Latest Steam Deck update will warn you if an Xbox controller needs upgrading

Valve released a new Steam Deck Beta update that includes a useful tweak to its Xbox controller detection.

There's a bit of a problem with modern Xbox controllers and Bluetooth, where they won't properly connect up with SteamOS / Linux unless they've gone through a firmware update. I've seen a lot of support requests about this issue over the years and so it's good to see Valve highlight it directly. While it's a Steam Deck Beta Client update, it should apply to other SteamOS devices too.

From the changelog:

General

• On the Bluetooth settings screen, we will now detect and notify the player when trying to pair/connect an Xbox controller with older firmware versions that cannot properly connect to Steam Deck. To fix these issues you must connect the controller to a Windows PC and update the firmware via the Xbox Accessories App.

Accessibility

• Moved the Screen Reader's "Stop Talking" button to X so that external gamepads can still open the Quick Access Menu with Guide button + their equivalent of A button

Friends & Chat

• Suspicious or harassing group chat messages can be reported directly in the chat window by selecting the message and pressing 'Options'. You can optionally block and/or unfriend the other user while submitting the report.

Remote Play

• Fixed being unable to move the mouse to another monitor when using touch controls on the Steam Link app.

Frustrating that you're forced into using Windows to do it though but thankfully there's a lot of controllers out there that Steam Input and so SteamOS support.

At some point Valve will have to start calling these Steam Deck Client updates something else, like SteamOS Client update or something similar, given that there's already other official devices with SteamOS (like the Legion Go S) and there's going to be more of their own devices soon with the Steam Frame and Steam Machine.