Any NEW solution for the Xbox button Light? (controller)

[Green Cat]

As I wrote in the title, any NEW solution? Because I won't cut the wires inside or cover it (especially since it doesn't help with battery consumption) and I have not found any other solution. PS: If this issue is not a big deal for you, please just move on without adding such comments, thank you!

As an example: if you connect the controller to an Xbox (I don't have one, that's why I'm asking) and turn off the brightness of this light from settings -> what will happen if you connect the controller to Steam again? Will the light stay off?



And just to be sure everyone is on the same page:

The Xbox controller has a big button in the middle with an Xbox icon on it. That one has an intense light, that not only is distracting at times but also costumes more battery life.

Using an Xbox you can reduce the brightness (according to a video I saw). However, there is no such solution if the controller is used to play on Steam (not even in settings -> controller -> preferences)

[p1mrx]

I wanted a solution that works with Bluetooth on all OSes, so I 3D printed a cover that blocks all light except for a little dot in the center. "6597180" on Thingiverse.

[EXPERIMENTONGOD]

Publicado originalmente por tintingaroo:

It's not hard really, I think it's the way I've tried to describe things, not so concise :D There are many branching thoughts in my mind :D
Going via Control Panel is good because you can get visual feedback of what hint is created, its value etc and easily remove it - perhaps I'll make a vid of that method - but this is another way if you wish to try:

1. Quit Steam
   
   
2. Run the Admin command prompt:
   Windows key + R, type: cmd, press Ctrl+Shift+Enter
   The command prompt window should read Administrator in the top left.
   https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2958182935&fileuploadsuccess=1
   
   
3. Copy-paste into the Command Prompt window:

   SETX SDL_JOYSTICK_HIDAPI_XBOX_ONE_HOME_LED 0.1 /M

   Press Enter to execute it.
   
   (0.05 = the dimmest setting we can choose. For reference, 0.4 = the normal brightness. 0 = completely off.)
   
   
4. Start Steam
   
   
5. Connect controller

If you don't get the Administrator command prompt we can see what happens with the hint set as a User variable instead System variable:

1. Quit Steam
   
   
2. Run command prompt:
   Windows key + R, type: cmd, press Enter
   
   
3. Copy-paste into the Command Prompt window:

   SETX SDL_JOYSTICK_HIDAPI_XBOX_ONE_HOME_LED 0.1

   Press Enter to execute it.
   
   (0.05 = the dimmest setting we can choose. For reference, 0.4 = the normal brightness. 0 = completely off.)
   
   
4. Start Steam
   
   
5. Connect controller

If the light doesn't dim, see if this changes anything:
1. Enable Xbox Configuration Support (Steam > Settings > Controller > General Controller Settings)
2. Disconnect->reconnect controller.
3. Restart Steam if still regular brightness.
4. Disconnect->reconnect controller.


There is another hint that may need to be set but see how thing go.


If SDL can change the settings then technically Steam can as well. There may be reasons they can't/don't want to do so - may be things depend how it works, if it impacts something else etc.


(EDIT 2024: updated dimmest setting we can choose - it's 0.05 rather than 0.1)

FINALLY I've been trying to get a solution for this for years!

Thanks a lot bro!!!

[Nicmare]

(Model 1708): Can't get the led to turn off via bluetooth connection, can turn it off with a wired connection.

[Mitch_Rapp]

Publicado originalmente por tintingaroo:

It's not hard really, I think it's the way I've tried to describe things, not so concise :D There are many branching thoughts in my mind :D
Going via Control Panel is good because you can get visual feedback of what hint is created, its value etc and easily remove it - perhaps I'll make a vid of that method - but this is another way if you wish to try:

1. Quit Steam
   
   
2. Run the Admin command prompt:
   Windows key + R, type: cmd, press Ctrl+Shift+Enter
   The command prompt window should read Administrator in the top left.
   https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2958182935&fileuploadsuccess=1
   
   
3. Copy-paste into the Command Prompt window:

   SETX SDL_JOYSTICK_HIDAPI_XBOX_ONE_HOME_LED 0.1 /M

   Press Enter to execute it.
   
   (0.05 = the dimmest setting we can choose. For reference, 0.4 = the normal brightness. 0 = completely off.)
   
   
4. Start Steam
   
   
5. Connect controller

If you don't get the Administrator command prompt we can see what happens with the hint set as a User variable instead System variable:

1. Quit Steam
   
   
2. Run command prompt:
   Windows key + R, type: cmd, press Enter
   
   
3. Copy-paste into the Command Prompt window:

   SETX SDL_JOYSTICK_HIDAPI_XBOX_ONE_HOME_LED 0.1

   Press Enter to execute it.
   
   (0.05 = the dimmest setting we can choose. For reference, 0.4 = the normal brightness. 0 = completely off.)
   
   
4. Start Steam
   
   
5. Connect controller

If the light doesn't dim, see if this changes anything:
1. Enable Xbox Configuration Support (Steam > Settings > Controller > General Controller Settings)
2. Disconnect->reconnect controller.
3. Restart Steam if still regular brightness.
4. Disconnect->reconnect controller.


There is another hint that may need to be set but see how thing go.


If SDL can change the settings then technically Steam can as well. There may be reasons they can't/don't want to do so - may be things depend how it works, if it impacts something else etc.


(EDIT 2024: updated dimmest setting we can choose - it's 0.05 rather than 0.1)

I have the elite series 2 and noticed when you first turn the controller on, the light lights up at full brightness, then after it blinks a couple of times it dims a bit even though I have it set to 100% brightness (It doesn't look as bright as regular xbox controllers). Would this be able to raise the brightness to it's full potential?

Edit: I went ahead and created a restore point and then tried it set to 1.0 and it worked (wirelessly with the wireless dongle that comes with the elite series 2.). Thanks so much for this!

[Mitch_Rapp]

Publicado originalmente por tintingaroo:

Might depend what Xbox controller you have but saw this in SDL (what Steam uses for controller support):

/**
 *  \brief  A variable controlling whether the Home button LED should be turned on when an Xbox One controller is opened
 *
 *  This variable can be set to the following values:
 *    "0"       - home button LED is turned off
 *    "1"       - home button LED is turned on
 *
 *  By default the Home button LED state is not changed. This hint can also be set to a floating point value between 0.0 and 1.0 which controls the brightness of the Home button LED. The default brightness is 0.4.
 */
#define SDL_HINT_JOYSTICK_HIDAPI_XBOX_ONE_HOME_LED "SDL_JOYSTICK_HIDAPI_XBOX_ONE_HOME_LED"

Some info on how to set the hint as a system environment variable:
https://steamcommunity.com/groups/SteamClientBeta/discussions/0/3409804429012214734/?ctp=2#c3390672107131659280
use for variable name: SDL_JOYSTICK_HIDAPI_XBOX_ONE_HOME_LED

Don't know if this hint can be created/modified while Steam is running, so restart Steam if it doesn't seem to take. Also don't know if it would want Xbox config support enabled, so toggle that then reconnect controller if things don't seem to be working. There is also Steam's Xbox driver but I assume that wouldn't affect things. I don't own any Xbox controllers so can't test this stuff.


Other possibility: perhaps Steam presents an option for the Xbox button with their driver installed (Xbox Extended Feature Support enabled)???. If not already installed, create a system restore point first. A few had found their USB/integrated KB unusable in the OS after installing it (those who had BT keyboards could work around the issue). Think most (all?) reports were from people on laptops and I think there were other factors involved. Anyway, it's unlikely to happen but I wouldn't like to advise someone to install the driver, they run into that issue and then try and resolve it remotely with them accessing the forums on their phone or something... A system restore point is the easiest way to revert just in case.

Is there a way to have the controller respect the brightness variable while ignoring the LED color steam is telling the controller to turn to? I ask because I have colors set in the xbox accessories app and a color set in steam and at times the controller chooses the steam color instead of the accessories app color.

[tintingaroo]

@Mitch_Rapp
I saw code in SDL which if changed maybe could result in Steam not setting the colour but I had trouble getting what I compiled to work with Steam - been trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong... I don't own an Elite 2 so was trying to just set the brightness in SDL's code for a regular Series controller. It wouldn't have been that great a solution though, we want something outside of the code...


When it gets Steam's colour is that at connection or anytime? It sounds like it happens at random but does it feel linked to a situation like being inside/outside of a game, opening a specific Steam window etc?

[Coldman545]

Publicado originalmente por tintingaroo:

It's not hard really, I think it's the way I've tried to describe things, not so concise :D There are many branching thoughts in my mind :D
Going via Control Panel is good because you can get visual feedback of what hint is created, its value etc and easily remove it - perhaps I'll make a vid of that method - but this is another way if you wish to try:

1. Quit Steam
   
   
2. Run the Admin command prompt:
   Windows key + R, type: cmd, press Ctrl+Shift+Enter
   The command prompt window should read Administrator in the top left.
   https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2958182935&fileuploadsuccess=1
   
   
3. Copy-paste into the Command Prompt window:

   SETX SDL_JOYSTICK_HIDAPI_XBOX_ONE_HOME_LED 0.1 /M

   Press Enter to execute it.
   
   (0.05 = the dimmest setting we can choose. For reference, 0.4 = the normal brightness. 0 = completely off.)
   
   
4. Start Steam
   
   
5. Connect controller

If you don't get the Administrator command prompt we can see what happens with the hint set as a User variable instead System variable:

1. Quit Steam
   
   
2. Run command prompt:
   Windows key + R, type: cmd, press Enter
   
   
3. Copy-paste into the Command Prompt window:

   SETX SDL_JOYSTICK_HIDAPI_XBOX_ONE_HOME_LED 0.1

   Press Enter to execute it.
   
   (0.05 = the dimmest setting we can choose. For reference, 0.4 = the normal brightness. 0 = completely off.)
   
   
4. Start Steam
   
   
5. Connect controller

If the light doesn't dim, see if this changes anything:
1. Enable Xbox Configuration Support (Steam > Settings > Controller > General Controller Settings)
2. Disconnect->reconnect controller.
3. Restart Steam if still regular brightness.
4. Disconnect->reconnect controller.


There is another hint that may need to be set but see how thing go.


If SDL can change the settings then technically Steam can as well. There may be reasons they can't/don't want to do so - may be things depend how it works, if it impacts something else etc.


(EDIT 2024: updated dimmest setting we can choose - it's 0.05 rather than 0.1)

This was a godsend. I actually bought a cover for my controller and just slot a quarter inside the hole where the button is supposed to go, but as you can expect, it's super annoying and falls off a lot. I usually like playing wireless via bluetooth, but I'm fine with going wired just to dim the light. Restarting my pc and installing the xbox extended feature support driver on steam also helped.

Thanks a lot

[Mitch_Rapp]

Publicado originalmente por tintingaroo:

@Mitch_Rapp
I saw code in SDL which if changed maybe could result in Steam not setting the colour but I had trouble getting what I compiled to work with Steam - been trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong... I don't own an Elite 2 so was trying to just set the brightness in SDL's code for a regular Series controller. It wouldn't have been that great a solution though, we want something outside of the code...


When it gets Steam's colour is that at connection or anytime? It sounds like it happens at random but does it feel linked to a situation like being inside/outside of a game, opening a specific Steam window etc?

So I noticed the instructions you have given only work for me when I have the xbox extended feature support driver installed. Without the driver, the light dims after it blinks a few times like normal. If I have that installed the brightness is respected but it also supersedes the xbox accessories app color.

As for when it happens, I think it will happen after a certain amount of time and also maybe opening a game or steam. I don't have the driver installed. Would you like me to test it?

Is it normal for your instructions to only work with the xbox extended feature support driver installed?

I tried to look in steams files for a file that controls the color of the xbox controller but couldn't find anything. I also looked at the microsoft xbox accessories app to look at the file responsible for changing the light. The files refer to it as the nexus. But I can't read most of the file.

Also, I'm not sure if the elite series 2 and regular xbox controller work the same. The regular controller has a much brighter light it seems. And the elite 2 turns on at full brightness then immediately dims after it finds the wireless dongle.

Would you be able to do something to tell the xbox accessories app to increase the brightness or does this only work because steam uses sdl so it wouldn't work for the xbox accessories app?

[tintingaroo]

Publicado originalmente por Mitch_Rapp:

So I noticed the instructions you have given only work for me when I have the xbox extended feature support driver installed. Without the driver, the light dims after it blinks a few times like normal. If I have that installed the brightness is respected but it also supersedes the xbox accessories app color.

As for when it happens, I think it will happen after a certain amount of time and also maybe opening a game or steam. I don't have the driver installed. Would you like me to test it?

Hey yes please :D

Publicado originalmente por Mitch_Rapp:

Is it normal for your instructions to only work with the xbox extended feature support driver installed?

Yeah, its normal - only way we in the thread found things to work. I've just been lazy to update the post with folks findings and specific instructions :D

Publicado originalmente por Mitch_Rapp:

I tried to look in steams files for a file that controls the color of the xbox controller but couldn't find anything. I also looked at the microsoft xbox accessories app to look at the file responsible for changing the light. The files refer to it as the nexus. But I can't read most of the file.

Do you get the option to change the LED via Steam > Settings > Controller > Calibration & Advanced Settings? They got that for the PS4/5 controllers, can set brightness, colour & saturation. For the actual file it looks like it'll be at Steam\steamapps\common\Steam Controller Configs\[ACCOUNT ID]\config\
The file name: preferences_[CONTROLLER ID].vdf
you'll see the [CONTROLLER ID] if you go to Steam > Settings > Controller > Test Device Inputs [Begin Test], then look in the top left corner after 'Device Support'.

Publicado originalmente por Mitch_Rapp:

Also, I'm not sure if the elite series 2 and regular xbox controller work the same. The regular controller has a much brighter light it seems. And the elite 2 turns on at full brightness then immediately dims after it finds the wireless dongle.

Publicado originalmente por Mitch_Rapp:

Would you be able to do something to tell the xbox accessories app to increase the brightness or does this only work because steam uses sdl so it wouldn't work for the xbox accessories app?

What we have only works because Steam uses SDL.
The app doesn't allow you to set brightness at all or just not high enough?

[Mitch_Rapp]

Publicado originalmente por tintingaroo:

Publicado originalmente por Mitch_Rapp:

So I noticed the instructions you have given only work for me when I have the xbox extended feature support driver installed. Without the driver, the light dims after it blinks a few times like normal. If I have that installed the brightness is respected but it also supersedes the xbox accessories app color.

As for when it happens, I think it will happen after a certain amount of time and also maybe opening a game or steam. I don't have the driver installed. Would you like me to test it?

Hey yes please :D

Publicado originalmente por Mitch_Rapp:

Is it normal for your instructions to only work with the xbox extended feature support driver installed?

Yeah, its normal - only way we in the thread found things to work. I've just been lazy to update the post with folks findings and specific instructions :D

Publicado originalmente por Mitch_Rapp:

I tried to look in steams files for a file that controls the color of the xbox controller but couldn't find anything. I also looked at the microsoft xbox accessories app to look at the file responsible for changing the light. The files refer to it as the nexus. But I can't read most of the file.

Do you get the option to change the LED via Steam > Settings > Controller > Calibration & Advanced Settings? They got that for the PS4/5 controllers, can set brightness, colour & saturation. For the actual file it looks like it'll be at Steam\steamapps\common\Steam Controller Configs\[ACCOUNT ID]\config\
The file name: preferences_[CONTROLLER ID].vdf
you'll see the [CONTROLLER ID] if you go to Steam > Settings > Controller > Test Device Inputs [Begin Test], then look in the top left corner after 'Device Support'.

Publicado originalmente por Mitch_Rapp:

Also, I'm not sure if the elite series 2 and regular xbox controller work the same. The regular controller has a much brighter light it seems. And the elite 2 turns on at full brightness then immediately dims after it finds the wireless dongle.

Publicado originalmente por Mitch_Rapp:

Would you be able to do something to tell the xbox accessories app to increase the brightness or does this only work because steam uses sdl so it wouldn't work for the xbox accessories app?

What we have only works because Steam uses SDL.
The app doesn't allow you to set brightness at all or just not high enough?

I don't know how to separate your quotes into separate statements like you did with my post when you replied to it!

To answer your question, I do get the option to change the LED via Steam > Settings > Controller > Calibration & Advanced Settings when I have the driver installed. The LED option isn't there without installing the driver.

To answer your other question, the xbox accessories app has a brightness control and I have it set to 100% but the controller automatically dims it after it pairs with the dongle. Your sdl led variable is able to keep it at the full brightness it's actually capable of. When you turn the controller on it blinks a few times at the real full brightness, then it pairs with the dongle and then it dims a significant amount.

I will reinstall the driver and try to nail down exactly when the color from steam takes over the accessories color command.

[Mitch_Rapp]

Publicado originalmente por tintingaroo:

Publicado originalmente por Mitch_Rapp:

So I noticed the instructions you have given only work for me when I have the xbox extended feature support driver installed. Without the driver, the light dims after it blinks a few times like normal. If I have that installed the brightness is respected but it also supersedes the xbox accessories app color.

As for when it happens, I think it will happen after a certain amount of time and also maybe opening a game or steam. I don't have the driver installed. Would you like me to test it?

Hey yes please :D

Publicado originalmente por Mitch_Rapp:

Is it normal for your instructions to only work with the xbox extended feature support driver installed?

Yeah, its normal - only way we in the thread found things to work. I've just been lazy to update the post with folks findings and specific instructions :D

Publicado originalmente por Mitch_Rapp:

I tried to look in steams files for a file that controls the color of the xbox controller but couldn't find anything. I also looked at the microsoft xbox accessories app to look at the file responsible for changing the light. The files refer to it as the nexus. But I can't read most of the file.

Do you get the option to change the LED via Steam > Settings > Controller > Calibration & Advanced Settings? They got that for the PS4/5 controllers, can set brightness, colour & saturation. For the actual file it looks like it'll be at Steam\steamapps\common\Steam Controller Configs\[ACCOUNT ID]\config\
The file name: preferences_[CONTROLLER ID].vdf
you'll see the [CONTROLLER ID] if you go to Steam > Settings > Controller > Test Device Inputs [Begin Test], then look in the top left corner after 'Device Support'.

Publicado originalmente por Mitch_Rapp:

Also, I'm not sure if the elite series 2 and regular xbox controller work the same. The regular controller has a much brighter light it seems. And the elite 2 turns on at full brightness then immediately dims after it finds the wireless dongle.

Publicado originalmente por Mitch_Rapp:

Would you be able to do something to tell the xbox accessories app to increase the brightness or does this only work because steam uses sdl so it wouldn't work for the xbox accessories app?

What we have only works because Steam uses SDL.
The app doesn't allow you to set brightness at all or just not high enough?

So far I've noticed when you open a game....specifically once the game file starts to execute I guess steam's handling of the controller takes over and the color changes. I noticed that once it changes and you change it to a different color with the controller (I have 3 profiles with three colors so i changed the color with the profile button), it doesn't change back to the steam color when you send more commands to the game that is running with the controller. It didn't change colors when I opened the steam screen (with it already being opened in the background). But I'm almost positive it just does it after a certain amount of time. I will keep playing around with it.

It just randomly changed back to steam color while I was editing this post. Maybe because I'm logged into steam in this browser? When I change the color to a different profile color, click on another window, then click on the browser tab containing this post, the color changes back to steam color.

Is there really not a way to eliminate the LED color control from Steam?

[tintingaroo]

Does it switch if you have Steam Input disabled? Let's see what happens when its disabled for games globally and via the per-game override, and also for the desktop layout.

desktop layout: Steam > Settings > Controller > Desktop Layout > Edit > Disable Steam Input
global: Steam > Settings > Controller > Enable Steam Input for Xbox controllers = Off
per-game: Right-click game in your Steam Library > Properties > Controller > set override to Disable Steam Input

[Mitch_Rapp]

Publicado originalmente por tintingaroo:

Does it switch if you have Steam Input disabled? Let's see what happens when its disabled for games globally and via the per-game override, and also for the desktop layout.

desktop layout: Steam > Settings > Controller > Desktop Layout > Edit > Disable Steam Input
global: Steam > Settings > Controller > Enable Steam Input for Xbox controllers = Off
per-game: Right-click game in your Steam Library > Properties > Controller > set override to Disable Steam Input

Steam input was disabled for desktop layout already and was also off for global settings. I tried disabling the steam input for a game and then opened the game and once it started executing, the color changed.

[Mitch_Rapp]

Publicado originalmente por tintingaroo:

Does it switch if you have Steam Input disabled? Let's see what happens when its disabled for games globally and via the per-game override, and also for the desktop layout.

desktop layout: Steam > Settings > Controller > Desktop Layout > Edit > Disable Steam Input
global: Steam > Settings > Controller > Enable Steam Input for Xbox controllers = Off
per-game: Right-click game in your Steam Library > Properties > Controller > set override to Disable Steam Input

I thought maybe this might shed some light on how to do this in a different way? I wish I knew how to program....It might be useless to you but I thought I'd share it....

https://github.com/atar-axis/xpadneo/issues/18#issuecomment-1024122959

[tintingaroo]

That made me think surely someone's coded this in a tool somewhere and I think reWASD does https://help.rewasd.com/preferences/led-settings.html - gonna try the trial.
I know there are also controller tools on Steam, maybe one of them have this implemented, maybe something free on github... will see what I find.

SDL has a controller tester that can I can compile, so I've been trying to see if I can make it control the light. I think I see the functions I want to use but gotta figure out how. If that's successful then I think we got our own makeshift tool to resolve things.