Can anyone recommend generic controllers that work with Linux?
I don’t need anything special or pricey, just a basic controller that does basic controller things. I’ve tried a few generic controllers, but they have issues with bluetooth, battery life, and automatically shutting off too early from idling. Does anyone know of any generic controllers that don’t have these issues?
Batocera has a good list
wiki.batocera.org/supported_controllers
Otherwise, I would consider that Linux is not the limit/cause of incompatibility and most will work out of the box just fine.
Supported Controllers All major controllers are supported by Batocera. EmulationStation uses an internal database so that most of them work out of the box, no configuration required. For controllers not in this database yet, Batocera will prompt you to manually map its buttons.
You can run caffeine in Terminal while playing the game.
Also: gaming on linux
so the screen saver comes on in 20 minutes or my machine goes to sleep after an hour while I play. I haven’t figured out how to stop it yet.
The way I have my system set up is to not power-off the monitor unless the screensaver is up, but if it is, to flip the power off in pretty short order. I manually trigger the screensaver. So I don’t know what people who do auto-locking and all do today.
kagis
github.com/foresto/joystickwake
This appears to do this on Xorg and Wayland for various screensavers and environments. I have not used it myself. I don’t know if it’s been packaged by anyone in Mint, though – I don’t see a package in Debian trixie, and if this site is the package repo for Mint – I know that there are variations of Mint – then I don’t see it there. You can build, install, and set it up to run manually, I suppose.
I do see a reference to an Ubuntu package in a PPA at the bottom of their main page. One variant of Mint is based on Ubuntu; I don’t know whether that means that one can get away with using Ubuntu packages or not.
I’ve had pretty good success with a number of 8bitdo controllers. The wireless ones have a few different wireless “profiles” for compatibility with multiple devices, but after figuring that out, it’s pretty smooth sailing. They take several minutes to turn off from idling, and it won’t “idle” if you’re holding it (i.e., if there’s any activity on the gyroscope).
I have the SN30 Pro and the Zero 2, both have great battery life and work well on Linux (I’m using Mint). And they work wired as well.
I recommend the 8bitDo Pro2 controller. The controller works well on my Linux gaming machine and it has:
I don’t know of any generic controllers, and wouldn’t trust them to have consistent hardware between production runs. All the worthwhile controllers I’ve used have brand names. Having said that…
Logitech makes decent, affordable, basic controllers. My only complaint about the F310 / F710 is that the analog stick dead zones are a little bigger than I like. (Maybe I’m just spoiled by Sony models, though.)
Sony’s DualShock 4 v2 and DualSense are great in my experience, and not terribly expensive when they go on sale.
Go with a Nintendo Switch controller that works with PC like:
a.co/d/6cxE7qn (~$20)
There’s dozens and dozens of them and I’ve never had a problem with any of them. They all seem to just “magically work”.
I have the 8BitDo Ultimate controller and just store it in the dock when not in use. I’ve not had any connectivity issues (does Bluetooth & 2.4Ghz), battery life (22hrs), or ever have it just shut off. Also has rumble , motion, and hall effect sticks. The configuration of profiles can be done through a mobile app or Windows/VM.
If you’re cool with a 2.4ghz adapter via USB, the gulikit kk3 max has been awesome. It’s an Xbox controller clone with 4 paddles, can be used on switch, and has hot swappable buttons all for about 80 bucks.
Warning: QA isn’t the best, I have had one come in with vibration issues, but returning it and ordering another was a price well paid.
I disagree.
It is laughable.
I just use a Dualshock 4
It like.
Works. Linux games and Emulators recognise it as a generic SDL-compatible controller 99.9% of the time (and for that .1% there’s ds4drv in emulate-xpad mode). And Windows games on Proton use Steam Input which is not just functional, it even works with things like the motion sensors and shit.
Not much else I can say to it. It never gave me Bluetooth problems (and I use a generic bluetooth USB adaptor from China), its battery lasts long enough to not bother me, and it never shut off during a cutscene.
Thanks. I’ve been using generic DS4s but they all have some of the issues I’ve been describing.
Do you know how to turn off the touchpad? It just gets in the way for me.
Yes and no
I know how to turn it off on KDE Plasma Wayland which is the DE I use. Different WMs and DEs will do it differently. X11 will do it differently. I’m sure it can be done, I just have no idea how.
With the controller connected, Plasma-Wayland reports the touchpad as like. A laptop touchpad. So you can shut it off by just going into its settings programme and turning it off like you would a laptop touchpad.
… Unless of course you ARE using a laptop, at which point that would possibly turn off both your laptop’s actual touchpad as well as the one in the DS4.
Thanks for the advice.
I’m using KDE with X11 on a laptop, so it’s probably not so easy for me to turn it of 🙁
wiki.archlinux.org/title/Gamepad#Disable_touchpad…
"You’d need to replace the MatchProduct directive in your xorg config file with something like this to disable the touchpad:
MatchProduct "Wireless" MatchProduct "Controller|Adaptor" MatchProduct "Touchpad"If you want to go as cheap as possible while retaining usable status, I’d recommend generic Xbox 360 controllers. You can get deals on two of them in a set for sub-$20 and they’re usually fine functionally. They will have cheap sticks and poor build quality, but they take AA or the Play N Charge packs and their 2.4ghz dongles they come with work on Linux perfectly for every “brand” I’ve tried.
If you want a nice non-Xbox/PlayStation controller, as others have said: get an 8BitDo.
Don’t bother with anything else. I’ve bought plenty of generic Switch controllers, off brand Xbox or PlayStation controllers, etc. They all lead to pain, connection issues, and frustration. ESPECIALLY if they’re Bluetooth. You might be OK if they come with a dongle for 2.4ghz, but even those are spotty sometimes and often have range issues.
I bought an 8bitdo ultimate Bluetooth controller (also supports 2.4ghz transceiver). It pairs with my switch and my Linux system effortlessly and works great.
I believe the button mapping is backwards from what I see in games (push b to confirm choices, but it’s really a). But I rely more on muscle memory anyway.
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