protonscr

Steam 'Controller Layout' hangs/loads indefinitely

steamopen Steam clientDistro Family: UbuntuGeneral controller / Steam Input
ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux#8921 · opened 2022-11-16 by dancs-dev · updated 2026-05-03 · 3 comments · github
Ddancs-dev 2022-11-16 github

Your system information

  • Steam client version (build number or date): steam-runtime_0.20220802.0
  • Distribution (e.g. Ubuntu): Linux Mint
  • Opted into Steam client beta?: Problem persists on both
  • Have you checked for system updates?: Yes

Please describe your issue in as much detail as possible:

  • Xbox controller connected to the PC using USB (problem also persisted when using it wirelessly).
  • Steam can detect the controller, and in General Controller Settings, I have Xbox Configuration Support enabled.
  • I attempt to click Controller Layout for either American or Euro Truck Sim, and a window opens with three lines (loading), and that is it. It never finishes loading.
  • For other games (e.g., Fallout New Vegas), when doing this, it loads the default Gamepad config. When clicking browse configs and choosing a community config, the same issue occurs except the loading screen has text, including PREVIEW right in the middle. This also hangs forever.

I have tried opting into and out of the beta, restarting the PC, restarting Steam, logging out and back in, and uninstalling the game.

Steps for reproducing this issue:

  1. Ubuntu-based distro (Linux Mint).
  2. Connect Xbox controller even just using a wire.
  3. Attempt to click Controller Layout.
  4. Euro Truck or American Truck Sim cannot load at all. All other games seem to have issues when choosing a community config.
DDanMan 2023-01-19 · hidden on GitHub github

Similar issue on Fedora 36 with natively installed Steam in beta mode.

If I launch "controller layout" from a game's library page, a window with only black in it pops up and stays there. If I click on the X to close the window, the black turns fully transparent (can see desktop behind it) and keeps staying there. I have to quit Steam completely for it to vanish.

This shows in the terminal upon opening the dialog:

sh: Line 1: lsb_release: command not found

Might want to use hostnamectl instead, for example.

Ddancs-dev 2023-11-09 github

After almost a year of this not working, and Steam seemingly getting slower and slower, I have finally discovered the issue and found a workaround.

I opened activity monitor and saw that Steam was continuously writing to disk despite nothing being downloaded. My search led me to this issue: https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/7795. The workshop_log.txt file was constantly being written with, e.g.,

[2023-11-09 08:41:34] [AppID 241100] Get details for item ... failed : I/O Operation Failed
[2023-11-09 08:41:34] [AppID 241100] Get details for item ... failed : I/O Operation Failed
[2023-11-09 08:41:34] [AppID 241100] Get details for item ... failed : I/O Operation Failed
[2023-11-09 08:41:34] [AppID 241100] Get details for item ... failed : I/O Operation Failed
[2023-11-09 08:41:34] [AppID 241100] Get details for item ... failed : I/O Operation Failed
[2023-11-09 08:41:34] [AppID 241100] Get details for item ... failed : I/O Operation Failed
[2023-11-09 08:41:34] [AppID 241100] Get details for item ... failed : I/O Operation Failed
[2023-11-09 08:41:34] [AppID 241100] Get details for item ... failed : I/O Operation Failed
[2023-11-09 08:41:34] [AppID 241100] Get details for item ... failed : I/O Operation Failed
[2023-11-09 08:41:34] [AppID 241100] Get details for item ... failed : I/O Operation Failed
[2023-11-09 08:41:34] [AppID 241100] Get details for item ... failed : I/O Operation Failed
[2023-11-09 08:41:34] [AppID 241100] Finished Workshop download job : No Error
[2023-11-09 08:41:34] [AppID 241100] Starting Workshop download job (downloading  )
[2023-11-09 08:41:34] [AppID 241100] Update canceled: Disabled (Suspended)

The app ID is the Steam Input Configs app.

Like the person in the other issue, I am also using an encrypted home directory. I managed to fix this by:

  1. Creating a directory outside the home directory: sudo mkdir /srv
  2. Move the workshop directory into that directory: sudo mv ~/.steam/debian-installation/steamapps/workshop/ /srv/.
  3. Creating a symlink while in the steamapps directory: ln -s /srv/workshop/ ./workshop

I would argue that this is not an uncommon use-case, and it would be nice if Steam could either play nicer with encrypted home directories, or output a more meaningful error message rather than continually writing to disk.

EEvgeniyDoctor 2026-05-03 github

2026, everything is still the same. Disgrace.

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