PDP Xbox One Controllers, Linux Mint 19.1, and Steam...What could go wrong?

[Enwood]

Hey all

So I'm having some issues with PDP Xbox One Wired Controllers (blue and black camo), Linux Mint 19.1 Tessa, and Steam. Followed some how-to guides to get these set up, and i couldn't find any with this problem. Hoping someone here can help me out.

So when I first start the PC, a xpad error message pops up:

 Could not open directory /home/<username>/.config/xpad. This directory is needed to store preference and pad information. Xpad will close now. 

Run jstest-gtk, no controllers are found in the list. If i run

 sudo modprobe xpad 

and then refresh the list in jstest-gtk the 2 controllers show up:

Generic X-Box pad
Device: /dev/input/js0

Generic X-Box pad
Device: /dev/input/js1

But in the properties windows in jstest-gtk, none of either controller's inputs are registered.

If i then open up Steam, it recognizes i am using a controller and suggests Big Picture mode. Open Big Picture mode and neither controller's inputs are registered, only mouse and keyboard. Go into Steam's "General Controller Settings" and under Detected Controllers:

• Generic Gamepad : Xbox One Controller
  
• Unregistered : Xbox 360 Controller

So Steam sees them just like jstest-gtk, but the only way i can find to get the controllers' inputs to actually register is if I select each controller in the Steam settings screen and click "Identify" for each. Each controller will vibrate and their inputs will then be recognized by the system.

Play/stream a game and the 2 controllers then work properly and independently, couch co-op ftw.

However after i close whichever game, the PC's mouse does not work properly, sort of like the gamepads' axes are overriding or conflicting with the mouse's axes with a constant up input. It constantly scrolls the mouse cursor to the top of the screen. Moving the mouse down will move the cursor down but you have to fight the upward input. Holding either stick down on either gamepad will cause the upward input for the cursor to move slower, but not stop. Mouse is pretty much uncontrollable.

If i hold the Xbox button on the controller until the Steam menu pops up and use the dpad to exit steam, the mouse continues to exhibit the same behaviour even on the desktop. The only way i have found to rectify it is to reboot the system via keyboard/terminal or choosing Restart System in the Steam Menu.

Then have to repeat it all over again.

#1 what is with the xpad error message on start up, and is there a way i can set the xpad module to automatically initialize on startup?

#2 why are none of the controllers' inputs recognized until Steam sends them a vibrate command?

#3 why do the controllers' inputs then override the system's cursor after playing/streaming a game?

Thanks in advance to anyone able to point me in the right direction. Possibly relevant system and driver specs below:

AMD Phenom II X4 965
990FX+SB950 Chipsets
8GB RAM
EVGA 550Ti 1GB
Kingston 120GB SATA SSD

Linux Mint 19.1 Tessa
Gnome 3.28.2
Kernel version: 4.15.0-54-generic
X.org NVIDIA Driver: 390.116

xboxdrv version: 0.8.8-1
xserver-xorg-input-joystick = 1:1.6.3-1build1

[Sumé Linux]

xboxdrv and xserver-xorg-input-joystick shouldn't be installed! They are not good for xbox controllers. Just delete them.

sudo apt remove xserver-xorg-input-joystick xboxdrv
sudo apt autoclean
sudo apt autoremove

Just install these packages and thats enough: joystick jstest-gtk

sudo apt install joystick jstest-gtk

Then: reboot

The package xserver-xorg-input-joystick cause the problem messing controller and mouse operations.
The xboxdrv package are deprecated and you don't need this at all. Just have the kernel updated. All configs for your controller are there.

I have a Xbox One S controller and use it pairing with bluetooth on Ubuntu 18.04.. It just works after disabling ertm. Wired Xbox controller is easier because you don't need to buy a bluetooth adapter for your PC.

Hope it helps.

[Enwood]

Thanks for the reply.

I removed xboxdrv and xserver-xorg-input-joystick and made sure joystick and jstest-gtk were both on the current version. That definitely solved the issue with the mouse input being overridden, so thank you!

Still get the xpad error about the ~/.config/xpad directory on system startup and must run sudo modprobe xpad to get the controllers to show up in jstest-gtk/Steam. Then still the only way their inputs are registered is to "Identify" them in Steam.

Any thoughts?


Edit:
I did some further digging. The error message on startup i believe was from the xpad package, not the module. The ~/.config/xpad directory was set to root permissions so user could not access. I never use xpad so i removed it $ sudo apt remove xpad. Error message on start up fixed.

Still didn't fix the xpad module not autoloading on startup. So i added xpad to /etc/modules. Still not autoloading. Ran:

grep xpad /etc/modprobe.d/* It returned:

/etc/modprobe.d/xboxdrv.conf : blacklist xpad

So it was still blacklisted by xboxdrv. Go figure

$ sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/xboxdrv.conf and removed the line "blacklist xpad".

Xpad module now loads on startup and doesnt require sudo modprobe xpad every time.

However the controllers' inputs still arent recognized by the system (jstest-gtk or Steam) until "Indentified" in Steam.

[Static]

https://forum.level1techs.com/t/pdp-wired-controller-blue-camo-working-in-linux/131621

[Static]

https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/a6754fae1e66e9a40fed406290d7ca3f2b4d227c