protonscr

[Regression] Proton Experimental/11.x: PROTON_PREFER_SDL=1 fails to enumerate DualSense & breaks audio in "The Saboteur" (Error 1726 & DSOUND 8-channel)

protonclosed
ValveSoftware/Proton#10021 · opened 2026-07-31 by mbtns · updated 2026-07-31 · 2 comments · github
Mmbtns 2026-07-31 github

Compatibility Report

  • Name of the game with compatibility issues: The Saboteur / Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong
  • Steam AppID of the game: 24880 / 1299510

System Information

  • GPU: Intel Arc A770 (DG2) / Intel UHD 770 (iGPU)
  • Video driver version: Mesa (i915 driver) on NixOS 26.11
  • Kernel version: Linux 6.x (NixOS 26.11 Zokor)
  • Distro: NixOS 26.11 (Zokor)
  • Link to full system information report as Gist
  • Proton version: Proton Experimental / GE-Proton11-2 / GE-Proton11-3

I confirm:

  • [x] that I haven't found an existing compatibility report for this game.
  • [x] that I have checked whether there are updates for my system available.
  • [x] that I have verified the problem happens on both Proton Experimental and GE-Proton 11-2/11-3.
  • [x] that I am NOT using the GE-Proton flatpak.

Symptoms

  1. DualSense (Wired) Not Recognized: When PROTON_PREFER_SDL=1 is set, the controller is completely invisible to the game in Proton Experimental and GE-Proton 11-2/11-3.
  2. Audio Failure (The Saboteur): Complete silence.
  3. Critical Log Errors:
    • err:service:device_notify_proc failed to get event, error 1726 (RPC failure preventing device enumeration).
    • fixme:dsound:DSOUND_MixerVol There is no support for 8 channels (Audio stack failure).
  4. Regression: These issues are absent in GE-Proton11-1 (which works perfectly).

Reproduction

  1. Launch The Saboteur (AppID: 24880) or Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong (AppID: 1299510) on NixOS.
  2. Select Proton Experimental or GE-Proton11-2/11-3.
  3. Set launch option: PROTON_PREFER_SDL=1.
  4. Connect DualSense via USB.
  5. Result: Game launches, but controller is dead and audio is silent (Saboteur). Log shows error 1726.
  6. Comparison: Switch to GE-Proton11-1 -> Controller and Audio work immediately.

Log Excerpts

01fc:fixme:dsound:DSOUND_MixerVol There is no support for 8 channels
015c:err:service:device_notify_proc failed to get event, error 1726
gamemodeauto: dlopen failed - libgamemode.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
0408:fixme:winediag:loader_init wine-staging 11.0 is a testing version containing experimental patches.
Launch command: ['/usr/bin/gamemoderun', '/usr/bin/umu-run', '/home/batenssegher/Games/Heroic/Games/The Saboteur/Saboteur.exe']   
Kkisak-valve maintainer 2026-07-31 github

Hello @mbtns, this should be evaluated on a per-game basis and we're using one issue report per unofficially supported game title, so I've gone ahead and transferred this issue report to https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton/issues/8496#issuecomment-5142995835.

Mmbtns 2026-07-31 github

Hi @kisak-valve The main issue is the controller recognition breaking when not using steam input and this was game-agnostic for me and present for both The Saboteur and VTM: Swansong. I can test it for more games if needed, but there was a clear regression from 11-1 to 11-2 . At least for my setup.

Proton versions

Launch options

Upstream links