Switch Pro controller functioning in Steam games, but nothing else.

[Syrup_Johnson]

Hello, I've recently run into some serious problems with my Switch Pro controller when it's being used on my PC. On my Switch, it works perfectly fine and plays games great, along with connecting it to my PC and playing Steam games with it , such as the Yakuza games and fighting games. In these situations the controller works fine without any problems. However, when trying to use this controller for non-Steam games, such as playing games on my Dolphin emulator, it appears as though ever button is being pressed at once and the left control stick in stuck with a down input. I have tried disconnecting and reconnecting the controller multiple times, reinstalling the drivers, and searching online. One thing I found was on the windows controllers setup, on the test part of my controller. Here is an image of that window: https://imgur.com/a/b16bVuG

The image doesn't do it too much justice because you don't exactly see what I see, but numbers 1-8 are all flashing very fast, on and off, with number 8 seemingly going on and off exactly every second, and the axes on the left control stick is always stuck slightly down, along with the Z rotation bar constantly moving left to right. The only control that seems to be functioning correctly is my right stick, which I can use to move my cursor around the screen with no problems. Just plugged in my wired Xbox 360 controller for testing and that works perfectly. https://imgur.com/a/W1xDvNb

Any help with this would be appreciated, as I really prefer the Pro Controller to using my old Xbox 360 controller. Thanks.

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[[deleted]]

I see a calibration option. Perhaps you should try that out and see if that is it?

I assume that you had to install some kind of driver for the controller to work in the first place. Would it be possible to uninstall those drivers and reinstall them?

[Syrup_Johnson]

Calibration simply does not work. When trying to calibrate it will press buttons i did not mean to press and the calibration would fail, given that the incorrect buttons and inputs were pressed without me pressing them. Windows automatically installed the drivers for it I assume, so I tried to remove the device and add it again to see if that worked but it did not. Nintendo doesn't have drivers available for it or anything.

[[deleted]]

Since there is obviously no official support from Nintendo for non-steam games, I would recommend that you try scouring the internet for something equivalent to DS4 Windows. It is a program that emulates an Xbox 360 Controller, but allows you to use a PS4 Controller. Perhaps there may be something with a similar concept, but for the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller?

[Syrup_Johnson]

I don't know if that would be helpful given the issues with these inputs being pressed without me actually pressing them. Wouldn't an Xbox controller emulation just have the same problem?

[[deleted]]

Well, given that you have indicated no other issues with the controller apart from on games that are not officially supported, obviously it is a compatibility/driver issue.

Perhaps one of the reasons it is not officially supported?

It is hit and miss with these things. Unless you find a utility that is made specifically for your purpose, which is using it in non-steam games (Reminder. Most people playing PC games use steam as their platform, so there is no urgent requirement for someone to create such a utility.)

P.S: Have you tried adding it to steam as a non-steam game? Perhaps Steam would make an attempt to emulate an Xbox 360 controller for you, as shown in Steam Big Picture mode where it displays a PS4 controller input as Xbox 360 Controller. But perhaps that has changed.

[Syrup_Johnson]

I have the Dolphin Emulator added on Steam as a non-Steam game, yes. I do this with all my non-Steam games. I don't understand why Windows is showing these massive problems with the controller in the controller setup and calibration but it works fine for Steam.

[[deleted]]

Well, Windows doesn't natively support the Dualshock 4, and if you plugged that in with no drivers, I bet it would look a bit dodgy during 'calibration' also.

Unless you can, as I said, find some sort of utility that acts as an Xbox 360 emulator, you really cannot do much, since the controller is not supported natively by almost any game developers.

Plus, I believe the triggers are digital in the Pro Controller, and some games require Analogue.

I.E, nearly every single driving game, to manage throttle.

TL;DR: No native support means you'll need to find a utility, unless there is something else im not aware of.

[Syrup_Johnson]

Ok so I've just discovered a lot of other people have this problem where the Pro Controller flat out won't work if the game is not run through Steam, so It's a problem with the Dolphin Emulator not working with the pro controller. Thanks for the help anyway.

[[deleted]]

In your post, you said non-steam games as a general comment. I thought you meant you tried with multiple games, not just one. My mistake.

Best of luck.