DualSense (PS5) Controllers No Longer Re-Connecting
Starting about a month ago none of my DS5/PS5 controllers will re-connect once disconnected from any of my Bazzite systems. Here is the dmesg output relevant to the issue:
31 Replies
Resetting the bluetooth service allows the DS5/PS5 controller to connect:
Looking for a workaround or solution that will allow me to use my DS5/PS5 controllers with Bazzite. Currently running Bazzite40-2024-04-24 image (Yesterdays Update).
Can you try disabling the ds inhibit service and see if that helps.
?
Ill give it a go
That seems to have helped somewhat. If I disconnect and reconnect it will connect on the 2nd attempt and will not get stuck in a pseudo connected state where the controller thinks its connected but the system doesnt have any input.
Once its connected it works as expected, but it does not show as a connected device under the bluetooth settings tab. I have the controller-tools decky plugin installed and it sees it and reports on its battery life.
This is an improvement, but still not quite what I think its suppose to be doing. It should reconnect and be detected by steam properly and the PS+Button combinations should work, but they do not. The button combinations only work on the 1st connection
Keep us updated about whether disabling ds inhibit helps
It's a script provided by valve so you'd think
Well
It is what it is
Ds inhibit disables the touchpad handling of the kernel
That was after stopping and disabling ds-inhibit. Better behavior, but not quite right.
Whatever you can document would be great
Sure; I should get some more time later today, Ill update then with dmesg and BT logs
@antheas Still seeing problems after disabling ds-inhibit. Looking a my Arch system (Where BT connections to my DS5 controllers work as expected) compared to the Bazzite boxes there are some differences in the main.conf.
I'm going to add those options to the /etc/bluetooth/main.conf on one of my bazzite boxes and see if that helps. Will update with the results
Update: Same behavior. I noticed the same behavior on my Arch system until a recent Bluez update. Checking versions between whats running on bazzite vs that Arch system now.
Update2: Running same bluez version on both the last Bazzite Image and my arch system (5.75-1).
Final note: The Decky Plugin "Controller Tools" correctly sees the DS5 controller even after reconnect while the 'Settings' within gamescope does not show any devices connected.
Im at a loss. Anyhelp would be appreciated at this point. This appears to be effecting PS4 and DS5 controllers.
well that sucks
whats the bluetooth ver on the two boxes
i should mention i dont have a bluetooth controller
but my arch install has been having bluetooth issues the last 2 weeks
@antheas No problem, heres the package versions for bluez for each system.
Arch System:
Bazzite (2024-05-05 Image):
Appears to be the same kernel version and bluez packages on both systems.
thats not good
what could it be
Are there other users reporting difficulties with PS4/DS5 controllers? Maybe its something specific to how I setup these systems months ago 😦
yes
youre not the only one
Ok, at least Im not alone. I not sure how to proceed, but if you need anything tested or logs please let me know, I have 2 Desktops and 1 HTPC running bazzite all with the same issue. I havent tried it on the LegionGO (Pairing DS5) but I suspect I would see it there as well.
its probably similar, a lot of users are having bluetooth issues
with controllers
Hmm, looking through that package list I notice that I have bluez-libs installed on Arch which provides some legacy support. Its not present on bazzite.... I doubt it matters, but Im going to add it to my testing bazzite box and see if it makes any difference
Scratch that
It just didnt show in the rpm search :/
Should have used a wildcard
so all the vers are the same
we dropped the valve patch set so thats the same too
might be the kernel
Possible, I’m not sure exactly which opts were used by the zen kernel team for the Linux-zen kernel. I haven’t run a vanilla arch kernel in years (Para virt support requirement). Maybe checking the zen kernels build vs your guys may shed some light?
i suspect vanilla kernel works
and maybe the bluetooth sd patches are causing issues
@antheas huh, played around a bit and noticed that ds-inhibit isnt staying deactivated on reboot. Ive been stopping and disabling the service via
sudo systemctl ; what is the 'correct' way on bazzite?Aaaah you ask @Kyle Gospo to disable the service we haven't had to deal with this yet
Setup script disable when
systemctl disable ds-inhibit
should be all you have to do
might also try masking it instead@Kyle Gospo Well; systemctl stop ds-inhibit & systemctl disable ds-inhibit does stop and disable in the running session. Upon reboot.... its back
Setup script runs every boot
only if there's a version difference from the previous run
unless there's a new bug
Maybe you're right
I've seen it on too many logs tho
And it has been our experience that it always runs
@Kyle Gospo Just to double check; I was stopping and disabling with elevated privs. Should this be run as the user?
Sudo is good yes
If it doesn't complain it works
Well and I verified stopped and disabled after the fact (systemctl status)
nervous laugh me usually just playing plugged in......got some decent braided USB C, in various sizes 🥹.
- https://a.co/d/anmKFWl
They also have a dual 10 foot pack:
- https://a.co/d/2Y0HmAH
I had issues initially.
In my case it turned out the controllers don't charge while in use, when plugged into a 2.0 port....
So it was actually auto powering down due to low juice.
After fully charging on a 3.0 port it was happy after.
I'll go test and make sure it's still working fine now on Bluetooth.
The battery life was as bad as I remembered it.... (Nowhere near as close as DualShock4v2)
My controller disconnected........
.....after it ran out of battery. After it's normal max life.
Storytime
In my personal troubleshooting months ago when I couldn't get it to stay paired.....
Don't be me and wonder why it won't charge on a USB 2.0 port. It's thirsty! Needs 3.0.
My motherboard MSI B650: https://us.msi.com/Motherboard/MAG-B650-TOMAHAWK-WIFI/Specification
I think I'm running into this, too. What I am noticing is that it seems like the entire bluetooth stack just crashes. That is to say, if you're in gaming mode, and you go to settings/bluetooth, all your remembered controllers are gone, and the scanning message does not appear. This is on an LCD Deck.
This probably won't be the fix but, I had an issue reconnecting my ds4 controller and I figured out that clicking connect in Bluetooth settings and the ps4 button on the controller would cause it to fail to connect, but if I only pressed the ps4 button it worked fine, real random... Hopefully this is your issue, a lot easier then the rest of the possible errors