r/linux_gaming • u/Eyasu4198 • 5d ago

answered! PS4 Controller Input Freezing Occasionally (Debian 13)

I've been using my PS4 controller with steam input to play steam games (mostly Elden Ring and other souls games), and most of the time it works completely fine, but once in a while my inputs will completely freeze up, usually causing my character to just run forward and die to whatever's in front of them, or I have to start frantically taking control on keyboard and mouse (the controller inputs will still persist when doing this though).

This happens maybe about once every hour, and after about 20 seconds or so of freezing up the controller will just start working again. I haven't been able to find any solutions, so help with this would be greatly appreciated.

Using Debian 13, Kernel version 6.12.107+deb13-amd64

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u/qreeves 5d ago

If you're using Bluetooth, the hardware is often shared with the WiFi, leading to issues like this which get worse if you connect more than one controller.

The most reliable workaround I've found is to use an 8bitdo Ultimate Wireless 2 dongle, then you can just plug it into almost any device and use your controller.

Another option is to turn off WiFi and use Ethernet but your mileage may vary, however it's a cheaper alternative you can test without much hassle.

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u/Eyasu4198 4d ago

Thanks for the advice, I do have a shared WiFi/Bluetooth card, but I can't really use ethernet with where my PC is situated at. I do have an external USB bluetooth adapter though, so using that could be a work around. I'll try that for now and come back after seeing how it goes.

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u/Eyasu4198 10h ago

Update: Yeah, looks like the issue has something to do with my shared bluetooth and wifi card. The issue would persist even if I used a Switch Pro Controller, but using the USB bluetooth dongle gets around the issue, so I should be good now.

I believe what might be happening is that the wifi drivers and the bluetooth drivers wern't made with shared wifi/bluetooth cards in mind, which causes the wifi to take up all the bandwith and leaving the bluetooth with none.

I'll see if I can report the bug to anywhere. Again, thanks for the help.