep counter" resets to 0.

[BruceLeroy]

Originally posted by MathYouMinus:

This has been burning me for the past week or so as well.

Playing Final Fantasy VI Pixel Remaster with a DualSense controller. Fortunately in that game I can use mouse controls to get to the game's quick save, but this never used to be an issue until recently. Seems to affect both the DualSense and the Steam Deck controller itself.

Yes, this is definitely not normal behavior. Before this started (maybe 1-2 weeks ago, for me, now) my experience with the SD was seamless. I could play a game (docked to the TV) with a Xbox controller and put the SD to sleep, and wake it some time later and turn on the controller and I'm good to go. I had no issues, whatsoever.

I'm anxiously looking forward to getting back to that. In the meantime, though, it's only a minor nuisance to have to use these workarounds. Definitely not stopping me from enjoying my gaming time.

[hans]

It’s maddening that this is still a problem. I’m so sick of force quitting games due to this issue.