Solved No external controller on SteamOS

[ziggurism]

I'm playing Stardew Valley on SteamDeck under SteamOS, and I wanted to play with an external controller, while docked to the TV. However for some reason as soon as I boot into the game, it stops responding to all inputs. I have to switch to the SteamDeck's builtin controller or touchscreen to regain control of my system.

Following some suggestions that I found in this thread from this forum and this reddit post that google found for me, I have also confirmed that the external controller is first in controller order, and the controller type is enabled in Steam controller settings. I've checked that Steam is using the recommended Stardew Valley controller layout. I've gone to the in-game settings and setting Gamepad Mode to either Force On, or Autodetect. I've tried with both 8bitdo Pro 2 (in xinput mode), and Switch Pro controller. Nothing changed. Controller pairs, controller works with the OS, but it stops inputting as soon as the game launches.

I have also tried booting the SteamDeck in Windows. Under Windows, everything works. Steam client launches with full controller support, and also Stardew Valley recognizes the controller and everything works great. So the issue seems to be something to do with SteamOS.

Can anyone offer any guesses about further troubleshooting steps? Thanks in advance

 

[ziggurism]

On a lark, I changed controller order so that the external controller was second, and the builtin controller was first. And it worked. Kind of a weird bug, but I can play so I'm good.

 

[Magically Clueless]

This is definitely a weird issue, but thank you for going over all the steps you've tried (those are the exact ones I tend to tell people when they're having controller issues). It must be a weird thing in relation to the Steam Deck maybe? Either way, I'm glad it works for you now, and I'll suggest people try to change their controller order if they're having similar issues.