Arch Linux User Repository

If xpadneo is a kernel driver similar to xpad then it wouldn't be loaded in the same way as a command line tool like xboxdrv. If the kernel module contains the id of the ultimate controller then it would simply load itself automatically.

xpad appears to have added the Ultimate controller id to the mainline kernel as the "8BitDo Pro 2 Wired Controller". The description hasn't been updated yet but the controller should now be detected without any additional packages.

xboxdrv and xpad both map this controller to a xbox360 controller, while xpadneo is focused on the xbox one controller. I'm not sure if there are any technical limitations to mapping the ultimate controller to a xbox one style controller outside of the way the back buttons are handled in xinput mode. I have the Ultimate Bluetooth model that works the switch, so I'm not really able to test how it interacts in D-input mode.

Unfortunately, the xboxdrv package does appear to be broken since they removed the project from gitlab. xboxdrv-stable-git appears to be working. I'm considering replacing the xboxdrv dependency with xboxdrv-stable-git for anyone who still wants to use this package, though I'm having trouble testing it. xpad is now loading before these udev rules trigger so the 8bitdo-ultimate-xinput.service simply fails, since xpad is already handling input from the Ultimate Controller.

Would it be possible to change the xboxdrv dependancy to something else, like xpadneo-dkms? xboxdrv no longer appears to be available, which prevents me from installing this.

wouldn't it be possible to add support for the back buttons? they seemed to show up fine on /dev/input/js0 when the controller was connected in D-input mode i'd check but i don't really understand how xboxdrv works

Does anyone else have an issue where the bluetooth controller will disconnect immediately if there's no program trying to read it (games, Steam, catting the input device)?

I was able to work around this by creating an udev rule on it with RUN+="/bin/cat $env{DEVNAME}".

There don't seem to be any issues stemming from doing this and it doesn't seem to break the controller's power management, it will still disconnect as normal after a while sitting idle.

Maybe this could be added to the rules here? Otherwise I can upload my own package.

On the other hand, it would be nice to know if Xpad fixes this with the new support for the controller.

And now, it seems that the devs have also added one entry for the Bluetooth variant: https://github.com/paroj/xpad/pull/239

The native xpad kernel module should be able to handle the 8bitdo controller's input in x-input mode. Currently the bluetooth ultimate controller's 2.4GHz id doesn't appear to be built into the mainline xpad module. The xpad devs appear to have added the controller's id upstream.

Until the changes are added to the kernel, installing the upstream xpad module with the xpad-dkms-git aur package appears to work. The back paddles don't appear to function independently in x-input mode unfortunately.

Thanks @troytjh!

Actually I got ahead of myself. I have the Wireless 2.4 GHz version, and as @WillSo40 has stated, it works changing to D-Input without this package and having xpad installed (which is enough)!

It recognizes the 8bitdo controller and its additional back paddles as expected.

Edit: This applies to the Bluetooth version of an ultimate controller, it has a different device ID (2dc8:6007) in D-Input mode. I would fork this project for the Bluetooth version If I knew what I'm doing.

If you switch to D-Input mode (a feature in the beta firmware of the dongle for this controller) it seems back buttons are represented as separate buttons, so It is possible. It did not help me much, at least for steam, not enough buttons in the mapping software. I don't have a 2.4 GHz version of a controller, but they should be pretty similar.

To my knowledge 8bitdo didn't design the back buttons as general purpose unfortunately. They can be programmed in 8bitdo's software to operate as other buttons. I currently have one profile set to L3 and R3, and another set to left and right d-pad. Sadly this appears to be a limitation of the controller.

Hello, while trying the controller in https://gamepad-tester.com/, I noticed that it's recognized as Xbox 360 and the back buttons don't work. Is there a way to work around this?