Bug 26637

Summary: SC Controller doesn't work in Bluetooth Low Energy mode anymore, ever since bluez update
Product: Mageia Reporter: Andrew Piubellini <penguin.sekai+mageiaidentity.writing>
Component: RPM PackagesAssignee: David GEIGER <geiger.david68210>
Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX QA Contact:
Severity: minor    
Priority: Normal CC: rverschelde
Version: 8   
Target Milestone: ---   
Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
Whiteboard:
Source RPM: CVE:
Status comment:

Description Andrew Piubellini 2020-05-18 01:48:42 CEST 
# Description of problem:

Ever since Mageia updated its bluez package to version 5.54-1.mga7, SC Controller is only able to recognise the presence of a Steam Controller via the USB dongle. If the Steam Controller is running in Bluetooth Low Energy mode, then SC Controller will not detect it, even when it is already paired with the system.

Prior to the bluez update, this was not an issue - I could connect to my Steam Controller just fine in Bluetooth Low Energy mode.

This issue affects both my new installation of Mageia 7.1, and my existing installation (after applying the bluez update). The "Steps to Reproduce" below assumes you are setting up a new installation; if you have an existing installation, then you can skip any steps at the start of the process that you've already performed, e.g. installing Mageia.

I've tested a fresh install of Linux Mint 19.3 on the same PC. In Mint 19.3, SC Controller works fine, even when the Steam Controller is running in Bluetooth Low Energy mode. It's just like how things used to be in Mageia, prior to the bluez update.

Mint 19.3 uses bluez version 5.48-0ubuntu3.4. SC Controller isn't in the official repositories for Mint 19.3 / Ubuntu 18.04, so I instead used kozec's Personal Package Archive to obtain it, as suggested on SC Controller's GitHub page. The sc-controller version in the PPA is 0.4.6.1, which is older than the version Mageia provides in Core Updates.

# Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable):

The Mageia 7 package versions are as follows:

* bluez-5.54-1.mga7.x86_64
* sc-controller-0.4.7-1.mga7.x86_64

# How reproducible:

Always.

Also reproducible on different hardware (the new and existing installations I mentioned above, were on different computers).

I haven't tested the i586 packages, nor have I tested this issue on Mageia 6 or Cauldron.

# Steps to Reproduce:

1. Make sure you have a Steam Controller, with the Bluetooth Low Energy firmware installed.
2. Install a fresh copy of Mageia 7.1 with the KDE desktop, on any device with Bluetooth hardware.
3. Make sure you've installed all updates.
4. Install the package "sc-controller", from Core Updates (x86_64).
5. Start the Steam Controller in Bluetooth Low Energy pairing mode (Y + Steam button), and connect to it using the Bluetooth module of KDE System Settings.
6. Verify that the Steam Controller is working with the kernel driver. i.e. Mouse movement works, the left and right mouse buttons are working, the other buttons on the Steam Controller don't do anything, and mouse movement sensitivity is high, as per the default for the kernel driver.
7. Start SC Controller.
8. Check whether SC Controller takes control of the Steam Controller from the kernel driver.

# Actual behaviour:

SC Controller does **not** take control of the Steam Controller. i.e. Buttons like A, B, X, Y, etc. still don't do anything, and mouse movement sensitivity remains at the higher level, that the kernel driver uses by default.

# Expected behaviour:

SC Controller should take control of the Steam Controller. i.e. The A button should act like the Enter key, the B button should act like the Esc key, etc., and mouse movement sensitivity should drop to the lower level, that SC Controller uses by default.
Comment 1 Lewis Smith 2020-05-18 21:44:19 CEST 
Well, to keep things going, you can downgrade bluez to the previous version bluez-5.50-5.mga7 which you say worked.

Unsure whether the problem is with bluez or sc-controller. (It seems the latter is not in Cauldron, just M7). So assigning this to DavidG for bluez, CC'ing akien for sc-controller.

Assignee: bugsquad => geiger.david68210
CC: (none) => rverschelde

Comment 2 Aurelien Oudelet 2021-07-06 13:17:30 CEST 
Mageia 7 is EOL since July 1st 2021.
There will not have any further bugfix for this release.

You are encouraged to upgrade to Mageia 8 as soon as possible.

@reporter, if this bug still apply with Mageia 8, please let us know it.

@packager, if you work on the Mageia 7 version of your package, please check the Mageia 8 package if issue is also present. In this case, please fix the Mageia 8 version instead.

This bug report will be closed OLD if there is no further notice within 1st September 2021.
Comment 3 Andrew Piubellini 2021-08-22 15:26:42 CEST 
The sc-controller package was removed from Mageia 8 and Cauldron, as it depends on Python 2, which is no longer supported in Mageia. However, you can still run SC Controller on Mageia, by following these steps:
1. Install the package "steam-udevrules" from Mageia's repositories
2. Download the SC Controller AppImage (which bundles the Python 2 dependencies) from upstream (https://github.com/kozec/sc-controller/releases)

I've tested the AppImage on Mageia 8, and the behaviour hasn't changed. As long as the "steam-udevrules" package is installed, SC Controller can successfully take control of the Steam Controller from the kernel driver, and operates perfectly. However, if the Steam Controller is paired via Bluetooth Low Energy mode, then the Steam Controller remains under the control of the kernel driver, and SC Controller doesn't do anything.

A Debian Buster user has reported the same issue upstream; see https://github.com/kozec/sc-controller/issues/642.

I'm not that familiar with Mageia's bug reporting processes. Given that it's unclear whether the problem lies with SC Controller (now a third-party AppImage), or bluez (an officially supported package in Mageia), is it appropriate to keep this bug report open for Mageia 8?
Comment 4 Rémi Verschelde 2021-08-22 16:08:37 CEST 
Sounds like this upstream bug: https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/7697#issuecomment-890513019

It affects Steam itself, and might affect sc-controller too. It could likely be fixed in sc-controller though, but that's for upstream to handle.
Comment 5 Andrew Piubellini 2021-08-31 23:36:06 CEST 
(Quoted from Komoszek, at https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/7697#issue-826020389):

|| Steam has problem configuring Steam Controller via bluetooth with bluez/bluez@35a2c50 or newer. Controller works just fine in Lizard Mode but refuses to work as soon as Steam tries to configure it. This problem is not present if you connect SC via usb, use older versions of bluez or use any third-party software to configure SC (e.g. https://github.com/kozec/sc-controller).

(Quoted from Komoszek, at https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/7697#issuecomment-890513019):

|| I've more or less found out why Steam Controller is not working with Steam and works perfectly fine with sc-controller.

That's strange. That's the inverse of my observations last year, at https://bugs.mageia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=26429#c2:

|| Alternatively, if I start up the proprietary Steam client, then Steam successfully takes control of the Steam Controller.

It's also the inverse of nickjwhite's observations on the SC Controller GitHub (https://github.com/kozec/sc-controller/issues/642#issue-931997824):

|| Steam detects it fine, though, so I know the bluetooth connection is made successfully.

Anyway, for now, I'm reassigning this bug report to Mageia 8. I'm also dropping the Severity to Minor, since there are 2 easy workarounds:
* Use the Steam Controller's custom USB dongle to establish the wireless connection, instead of Bluetooth Low Energy mode. I've personally verified that this works.
* Use the Steam Controller in *wired* mode (using a standard USB cable), instead of wireless mode. I haven't tested this myself, but nickjwhite has reported at https://github.com/kozec/sc-controller/issues/642#issuecomment-909285061 that wired mode works fine.

If anyone objects to keeping this bug report open, feel free to close it as RESOLVED WONTFIX for Mageia 8, or as RESOLVED OLD for Mageia 7.

Version: 7 => 8
Severity: normal => minor

Comment 6 David GEIGER 2023-01-31 06:23:30 CET 
Closing as WONTFIX!

Resolution: (none) => WONTFIX
Status: NEW => RESOLVED