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? I don’t mind if the battery life isn’t the same or better than official controllers, but they shouldn’t straight up lie about the capacity. It should be illegal.
I love the 8bitdo Pro 2. No connection issues in either Xinput or DirectInput mode. Battery life is great and it can run on the included battery pack which will charge via USB-C or AAs that will actually extend the battery life.
Not generic, but I’ve been using Xbox Series controllers with LMDE. They were plug n play and work flawlessly out of the box. I’ve used them with both bluetooth and wired and have had no problems with emulation and steam. You’d probably save more buying a used xbox controller for about $30-$50 than trial and error with cheaper off-brand gamepads
8BitDo ultimate with hall effect joysticks. Great value and works perfectly.
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.
I also have this controller (and the one that is SNES style) and both work well with my steam deck.
All of these are complaints specific to wireless controllers (auto-shutoff to conserve battery, battery life, some sort or Bluetooth connectivity issue). Have you considered getting a wired, USB controller? Or using your existing one in USB mode, which most wireless controllers support?
I only use wired controllers, however my system (Mint) doesn’t acknowledge controller input as standard input, 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.
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
https://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.
just an idea I have. to keep my pc from sleeping while streaming content to my other devices, I have a script that uses xdotool to move the cursor 1 pixel to the right and immediately back every 30 seconds if my network adapter has transferred some data. make (or ask chatgpt to make) a script that recognizes some of your controller inputs and then moves the mouse, or it could press XF86_wakeup key (this will cause problems in web excel). also it could trigger by just having the controller plugged in.
You can run caffeine in Terminal while playing the game.
Also: gaming on linux
I recommend the 8bitDo Pro 2 controller. The controller works well on my Linux gaming machine and the things I like about it are:
- Bluetooth or wired connection
- Replaceable battery with up to 20 hours of playtime.
Beat me to it. Outstanding controller, with replaceable parts staight from 8bitDo.
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.
8bitdo Pro2 is very good also for retro-gaming
I have a cheap Bluetooth controller that works perfectly for me, although to be fair I almost never use a controller so it gets used a couple hours in a month lol. The brand is gamesir and I got it for $20 or so with no issues on Linux using either the Bluetooth mode or the 2.4GHz adapter over the past couple years
Go with a Nintendo Switch controller that works with PC like:
https://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”.
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 for switch as well, all for about 80 bucks.
It’s got hall effect sticks/triggers.
It has Bluetooth as well, I just haven’t tried it. Better response times and range with the adapter so that’s what I use.
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’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.
8BitDo makes some good controllers, and at least I’ve never had any issues with my SN30 Pro+ first gen. Some of the older controllers needed special Windows/Mac software to update their firmware and stuff, but I think newer controllers let you put them in flashing mode, mount them as a USB device, and then just drag and drop firmware into them.
I also have a Gulikit KK2 that’s been fine. Not a cheap controller, but I’d assume that anything they offer would work too. The Gulikit i’ve used in bluetooth mode on my laptop and it was fine, tho the 8bitdo i pretty much only use in wired mode. The 8BitDo is cool because it has a removable battery, but you also have the option of using AA batteries too, if you wish.
8BitDo Pro 2 is easily the best pad I’ve ever used.
I like my 8bitdo controller but I have an older model so can’t speak for the more recent ones.
