protonscr

Steam segfaults when DualShock 4 (054c:09cc) is connected via Bluetooth or USB

steamclosed Steam clientDistro Family: ArchGeneral controller / Steam Input
ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux#13388 · opened 2026-07-06 by KintaraVault · updated 2026-07-08 · 5 comments · github
KKintaraVault 2026-07-06 github

Your system information

  • Steam client version (build number or date): 1783028805 (Jul 3 2026)

  • Distribution (e.g. Ubuntu): CachyOS (Arch Linux), kernel 7.1.2-3-cachyos

  • Opted into Steam client beta?: No

  • Have you checked for system updates?: Yes

  • Steam Logs: steam-logs.tar.gz

  • GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 8GB

Please describe your issue in as much detail as possible:

Steam crashes with SIGSEGV when a DualShock 4 controller (054c:09cc) is connected via Bluetooth or USB. The crash happens both on startup (controller already paired) and when hotplugging the controller to a running Steam instance.

The crash is in the CSteamController thread — the controller log shows:
BYieldingQueryAccountsRegisteredToController
BYieldingQueryAccountsRegisteredToController - server unavailable checking local cache for stored values

followed by a null-pointer dereference at steamclient.so+0x1315229. This is a regression — the same controller and system worked fine before the client update around July 3.

Disabling "PlayStation Configuration Support" does NOT prevent the crash. Setting STEAM_INPUT_DISABLE_HIDAPI=1 does NOT help. The crash specifically occurs in the local cache fallback handler of BYieldingQueryAccountsRegisteredToController when Steam detects the PS4 controller.

Crash IDs (auto-uploaded):

  • bp-c42e5af1-153d-457f-9669-b9b022260706
  • bp-080cb292-e3d0-450c-8813-f7d0f2260706

Steps for reproducing this issue:

  1. Pair a PS4 DualShock 4 controller
  2. Launch Steam, or connect the controller while Steam is already running
  3. Steam crashes within seconds with a segfault
Llostgoat 2026-07-08 github

@KintaraVault looks like the crashes are due to missing the xtest extension. Can you try installing libxtst?

You can check whether xtest is available by running this command:

% xdpyinfo -queryExtensions | grep XTEST
    XTEST  (opcode: 132)
KKintaraVault 2026-07-08 github

@lostgoat libxtst is already installed, but XTEST extension is not available on XWayland (I'm on Wayland). What's the best way to enable it? Also my crash trace seems to be in BYieldingQueryAccountsRegisteredToController - is XTEST causing that, or is this a different crash?

Llostgoat 2026-07-08 github

Sorry, I'm not certain what could be causing that extension to be disabled on your system.

On our side, we are planning on releasing a fix for steam crashing when xtest isn't present. But note that without xtest some controller features won't work. Mainly anything that isn't a direct gamepad action, e.g. moving the mouse in the desktop.

Also my crash trace seems to be in BYieldingQueryAccountsRegisteredToController - is XTEST causing that, or is this a different crash?

There is no BYieldingQueryAccountsRegisteredToController function in steam. That is just a log message. If an llm is helping you diagnose this, it is probably hallucinating incorrect info.

Kkisak-valve maintainer 2026-07-08 github

Hello @KintaraVault, please give #12714 a read and check if the discussion there is relevant to your system.

KKintaraVault 2026-07-08 github

@kisak-valve Thanks, that worked

Nothing extracted yet.