SOLVED PS5 Controller Not Working After Update

[Jabbok]

Following the 11/16 steam update and/or geforce experience update, my usb-connected PS5 Controller shows as a xbox one controller in steam settings, buttons do not do what they should according to the layout in settings, and doesn't work at all in game (tested with Dark Souls Remaster and Dark Souls 2 where it was working prior to updates).

I had a similar problem with steam beta occasionally and the last time a problem like this occurred I simply opted out of the beta and back to the full release and my controller has worked since. Until...yesterday's update(s). I have tried messing with settings, restarting steam, restarting my computer, making sure my controller's firmware is up to date, changed usb ports, and looked thru geforce experience for any settings that may have conflicted but all to no avail.

Any help is appreciated.

UPDATE: A solution that solved my problem has been posted. Also, I reposted this solution with some extra notes down below.

Thanks to Egon Spengler, Slouken, and any others that helped or offered support!

[Jabbok]

Update: Found a work-around, I guess?
By going into each game's Properties and Controller settings and 'Enable Steam Input' to force them to recognize xbox controllers instead of the 'Use Default Settings' option which only recognizes Playstation and Steam controllers and not xbox. (also, here it shows a blue dot beside xbox to indicate that's what is currently connected)

Then had to fumble my way through fixing the button layout and saving it (can't use a mouse for this?, have to press Y to save? sure let me press random buttons and accidentally reset it, accidentally back out, and then finally press the right one to save. Could at least label the buttons on the graphic instead of making someone guess).

This wouldn't be necessary if steam would just recognize it as a ps5 controller. Probably have to undo/redo all of this with the next update so I'm just gonna take a picture of this thread to remind myself lol.

[LAN021]

This update also changed how my controller (a PowerA Fusion Pro PS4 controller) is seen by Steam, but the change was actually for the better since it removed a duplicate. There must be many Steam Input issues with this latest update and I can't even access the controller config from game pages anymore, so best to wait and see.

[Mad]

Been looking around for people with similiar problems. Same with my PS5 controller. Been doing a modded Elden Ring playthrough. Now my controller isnt working on it.

[Mad]

Originally posted by Jabbok:

Update: Found a work-around, I guess?
By going into each game's Properties and Controller settings and 'Enable Steam Input' to force them to recognize xbox controllers instead of the 'Use Default Settings' option which only recognizes Playstation and Steam controllers and not xbox. (also, here it shows a blue dot beside xbox to indicate that's what is currently connected)

Then had to fumble my way through fixing the button layout and saving it (can't use a mouse for this?, have to press Y to save? sure let me press random buttons and accidentally reset it, accidentally back out, and then finally press the right one to save. Could at least label the buttons on the graphic instead of making someone guess).

This wouldn't be necessary if steam would just recognize it as a ps5 controller. Probably have to undo/redo all of this with the next update so I'm just gonna take a picture of this thread to remind myself lol.

I was able to fix my ps5 controller by going to settings>controller>general controller settings. Enabling "xbox configuration support" and "xbox extended feature support". It downloaded some xbox driver. restarted my computer. Ps5 controller works on games now AND its acting like a ps5 controller. None of my buttons needed configuring to an xbox or anything like that.

[Ghost87]

The logitech/saitech side panel is completely dead after the update, wont work at all

[Jabbok]

Originally posted by Egon Spengler:

I was able to fix my ps5 controller by going to settings>controller>general controller settings. Enabling "xbox configuration support" and "xbox extended feature support". It downloaded some xbox driver. restarted my computer. Ps5 controller works on games now AND its acting like a ps5 controller. None of my buttons needed configuring to an xbox or anything like that.

Ah, that makes sense as steam was thinking mine was a xbox controller. Thanks for posting!

Hopefully whatever was messed up by the update will get patched soon.

[Mad]

Originally posted by Jabbok:

Originally posted by Egon Spengler:

I was able to fix my ps5 controller by going to settings>controller>general controller settings. Enabling "xbox configuration support" and "xbox extended feature support". It downloaded some xbox driver. restarted my computer. Ps5 controller works on games now AND its acting like a ps5 controller. None of my buttons needed configuring to an xbox or anything like that.

Ah, that makes sense as steam was thinking mine was a xbox controller. Thanks for posting!

Hopefully whatever was messed up by the update will get patched soon.

Agreed..this is the second time in a month a steam update messed up my controller. the first time it happened it swapped my Xand O buttons around. and my Triangle and square buttons..NOTHING i did worked. After 2 days of pulling my hair out...Opting out of the "beta program" fixed that issue for me.

[Jabbok]

Yeah, guess whatever they did for the beta got passed QA and is messing stuff up.

[Mad]

Originally posted by Jabbok:

Yeah, guess whatever they did for the beta got passed QA and is messing stuff up.

I have found a permanent fix for myself with the help of Slouken. A valve representative contacted me and we talked for a good while. Ill post what i learned from this experience here and on other posts ive made to get the word around. IF this works for you as well, be sure to update the ticket with a (solved) and post what i posted here.

*Fix* (copy pasted)



With the help of Slouken and his amazing tech skills There was another permanent fix to this. The result of this bug may have come from anyone messing around with their controller settings in Steam>settings>controller> general controller settings. and changing button configuration and accidentally setting it to an xbox 1 controller. (like myself)

By going to C/programfiles(86)/steam. typing in search bar "config.vdf" click on config and open in in note pad. hit Ctrl F search "dev:" and delete the whole line starting with "SDL_GamepadBind" and clicking save.

This changed my ps5 controller (which was being detected as an xbox 1 controller) back to a ps5 controller. Problem solved for me

[Jabbok]

Yes, this has worked for me! I wish to add a bit to the overall process with an important note:

Locate the primary Steam folder location such as "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam"
Locate the "config.vdf" file in the \Steam\config folder manually or by using the Search bar
Open "config.vdf" using Notepad
Locate the line beginning in "SDL_GamepadBind" and ending with "dev." followed by one or more examples of controllers (xb1.ps5. etc). Find it manually or use the Find function (Ctrl+F)
Delete this line
Save the document

NOTE: I had to Exit Steam, make this change, and then reopen Steam for it to work. Doing this forced me to log back in. I suppose Steam detects a change has been made to the file and wants to verify things.
Once logging back in, I opened the config file again and noticed it had reset a large portion of lines pertaining to controller settings. Opening Steam's "General Controller Settings" showed that my controller was once again registering correctly (in my case, a PS5 controller).

I have noticed No changes to any other settings but controllers.
This may reset some preferred controller settings such as button mappings but other settings such as the lighting and vibration settings for my controller remained as they were.

I have tested my controller in-game and it works perfectly, again, and I hope this helps others.

Thanks to Egon Spengler, Slouken, and any others that helped or offered support!

[Mad]

Originally posted by Jabbok:

Yes, this has worked for me!

Glad to hear it! Another thing Slouken added during our talk was: Quoted: "So it turns out that Xbox One is the default controller type in that dropdown, so if you don't explicitly set something, that's what it will pick.
So anyone who tries to rebind their controller will turn it into an Xbox One controller"

Thats what happened to me basically. That first glitch with the button swapping made me try and find fixes. Kept swapping my buttons around and i must of not of saved it to anything so it auto turned it into xbox 1.

[LUCKYTHEGOBLIN]

So the resolution is for the end user to go into game files and delete lines of code? Come on Steam, fix your issue. It's now February 2023 and i'm having the same issue. My controller is completely borked and there isn't an easy way to simply reset it within Steam. This just burns me up. There's nothing worse than not being able to unwind at the end of a work week because you have to scour the internet for a way to resolve a problem that shouldn't exist.

[Sans Cheadle]

OMFG the config solution worked. Been trying to use it for TF2 (worked fine last time I used it) and it would only work if I held down the PS button.