Steam Controller doesn't work at Windows login

[somnolentsurfer]

Well, as the title says really. My Steam controller doesn't work at Windows login. Trackpad movement is so jumpy that it's infuriating to use, the onscreen keyboard doesn't load, and you have to hold the trigger buttons down for ages before it registers as a click.

[cammelspit]

As far as the windows login is concerned, that is actually before Steam itself is loaded so the OSk won't ever load but not to worry since Windows itself has its own OSK that can be used just for the login screen. I use a pin code on my PC so it's only a few digits to log in to make it easier for myself.

Sounds like a wireless connection issue to me with the delayed click and such. Are you using the extender? If you aren't, you prolly should. The SC has pretty good wireless on it, I can use mine from halfway across the house. My brother, on the other hand, has an AMD bulldozer based CPU that is overclocked and in this environment there is so much EMI he had to readjust the placement of everything. He even has the WIFI router in the same room and there is usually no less than 10 devices using WIFI at any given time. EMI is really hard to nail down since it is more or less trial and error.

I made a rather explanatory write up about it in the guide below under the "Managing EMI" heading. I would recommend taking a look.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=670401242

Try a few of the troubleshooting steps there and let me know how it goes. If there is any kind of change you can make in the controller's behavior we can likely nail it down, at least we will try.

Good Luck!

[somnolentsurfer]

I'm pretty sure it's not an EMI issue. The controller functions 100% as expected most of the time, it just becomes jumpy and uncontrollable for specific OS level software functions. Most frustratingly the Windows login screen, but also UAC prompts. The problem appears as soon as those screens appear, and disappears as soon as the desktop, Steam or game resumes. It's purticularly annoying, as those are the few things I couldn't handle with my exisiting Xbox One controller anyway. This was supposed to allow me to control my PC without getting up off the couch.

On the OSK, yes, I know the Windows one is available. But it's unusable with the faulty controller. Shouldn't device drivers for input devices be available at the point you need to input? I'm sure I can actually see the shadow of the SC OSK appear when I click the thumbstick in, it's just that it's hidden by the login screen.

[cammelspit]

Are you talking about Lizard mode? That is the firmware built in the default behavior of the SC if Steam is disabled or not working. it won't be what you set as defaults and yeah it's a little strange but I haven't heard of it being so jumpy. Not sure what but maybe some software setting for mouse control in windows is causing it to be that bad. Sorry, I am kind of guessing now.

[somnolentsurfer]

I don't know what the mode's called. I just want to be able to control my machine entirely from the couch, from login to shutdown, including any installations and downloads. Which is kinda what I thought was the point of the steam controller.

When the fault presents it initially feels as if the trackpad has become compleatly nonresponsive, that's how jumpy it is. As I move my thumb on the trackpad the haptics feedback as expected, the pointer movement just bares no relation to the movement of my thumb. Sometimes it doesn't move at all. Sometimes it moves a tiny distance. Sometimes it leaps all the way across the screen.

So, thanks for trying. Anyone else have any ideas?

[cammelspit]

yeah sorry there, I have never seen anything like that before since how you describe it it's not lizard mode, which should be required for UAC and logins. At this point I highly recommend you go and open a support ticket with Valve, they might be able to help. Good luck!

[somnolentsurfer]

I've finally had the time to test this a bit more, and it seems to only be a problem if Steam is actually running, or set to run on startup. If I exit steam and log out, the controller works fine. If I log out with Steam running (or leave the computer to go into standby) then the controller is unusable. If I power on the computer and Steam is not set to run on start up the controller works fine at login. If the computer restarts and Steam is set to run on start up the controller is unusable at login.

Has anyone else seen this problem? Is there a fix?

[Mrony]

There's a hard default config.
If Steam is not running or when an administrator privilege window is in focus (like an instalation wizard) the Controller will work in hard default; no custom desktop config can be loaded.

If Steam is not running, that hard default will function. The login can be performed with any hardware input including hard default SC.

If Steam is running it will disable that hard default and load custom desktop config. The login screen will ignore software commands coming from Steam. No software can unlock your PC (theoretically). That's a Windows security feature.

In other words the login screen will obey the Controller but ignore Steam.
When Steam is running it's a middle man between SC and OS.

[Boreout [Aut]]

Originally posted by somnolentsurfer:

I don't know what the mode's called. I just want to be able to control my machine entirely from the couch, from login to shutdown, including any installations and downloads. Which is kinda what I thought was the point of the steam controller.

When the fault presents it initially feels as if the trackpad has become compleatly nonresponsive, that's how jumpy it is. As I move my thumb on the trackpad the haptics feedback as expected, the pointer movement just bares no relation to the movement of my thumb. Sometimes it doesn't move at all. Sometimes it moves a tiny distance. Sometimes it leaps all the way across the screen.

So, thanks for trying. Anyone else have any ideas?

The controll is limited to "lizard mode" if steam isn't running:
Button A enter
Button B esc
Left Trigger Right Mouse Click
Right Trigger Left Mouse Click
right pad mousecursor
......

I don't recall anyone stating that the SC would be capable to controll a whole pc from the couch.
It is a gaming device and only works with the steam client and has very limited use outside of that environment (-> lizard mode).

The jumpiness of the mouse in desktopmode (steam running in background) sounds to me like the desktop/BPM configuration is somehow modified to use a joystickmove or joystickcam instead of mouse (default).
Also mouse acceleration could cause the problem (don't know how win 10 handles mouse in default)

Go into big picture mode (gear symbol ->settings -> base configurations -> desktopmode and/or bigpicturemode) and reapply the official configs.
Maybe that could help.

The SC OSK only works when the steam overlay is running , i doubt steam would start before logging into windows.

[somnolentsurfer]

I have reset the default configs.

Lizard mode (I have learnt the term since writing that earlier message) works fine when Steam is not running, and the controller works fine in apps other than Steam when Steam is running. The problem only appears when Steam is running (or set to run on start up) at the login screen and UAC windows.

The Windows OSK works fine at the login screen. It's just unusuable if Steam is running (or set to run on startup) because the controller is unusuable. Ideally I'd probably try using a picture password, because putting the password in on screen in front of the kids kind of defeats the point. But at least with the OSK and the non-functioning controller I can login after 15-20 minutes of struggle. With a picture password it would probably be impossible.

[Boreout [Aut]]

So the login works?
Why does it take 15-20 mins to type in the password ?

I have tried it yesterday the login works quite good with the win OSK, of course if your password is long it could get annoying.

Setting steam to autostart is kind of pointless if you ask me especially if the SC works in lizardmode.
Autostart makes sense if you are using the steamlink.
If i were you i would simply put steam as a desktopsymbol and simply start it the old fashioned way.

My OS is win7_64 bit, don't know how much of a pain the win10 UAC is , but you could lower it or try to start windows as admin.
But starting steam as admin could cause further issues so i wouldn't recommend it.

I forgot to mention that in lizardmode the triggeranalogrange doesn't work , so only full pulls (the digital "click" an the end of the analogtriggers) will be registered.
I might be a bit clumsy in lizardmode (loginscreen and no steam.exe running).

[somnolentsurfer]

Originally posted by Boreout Aut:

So the login works?

Windows works, and behaves as expected. The input from the Steam Controller is erratic and unresponsive, making the process of logging in frustrating and time consuming.

Originally posted by Boreout Aut:

Why does it take 15-20 mins to type in the password ?

Because controller input is erratic and unresponsive, with the pointer jumping all over the place, so hitting the letters on the Windows OSK is nearly impossible.

Originally posted by Boreout Aut:

Setting steam to autostart is kind of pointless if you ask me especially if the SC works in lizardmode.

I use Steam Streaming to play on my laptop, and Moonlight to play on my iPad, so I really want to leave the computer on, with Steam logged in. But I want my machine to be secure, so want Windows to require a password. Obviously remembering to exit Steam every time I step away from the machine is a temporary workaround, but I'm looking for a fix.

Originally posted by Boreout Aut:

I forgot to mention that in lizardmode the triggeranalogrange doesn't work , so only full pulls (the digital "click" an the end of the analogtriggers) will be registered.

Yeah, but I'm finding that even that doesn't register at Windows login, or behaves erratically. Sometimes it responds immediately. Sometimes I need to hold the trigger fully depressed for a couple of seconds before it registers a click on the OSK.

Edit: Oh, and of course, the problem does't actually seem to be with lizard mode, because it occurs when Steam is running.

[figmentPez]

I just checked and I'm experiencing the same thing. When logged out, as soon as the password prompt comes up, my controller stops working properly. You should probably start a thread in Bug Reports, or open a ticket with Steam Support.

[somnolentsurfer]

Ah, thank you! I've opened a support ticket.

[somnolentsurfer]

And I’ve just had confirmation that support have been able to reproduce the problem, and they’ve sent it to development to work on a fix. Yay!

[somnolentsurfer]

Well, in fairness, I only actually opened the support ticket about a month ago, when someone confirmed they had the same issue.