To fix these issues you must connect the controller to a Windows PC and update the firmware via the Xbox Accessories App.
Well shit. I don’t have a windows PC anymore.
Never should’ve gotten an Xbox controller. Always thought they were kind of shit, but my friends insisted they were the best and most standard.
I prefer the ps5 controller heavily, bought an xbox one for my pc years ago and gave it to a roommate after a month of hating it everytime I used it
I always liked the xbox controllers, but mainly because they are generally bigger and i have big hands. I paid way to much for the pro controller or whatever it’s called. It’s hot garbage. But to he honest, other than the steam controller which i liked a lot, i wouldn’t really know what to get.
Have a spare computer?
Just throw Win10 on it to update the controller. It’s what I did recently for two new controllers.
PITA? Yes, but ehh.
I wonder if you can do it in a VM, actually…
I tried passing the controller through to a VM, no dice. Windows would detect the controller, but the Xbox Accessories app itself that handles the updates could never detect it. After tinkering for a while on it, I just went the Win10 on spare machine route. Fast enough and worked fine.
Unfortunately I don’t have a spare windows machine, and I don’t think my girlfriend’s work would be happy with me installing the Xbox app on her laptop.
Oh well. Maybe someone will find a way to update it on Linux
Do you have a spare machine at all? Windows install is easy, you don’t need a key for activation or anything. Just pull down the official iso from Microsoft and install Win10 Pro. Let’s you setup a local account when you select domain join machine.
Again, it’s a pain in the ass that you have to do it all but it gets the job done.
The linchpin of needing Windows is because Microsoft only lets you update the firmware on the controller two ways, either via a Xbox console itself or via the Xbox Accessories app via a Windows machine. There is no standalone client or web version to do it. It’s a longstanding “problem” for Linux or MacOS users who just want to use the damn controller via its BT connection.
Sadly, no. I mostly use the controller wired, anyway.
I did find some instructions that alleges to allow you to update the firmware in a VM: https://www.thrasos.dev/blog/xbox-controller-linux-update/
Seems plausible.
But also my next controller won’t be Xbox, heh.
Just curious, did windows VM see it as a genuine Xbox controller or just a generic input device?
It’s been a few months since I worked on it but IIRC Windows VM saw it as a controller, which made it that much more confusing as to why the app wouldn’t recognize it.
I was using QEMU/KVM on my Fedora box for the VM. It’s possible it would work using a different client such as VirtualBox or the likes. I had spent enough time on it by that point so I just went the Win10 on spare laptop route to get it done as I was sick of screwing around with it.
The irony is I spent almost 20 years in IT supporting Windows and solving all kinds of unique issues that arose from unconventional business needs. Glad to be out of the MS world now.
I can’t speak to xbox controllers, but I have a VM on my desktop for updating my 8bitdo controllers and de-drm’ing my kobo (formerly kindle) purchases.
For the former, the qemu gui “redirect usb device” is sufficient.
Good to know. I never realized this was a downside to the Xbox controllers. Granted, I haven’t run into the issue so maybe they auto-update if you connect them to a Windows machine?
The Xbox controller isn’t my favorite, but it takes AA batteries so it’s nice to have an option that will work if I forget to charge and which has easily replaceable batteries since that seems to be the main point of failure for so many electronic devices these days.
