10 ms·

Steam Controller reverse engineering and customization project

46 points by xenophonf 3y ago

BlackLotus89 3y ago
PSA the project is kinda dead and even though it works it's better to use the default firmware. If you want to try the firmware be warned that it is kinda hard to roll it back and you run risk of loosing the connection to your hardware dongle. Steam offered a tool to flash an official image, but there was a bluetooth enabled firmware that you can't get to work with it so easily. I spend a day rolling mine back a while ago and since then there were many steam client updates so I assume it to be harder now. I documented the whole process half heartedly, dumped the server addresses of the firmware images (from the steam binaries) and archived them (for me). I didn't yet share the whole process since it is only half finished and I didn't completely reverse engineered the pairing process (for the controller to the dongle) just yet (and I probably won't since mine works). If you want to roll it back you have to download an old steam installation to do the pairing. If someone would finish the open source firmware that would be great though. I have neither the energy nor the time
- tnbp 3y ago
  I documented how I did it here, which definitely involves downloading an older version of Steam: https://web.archive.org/web/20240412101635/https://datacu.be/index.php?/archives/13-Steam-Old-Big-Picture-mode-and-Steam-Controller-firmware-update-after-August-2023.html https://web.archive.org/web/20240412101635/https://datacu.be...
  - BlackLotus89 3y ago
    Yeah iirc you could use a command line option to prohibit the steam update (step 3 in your process), but this feels very familiar. For reference I looked up the tool I mentioned https://steamcommunity.com/app/353370/discussions/1/6516193260178656983/ https://steamcommunity.com/app/353370/discussions/1/65161932... https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/steamworks_docs/english/Steam_Controller_FW_Update_Tool_5b0f21bd.zip https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images... But good to know that someone bothered to publish the written down instructions.
    - pushcx 3y ago
      The official(ish) tool for restoring the firmware is, best I can tell, something a single employee put together in their spare time and tossed over the wall. The zip includes unrelated files and required DLLs aren't packaged. I recommend reading the entire thread before trying anything, though I tried to summarize correct instructions in post #99 of that thread.
mauvia 3y ago
Now that the steam controller is dead I kind of wish someone took over that market and produced a controller for steam controller fans. I loved the layout, the touchpads, the massive customizability, and it had a good price point too. It seemed like there was loads of room for improvement but there hasn't been talk of a controller 2 yet.
- goda90 3y ago
  A controller that's basically the control layout of the Steam Deck would be amazing.
- r2_pilot 3y ago
  You can thank the patent trolls over at Immersion Corp spits in disgust for that.
- mcronce 3y ago
  I agree. I love the Steam Controller. It's not great for everything (e.g. Super Mario World kaizo romhacks have, IME, required a real D-pad instead of the trackpad) but it's really nice for a ton of games.
mrguyorama 3y ago
The steam controller was a mediocre controller: Those touchpads are garbage for games that you are used to using a stick for. Valve made the same mistake when they used basically the same trackpads for the original Vive wands. It's awful to use, the force feedback doesn't even come close to replacing the actual physicality of normal sticks. But by god it is the best "control a computer from your couch" tool ever made. I love using it as a wireless mouse/keyboard thing for a media PC. The trackpads work great for the onscreen keyboard. 80 hour battery life is pretty great.

46 points by xenophonf 3y ago

PSA the project is kinda dead and even though it works it's better to use the default firmware. If you want to try the firmware be warned that it is kinda hard to roll it back and you run risk of loosing the connection to your hardware dongle. Steam offered a tool to flash an official image, but there was a bluetooth enabled firmware that you can't get to work with it so easily. I spend a day rolling mine back a while ago and since then there were many steam client updates so I assume it to be harder now. I documented the whole process half heartedly, dumped the server addresses of the firmware images (from the steam binaries) and archived them (for me). I didn't yet share the whole process since it is only half finished and I didn't completely reverse engineered the pairing process (for the controller to the dongle) just yet (and I probably won't since mine works). If you want to roll it back you have to download an old steam installation to do the pairing. If someone would finish the open source firmware that would be great though. I have neither the energy nor the time

tnbp 3y ago
I documented how I did it here, which definitely involves downloading an older version of Steam: https://web.archive.org/web/20240412101635/https://datacu.be/index.php?/archives/13-Steam-Old-Big-Picture-mode-and-Steam-Controller-firmware-update-after-August-2023.html https://web.archive.org/web/20240412101635/https://datacu.be...
- BlackLotus89 3y ago
  Yeah iirc you could use a command line option to prohibit the steam update (step 3 in your process), but this feels very familiar. For reference I looked up the tool I mentioned https://steamcommunity.com/app/353370/discussions/1/6516193260178656983/ https://steamcommunity.com/app/353370/discussions/1/65161932... https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/steamworks_docs/english/Steam_Controller_FW_Update_Tool_5b0f21bd.zip https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images... But good to know that someone bothered to publish the written down instructions.
  - pushcx 3y ago
    The official(ish) tool for restoring the firmware is, best I can tell, something a single employee put together in their spare time and tossed over the wall. The zip includes unrelated files and required DLLs aren't packaged. I recommend reading the entire thread before trying anything, though I tried to summarize correct instructions in post #99 of that thread.

mauvia 3y ago

Now that the steam controller is dead I kind of wish someone took over that market and produced a controller for steam controller fans. I loved the layout, the touchpads, the massive customizability, and it had a good price point too. It seemed like there was loads of room for improvement but there hasn't been talk of a controller 2 yet.

goda90 3y ago
A controller that's basically the control layout of the Steam Deck would be amazing.
r2_pilot 3y ago
You can thank the patent trolls over at Immersion Corp spits in disgust for that.
mcronce 3y ago
I agree. I love the Steam Controller. It's not great for everything (e.g. Super Mario World kaizo romhacks have, IME, required a real D-pad instead of the trackpad) but it's really nice for a ton of games.

mrguyorama 3y ago

The steam controller was a mediocre controller: Those touchpads are garbage for games that you are used to using a stick for. Valve made the same mistake when they used basically the same trackpads for the original Vive wands. It's awful to use, the force feedback doesn't even come close to replacing the actual physicality of normal sticks. But by god it is the best "control a computer from your couch" tool ever made. I love using it as a wireless mouse/keyboard thing for a media PC. The trackpads work great for the onscreen keyboard. 80 hour battery life is pretty great.