Binbok Joy-Cons fail to display in Steam Controller Configuration Menu

[Psidris]

ISSUE
Binbok Joy-Cons do not display in the Steam Controller Configuration Menu, but regular Joy-Cons do.

OS
Windows 10

Joy-Cons used:
Binbok RGB Black Joy-Cons
Switch OLED model Joy-Cons

STEPS

1. Connect both sets of Joy-Cons to PC via bluetooth.
   
2. Open Steam Controller Configuration Menu.

RESULTS
Only OLED Joy-Cons display

EXPECTED
Both OLED and Binbok Joy-Cons should Display

[Psidris]

I will mention that the Binbok Joy-Cons work perfectly with essentially everything BUT Steam and Steam games. I'm even using them with a Wii emulator to play my old Wii games since my Wii stopped working. I haven't even needed to use anything like Betterjoy to use them on the computer thus far.

So far, Steam, and by extension steam games, do not want to detect the BINBOK brand Joy-Cons, but DO detect my regular Joy-Con's I got with my OLED. I'm sure its likely some serial bus or HID device issue or something, but If other Binbok users have either had problems, had no problems, or had solutions, It would help a lot to at least say so. Then maybe I can find a solution myself.

So far, I've yet to make them work with Steam, even in the slightest.

[Psidris]

After some further investigation, I've found that, according to the "controller.txt" file located in the "Steam/logs" file directory, Steam recognizes the Binbok controllers as "Wireless Gamepad" rather than "Nintendo Switch Joy-Con", though it does recognize the manufacturer as Nintendo apparently.

furthermore, it DOES detect the Binbok controllers, but it says "Device isn't a Switch Pro controller, ignoring". Which is quite curious.

Not sure where else to go from here, I don't think there's a way for me to fix this myself yet. Will keep this thread updated as I find new information.

[Psidris]

Looking into the device itself, I've noticed that Binbok Joy-Cons lack the "HID-compliant game controller" device function, which the regular Joy-Cons have. Oddly enough, despite this Device Function missing, the Joy-Con is still recognized as a gamepad, as it has 'Game controller settings' in windows. This could be another reason to why Steam is rejecting the Binbok controllers, as they lack the necessary drivers, but that contradicts the rest of my programs using them just fine. Hence why I believe this is a contributor, not the cause.

If you want to double check this yourself, go to the "Devices and Printers" section in the Control Panel, right click the Joy-Con, select 'Properties', and navigate to the 'Hardware' tab. The Device Functions will be there.

[Balderick]

Not sure where else to go from here, I don't think there's a way for me to fix this myself yet.

You should be able to unhide device in main controller settings from Steam running oldbigpicture or large mode. Then you should be able to define layout and save it as any of the supported controller types shown in drop down menu in controller type section after clicking "save".

The Define Layout ui is pretty buggy just now you will need mouse + kb and switch off all Steam Input config options to stop define layout passing double inputs to the ui i.e. when map B button on xbox controller in define layout ui it will back you out of the define layout ui and make selection in ui if xbox configs are left on.

Steam Input is just really bug ridden just now and imo Steam should never ignore any controller unless end user tells Steam Input to ignore it. If controller gets detected wrong or mapped wrong that is exactly why Define Layout ui exists - so end users can configure their controllers to a working state.

Last time i tried to use Define Layout i could not map triggers but never got round to making a bug report because am facing that many other bugs simply do not have time to make bug reports for them all but the Define Layout ui is there to help folks out in scenarios like what is described in op.

[Psidris]

Originally posted by Balderick:

You should be able to unhide device in main controller settings from Steam running oldbigpicture or large mode.

Tried this, still "no controllers detected" in the Big Picture Controller Settings, and no option to unhide anything either.

I fully understand what you meant with everything being bug ridden, this is actually somewhat of a nightmare. And yes, I agree, Steam should display all controllers and allow the user to configure or disable them individually themselves. This automated process blocks certain controllers from even being decent options, even if the controller itself is amazing.

Thanks for the effort, I'll keep trying, haven't found a way to access any 'Configurator' menu yet, but if I can I'll try to retrace my steps here.

[austinp_valve]

Many of the non-licensed Joycon controllers work by copying the Switch Pro controllers VID/PID but then have sufficiently different behavior that our current code for those controllers doesn't work. It's a known issue on our side and something we'd like to eventually fix, but I'm not sure when we'd be able to ship a fix. We definitely try to support every single licensed 3rd party gamepad for Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch but unlicensed controllers can be really variable in how they act, since they are reverse engineering what works on console and not implementing the spec the console maker provides to vendors. This makes it complicated support as you need to work around any mistakes they've made without breaking the real devices or the other 3rd party devices that are already supported.

[Psidris]

Originally posted by austinp_valve:

Many of the non-licensed Joycon controllers work by copying the Switch Pro controllers VID/PID but then have sufficiently different behavior that our current code for those controllers doesn't work. It's a known issue on our side and something we'd like to eventually fix, but I'm not sure when we'd be able to ship a fix.

Thanks a lot for the insightful response, I had a feeling that was the case. In the meantime, use of apps like Betterjoy can translate 3rd party controllers to an XInput or Dualshock layout, so there are workarounds that work pretty well. Hopefully one day the team at Valve will finally crack the code, so I wish you the best.