protonscr

Controller input navigates invisible Overlay menu in wlroots compositors

steamopen Big PictureWindow manageroverlayDistro Family: ArchGeneral controller / Steam Input
ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux#8640 · opened 2022-06-19 by taylor85345 · updated 2026-03-20 · 5 comments · github
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Ttaylor85345 2022-06-19 github

Your system information

  • Steam client version (build number or date): 1654574690 (Jun 7 2022)
  • Distribution (e.g. Ubuntu): Garuda Linux
  • Opted into Steam client beta?: Yes
  • Have you checked for system updates?: Yes

Please describe your issue in as much detail as possible:

Describe what you expected should happen and what did happen. Please link any large code pastes as a Github Gist

When playing any game launched through steam, under any wlroots compositor, controller input seems to navigate an invisible Big Picture overlay, as if controller input is being routed simultaneously to the Game and the Steam Client. For example, pressing the A and B buttons on a Steam Controller trigger the sounds of navigating through a Big Picture menu tree, even though the overlay is inactive. The buttons presses still perform their intended function in-game, and to date nothing undesirable has happened as a result of navigating this invisible overlay, so it is more of an auditory distraction than anything.

I have confirmed this behavior with a variety of controllers, including Steam Controller, DualSense, and DualShock 4, all in both wired and Bluetooth configurations. I have also confirmed this behavior in multiple wlroots compositors including Sway, River, and Hyprland. This behavior seems to occur even if the overlay is entirely disabled from the settings menu, and the game is launched from the desktop client

Steps for reproducing this issue:

  1. Launch Steam under any wlroots-based Wayland Compositor
  2. Connect a controller (Steam Controller, Dualsense, Dualshock 4 confirmed)
  3. Launch a game from within steam (Confirmed in FFXIV, Doom Eternal, Among Us).
  4. Navigate the game using the controller. Note Steam sound effects when pressing A/B or X/O buttons
?ghost 2022-10-20 github

I have the same issue, in my case randomly launchs another game in the middle of a game session.

Reproducible with

  • Opted into Steam client beta?: Yes
  • Steam Package Version : 1666144119
  • Sway 1.7
  • Wlroots 0.15.1
  • Archlinux 6.0.2 (vanilla, zen)
  • Dualshock 4 wired or via bluetooth
SSamsagax 2023-02-08 github

Seems like the overlay doesn´t get focus or the appropriate window manager hints to be treated as one. I can hear the overlay navigation sounds and even push some buttons on a blind navigation (even to close the game) but is not only limited to wlroots-based compositors, Mutter (GNOME) is also affected. Work fine on X compositors like openbox or xfwm.

Lloikki 2023-04-14 github

Any news for this issue? I have the same issue on Ubuntu 22.04 (host + client). I have a few windows games that work perfectly through lutris as a non steam game but I encounter this issue with ryujinx.

Ttaylor85345 2023-04-18 github

I have not noticed this issue in some time. I had disabled Big Picture sound effects in the old interface, which masked the issue for me, and I haven't encountered the issue since the move to the new Big Picture interface.

Kkimmot 2026-03-20 github

This problem still exits with latest git wlroots/sway (probably other wlroots compositors too) and Proton GE using PROTON_ENABLE_WAYLAND=1. "kwin_wayland" does not have the same issue. Some "signaling" from wlroots must be missing.

For sway I use following game launch wrapper as a work-around:

#! /bin/bash
args=( "$@" )
pid=$(swaymsg -t get_tree | jq '.. | select(.window_properties? .instance == "steamwebhelper") | .pid')
kill -s SIGSTOP "${pid}"
"${args[@]}"
kill -s SIGCONT "${pid}"

Launch options