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SC Controller is the rather fantastic open source configuration tool for the Steam Controller, only now it's expanding to cover more gamepads.

I use the tool regularly for games and applications outside of Steam for the Steam Controller. My TV PC for example runs Antergos and I use the Steam Controller paired with SC Controller to control my entire PC from the sofa and it works pretty damn well.

Here's what happens when you want to add in a new gamepad:

I think the presentation and UI is really quite good already, it's clear and simple to understand without needless complication.

Sadly though, it wouldn't progress past that last screen for me so I've let the developer know. Issues are to be expected, since it's not stable yet. It's possible it's an issue with the AppImage, so I will keep an eye on it and test again in future.

This new pre-release was tested by the developer with:

  • Sony Dualshock 4
  • Sony Dualshock 3
  • Few bootleg Dualshock 3's
  • Logitech F310
  • CTech GP-04
  • Unbranded USB SNES-alike controllers
  • Steam Controller (obviously)

This is awesome, since this feature was actually requested by me back in January.

SC Controller could very well end up being the de facto tool for all gamepad configuration in future.

See the pre-release changelog here. It includes AppImage downloads to test without having to mess around with anything, which is also awesome to see.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Sir_Diealot Sep 28, 2017
Quoting: kozecThing is, gamepads are pain in the ass because of xbox controller. It's The One that works differently from everything else while being backed up by "Windows company", so games have to support it. SC-Controller support evdev as fallback, so it may work with it, but it is targeted on that category of all other controllers :)

---

By the way, @Liam, thanks for all your articles. It's interesting thing to find one's own application in RSS feed :)

Thanks for helping with controller setup.

You are right that others are easier to work with. Saldy XBox controllers got established as a standard of sorts for some reason. Plenty of games support only those, even some game engines assume these controllers. I got those controllers for this reason alone. Not because they are good in some way, or comfortable, simply because they promised less hassle. Seems like the opposite is true, at least on Linux.
I've spent days trying to get those controllers to work with Darksiders (using xboxdrv and x360ce), without success. Damn these things.
MayeulC Sep 28, 2017
Quoting: MohandevirI will need a how-to to install that thing. Never been able to make it work on Kubuntu. I see the SC icon in the apps but clicking on it does nothing at all.

Do we still have to stop it before launching Steam?

Edit: Oh! The OpenSuse build service is available again... Had the 404 error last time I checked. Going to give it a shot.

I had an issue with gtk apps at some point when I upgraded from plasma 4 to 5 (or something like it).
It turned out it was due to some old KDE themes (to make gtk look like KDE), and everything worked fine after I deleted them.
To check if it is the same with you, try launching zenity. It didn't work for me.

Now, it was a long time ago, so that's probably unrelated to your issue... But I'll leave that here, you never know.
fagnerln Sep 29, 2017
Quoting: Sir_Diealot
Quoting: Guest
Quoting: lucifertdark
Quoting: Sir_DiealotNo Xbox 360 controller support?
Doesn't Xbox360 controller support come as standard for most Linux Distros these days?
I bought an Xinput controller and I had to spend hours to configure it with xboxdrv anyway. I don’t know what SC Controller is for, but if it helps with that configuration… great! (I didn’t notice that it was using Gtk3…)
Exactly, xboxdrv is hell to set up. The stock kernel driver (xpad) is simpler, but doesn't work correctly with most games. The modified one by steam (steamos-xpad) seems to work better. And it gets a hell of a lot more complicated with wine games.
Why do gamepads have to be such a pain in the ass?

Oh man, thank you so much!
Mostly of unity games doesn't recognize correctly my x360 controller, I installed the steamos-xpad and now it's working...

Why this isn't on mainline kernel?
UnixOutlaw Sep 29, 2017
AppImage download didn't work on my Ubuntu 17.04 laptop...

Added the repo and installed... started up fine... "seemed" to recognize my Steam Controller - but - WHAT does it do? What purpose does the application actually serve? I'm assuming to re-configure a button or an axis to something other than standard?

I don't really want to configure my controller beyond standard - I JUST WANT TO USE GYRO to steer / navigate, especially in driving games! I'm too old (55) to figure out how to use the analog thumbstick...
Phlebiac Sep 29, 2017
Quoting: kozecIt's interesting thing to find one's own application in RSS feed :)

Many thanks for your efforts! I do have one small suggestion, unrelated to the actual application. Your Fedora repo files have the version hard-coded in them, which means the one I downloaded for Fedora 24 quit working. Instead of replacing it with a new one (which I notice are separate, hard-coded for specific versions), I just changed the '24' in both places to $releasever
Sir_Diealot Sep 29, 2017
Quoting: fagnerlnOh man, thank you so much!
Mostly of unity games doesn't recognize correctly my x360 controller, I installed the steamos-xpad and now it's working...

Why this isn't on mainline kernel?

Glad that helped you. I really don't know why this stuff isn't the default, I never looked into it. One thing I figure while looking into this stuff is that some open-source games expect the XBox 360 controller to work differently than most other games. I think default xpad supports these games.

It would really be worth it to create a sort of gamepad wiki. Or at least for the Xbox controllers since they are such a mess.
vlademir1 Sep 29, 2017
Quoting: kozecThing is, gamepads are pain in the ass because of xbox controller. It's The One that works differently from everything else while being backed up by "Windows company", so games have to support it.

So very true. This is also something not helped by the fact that there is some part of their internal spec that let's third party Xbox controllers not absolutely work internally the exact same as MS own yet be recognized and work out of box on Xbox and Windows without needing further config. I learned this when my friend brought over his controller so we could play some Skullgirls and Crawl, his is official and mine is a cheap Game Stop one (Game Stop branded controller was $20 less). On my controller the D-Pad is recognized as 4 buttons, while on his it's two axes like the sticks are.
Mohandevir Sep 29, 2017
Quoting: MayeulC
Quoting: MohandevirI will need a how-to to install that thing. Never been able to make it work on Kubuntu. I see the SC icon in the apps but clicking on it does nothing at all.

Do we still have to stop it before launching Steam?

Edit: Oh! The OpenSuse build service is available again... Had the 404 error last time I checked. Going to give it a shot.

I had an issue with gtk apps at some point when I upgraded from plasma 4 to 5 (or something like it).
It turned out it was due to some old KDE themes (to make gtk look like KDE), and everything worked fine after I deleted them.
To check if it is the same with you, try launching zenity. It didn't work for me.

Now, it was a long time ago, so that's probably unrelated to your issue... But I'll leave that here, you never know.

It's working. Reinstalled it with OpenSuse build service and all went well. Awesome work by Kozec! The only thing that I find lacking is after a suspend/resume. The driver is not working properly and even trying to restart it is "sketchy". It's easier to completely reboot the system. Else, my SC likes it. :)

Edit: One more thing, and it's just a suggestion, in Steam, the steam button + up and down joystick are used to adjust the sound level of the system. Can something similar be done or is there another way of doing that?

Thanks!


Last edited by Mohandevir on 29 September 2017 at 12:51 pm UTC
phalen Oct 16, 2017
Hay liam or any one else who has a working F310 can you export a copy of the config I cant get it to switch over from a steam controller.
lucifertdark Oct 18, 2017
Quoting: Sir_DiealotExactly, xboxdrv is hell to set up. The stock kernel driver (xpad) is simpler, but doesn't work correctly with most games. The modified one by steam (steamos-xpad) seems to work better. And it gets a hell of a lot more complicated with wine games.
Why do gamepads have to be such a pain in the ass?
If it wasn't a challenge on Linux people wouldn't want to use it. ;)
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