Why can't Microsoft even get their own controllers right?
We've written about native gaming on Linux in years past and as much as we want a native revolution, things like Proton and Cloud Gaming have changed the face of Linux gaming forever. X-cloud online game streaming combined with XBox's Game Pass (Ultimate) was an amazing development first released for Android circa 2018. We had been doing the whole wine thing for awhile, still are GOG customers for DRM free content, and make no mention of the juggernaut Valve has become. But we were always Xbox kids after the console wars pushed into really bad "3d" games following the conclusion of the SNES and Sega Genesis consoles...
Microsoft of course wants you to run a Windows PC and use Game Pass with official hardware, including the Xbox One controllers. They worked on Linux - until they didn't!
Firstly, go checkout xboxneo on GitHub. This gets your Xbox controller basically talking to your Linux system. However, and unfortunately, the official hardware has seemed to lost its bluetooth functionality beyond basic connections in Linux. The controller will connect, and "function" but it will be useless for any game of any type, any format, even natively. Wirelessly it will work for an instant, then silently disconnect. There's tons of raging gamers and millennial dads all over the web from the useless MS Answers forum, to Reddit, Medium, et all.
One command that was common a few years ago to fix the disconnections was (temp):
echo 'Y' > /sys/module/bluetooth/parameters/disable_ertm
That worked for almost 2 years on our Asus Nitro 5 until we upgraded at some point during the 22.04 LTS cycle. Then nada. Connect sure, but completely dead otherwise, no input at all with frequent disconnects. This is all due to some sort of issue with the controller hardware itself that does not cleanly exit its previous connection. Won't work in HTML5 browsers, won't work well with Android Xbox app, won't work beyond 1 second with native Linux games like SuperTuxKart, and routinely fails on Windows PCs, and the Xboxes themselves. Don't waist your time with reboots, reconnecting, trying out different USB Bluetooth adapters; we've done all that (incredibly this does work on our home-built workstation).
The solution is to simply use hardware OTHER THAN BY MICROSOFT for X-Cloud! The Playstation Dualshock 4 controller is completely compatible with X-cloud and for at least our favorite games, works perfectly, correctly and driverless. You can run the DS4 wired with a simple USB cable or wirelessly via Bluetooth! 😂😝🤣
We're often asked, how do you figure this stuff out? Some of its just trial and error but mostly we've been dealing with system administration for over a decade and with that experience, the bigger picture becomes clear and common patterns emerge. If you need IT help, please consider hiring us at Grip Fast Information Services and Technology! Let's get started.
