How to disable (absolutely) steam controller support?

[miuosh.]

Today I ran into the following problem: my PS5 controller, despite all boxes being turned off in the steam controller support settings, when the steam is running, changes its behavior, i.e. a white LED indicating the controller number appears, which does not happen in a clean connection to Windows 10. When the steam is turned off, the controller is working properly. When the steam is opened, the reaction described above occurs. Then the controller does not work in all games in which it worked so far. So far I have played with disabled support, among others. in Rocket League, which resulted in a very low imput lag. I don't want to run controller support as it can have a negative effect on it, besides, then steam forces its key bindings which is extremely annoying. If someone had a similar problem and found a solution, I would be very grateful for your help.

I physically reseted the settings of the pad itself, disconnected and reconnected to windows, turned on and off the steam controller support, nothing helped.

[tintingaroo]

NOVEMBER UPDATE: HIDE DEVICE / the controller blacklist isn't functioning fully in current Steam clients.
Can follow this instead:
https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/1/3464975249570878405/#c3543798390531169187 (I don't know the equivalent process for Mac, for Linux the way I know is to set the variable in /etc/environment but it requires a log-in/out if you update the variable)

or usual Windows alternative HIDHide (or HIDHide + DS4Windows)

---

UPDATE: Just discovered we can still add the device to the blacklist via Steam, it's just that the 'HIDE DEVICE' UI option is not presented for non-Generic controllers.

1. Steam > Settings > Controller > General Controller Settings

2. Highlight your controller and press Start or equivalent (so Options button on the DS5)

(Should see UNHIDE DEVICES if you move the mouse/highlight another option so the UI refreshes)

3. Power-cycle controller.


To Unhide:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2434791325

---

Yeah, a Steam bug
https://steamcommunity.com/groups/SteamClientBeta/discussions/0/3409804429012214734/
(OP's wired experience differs from mine though)

You can manually add the controller to Steam's controller blacklist.

1. Close Steam (e.g. Steam > Exit).

2. Navigate to and open with Notepad: [STEAM INSTALLATION] / config / config.vdf

3. Do a search for: controller_blacklist

If it doesn't exist, go to the end of the file and before the last }, insert a new line then paste in:
"controller_blacklist" "54c/ce6"

If it does exist add the DualSense VID/PID to it:
"controller_blacklist" "54c/ce6"
(if it already contains a VID/PID, insert a comma and then the DS5 VID/PID e.g. "45e/2e0,54c/ce6")

4. Save and close

You can remove it from the blacklist manually (remember to quit Steam first) or via Steam's Controller Settings screen where you'll see the Unhide Devices button at the bottom, next to the Back button.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2434791325

[miuosh.]

Thanks a lot man! It helped, strange that until today nothing of the kind has happened.

[Judgmental Amaterasu]

Originally posted by miuosh.:

Thanks a lot man! It helped, strange that until today nothing of the kind has happened.

Strange things can pop up in updates that just won't be foreseen or was just missed. Especially if the update didn't "DO" anything in regards to a function that somehow wound up causing something to happen. Code can be a fickle beast

[Hezy]

For me after adding it to the file, unfortuniatly it is still not working. It works when i close steam or wire my controller but with steam open and controller on BT it will not work at all. Been busy fixing this for hours now.

[Rev]

I am also having very strange issues since Dualsense driver update!
I am documenting here: https://www.reddit.com/r/pcgamingtechsupport/comments/waqxxk/dualsense_controller_suddenly_not_working

I'll try the suggestion from tintingaroo too, but this really shouldn't be how to fix it :/ I hope some steam staff or sony staff see these and can bring the software and firmware back to how it worked before!

[stili]

Sadly, it doesnt work for me.
What works for me is open big picture and then start the game like Rocket League to use my controler :/

[tintingaroo]

So after hiding the controller via the UI / manually, then power-cycling, Steam still detects the controller in the Controller Settings screen? The white player indicator light gets switched on?

[Lumen]

Originally posted by tintingaroo:

UPDATE: Just discovered we can still add the device to the blacklist via Steam, it's just that the 'HIDE DEVICE' UI option is not presented for non-Generic controllers.

1. Steam > Settings > Controller > General Controller Settings

2. Highlight your controller and press Start or equivalent (so Options button on the DS5)

(Should see UNHIDE DEVICES if you move the mouse/highlight another option so the UI refreshes)

3. Power-cycle controller.


To Unhide:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2434791325

---

Yeah, a Steam bug
https://steamcommunity.com/groups/SteamClientBeta/discussions/0/3409804429012214734/
(OP's wired experience differs from mine though)

You can manually add the controller to Steam's controller blacklist.

1. Close Steam (e.g. Steam > Exit).

2. Navigate to and open with Notepad: [STEAM INSTALLATION] / config / config.vdf

3. Do a search for: controller_blacklist

If it doesn't exist, go to the end of the file and before the last }, insert a new line then paste in:
"controller_blacklist" "54c/ce6"

If it does exist add the DualSense VID/PID to it:
"controller_blacklist" "54c/ce6"
(if it already contains a VID/PID, insert a comma and then the DS5 VID/PID e.g. "45e/2e0,54c/ce6")

4. Save and close

You can remove it from the blacklist manually (remember to quit Steam first) or via Steam's Controller Settings screen where you'll see the Unhide Devices button at the bottom, next to the Back button.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2434791325

Thank you. This works. I dont know why for some reason my DS5 just stopped working one day. It works fine before and I didnt even change anything. So I too believe this is something to do with Steam. It will just never work outside Steam for some reason and I have to close steam for my DS5 to work normally with non-steam games.I hope steam fix this.

[Sviat]

Seems some recent update broke this method too (at least for me), now even when blacklisted it the issue will persist, it was fine up until now.

[Adam]

Steam started hijacking my Dualsense again after the latest update. I previously had to use the workaround posted in this thread to add the controller to the blacklist for it to function while Steam is open, but it no longer works to solve the issue. If I completely close Steam and power cycle the controller it works fine again, but as soon as I launch Steam it'll hijack the controller and it will no longer function in games outside of Steam. I've rechecked the config.vdf file and it still shows the controller is blacklisted(and even tested allowing/blacklisting again to verify it was doing something), but somehow Steam is still interfering with it. Does anybody have a new solution?

[tintingaroo]

The blacklist still functions for me. (They addressed things so you should be seeing the Hide Device button now when you select your controller.)

What OS are you guys using?
Is the controller hidden or displayed on the Controller Settings screen when blacklisted?

What does Steam show your controller as on the Controller Settings screen? I've read someone was getting their DS5 shown as an Xbox One controller ( https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/1/3543798390529471095/ ). Mine remains a PlayStation 5 Controller.

If you're on Windows, another possible solution is to set a system environment variable but I guess if it works or not is gonna depend why you guys are facing the issue: https://steamcommunity.com/groups/SteamClientBeta/discussions/0/3409804429012214734/?ctp=2#c3390672107131659280

[Adam]

Windows 10 for me. The blacklist does still work to prevent Steam from seeing the controller in the config menus(and the Hide/Unhide function works in those menus), but the controller won't function at all in games outside of Steam if blacklisted and Steam is running. Games see a controller is connected, but none of the buttons work. This is what was happening before, and previously manually blacklisting the controller fixed the issue. With the controller unhidden from Steam outside games appear to only be able to use the 'Desktop Configuration' even if they have native controller support (and none of the presets seem to allow outside games to see the controller as an actual controller properly). This is a huge problem because it appears to have the limited function of emulating KB&M and some games don't allow for a mix of the two (one control type will be disabled, etc.). I know it's Steam causing interference since completely closing Steam resolves the issue and the controller functions perfectly fine again in games with native controller support up until the moment Steam is launched.
Edit: I forgot to mention I'm using the Dualsense wirelessly.

[tintingaroo]

Thanks for the explanation, I do experience the issue. Seems like the controller is still switched to enhanced mode but now without the white player indicator getting illuminated, and as you said its operating the Desktop Config. I wonder if Desktop Config enabled is resulting from a setting from new BPM being applied or something...

Current November workaround:

Setting the system environment variable does still work to keep the controller in simple/DirectInput mode but the Desktop Config is still applied, so set the config to Disabled (from Desktop Config: Browse Config > Recommended > Disable > Apply Config).

Unhide the controller, the system environment variable method doesn't need it hidden (in fact things are better without it hidden) plus it's not working as before anyway :D

Same link as before for the system environment stuff https://steamcommunity.com/groups/SteamClientBeta/discussions/0/3409804429012214734/?ctp=2#c3390672107131659280


An alternative to all this would be to use HIDHide and that'd hide it completely from Steam.

(Checking things out it does look like new BPM Desktop Config setting overrides old BPM and it's method of working.
Old BPM:

• PS Config Support enabled = Desktop Config enabled (then there is the option to set it to a blank config to 'disable' it)
  
• PS Config Support disabled = Desktop Config disabled

New BPM has it's own setting to enable/disable Desktop Config (its not reliant on the PS Config Support setting), so presumably when it's enabled it also enables Steam Input rather than depending on PS Config Support first being enabled?
In any case, when it's set to enabled or disabled there, it overrides the old BPM way of deciding if the Desktop Config is enabled/disabled due to PS Config Support setting (could even be looking at the PS Config Support setting in new BPM).
One of the downsides to running two systems in parallel... Things could get tricky on Steam ...)

[Adam]

Originally posted by tintingaroo:

Setting the system environment variable does still work to keep the controller in simple/DirectInput mode but the Desktop Config is still applied, so set the config to Disabled (from Desktop Config: Browse Config > Recommended > Disable > Apply Config).

Unhide the controller, the system environment variable method doesn't need it hidden (in fact things are better without it hidden) plus it's not working as before anyway :D

Same link as before for the system environment stuff https://steamcommunity.com/groups/SteamClientBeta/discussions/0/3409804429012214734/?ctp=2#c3390672107131659280

Thanks! I was able to use your instructions to get it working properly again as far as I can tell after a quick test run.
It's ridiculous that we have to manually force Steam to not hijack and disable our controllers from being used on our PC outside of Steam even when using the built-in option that is meant to do just that. The original update that broke everything even removing the hide option from the menu forcing you to edit the config.vdf file was also aggravating (at least it's back now).

[miuosh.]

Originally posted by tintingaroo:

Setting the system environment variable does still work to keep the controller in simple/DirectInput mode but the Desktop Config is still applied, so set the config to Disabled (from Desktop Config: Browse Config > Recommended > Disable > Apply Config).

Unhide the controller, the system environment variable method doesn't need it hidden (in fact things are better without it hidden) plus it's not working as before anyway :D

Same link as before for the system environment stuff https://steamcommunity.com/groups/SteamClientBeta/discussions/0/3409804429012214734/?ctp=2#c3390672107131659280

Thanks again, method with adding system environment variable works perfectly fine!