How do I tell if it actually worked?

[leopardheart982]

Is there supposed to be some sort of notification that the controller was paired? Nothing was mentioned in the usage about this. I'm using a third party PowerA controller and don't seem to be getting any sort of blinking.

[alkaris2]

If your controller is paired with Bluetooth or Wired, opening up something that uses a controller will tell you if it's connected. Or by checking lsusb in Terminal, if it doesn't show the device then it's probably an issue with the driver not running. In which case you should run sudo systemctl enable joycond from Terminal.

In Steam your controller should display as Nintendo Pro Controller, or whatever internal name your controller is using. Same goes for RetroArch, it'll display a popup notification in the lower left corner telling you what controller is connected. If you need to test your controller's buttons and functions then you'll need to install jstest-gtk utility from your package manager, this GUI will show all connected controllers, and will let you calibrate them also if needed.