Controller layout in game mode & desktop bug

[Kennosuke]

The controller layouts are really broken it's so stressful. Pretty sure I posted this a while back its so frustrating. Please fix this ASAP valve.

I'm on stable channel updates.
In game mode & desktop mode
When creating your own layout & coming back to edit it & then saving by updating the layout it just reverts it back to what I had before changing it. Deleting old layouts I previously made also don't permanently delete they just come right back after a deck restart!?.... I have multiple layouts of same games because they won't delete I have to save a new layout everytime I need to edit something in my controls.

Editing a layout & just going back to game seems to keep the newly changed layout so maybe put some info somewhere in the screen saying it's auto updated or when my layout is downloaded from the cloud or updated to the cloud because its too confusing where its at right now.

We are also able to update our desktop mode controller layout from game mode under the section controller & non-game controller layouts But it has same problem, deleting old layouts brings back previous ones ( doesnt delete permanently) & choosing the header for desktop layout throws a never ending bug loop. Please make it priority to fix guys its been since Last August I got the deck & layouts still broken! Iv even chatted to support teams & they mentioned to write hear about it aswell.

[Uzizmimniz Lord of Hoppyington']

Hi, I was (and sadly am again) having the same problem.
I got it fixed with a Factory Reset of the Steam Deck, but now after some weeks of usage, I have landed on the same problem... ;(
I'm not sure when it began happening again, but I noticed it after turning on Developer Mode ONCE! Now the problem won't go away :/ dev mode already turned off. C'mon Valve, I don't want to keep factory resetting my crap to get it working again! There has to be another way ;-;

[Kennosuke]

Ye don't bother factory reset its just broken right now. follow the other thread I posted to delete your layouts & you should be good 👍

[Calico]

Originally posted by Kennosuke:

Ye don't bother factory reset its just broken right now. follow the other thread I posted to delete your layouts & you should be good 👍

Hey, do you have a link to the other thread? I’m having this issue now and it’s awful… I’ve tried everything! Any ideas would be great, thanks!

[Kennosuke]

Here's what I did bud it's tedius but works, basically just gotta keep deleting the layout you don't want & keep restarting your deck.

Went over to search layouts & deleted everyone one of my multiple layouts one by one & then restarting the deck. So start with one you don't won't delete it then reboot then rinse repeat until you notice it doesn't come back. Obviously the more you have the worse it is but this sorts them coming back. Usually takes about 2 or 3 times reboot & delete to get rid of them repeatedly. Don't use update layout when editing either it just reverts your settings you have to make a complete new save each time which makes the multiples but repeat the delete & reboot & you should be good 👍 goodluck dude took me awhile but I managed to get rid of them. Or you could opt to find the files path of the configs in desktop mode but unless you named them easy to distinguish & know which files to delete & which are important I wouldn't bother just in case. I did it few times but it's scary just incase you ♥♥♥ up.

[Kennosuke]

Another sure way of getting rid of one's you don't want is by looking at the layout details in game mode take a note of the number & paths or take a photo, go into desktop & search & delete them. There's ones called workshop which are cloud saves as far as I know & others under .steam/steam/common/controller configs. Can't remember the exact path but they will be titled by I'd number for steam games & by whatever you named them for non steam games goodluck dude.

[Ariil]

Still experiencing the same issue. I've also opened another post maybe providing more details as I could not find this thread then.

[Calico]

So I tried everything I could in game mode without any luck, but deleting them through desktop mode ended up working eventually… with one catch: I had to open Steam and act as if I was going to delete them through the UI, but then switch over to Dolphin to actually delete them instead.

[Kennosuke]

Yeh game mode deleting is real hit & miss. I had to remember exactly which layout I wanted gone & sometimes it wouldn't be gone until something like the 6th or 7th time I had deleted it & rebooted. It does work though. The best way is in desktop mode to get rid of them but you gotta know the paths & know exactly which ones to delete & which ones not to touch! That's why Valve really needs to get this done! I ask everyone to just keep reporting it because this layout business has been broken for months & it clearly is affecting alot of users as I see a tonne of people report in forums etc.

[Ariil]

Originally posted by Calico:

So I tried everything I could in game mode without any luck, but deleting them through desktop mode ended up working eventually… with one catch: I had to open Steam and act as if I was going to delete them through the UI, but then switch over to Dolphin to actually delete them instead.

Would you be able to give a step-by-step guide? I do not quite get when to delete them through the file manager. Is it before or right after trying to delete them in through Steam Input?

[Calico]

Originally posted by Ariil:

Would you be able to give a step-by-step guide? I do not quite get when to delete them through the file manager. Is it before or right after trying to delete them in through Steam Input?

Sure! So you don't actually need to press the button to delete them in Steam at all. I think having the UI open and them disappearing from your file system is enough for Steam Cloud to get the hint that they shouldn't be re-synced back to your local storage and remove them instead.

So here's what I found worked best for me:

1. Go to Desktop Mode
2. Open Steam
3. Go to the game in your library
4. Open the game's controller settings (controller icon to the right)

Note: at this point, you're forced to use the generic controller layout because Steam BPM is open. From here on out, you'll need to hold the Steam button while using the right trackpad and triggers for the mouse.

5. Change the Current Layout to the one you want to delete
6. Open the layout options (gear icon)
7. Check to see where the path at the bottom of the layout details is
8. Change the Current Layout to a different one
9. Leaving Steam exactly how it is, open Dolphin
10. Navigate to the path you found above

Note: the path I was deleting layouts from is:
/home/deck/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Steam Controller Configs/[USER ID]/config/[GAME ID]

However, there are also other paths layouts are stored in. I never had to go to any workshop folders. I do want to point out that I also found some files under:

/home/deck/.local/share/Steam/userdata/[USER ID]/config/controller_configs/apps/[GAME ID]/[DECK ID]/...

I honestly don't know what these layouts are for exactly. Opening them, they did't match what I wanted to delete so I just left them.

11. The files in the path should be named the same as what you see in the Steam UI.
12. Find the one you want to delete and delete it.
13. Wait a moment and go back to Steam
14. Close out of Controller Settings
15. Switch back to game mode

At this point, you should see MOST of the ones you wanted to delete have disappeared! (hopefully)

-----

However, I also had the added fun of having some that I think had become corrupted in Steam Cloud, and also some that were in Steam Cloud but weren't even downloading locally so I couldn't do this trick with them.

The way I fixed those was a little more involved, but the general idea is this:

If the file had become corrupt but was still available on local storage:

I used the first good file saved after the corrupt one to doctor up a fake "updated" version of the corrupt one. I used the same name, changed the version number to be after the bad file but before the good file, modified the time stamp, etc.

I then followed the same steps above, but instead of deleting anything I just moved it from the folder it saved it into over to the path and overwrote the bad file. I then did the steps above exactly as is and deleted that file. This ended up working.


If the file was in Steam Cloud but not stored locally:

I went to:
https://store.steampowered.com/account/remotestorage

and found the entry for Steam Input Configs

From there I downloaded what Steam Cloud was storing, which ended up also being corrupt. I then did three rounds of the trick above:
1 to move the download files into the folder they referenced in the file as the URL (it was the same folder as everything else)
2 to get my doctored file to replace the one in the cloud
3 to delete it


So there you go! Of course your mileage may vary, but fingers crossed this works for you too! Valve really needs to fix this soon. Steam Input is amazing, but all these bugs make it so frustrating most of the time. I opened an issue on github too, so maybe that will help make it more visible to them...

Hope this helps!

[Calico]

Oh, and controller_neptune.vdf is the autosave file, but since the last update it appears in Steam as a duplicate. I don't recommend deleting that file, as far as I can tell. Everything references that, so it's best to leave it be. I changed the name in the file to Autosave and it didn't cause any issues.

[Kennosuke]

Also on a side note iknow Calico said here didn't do anything with any workshop layouts, I had to dive into some of those the other day I had citra emulator making duplicates everytime I deleted them & loaded citra or the game I had linked & these files kept popping up in:

home/deck/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Steam Controller Configs/[USER ID]/config/[GAME ID]


My hunch was it was steam cloud(workshop folder) & I ended up checking the layout details & searching for the last id number & there they were deep in this folder with a tonne of layouts all labeled as ID's (There was alot & it feels like you shouldn't be in there as there is so much haha😅.) So I'm guessing this is your cloud storage cuz as soon as I deleted them they never came back afterwards,
NOT 100% though I could be wrong hopefully someone else will take a look & double check & confirm.

I even managed to delete templates I made by accident by following the details path of the layout. The details path is your ultimate friend in this situation. I'll try putting the paths back here when I got time, im full time parent so apologies if i take too long.

Calico has done well with the steps guide so thanks man really appreciate that! pretty much in the same paths I was in.👍

[Kennosuke]

So the paths where all my personal controller layouts are which are labeled by me for non steam games & steam games is.... Just noticed this is a linked path version which Calico has posted above!

/home/deck/.steam/steam/steamapps/common/steam controller configs/ (??number ID??might be different for each user??) /config/

My steam games are labeled by ID's & non steam games I have been properly naming so they are easy to note which is which. They are all stored in folders. There is some files in here too but they seem to be steam important stuff so I wouldn't mess with those at all.

The path I think is steam cloud saves for layouts (workshop) as some files in here once opened have a label personal cloud but be very careful & only mess in here if layout details has brought you in this folder as some seem important & it's not entirely clear when opening these files what they are exactly...

/home/deck/.steam/steam/steamapps/workshop/content/241100/

path noted by Calico up above these comments.👍

The path mentioned as home/.local/share/steam/userdata/steam ID/config/controller_configs/apps seems to be labeled as autosaves for me for non steam games. I wouldn't mess with these tbh.

Desktop only controller configs as far as I'm aware is home/.steam/steam/userdata/ID/241100/remote. My desktop controls which I can change by holding start button gamepad/desktop is then in the folder contoller_config, otherwise any configs I made in desktop prior to last big update by Valve are next to that folder in remote as .vdf's....
Example:
I configured pokemmo in desktop mode before using it in game mode so it's saved it here luckily I had named it properly too.
All very confusing so sorry guys it is frustrating 😕 playing around in these paths is the best way to learn it quickly though. Hopefully Valve make it much easier later on & fix the major bugs with saving & deleting in game mode, goodluck!

[Ariil]

Thanks a lot! I'll try that as soon as I can!

That being said, they really need to fix this - in my opinion this is far more complicated than what the average user would be willing to do.