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I have been using a PS3 controller in (Steam) games for a long time, and without any setup it worked perfect. Recently though, the controller is not found/recognized in my Steam games anymore, although it works inside the Big Picture UI, and in games outside of Steam. I think this change happened after a system/kernel update (Arch), but I'm not 100% sure that it is the cause.
I also have a PS4 controller, but it also isn't recognized by Steam games (had this issue before, though). If I use the controller setup in Steam and "enable" it, the controller is found in games but seen as a Xbox controller, although there are issues such as the D-pad doesn't work in some games, and in general it's unsatisfactory (Playstation buttons shown as ABXY, no rumble..)
Am I the only one experiencing these sudden problems with Playstation 3/4 controllers in Steam? I love the ergonomics of the controllers, and in general just so used to it, so I really hope I don't have to change controllers.. Also right now it doesn't make sense why it just stopped working.
Hope someone can help me?!
What does this show?
ls -l /dev/uinputShould look like this;
crw-rw----+ 1 root root 10, 223 Aug 7 02:39 /dev/uinputI had exactly the same issue a few days ago with my PS3 controller, wich has always worked without config, and couldn't figure out what I had done and also guessed it was because of a recent system update. I'm also on Arch. After last update (yesterday i think) it started working again and I still don't know why. So if you haven't already, try a system update!
I found the answer, and yes it is because of the update to Linux 4.12 which has a lot of changes to the PS3/4 controller drivers: http://www.spinics.net/lists/linux-input/msg50044.html
I guess SDL has to be updated to these changes, and Steam as well? It is curious that the controller is working for you again - what is your kernel version? I've updated my system this morning, but there was no new kernel or SDL (latest kernel for me is 4.12.4-1)
Luckily I haven't cleared my package cache, so I downgraded to Linux 4.11.9-1 + nvidia-381.22-4 and now the controller works as expected again in games through Steam. I will of course follow the development, and hopefully Valve is (or will be) aware of this issue.