Dualshock 3 doesn't pair in 3.6.20

[kindkains]

Your system information

• Steam client version: 1730853027
• SteamOS version: 3.6.20
• Opted into Steam client beta?: [Yes/No] No
• Opted into SteamOS beta?: [Yes/No] No
• Have you checked for updates in Settings > System?: [Yes/No] Yes

Please describe your issue in as much detail as possible:

Describe what you expected should happen and what did happen.

I always was able to connect my original PS3 Controller to the Steam Deck.

1. Plug in via usb
2. Unplug
3. Press PS Button
4. Ready

But since the last Update it seems Impossible

1. Plug in via usb
2. Plugin via usb
3. Unplug
4. Press PS Button
5. Lights are flashing, but nothing happens

I tried to go to desktop mode, opened a terminal and wrote

bluetoothctl devices

But the PS3 Controllers are not listet.

bluetoothctl list

I see only the steamdeck default Controller.

How can I fix this?

[Sunspark-007]

I confirm this. I have a Dualshock 3 and it pairs fine with 3.4 but not with 3.6.20.

Add new Bluetooth device in desktop mode doesn't do anything anymore.

Looks like it is some sort of issue that also affects other controllers.

https://github.com/bluez/bluez/issues/673#issuecomment-1858431729 https://github.com/bluez/bluez/issues/771 https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/bluez/+bug/2045931

bluez needs to be updated and the controller needs to be paired in wired mode somehow.. it can't be paired in bt mode.

[kindkains]

I found maybe a solution, but I can not reproduce it, because I was able to connect one of my two Dualshock Controllers, but not both. Maybe they differ in their firmware or it was just luck. But I will tell my steps, so maybe it may help someone else.

• in Desktop mode open the bluetooth settings and a terminal
• in bluetooth settings go to Setup
• 
• make sure, that bluetooth is activated, will be activated due startup and (guess this is the important one) bluetooth will accept recieving data anytime
• 
• then go back, choose "Add new device", start the pairing of your dualshock, and when you are happy like me, you will see it in the device list and it can be paired
• maybe you must do this serveral times (like me) while you look into the terminal and enter "bluetoothctl devices"
• when you see the MAC address of the controller, then enter "bluetoothctl pair THE-MAC-ADDRESS" and "bluetoothctl trust THE-MAC-ADDRESS"

I am not sure what worked first, the pairing in the gui or the pairing in the terminal, I did both simular and I needed some tries. But then suddenly my first PS3 Dualshock was paired and is working now.

As I already told, I have still trouble to repeat this with my second controller. It is a little bit weird, because I could see the first (working) controller in the GUI devices list as a controller (the icon is clearly a controller icon) but the second one always appears only with the standard bluetooth icon.

So I guess they have differnt firmwares installed, I do not know what else could it be. But maybe some of you may be lucky and can pair your controller in the way I did. Let me know, when it worked for you.

[Sunspark-007]

I saw this comment on Reddit, haven't tested, but makes sense since the issues I linked talk about bluez:

"After putting the input.conf in place (/etc/bluetooth) just like you did, try this:

You'll need to install bluez-plugins (sudo pacman -S bluez-plugins). In case pacman whines about pgp signature or something you disable that to install anyways. Remember to re-enable the signature check afterwards. Next, run the command "bluetoothctl devices Trusted" to list all deviced and "bluetoothctl remove xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx" and remove the ps3 controller manually in case it is in there.

Restart your deck. Now you can plug the ps3 controller via usb and wait for the little pop-up asking to trust the device."

/etc/bluetooth/input.conf file should contain these 3 lines:

[General]
ClassicBondedOnly=false
UserspaceHID=false

Valve really needs to address this.. users should not be expected to create an input.conf file and install a bluez plugin from the terminal.. it should "just work" ideally from the gaming mode without having to drop down to desktop mode like we are discussing here.

[gytdoo]

Dropping in to say I’m also experiencing this issue exactly as described in the first post with two different model authentic Sony DualShock 3s. They were previously working fine wirelessly before the 3.6 update. I also noticed in the steam input menu there’s no gyro option when plugged in via usb. Not sure if that’s how it’s always been, but motion controls still function in rpcs3.

Slight side tangent, but it would be very cool if in the process of fixing this, someone found a way to get pressure sensitive buttons to officially be supported in steam input. It’s a very handy feature and these controllers still have many years left in them thanks to their high quality analog sticks.

[Hahasamian]

Valve really needs to address this.. users should not be expected to create an input.conf file and install a bluez plugin from the terminal.. it should "just work" ideally from the gaming mode without having to drop down to desktop mode like we are discussing here.

Dude I've been looking all over for some fix to this issue and then I see this

This is it. This is all I needed to do, create an input.conf file and things are back to how they used to be. Thank you <3

This right here is the root of the issue: input.conf is missing from /etc/bluetooth ! Please fix it soon 🙏

[qmgsqyf]

Same issues here, Valve team please fix it soon. DS3 is my favorite controller.

[zanito]

I was having the exact same issue, pairing of ps3 controller worked fine on my linux laptop but it wasn't working on steam deck. What did it for me was probably a combination of input.conf and bluez-plugins install, only the input.conf wasn't working, but after installing bluez-plugins and restarting bluetooth service I finally got the paring request when connecting via USB. So this must indeed be a regression on valve side, I guess this package really needs to be there for ps3 controller to be supported

[qmgsqyf]

DS3 is my favorite controller, I have to downgrade steamOS to 3.5.19 to fit my DS3… smh

[mh-muc]

i added bluez-plugins and added /etc/bluetooth/input.conf But my DS3 controllers do only pair wireless in desktop mode. As soon as i switch to gaming mode the controllers disconnect and do not reconnect wireless again, even after plug in by USB first. Any way to get it to work in gaming mode? My kids should not start desktop mode...

[Managor]

Voicing my interest in adding ClassicBondedOnly=false into the Steam Deck configuration files officially.

[sweetol]

same issue here. please fix it <3

[alpepi]

Replying to https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamOS/issues/1710#issuecomment-2466422490

@Sunspark-007 This worked for me, thanks! Although I ran into a few extra steps along the way:

1. I couldn't install bluez plugins at first. I had an error that affected folders were read only. I first had to run sudo steamos-readonly disable (I re-enabled after installation using sudo steamos-readonly enable).
2. Then, the install failed because of missing keys/keyring. I had to run sudo pacman-key --init, then sudo pacman-key --populate archlinux.
3. To disable signature check, I opened /etc/pacman.conf, and changed SigLevel = Required DatabaseOptional to SigLevel = Never (Similarly, I re-enabled it later).
4. At this point, sudo pacman -S bluez-plugins worked and my PS3 controllers are now connecting to bluetooth.

[Sunspark-007]

Hi @bertogg, could I ask you to please comment here if you don't mind? bluez-plugins used to be present in SteamOS and now it's not. Will this regression be reviewed? Thanks!

[Nj0be]

I can confirm the fix provided by @Sunspark-007 works. I hope Valve addresses this issue soon. Thanks

[fledermaus]

bluez-plugins has been replaced (upstream, in bluez) by bluez-utils.

[fledermaus]

This is not to say there's not been a regression, but the problem isn't that bluez-plugins is missing - installing bluez-plugins effectively downgrades (part of?) bluez.

[Sunspark-007]

This is not to say there's not been a regression, but the problem isn't that bluez-plugins is missing - installing bluez-plugins effectively downgrades (part of?) bluez.

I am not a Linux bluetooth expert at all, but my basic understanding of this is that the two are different things.

Valve needs to look into this simply because the issue affects more controllers than just this one.

[fledermaus]

https://archlinux.org/packages/extra/x86_64/bluez-utils/

Description: 	Development and debugging utilities for the bluetooth protocol stack
Upstream URL: 	http://www.bluez.org/
License(s): 	GPL-2.0-only
Provides: 	bluez-plugins
Replaces: 	bluez-plugins

[RyuzakiKK]

Thanks for reporting this issue. Yes, the Dualshock 3 is not working on SteamOS 3.6.20 because it is missing bluez-plugins.

As mentioned above, the short term fix is to manually install it. If you use sudo pacman -Sy bluez-plugins there should be no need to change the signature level in pacman.conf.

bluez-plugins has been replaced (upstream, in bluez) by bluez-utils.

This is true for Bluez 5.73+. However in SteamOS 3.6 we still ship Bluez 5.66, where bluez-plugins is still a separate component.

[Heavyweightgd6]

Can someone please make a video? I'm very new to Linux and I don't understand any of this command line stuff. PS3 controller works fine a few months ago, wirelessly. Now it only works wired.

[justusiv]

Can someone please make a video? I'm very new to Linux and I don't understand any of this command line stuff. PS3 controller works fine a few months ago, wirelessly. Now it only works wired.

I haven't tried it myself but SteamOS 3.6.23 Beta: Beak Visible has this in its notes. "Fixed pairing DualShock 3 controllers"

[Managor]

Doesn't work. The 3.7.0 preview even mentions this

DualShock 3 controllers are currently not able to be paired or used

[Sunspark-007]

People are reporting that the pairing works now with 3.6.24.

Thanks Valve for fixing this!

[Managor]

Can confirm. DS3 pairs on 3.6.24. For some reason this is not fixed on Main. Next step is to fix Home + Y chord not shutting down the controller. https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/8066

[Managor]

Minor need for improvement: Remember devices that have been paired before. Currently to use a DS3 wirelessly, you need to first use it wired and then pair it. Every time. If I shut down the Deck, I need to do this process again to use the controller.

[RyuzakiKK]

Minor need for improvement: Remember devices that have been paired before. Currently to use a DS3 wirelessly, you need to first use it wired and then pair it. Every time. If I shut down the Deck, I need to do this process again to use the controller.

As a short term workaround you can go to desktop mode, plug in the USB cable and press "Authorize and Trust" in the bottom right notification.

After that, you should be able to connect the DS3 even after a reboot.

[sweetol]

Minor need for improvement: Remember devices that have been paired before. Currently to use a DS3 wirelessly, you need to first use it wired and then pair it. Every time. If I shut down the Deck, I need to do this process again to use the controller.

+1

not really minor for me. becouse you cant wake up the deck.

i steel need to conntect with cable and repair the ps3 controller every time i need it in wireless. previously it wasnt needed.

morover, the repairing process sometimes doesn't work at first time, i need to try a few times before it works.

[trisk]

My previously paired DualShock 3 controllers stopped connecting after updating to SteamOS 3.7.5 Beta (and subsequent versions). They still appeared appearing paired in the Bluetooth settings and couldn't be removed. I had to manually remove them with bluetoothctl and then plug them in in desktop mode to select "Authorize and Trust" at the prompt, which paired them correctly.

[sweetol]

Replying to https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamOS/issues/1710#issuecomment-2931238349

update:

now pairing is lost only when i standby the console, when it is docked, from physical button. then to solve i need to unplug the dock, standby and wake up the console.

i still cant wake up the console when it is in stand by

[allanthomaz]

Replying to https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamOS/issues/1710#issuecomment-2466422490

This worked for me. If anybody gets an error when trying to install bluez-plugin, I needed to reinstall archlinux-keyring..