Unable to use Xbox controller (BT) in VR

[Snow]

I have managed to figure out pretty much everything right up until I try to use my normal, second generation Xbox 1 controller that connects via Bluetooth. In both VR and, normal menu screen...the controller does not work. If I use my keyboard and mouse and go to the drop down menu underneath Options>Controls I see the different profiles that I could select. However, no matter what I select, the controller just does not respond to input. I cannot navigate / confirm / back out of menus. It does not work loaded into the game nor in VR. I can verify connectivity by pressing the Xbox button in the middle and the Xbox overlay appears. I can then switch focus back to ED and it still doesn't work. I have verified that Steam sees the controller via the Options menu and the "Xbox Controller Support" box is ticked.

I have uninstalled / reinstalled the Bluetooth drivers. I have deleted and, re-paired the controller itself to Windows. Works in other games such as Rust, Empyrion etc etc. I attempted the "Update the driver" method with no success.

I have a support ticket open with Frontier to see if they could help but, so far they've come up with deleting the keybinds in the AppData folder which, I already did at one point because I swapped to a different style Xbox controller to see if it was the controller itself causing issues and both yielded the same results.

Oh, don't tell me to "just get a HOTAS". I don't have money to shell out and even if I did, I'd probably get a better headset first since mine is going bad.

So in a nutshell, Windows has it installed properly, Steam shows it as actively connected, Devices & Printers shows a positive silhouette, ED shows the different controller profiles available for that controller including the standard Keyboard / Mouse options but it's like the input signal is going to a null place.

I have also tried to "disengage" the controller from Steam and tried to allow ED to "directly" access it without a middle-man but, that only yields ED showing a "Generic Joystick" underneath Options>Controls.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

[Mr Eos]

You are likely having a conflict somewhere with another fancy mouse, keyboard, or controller, and or Steam Controller configuration software.

Right now. I have an Asus Rog Chakram mouse with one of those analog thumbsticks on the side and it interferes with just about EVERYTHING. It tries to take controller prirotity in windows, and causes alot of games to not work with any of my other controllers. I'm getting rid of that damn mouse today.

Anyway, you likely have something similar happening.

You could also google up how to clean out your USB drivers list, to get rid of old orphaned USB devices from your device list.

The Nuclear option would be to download and install something like vjoy + UCR (universal controller remapper) And see if you can clone the controller and have the game detect the vjoy device since vjoy has a tendancy to be able to even bypass my stupid mouse and take priority again.


Speaking of which, did you open up the usb game controller software in windows > Advanced > Set Preferred Device?

[funkynutz]

Does the "generic joystick" option let you reconfigure the controls using the pad?

[Snow]

Originally posted by Mr Eos:

You are likely having a conflict somewhere with another fancy mouse, keyboard, or controller, and or Steam Controller configuration software.

Right now. I have an Asus Rog Chakram mouse with one of those analog thumbsticks on the side and it interferes with just about EVERYTHING. It tries to take controller prirotity in windows, and causes alot of games to not work with any of my other controllers. I'm getting rid of that damn mouse today.

Anyway, you likely have something similar happening.

You could also google up how to clean out your USB drivers list, to get rid of old orphaned USB devices from your device list.

The Nuclear option would be to download and install something like vjoy + UCR (universal controller remapper) And see if you can clone the controller and have the game detect the vjoy device since vjoy has a tendancy to be able to even bypass my stupid mouse and take priority again.

Well, it don't think it's a configuration software taking hold somewhere because I simply do not have any. The steam overlay is about as "configuration" as it gets, and I tried giving ED direct access with no luck.

I don't use iCue or any other branded products control software outside of Radeon but, that's stripped pretty bare and, doesn't really interact with controllers anyways. All that sh*t is garbage and as such takes up storage and, degrades performance. (Penalty is my Harpoon mouse is stuck on rainbow)

Kinda like I mentioned in my first post, I removed and re-paired the controller. There aren't any other ghost devices.

And the nuclear option isn't really an option. I don't think throwing software at the problem is the solution.

I appreciate your help but, there's gotta be something else at play here..

https://forums.oculusvr.com/t5/Oculus-Quest-2-and-Quest/Elite-Dangerous-joystick-not-working-only-in-Quest-2-VR/td-p/830011

This person encountered something similar but, different set of circumstances.

[Roget]

Stardew Valley is ok with my Xbox Controller but Elite: Dangerous is not. I use the Xbox wireless dongle.

Edit: Whoa. I can't even use keyboard and mouse when I change the controls to "Keyboard and Mouse". Hmmm.

[Snow]

Originally posted by FunkynutZ:

Does the "generic joystick" option let you reconfigure the controls using the pad?

Ah, good question. Sadly not. If I say, were to try and click the blank box to give my own input, the prompt shows up asking for input but nothing on the controller works.

Just to verify the controller is indeed being read by Windows, I can hit the Xbox guide button and the Xbox overlay shows up.

Appreciate the input!

[Clueless Disgrace]

Just to make sure - If the client window on your desktop loses focus, no input is registered, keep that in mind.

[funkynutz]

Originally posted by Snow:

I have verified that Steam sees the controller via the Options menu and the "Xbox Controller Support" box is ticked.

...

I have also tried to "disengage" the controller from Steam and tried to allow ED to "directly" access it without a middle-man but, that only yields ED showing a "Generic Joystick" underneath Options>Controls.

Have you tried actually disabling the Steam controller input option?

Right click the game shortcut in your steam library, go to properties/controller. You should see the option to turn it off there (and turning it off here won't affect other games that may use it).

For some stupid reason simply having the option enabled, stops the game from seeing a lot of input devices.

[Snow]

Originally posted by Clueless Disgrace:

Just to make sure - If the client window on your desktop loses focus, no input is registered, keep that in mind.

"I can then switch focus back to ED and it still doesn't work."

Anyways...

Originally posted by FunkynutZ:

Originally posted by Snow:

I have verified that Steam sees the controller via the Options menu and the "Xbox Controller Support" box is ticked.

...

I have also tried to "disengage" the controller from Steam and tried to allow ED to "directly" access it without a middle-man but, that only yields ED showing a "Generic Joystick" underneath Options>Controls.

Have you tried actually disabling the Steam controller input option?

Right click the game shortcut in your steam library, go to properties/controller. You should see the option to turn it off there (and turning it off here won't affect other games that may use it).

For some stupid reason simply having the option enabled, stops the game from seeing a lot of input devices.

Even though I don't specifically mention it in the last sentence, that's what I did. I went to my Library, right-clicked on ED, went to properties and used the controller configuration "overrides".

Nothing happened. It is effectively the same as going through Steam > Options > Controller and making changes there.

I have also tried my Xbox Elite controller as well that uses a dongle instead of BT, no luck. Behaves exactly as my BT controller.

I have also tried to uninstall / reinstall ED and verified game integrity files.

Only update from Frontier support ticket was to magically uncheck the "Generic gamepad support" box.....which was never ticked to begin with.

[Planewalker]

The xbox elite controller might be the only controller that actually needs the steam controller injector enabled IIRC.

Not sure what is up with your issues, have you tried using a wire to connect it?

[Snow]

Originally posted by Planewalker:

The xbox elite controller might be the only controller that actually needs the steam controller injector enabled IIRC.

Not sure what is up with your issues, have you tried using a wire to connect it?

Indeed I have. No luck.

After literal hours of searching the web, the issue is actually pretty common though the unintentional results vary. Some people can trick it, some people can set the binds manually but, they all seem to stem from how ED handles controller discovery. Some people botched their setup by plugging in the USB in the wrong slot it was initially discovered on...etc etc..

My case seems weird in that no other fix actually fixes anything.

My controllers VID///PID was not in their .xml to begin with so I'm sure that didn't help. Now I think the issue is GUID related. It see's the controller under very specific circumstances but, it mistakes it as a "Generic Joystick".

I could be wrong but what I've found is that Xbox one controllers return a GUID of __XINPUT_DEVICE__ instead of it's actual GUID. So, in a sense, it has two and I think ED is having trouble selecting the proper one.

My problem now is that I don't know how ED stores GUIDs. I was hoping it was a config file somewhere that I could add a profile for an Xbox1 controller but, I can't find that location, if it even exists.

[funkynutz]

Can you use it while it's plugged into your PC by USB? I know this usually works with the Sony pads, no idea about the xbox ones though...

You could also use something like VKBs Show_HID or Nirsofts USBDeview to help you peg down the IDs of the devices.

[Snow]

Originally posted by FunkynutZ:

Can you use it while it's plugged into your PC by USB? I know this usually works with the Sony pads, no idea about the xbox ones though...

*See above*

*Like literally right above your post*

Yes, I have the VID//PID of the controller as well as the GUID thanks to USBView via Windows debuggers.

My problem, as I mentioned above, is that I have *no idea* where GUIDs are stored in ED.

[Planewalker]

Originally posted by Snow:

My problem now is that I don't know how ED stores GUIDs. I was hoping it was a config file somewhere that I could add a profile for an Xbox1 controller but, I can't find that location, if it even exists.

It does have to do with steam, not sure how exactly bc i don't know the code.

Case in point, running elite outside of steam i have not once had an issue with elite recognition. -there is an option for xinput on the launcher, not sure if it will do anything.

A good couple of years back, you were actually able to find the (steam)guid and insert it manually into the binds file, enabling the advanced controller features like popup menus and action sets. Idk if it is still possible.

[Snow]

Originally posted by Planewalker:

Originally posted by Snow:

My problem now is that I don't know how ED stores GUIDs. I was hoping it was a config file somewhere that I could add a profile for an Xbox1 controller but, I can't find that location, if it even exists.

It does have to do with steam, not sure how exactly bc i don't know the code.

Case in point, running elite outside of steam i have not once had an issue with elite recognition. -there is an option for xinput on the launcher, not sure if it will do anything.

A good couple of years back, you were actually able to find the (steam)guid and insert it manually into the binds file, enabling the advanced controller features like popup menus and action sets. Idk if it is still possible.

Heya! Thanks for the tips.

Dumb question, how do I run ED outside of Steam? When I tried to launch it manually, it gives a login screen which I tried to use but it says I need to install ED. Any way to point it at an installation folder I wonder?

[Planewalker]

Originally posted by Snow:

Any way to point it at an installation folder I wonder?

That is only possible if bought directly from frontier or if bought on steam before april '19, as you will have a key.

Edit: "I have uninstalled / reinstalled the Bluetooth drivers."
-that means you have installed the official microsoft xbox drivers, correct?
"I went to my Library, right-clicked on ED, went to properties and used the controller configuration "overrides"."
-that means you set it to disabled, correct?

I am being thorough here, just ftr.

I've been using an xbox controller since 2015 with zero issues.
-even alongside the xbox app/dashboard & the xbox gaming extras from the windows store. Maybe you need that.