Xbox 360 wireless controller light continues blinking after sync with receiver

[JP]

I'm trying to use an Xbox 360 wireless gamepad with Ubuntu 13.10 64-bit (I've confirmed that this bug affects 14.04 as well). For background, the 360 wireless controller uses a receiver (also made by Microsoft) that plugs into a PC via USB. The controller syncs with the receiver by pressing a button on both.

The "xpad" driver in the kernel seems to support most of its functionality just fine, but the light on the controller continues flashing forever after syncing with the receiver. Having a constant blinking light on one's controller is annoying and makes the user experience feel sloppy.

As best I can tell, the version of the xpad driver in the mainline kernel hasn't been touched in a few years. Valve, creators of Steam and SteamOS, have done work on the driver recently and have fixed this bug. (Ubuntu PPA for this driver here: https://launchpad.net/~mdeslaur/+archive/steamos )

It would be really nice if 14.04 and all future versions of Ubuntu could use Valve's version of this driver, as it's the version being actively maintained. Without it, gamers trying out Ubuntu will get a low impression of Ubuntu's polish and support for gaming.
---
ApportVersion: 2.12.5-0ubuntu2.2
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC2: jpl 2694 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/controlC1: jpl 2694 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/controlC0: jpl 2694 F.... pulseaudio
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 13.10
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=d1b7d2f8-4929-4b69-8cc9-ecaa3857fa09
InstallationDate: Installed on 2013-04-28 (272 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 13.04 "Raring Ringtail" - Release amd64 (20130424)
IwConfig:
 eth0 no wireless extensions.

 lo no wireless extensions.
MachineType: To Be Filled By O.E.M. To Be Filled By O.E.M.
MarkForUpload: True
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
Package: linux (not installed)
ProcFB: 0 inteldrmfb
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.11.0-15-generic root=UUID=7e9aaad1-2e08-4726-9451-b5a3d38ccc36 ro quiet splash
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.11.0-15.23-generic 3.11.10
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-3.11.0-15-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-3.11.0-15-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.116
RfKill:
 0: hci0: Bluetooth
  Soft blocked: no
  Hard blocked: no
Tags: saucy
Uname: Linux 3.11.0-15-generic x86_64
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to saucy on 2013-10-18 (99 days ago)
UserGroups: adm bluetooth cdrom dip lpadmin plugdev root sambashare sudo
dmi.bios.date: 01/17/2013
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: P2.80
dmi.board.name: Z77 Extreme4
dmi.board.vendor: ASRock
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.chassis.version: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvrP2.80:bd01/17/2013:svnToBeFilledByO.E.M.:pnToBeFilledByO.E.M.:pvrToBeFilledByO.E.M.:rvnASRock:rnZ77Extreme4:rvr:cvnToBeFilledByO.E.M.:ct3:cvrToBeFilledByO.E.M.:
dmi.product.name: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.product.version: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.sys.vendor: To Be Filled By O.E.M.

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

This bug is missing log files that will aid in diagnosing the problem. From a terminal window please run:

apport-collect 1272765

and then change the status of the bug to 'Confirmed'.

If, due to the nature of the issue you have encountered, you are unable to run this command, please add a comment stating that fact and change the bug status to 'Confirmed'.

This change has been made by an automated script, maintained by the Ubuntu Kernel Team.

[JP (vectorpoem)]

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[JP (vectorpoem)]

There was some movement on this issue in the past week, as Greg Kroah-Hartman submitted some patches for the kernel that fix this bug:

http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.kernel.input/33971

One argument for making this higher priority than Wishlist is that digital game distribution service Steam recommends Ubuntu to its 75 million (4-6.5 million concurrent) users:

http://store.steampowered.com/about

which is to say, there will be increasing amounts of attention on this bug as Valve's Linux push gains traction.

[Carl Burns (crburns88)]

I'm having the same issue on 14.04 but with the wired controller i can verify its not just the wireless

[Felix (apoapo)]

Same here! Like described before: Hurry up fixing this! Steam in home streaming brings ALL windows games to the linux box. Attention for this bug will raise.

[Felix (apoapo)]

Addition:

Could you provide a workaround here? Just installing and upgrading from the mentioned PPA does not work for me. Thank you very much.

[Luis Alvarado (luisalvarado)]

Using the PPA as it is shown in http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2014/06/ubuntu-xbox-controller-support-xboxdrv-driver does not work with the 360 controller.

[Andrew Anderson (andmatand)]

Carl Burns wrote:
> I'm having the same issue on 14.04 but with the wired controller i can
> verify its not just the wireless

Wired Microsoft Xbox 360 controllers work fine for me in 14.04; only wireless controllers have the flashing issue.

Luis Alvarado wrote:
> Using the PPA as it is shown in http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2014/06/
> ubuntu-xbox-controller-support-xboxdrv-driver does not work with the 360
> controller.

Sorry, this bug is about xpad, not xboxdrv.

I can verify that the bug is still present in 14.04 and that the package steamos-xpad-dkms from Valve's PPA ( https://launchpad.net/~mdeslaur/+archive/steamos ) fixes the issue, as stated by the OP. This version of xpad really should be in Ubuntu by default.

[Jochen Hörmann (jochen-hoermann)]

I'm also affected by this. I can't understand why this isn't fixed yet.

[Loren Dias (lorendias)]

I have 3 computers I use Xbox 360 Controllers on regularly. Plese patch this as the flashing indicator is meant to mean there is no connection to the reciever or xbox, this is infact not true and misleading. Please patch.

[Jochen Hörmann (jochen-hoermann)]

Phoronix said, that the patches land in Kernel 3.15 (http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTU4OTM) as seen on the linux action show (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4OpjoJiAGE, 28:50).

Can someone try it out with 3.15 or newer Kernel Version?

[Tommi Tauriainen (razor87-)]

Tested this with Mint 17. Installed kernel 3.15.10-031510-generic and was still blinking. Installed also steamos-xpad-dkms and now works as expected.

[JP (vectorpoem)]

Does anyone know if Valve's fixes will be in the 3.16.3 kernel that Ubuntu 14.10 is using?

[Jochen Hörmann (jochen-hoermann)]

I've found no information that this bug will be fixed any time soon (see https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commits/master/drivers/input/joystick/xpad.c). There will be Xbox One Controller support in 3.17 (http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2014/10/linux-kernel-3-17-whats-new-improved) but without rumble support, Valve allready got this working (https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steamos_kernel/commit/f5f73eb889cac32cbabfc40362fe5635a2255836). So there is a big gap between Valve's Xpad Driver and the mainline kernel one.

[JP (vectorpoem)]

Still occurs in 14.10.

50% of the over 15000 people who took this survey said that "gaming and driver improvements" should be a focus of future development for Ubuntu:
http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2014/10/ubuntu-10-years-user-survey-results
Valve has already fixed this issue, it would make a lot of existing Ubuntu users happy if that made its way into 15.04.

[Calin (calinuswork)]

I am experiencing the same issue, my setup is:

- ubuntu 14.04
- kernel 3.17
- wireles xbox controller

A work around will be nice.

[Pavel Rojtberg (rojtberg)]

use the update xpad driver from SteamOS:
https://launchpad.net/~mdeslaur/+archive/ubuntu/steamos

[JP (vectorpoem)]

Pavel Rojtberg wrote:
> use the update xpad driver from SteamOS

As I wrote in the initial bug report, over a year ago:

> As best I can tell, the version of the xpad driver in the mainline kernel hasn't been touched in a few years.
> Valve, creators of Steam and SteamOS, have done work on the driver recently and have fixed this bug.
> (Ubuntu PPA for this driver here: https://launchpad.net/~mdeslaur/+archive/steamos )

> It would be really nice if 14.04 and all future versions of Ubuntu could use Valve's version of this driver, as
> it's the version being actively maintained. Without it, gamers trying out Ubuntu will get a low impression of
> Ubuntu's polish and support for gaming.

[Luke Johnstone (john-wella)]

Just wanted to post this here for those using 14.10 or 15.04 and so on.

Download the pre-built deb from here https://launchpad.net/~mdeslaur/+archive/ubuntu/steamos/+files/steamos-xpad-dkms_0.3-0md0.14.04.2_all.deb

sudo dpkg -i steamos-xpad-dkms_0.3-0md0.14.04.2_all.deb

Reboot, re-link controller, switch off controller, switch it back on, and the light no longer blinks. These are the steps I took running Kubuntu 14.10.

I have noticed that the light continues to blink straight after linking, the power toggle of the controller fixed the light blinking.

I hope this info helps :) Peace out and game hard

[Sergio Benjamim (sergio-br2)]

Same here, Xubuntu 14.04, tested with kernel 3.14.41 and 3.18.17.

I installed this steamos-xpad-dkms package, the light stop blink some time, but after it start to "rotate", like it's connecting again, and then it stop again. It continues forever (kernel 3.18.17).

[JP (vectorpoem)]

Looks like Valve's fix for this has been merged into mainline kernel 4.2:

http://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/1507.0/02047.html

so this bug will be fixed in Ubuntu when a release that uses kernel >=4.2 happens.

I wonder if this bug would have been marked "Wishlist" if it had been a mouse or other non-game peripheral.

[Jochen Hörmann (jochen-hoermann)]

Finally there is some movement! The bug seems to be fixed in Kernel Version 4.2. Valves fixes were imported to the main linux kernel on June 22: https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/75b7f05d2798ee3a1cc5bbdd54acd0e318a80396.

The steamos-xpad-dkms package should work fine in 14.04 and above, as stated before. Maybe you should try to reconnect and resync your dongle!?

[T0beus (t0beus)]

I may be doing something wrong, but I just installed kernel 4.2.0-040200-generic in Ubuntu 14.04 x64, rebooted and verified new kernel version with uname -r. Rebooted and re-connected and re-synced my 360 controller. Still getting the flashing green ring rather than a solid LED indicator like it should be. Please let me know if anyone has any other ideas. Till then I'll go back to xboxdrv.

[T0beus (t0beus)]

Okay, good news everyone. I got it to work, and it works great so far. What I had forgot was to un-blacklist the xpad driver in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf after upgrading the kernel. I also removed the steamos xpad driver by typing sudo apt-get purge steamos-xpad-dkms. Then reboot and it worked great. If you want to give it a try, and be warned that this is still an UNSTABLE kernel, so use it at your own risk, then just follow the directions at http://sourcedigit.com/16980-install-linux-kernel-4-2-in-ubuntu-15-04-ubuntu-14-04/ to get it installed. Hope this helps someone else out there.

[JP (vectorpoem)]

This is fixed in Ubuntu 15.10, see comment above about kernel 4.2 merging Valve's fixes. It only took 21 months.

[MC707 (demonicmuffin)]

I'm using Ubuntu 15.10 with kernel 4.2. Bug is still not fixed, the Xbox controller lights still blink instead of indicating the controller number.

[Pavel Rojtberg (rojtberg)]

try this: https://github.com/paroj/xpad