Today I spent a while to fix a problem with my DualSense controller that really annoyed me for a while now, but I never found the time to fix. (disclaimer: summary was created by AI)

After restarting my openSUSE system, my DualSense controller would connect via Bluetooth but wasn’t recognized as a gamepad. It only worked after unplugging and replugging the Bluetooth dongle (ASUS USB-BT500).

Cause: The Bluetooth dongle wasn’t initializing correctly after a reboot. While the controller could establish a Bluetooth connection, it wasn’t registering as an input device (/dev/input/by-id/). Only after manually resetting the dongle (by unplugging and replugging it) would the connection stabilize.

Solution: I created a udev rule to automatically reset the dongle after every reboot, ensuring proper initialization. This fixed the issue, and the controller is now reliably detected.

The udev rule:

ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0b05", ATTRS{idProduct}=="190e", RUN+="/usr/bin/hciconfig hci1 reset"

(Replace 0b05:190e with your dongle’s ID from lsusb.)

After creating the rule with sudo nano /etc/udev/rules.d/99-bt-dongle-reset.rules and reloading udev (sudo udevadm control --reload-rules && sudo udevadm trigger), the controller now works immediately after boot.

Maybe this is helpful for somebody facing a similar issue. Or you can tell me, why this solution is a bad idea and why I should not listen to AI.

  • Domi@lemmy.secnd.me
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    7 hours ago

    You might want to try updating your controller firmware (via Windows) and installing the steam-devices package if its not already installed.

    Dualsense controllers should work out of the box like this.

    • HumbleExaggeration@feddit.orgOP
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      5 hours ago

      I do not have a windows install anymore. Is there a way to update it via Linux? So far I only updated the firmware of the controller when my PlayStation showed an update. So I think it should be up to date. Or is there a special firmware for Windows?

      Also the controller is working perfectly. Only problem was that I needed to unplug and plug in the Bluetooth dongle everytime I restarted the PC, for the controller to connect correctly.