Firmware update for Steam Controller ability is missing from latest Steam client.

[kitor]

ISSUE
Steam Controllers can no longer be updated. Old UI is missing, url steam://UpdateFirmware does no longer work. In new controller options there's no mention of firmware update ability.

Updating hardware itself by grabbing BT enabled firmware from another controller and putting it in recovery mode (RT pressed down while connecting to USB) works only partially - controller enters BT pairing mode, but is is undetectable.

OS
Windows 11

CONTROLLER TYPES:
Steam Controller

CONNECTION TYPE:
Wired

GAME, config link, etc: not applicable.

[M00N MAN]

I tried it, launched the BLE FW update and then the production revert software because the controller did nothing anymore after deleting the Firmware.bin, replacing it with the vcf_wired_controller_d0g.bin file and reconnecting over USB. Still the same issue as mentioned before. I even noticed when I try pairing the controller to my deck with bluetooth, inputs aren´t functioning and my deck can´t go into sleep mode and just hard freezes.

[austinp_valve]

Can you try again? It shouldn't be possible to permanently brick a device with this tool. Also can you make sure that you're running on a Windows PC w/o Steam running.

[austinp_valve]

The files have been updated to point at newer firmware

[kitor]

@austinp_valve
Are you sure files got updated on the server? Maybe some caching system still holds old file?

I downloaded it twice, once using `wget` just to be sure, and firmware files have the same checksums as ones downloaded on 20.06:

$ md5sum ble/* # today's files
a92eaa59ca5139a08fbcd29084658d59  ble/d0g_module.bin
7683f95c8b749ff36fa6c8f384e7dffe  ble/s110_nrf51_8.0.0_softdevice.bin
3ff5730e188c61a18303b89e297a294a  ble/vcf_wired_controller_d0g.bin
$ md5sum ble_old/* # files from a week ago
a92eaa59ca5139a08fbcd29084658d59  ble_old/d0g_module.bin
7683f95c8b749ff36fa6c8f384e7dffe  ble_old/s110_nrf51_8.0.0_softdevice.bin
3ff5730e188c61a18303b89e297a294a  ble_old/vcf_wired_controller_d0g.bin

[austinp_valve]

Sorry - mean the hyperlink on the page pointing at new files - it's at this URL https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/steamworks_docs/english/Steam_Controller_FW_Update_Tool_5b0f21bd.zip

[ASCII.encrypt]

just updated mine with new firmware and it works flawlessly steam was able to reconnect the dongle and shows the proper FW

the swapping shortcuts work properly and ble connection works great

thanks mate

[austinp_valve]

Great to hear. I will keep monitoring the thread for the person who was having issues.

[H0rizon]

Originally posted by austinp_valve:

Great to hear. I will keep monitoring the thread for the person who was having issues.

hi, i've been following the thread and i've just tried the new file, but unfortunately when i try to run ValveFirmwareUpdateApp_new.exe it reports the following files as missing:
-MSVCP140D.dll
-ucrtbased.dll
-VCRUNTIME140D.dll

i tried to just launch ble.bat, but now my pc just keeps asking me to try to connect again. tried to connect in both the bluetooth modes (steam key+Y and steam key+B). am i missing something?

[[eN] Thief^]

Originally posted by austinp_valve:

Sorry - mean the hyperlink on the page pointing at new files - it's at this URL https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/steamworks_docs/english/Steam_Controller_FW_Update_Tool_5b0f21bd.zip

There are two files in this that might not be intended - ValveFirmwareUpdateApp.bat (references a firmware image three levels above the folder and which isn't included in the zip) and ValveFirmwareUpdateApp_new.exe which isn't used by any of the batch files

[hest]

I have the exact same issues as ApeEscape described. I've done everything as instructed but the controller is not connecting wirelessly, not even via the dongle.

First tried "ble.bat" and ran the update successfully. No wireless.
Then tried to revert with "prod.bat", which reported a successful update. Still no wireless.

Also tried connecting through USB, copying the firmware straight to the memory. No wireless.

An observation, if it might help smart people figuring this out:
"firmware.bin" on the memory gets set to the date 2009-02-06 09:10, even after having copied over "vcf_wired_controller_d0g.bin" with 2023-06-28 01:51. (same if I manually rename "vcf_wired_controller_d0g.bin" to "firmware.bin".

[M00N MAN]

So now I just opened the old big picture mode and went to the controller settings and finally got to connect my controller to my dongle again. Now it works flawlessly as it should, I guess I'll not use bluetooth and just wait a little until a stable official firmware updater comes out. Still I appreciate the effort.

[M00N MAN]

Originally posted by hest:

I have the exact same issues as ApeEscape described. I've done everything as instructed but the controller is not connecting wirelessly, not even via the dongle.

First tried "ble.bat" and ran the update successfully. No wireless.
Then tried to revert with "prod.bat", which reported a successful update. Still no wireless.

Also tried connecting through USB, copying the firmware straight to the memory. No wireless.

An observation, if it might help smart people figuring this out:
"firmware.bin" on the memory gets set to the date 2009-02-06 09:10, even after having copied over "vcf_wired_controller_d0g.bin" with 2023-06-28 01:51. (same if I manually rename "vcf_wired_controller_d0g.bin" to "firmware.bin".

Damn, I thought my controller was rigged, since I bought it on Ebay a few days ago from a different owner. Glad I'm not the only one with that problem, I hope valve will keep supporting the steam controller, I really like it. You can connect your controller again by opening the old big picture. If you need further details hit me up.

[austinp_valve]

Originally posted by H0rizon:

Originally posted by austinp_valve:

Great to hear. I will keep monitoring the thread for the person who was having issues.

hi, i've been following the thread and i've just tried the new file, but unfortunately when i try to run ValveFirmwareUpdateApp_new.exe it reports the following files as missing:
-MSVCP140D.dll
-ucrtbased.dll
-VCRUNTIME140D.dll

i tried to just launch ble.bat, but now my pc just keeps asking me to try to connect again. tried to connect in both the bluetooth modes (steam key+Y and steam key+B). am i missing something?

Please just run one of the two .bat files - ble.bat or prod.bat.

[hest]

Originally posted by ApeEscape:

So now I just opened the old big picture mode and went to the controller settings and finally got to connect my controller to my dongle again. Now it works flawlessly as it should, I guess I'll not use bluetooth and just wait a little until a stable official firmware updater comes out. Still I appreciate the effort.

How did you manage to get old big picture to work? I added -oldbigpicture to the Steam-shortcut(in windows 10). It doesn't seem to revert back to the old one. :(

Found how to enable it, got my controller back! Will experiment more now that there's a fix to restore it.

For people who are in the same situation: add "-vgui" to your Steam-shortcut and then in Steam, you press Alt+Enter to start the old big picture.

[epilys]

Originally posted by austinp_valve:

Please just run one of the two .bat files - ble.bat or prod.bat.

Austin thank you so much for this!

I don't have windows and tried forward the controller over USB to a QEMU emulated Windows instance. It got recognized, then I ran ble.bat, it ran successfully but didn't make any change on the controller. Should it print an error if it doesn't detect the device or can't complete the fw transfer?

In any case, do you have any idea how to do the same thing on unix (linux?)