Steam Deck LCD with GuliKit Hall Effect Analog sticks replacement
Please describe your issue in as much detail as possible:
Many Steam Deck users have installed GuliKit Hall Effect sensor sticks as a drift-free alternative to stock joysticks. However, these sticks exhibit calibration issues that cause unintended behavior. Specifically, that GuliKit’s firmware/hardware applies a square active zone (instead of the circular in the original sticks), affecting diagonal movement and overall input accuracy, especially in sensitive shooter games. Personally the difference might not be big enough for the average user, but those who can notice it, its there.
The core issue with the GuliKit Hall Effect analog sticks stems from their calibration design and deadzone behavior, which significantly reduces the joystick's effective range, particularly for larger adjustments in the outer range. While fine, small adjustments are very responsive with the very tiny inner deadzone (props to them), the performance dramatically drops when trying to make larger movements. This is due to the gigantic outer deadzone around the outer corner edges of the stick, where a big area is always at 100% output.
This is despite calibrating the joysticks via their physical buttons in the PCBs as stated in the instructions, running out thumbstick_cal on konsole, or tweaking Steam Input and setting the deadzone to a "Square" one instead of Circle.
This is easily seen the Steam Input settings ->Joystick Settings -> Deadzone and checking the "Physical Joystick Position" and "Translated Output Value"
I made an additional edit to showcase what I'm trying to say:
There is not much problem with the X and Y ranges. 100% Physical Joystick is equivalent to ~100% Translated Output Value. It is the mapping of diagonal inputs that is incorrect. Specifically, 100% physical joystick movement in a diagonal direction is translated to ~140% of the expected output value due to its square nature instead of being a uniform circle. This means that the diagonal range is stretched too far, leading to overreporting the joystick’s input in diagonal directions.
Because of this incorrect mapping, the joystick becomes overly sensitive in diagonal directions. To reach 100% output, only 70% of physical joystick movement is needed in those directions, resulting in a weird curve where the diagonal inputs feel excessively sharp or aggressive. This behavior makes the joystick feel unpredictable or floaty, especially during larger adjustments like aiming or turning in games where joystick movements are dynamic between X and Y.
Steps for reproducing this issue:
Have the original analog sticks and Gulikit Hall Effect Sensor sticks for testing
For both sticks, check Steam Input settings ->Joystick Settings -> Deadzone. Check the "Physical Joystick Position" and "Translated Output Value"
Do a test so you can see these values while moving the joysticks.
Original Steam Deck sticks report a value of 100% -> 100-110% across all sides
Gulikit sticks report a value of 100 -> 100-145% across all sides (especially diagonals)
Proposed Solution
Add a way for SteamOS properly calibrate Hall Effect sensors (especially with square zones) and their full analog range.
Provide an option in Steam Deck settings to accurately calibrate to square gated sticks, so the diagonals can reach 100% output more slowly and not at a lower deflection point. (like having an outer anti-deadzone for the diagonals only, for lack of a better word)
I am fully aware that this is a design flaw of Gulikit itself and not Valve, but seeing as the Steam Deck can properly detect the Guli kit stick's full range still, just not properly map it, maybe there is still hope to fix it on Valve's end.
You can see other people talking about it in some reddit threads that I've found Reddit Discussion 1
Your system information
Steam Deck LCD with GuliKit Hall Effect Analog sticks replacement
Please describe your issue in as much detail as possible:
Many Steam Deck users have installed GuliKit Hall Effect sensor sticks as a drift-free alternative to stock joysticks. However, these sticks exhibit calibration issues that cause unintended behavior. Specifically, that GuliKit’s firmware/hardware applies a square active zone (instead of the circular in the original sticks), affecting diagonal movement and overall input accuracy, especially in sensitive shooter games. Personally the difference might not be big enough for the average user, but those who can notice it, its there.
The core issue with the GuliKit Hall Effect analog sticks stems from their calibration design and deadzone behavior, which significantly reduces the joystick's effective range, particularly for larger adjustments in the outer range. While fine, small adjustments are very responsive with the very tiny inner deadzone (props to them), the performance dramatically drops when trying to make larger movements. This is due to the gigantic outer deadzone around the outer corner edges of the stick, where a big area is always at 100% output.
This is despite calibrating the joysticks via their physical buttons in the PCBs as stated in the instructions, running out thumbstick_cal on konsole, or tweaking Steam Input and setting the deadzone to a "Square" one instead of Circle.
This is easily seen the Steam Input settings ->Joystick Settings -> Deadzone and checking the "Physical Joystick Position" and "Translated Output Value"
I made an additional edit to showcase what I'm trying to say:
There is not much problem with the X and Y ranges. 100% Physical Joystick is equivalent to ~100% Translated Output Value. It is the mapping of diagonal inputs that is incorrect. Specifically, 100% physical joystick movement in a diagonal direction is translated to ~140% of the expected output value due to its square nature instead of being a uniform circle. This means that the diagonal range is stretched too far, leading to overreporting the joystick’s input in diagonal directions.
Because of this incorrect mapping, the joystick becomes overly sensitive in diagonal directions. To reach 100% output, only 70% of physical joystick movement is needed in those directions, resulting in a weird curve where the diagonal inputs feel excessively sharp or aggressive. This behavior makes the joystick feel unpredictable or floaty, especially during larger adjustments like aiming or turning in games where joystick movements are dynamic between X and Y.
Steps for reproducing this issue:
Proposed Solution
Add a way for SteamOS properly calibrate Hall Effect sensors (especially with square zones) and their full analog range.
Provide an option in Steam Deck settings to accurately calibrate to square gated sticks, so the diagonals can reach 100% output more slowly and not at a lower deflection point. (like having an outer anti-deadzone for the diagonals only, for lack of a better word)
I am fully aware that this is a design flaw of Gulikit itself and not Valve, but seeing as the Steam Deck can properly detect the Guli kit stick's full range still, just not properly map it, maybe there is still hope to fix it on Valve's end.
You can see other people talking about it in some reddit threads that I've found
Reddit Discussion 1
Reddit Discussion 2
Reddit Discussion 3
EDIT: closing this down to transfer issue to SteamOS, where I feel its more appropriate
https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamOS/issues/1861