Question Xbox One Series X Gamepad: USB Connection Issue with Dual Booting

[Dave3000]

I had Windows 11 and Linux Mint 21.1 installed as a dual-boot, each OS on separate physical drives. The issue I'm having is that my Xbox One Series X gamepad will not detect itself, connected by USB cable, in Linux if I previously was using Windows 11 then I rebooted to Linux. The gamepad's Xbox button will just keep blinking as soon as I turn the gamepad on in Linux, despite being connected by USB cable. Only workaround is to unplug the USB cable from the PC and replug it, then Linux will detect the gamepad. This issue only happens when I boot to Windows first than reboot to Linux. If I power on my PC and go directly in Linux then my gamepad will detect automatically as soon as I'm inside Linux. I also tried the Garuda distro, and I'm getting the same issue with that Linux distro as well.

One more thing, is it normal to have to press the Xbox button on the gamepad to power up the gamead in Windows 10 and 11, even when connected by USB cable to the PC? I'm asking this because I have a first generation Xbox One gamepad, that Windows will automatically detect and not require me to press the Xbox button on that gamepad to power it up if connected by USB cable to PC.

 

[Tech Junky]

Sounds similar to TB on my server setup. Though the issue was hot plugging the drive to different ports and it not releasing from the prior connection. IIRC I added something to the boot params to fix it. Switching between os though I suspect wouldn't replicate the issue.

Might be on the same track though.

 

[Dave3000]

Is what I'm experiencing one of the drawbacks of dual booting? If I use Linux instead of Windows and then restart my PC and go directly back into Linux, I don't experience this issue, or if Linux is the only OS installed on my PC, I don't experience this issue either. I also know that one of the limitation of dual booting with bluetooth controllers is that a bluetooth controller would have to be re-paired each time it goes into another OS in a dual boot system as each OS in the dual boot is seen as a separate system according the the bluetooth controller, even though it's one physical system, and I experienced this as well. I read that there is a workaround for that but it's a very complex workaround, but my issue is when connected via USB cable.

 

[Tech Junky]

USB cable

Which is why I mentioned TB aka thunderbolt which also uses USB on my card I put into the Linux server.

There's a command you can pass in grub that enables hot swap for things plugged into the port.

For BT there's probably something you can add to the iwlwifi driver to fix it as well.

I don't recall having issues with BT though in Linux dual boot. Intel cards tend to just work unless you're trying to hack them into something else. I did manage to get one working on 5hhz with hostapd which isn't supposed to be an option. Mind you it's not full speed but it does work as a backup if needed.

If you dig deep enough with Google you can get things to do stuff they shouldn't be able to do due to OEM locks put in place to restrict certain functions. I would do Linux primary if I didn't have to use Windows for certain things that make a VM instance less annoying to spin up.

 

[Dave3000]

A bluetooth device in a multi-boot system will treat each OS as a separate device despite the fact that it's one physical PC. For example if someone had a PS4 controller paired up to bluetooth in Windows 10 and then decided to boot into Batocera to do some retro gaming and wanted to use that same controller in Batocera, he would have to pair it up in Batocera, despite that he paired it up to the PC through Windows. The next time he boots back into Windows 10, he would have to re-pair the controller in Windows 10, which involves going to the bluetooth settings and doing a search for the device while in pairing mode, and then the next time he boots back into Batocera, he would have to re-pair it in Batocera, and the cycle continues. That's what I'm trying to say about bluetooth devices treating each OS in a multiboot system as a separate PC, despite both OS's being installed on a single PC.

 

[Tech Junky]

The device should pair to the BT MAC which doesn't change based on os.

Then again it doesn't surprise me a bit. One thing that did amuse me though was the last phone upgrade I did I used a phone clone app from the OEM and it copied over all pairings and WiFi networks.

In your case though I'm not surprised windows is doing this but, Linux shouldn't have the same issue unless it's the controller making things difficult. Sometimes the devices are dumb too. I've got a higher end Logitech BT mouse that doesn't have this sort of issue but, does have a switch on it to switch systems vs re-pairing.

 

[Dave3000]

I just installed Nobara and I don't have this issue in Nobara with my Xbox One Series X controller connected via USB cable in a dual-boot system with Windows 11.

 

[Dave3000]

Also I'm not experiencing this issue with POP! OS 22.04 either. So far the Linux distros that I'm experiencing the issue are Garuda and Mint.