Hello @MarbleMouse1, there's a couple years of changes between Proton 9.0 and Proton Experimental. Can you test what happens with Proton 10 and/or 11? Also, please add PROTON_LOG=1 %command% to a couple game's launch options and attach the generated $HOME/steam-$APPID.log to this issue report as a file. (Proton logs compress well if needed.)
Sorry, I didn't notice 10 and 11 at the bottom of the list, I assumed 9 was the latest one!
Logs attached with two games.
Both games did the following:
Hotfix/Experimental/11.0 all had the issue of the controller not coming back after reconnecting.
10.0-4 didn't detect the controller at all. Tried several times, reconnecting the controller as well.
9.0-4 worked fine.
steam-1924780_.zip
steam-1269640_.zip
Hello @MarbleMouse1, there's a couple years of changes between Proton 9.0 and Proton Experimental. Can you test what happens with Proton 10 and/or 11? Also, please add
PROTON_LOG=1 %command%to a couple game's launch options and attach the generated $HOME/steam-$APPID.log to this issue report as a file. (Proton logs compress well if needed.)
I have the same problem. If the gamepad reconnects while playing, the buttons stop working except for the Guide button.
Bazzite 44
Linux 7.1.3-ogc5.1.fc44.x86_64
B650 GAMING X AX
AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D (16)
AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT
32 GB RAM
8BitDo Ultimate 2 Wireless Controller
I can reproduce the same symptom through a different controller path, but Proton 11.0-1 fixes it on my setup.
The exact working Proton installation was:
Before switching to Proton 11, the controller still worked in Steam menus and could open the overlay after reconnecting, but the running game received no controller input.
The Bluetooth and Steam Input sides appeared to work correctly:
.0008 -> .0009).Microsoft X-Box 360 pad 0.evtest.controller.txt showed Steam reopening the controller and reserving XInput slot 0.The Elite Series 2 exposes multiple HID interfaces through xpadneo: gamepad, keyboard, consumer control, and mouse. This may be related to Proton 11's controller hotplug fix for devices exposing multiple HID interfaces.
This suggests that issue #10003 may contain at least two variants: the original 8BitDo XInput dongle path still appears to be broken with Proton 11, while Proton 11.0-1 fixes the Bluetooth/xpadneo path with an Xbox Elite Series 2 on my system.
Fixed in Proton 11.0-1
(“Fixed controller hotplug not working for 8BitDo Ultimate 2C and other controllers that expose multiple HID devices”)
That does sound very much so like my issue, but if it was fixed wouldn't it be working in Experimental?
Fixed in Proton 11.0-1 (“Fixed controller hotplug not working for 8BitDo Ultimate 2C and other controllers that expose multiple HID devices”)
Good question @MarbleMouse1 .
The 8BitDo multi-HID hotplug fix from 11.0-1 is in Experimental (and Experimental even got another “improved reliability of controller hotplug” change today).
So if it’s still broken for you on Experimental, it’s probably one of these two:
Any chance you can check whether you’re on a current Experimental build, and whether Proton 11.0-1 itself works cleanly for the same disconnect/reconnect?
Have just tried and had success with both! Thanks for letting me know they've been updated, I'll put it through a proper test for a different game later. 👍
Good question @MarbleMouse1 .
The 8BitDo multi-HID hotplug fix from 11.0-1 is in Experimental (and Experimental even got another “improved reliability of controller hotplug” change today).
So if it’s still broken for you on Experimental, it’s probably one of these two:
1. Experimental hasn’t actually updated on your end yet, or 2. Your specific case (wireless dongle disconnect mid-game) is still an edge case the general hotplug fixes didn’t fully coverAny chance you can check whether you’re on a current Experimental build, and whether Proton 11.0-1 itself works cleanly for the same disconnect/reconnect?
proton 11.0-1x5 2026-07proton experimentalx5 2026-07proton 9.0x3 2026-07proton 10.0x1 2026-07PROTON_LOG=1x2 2026-07
Hello,
When my wireless controller disconnects, either from putting it onto its charging dock or letting it automatically disconnect from inactivity, it no longer works in the currently running game after reconnecting. The only button that still works is the Home button that brings up the Steam overlay. The controller still works fine in other apps and will work fine again if the game is restarted.
This seems to be a Proton issue, specifically with Experimental and Hotfix. Forcing the game to use 9.0-4 makes the issue go away and everything works properly.
Specific controller in question is 8bitdo Ultimate 2 in Xinput (wireless dongle) mode.
Games tested with issue:
Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore
Beacon Pines
TUNIC
Operating System: Bazzite 44 NVIDIA Edition
KDE Plasma Version: 6.7.2
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.28.0
Qt Version: 6.11.1
Kernel Version: 7.1.3-ogc3.4.fc44.x86_64 (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: Wayland
Processors: 24 × AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12-Core Processor
Memory: 32 GiB of RAM (31.2 GiB usable)
Graphics Processor: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080