PS5 controller issue

[RawMeatSamwich]

Hi, I have suddenly encountered a problem with my PS5 controller and was just wondering if anyone out there might know a way to solve it. It is kind of hard to explain, but I'll do my best. Also, this is not a Steam issue so I don't know if this is the appropriate place to post this, sorry if it isn't.

I am using an Asus GL503 VD laptop with Win 10 / nvidia geforce gtx 1050 / 250gb ssd - no hdd / 16gb ram / Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7700HQ CPU @ 2.80GHz, 2801 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)

OK so I had been using a DS4 for about 6 months then I decided to get a DS5 about maybe 4 months ago, always connected via Bluetooth using DS4 windows. So pretty much a year goes by with no issues, until yesterday. So suddenly I turn the controller on and DS4 Windows says the controller is connected, the light is on, but the touchpad isn't working and when I load a game it has no response at all. If I press the PS button and Options to try and turn it off, it acts as if I've hit Alt+tab instead. This happened yesterday for the first time and I was able to fix it by forgetting and re-pairing the controller in Bluetooth multiple times. (As in it took multiple tries and computer restarts before it went back to normal).

It was working fine until this morning, after playing a game for a while I turned the controller off and when I tried it again this afternoon, it was back to having the no response issue, and again using the normal button combo to turn it off doesn't work. The controller is connected; if I open Steam big picture mode, it works just fine for that. Sometimes as I've said, pressing PS button and Options will act like an Alt+tab, sometimes it just does nothing. Either way the result is the same when I load a game. No response whatsoever.

This time though, the forgetting/re-pairing is not working. Now I have tried everything I could find for suggestions online and then some trying to fix this issue, here is a list of things I've tried:

-Uninstalling the controller, forgetting it in Bluetooth, shutting the computer down, hard resetting the controller, turning everything back on and re-pairing and updating the controller drivers

-Updating the controller firmware, which was out of date

-Making sure Windows is up to date

-Making sure all Bluetooth drivers are up to date

-Tried all of the above multiple times

I tried the DS4 and it does exactly the same thing! Which makes me think it's some kind of issue with windows. Also, if I plug it in with USB it seems to work fine but Windows recognizes it as some kind of audio device which, after a while, starts to cause the controller to malfunction. ( I learned this with the DS4). Another interesting thing to note is that I have always been able to play Rocket League without DS4 windows running, but now I can't.

If anyone out there knows anything about this issue I would really appreciate some feedback! If I've left anything out or you have questions about anything please feel free to ask.

Thank you!

[tintingaroo]

It's looking like your experience is due to Steam's controller support taking effect (PS+Options is Alt-Tab in the Guide Button Chord Config). If you're using DS4W, do you have anything set up to hide the physical controller from Steam (e.g. HIDHide)?

Another way to hide a controller from Steam:
Connect the controller
Steam > Settings > Controller > General Controller Settings
Select the controller under Detected Controllers > press the Options button (this is the 'Hide Device' command but if you're on the Steam stable client it won't be displaying the button for it)
Disconnect / reconnect and it should no longer show up under Detected Controllers (if you're seeing the Hide Device button, then hide process is automatic and won't require a dis/reconnect to see it's effect). If over BT, power cycle the controller so it goes back to DirectInput mode.

To undo the hide, you'll see Unhide Devices at the bottom of that screen.

This can depend how you have things set up for Rocket League, but I presume the issue you see is the mode the controller is in. Over BT the controller can be in a mode that follows DirectInput or another mode where it follows it's own PlayStation protocol. There is a bug in Steam that always switches the DS5 to PlayStation mode. If you hadn't been using Steam for controller support with the game, then RL would have been supporting it via DirectInput. Hiding the controller from Steam would resolve this.

If you found you had to use DS4W for the DS4 to work with RL, then check if you have PlayStation Configuration Support enabled (you'd want it disabled and then power cycle the controller). Hiding the DS4 from Steam should also resolve this though.

[RawMeatSamwich]

Thanks so much for responding! Man this issue has evolved as the day has gone on, lmao I've been messing with it all day. So now, the DS5 doesn't work at all unless connected via USB and playing Rocket League, makes no difference if DS4W is running or not, but not for any other game. Still works for Alt+tabbing and big picture mode. I connected the DS4 again and now it works perfectly fine, BT or USB. As an awesome twist, I plugged the DS5 in with USB and left it for quite some time. The light on the controller went from blue to solid white at some point when I wasn't looking, and when I tried it again now Steam thinks there is a DS4 connected and it works perfectly fine! Only while connected to USB, BT still doesn't work. That said, I'm scared to change anything since now I have a working controller lmao.

Now I have 3 questions about your response. 1, when you say to press "Options" in controller settings, do you mean Options on the controller or is there supposed to be an options button in the steam controller settings? I have no options button, hide or un-hide controller in steam settings.

2. Is it necessary to have hidhide? And do you think it could fix this issue? I seem to recall I was using it at some point for some reason but can't remember the last time I used it, or why, nor does DS4W give me the option to use it anymore. I just click "Hide controller" under settings and it seems to do the trick.

3. There is also a good deal of evidence here to say this issue is being caused by Steam, both from what you've said and my own experience. It happened before a long time ago, where I had to go into controller settings and disable all controller support to get things working. However, I have the same issue whether steam is running or not, is it possible for steam to affect things while it's not running?

And also, now that the DS4 is working perfectly, it sort of narrows things down to the individual controller. Do you think it could be faulty? I just bought this one like a week ago so I mean, it could be possible. It worked until yesterday though.

Thanks again for your help!

[tintingaroo]

Hmm, I was missing things. Were you experiencing the stuff in the original post even when Steam was not running? If so then I wouldn't look at Steam (except when it's running).

1. Options was referring to the button on the controller

2. If PS+Options was giving you Alt-Tab when Steam was running, then HIDHide (or using Steam's method of hiding the controller) should stop that.
Hiding with HIDHide will also help if the game is trying to use the BT DualSense while it's connected to DS4W. It shouldn't be necessary if the hide option in DS4W is functioning though. You can check with joy.cpl (windows key + R, type joy.cpl, OK). Does it list one controller or two?

3. Steam shouldn't affect things when it's not running.

I doubt the controller is faulty. I think the issue is between settings (but saying that I don't see how it'd stop working if things weren't changed, so maybe OS?) and what Rocket League natively supports but we'll see. :D


UPDATE:
Just been testing out Rocket League with a DS5 over BT and it worked fine for me. No Steam or DS4W, so it means the game has native support for the controller. It supports the controller in DirectInput mode (over BT, when you see any change to the lightbar compared to first connection, its in PlayStation/enhanced report mode*. Quit Steam or DS4W if running, turn it off/on and it'll connect and remain in DirectInput mode). Another way to check the mode, is if the controller functions with joy.cpl. (run joy.cpl, select the controller and click Properties). If it functions on the test screen its in DirectInput mode.
This doesn't concern USB only BT - over USB when its in enhanced mode its still compliant with DirectInput, but over BT it supports only one or the other.

*Seeing no change doesn't necessarily mean its in DirectInput mode though, for instance Steam or DS4W could be configured to set/leave the lighhtbar the same colour/brightness etc as when its first connected. If they're closed they won't be affecting things.

If things aren't working natively for you then we go in a different trouble-shooting direction.

If you normally play it with vibration you'll want to stick to controller support from DS4W (or could use Steam). You may also want to stick with DS4W for the controller shortcuts like the power off command or the remapping stuff.

[RawMeatSamwich]

Thanks so much for your help! For now at least, the problem seems to be solved. I have yet another evolution in this strange, strange situation to share.

So as I said, after leaving the controller plugged in to the PC for some time, it confused the DS5 for a DS4, the light turned from blue to white and started working just fine, as long as it stayed plugged in, still no BT. After some time, I had to remove the cord to charge my vape and lo and behold, the controller just kept on working fine on BT. So... this is not exactly the solution I was hoping for but, I'm not gonna complain since I didn't have to do much. Thanks again for your help, I'm still marking your comment as the solution since if it hadn't fixed itself in this wacky accidental fashion, I'm sure I would have had to go through your troubleshooting steps to fix it. I probably still will, this probably won't last forever.

Thanks again!

[paperc07]

So what worked for me is installing Hid Hide (https://vigem.org/projects/HidHide/Simple-Setup-Guide/) if that doesn't work you can also install the ds4 and hid hide but I think you only need hid hide steam has a setting but it wasn't working after last update and I needed to use my cronus max (ps5 controller) and be able to play steam games (xbox controller) without them both interfering.

[Throw An Open Milk]

Hello party ppl. Apologies if this isn't perfectly relevant.

My DualSense trackpad directional swipe suddenly stopped working, but I figured out a fix.

I had this issue playing Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition on PC with a DualSense.

Trackpad click would work, but not directional swipe. Everything else was fine.

I was running the Horizon .exe as Admin. That's what "made it stop working" (or at least was a catalyst). Perhaps this speaks to a larger issue, I don't know - but my solution was to NOT run the game as Admin. Went back to working immediately.

[kingchaos317gaming]

I have the same issue but was playing DayZ one day working fine and now won't work at all any help would be amazing.

[Mike]

This thread was quite old before the recent post, so we're locking it to prevent confusion.