(Mac) Controller suddenly stopped working

[Resh]

I’ve been using Xbox series x wireless controller for the past couple weeks with no issues. Logged on to play again today and suddenly the game no longer recognizes the controller. In the controller settings the controller shows up but doesn’t recognize any input.

 

If I start a game, the right joystick will move the cursor around and another random button will do the shove move and one more button will open up the computer menu showing all windows that are open. 
 

I didn’t change anything from the last time I played so I don’t know what happened?

 

tried uninstalling and reinstalling the game. Uninstalling and reinstalling steam. Tried using a diff controller… all with the same outcome. Tested the same controller on other steam games and it works just like normal. Please help!

[Beard]

Is the controller recognized and usable in Steam Big Picture? Make sure to set up the controller there, after that try launching the game through the Big Picture mode.

[Resh]

Hey thanks for replying. Yes I usually use big picture mode to play. It no longer works for some reason. The controller is recognized in the settings, recognized in the controller settings in-game. But there is no input besides a couple movements. It kinda seems like it has turned in to a mouse if that makes sense 

[Beard]

Do you mean that the inputs dont work in the Big Picture settings either? Or only in PZ. Did you test out all the sticks and buttons?

[Resh]

20 minutes ago, Beard said:

Do you mean that the inputs dont work in the Big Picture settings either? Or only in PZ. Did you test out all the sticks and buttons?

Tested and works fine in BPM. Tested and also works fine in other steam games. Only doesn’t work in PZ. If I go to controller settings in-game. The controller is selected so when I use the “test” option it doesn’t recognize any button input at all. So when I start a new game, the only thing that works is the right joystick will move the cursor around, one other button will do the “shove” move, and one other button will tab out of the game to another window. It’s super weird. Works totally normal everywhere else except in PZ. 

 

 

 

[Resh]

I also tested my switch controller, which I used to use before I bought the Xbox controller. It does the exact same thing, so i ruled out the controller being the problem

[Beard]

Hm, in that case I would probably recommend manually resetting the game settings to see if there would be a problem there.
Go to your "User/Zomboid" folder and delete everything there except the "Saves" folder.

[Resh]

Tried that… no luck :(.  Was there possibly a steam update recently this week that changed something? I have it set to auto update. I don’t know how it could suddenly stop working out of nowhere without changing anything 

[Beard]

In that case do you perhaps have multiple controllers connected to the Mac? Since there have been some reports where having multiple controllers connected can cause issues. So just making sure if you only have one connected at a time. There might also be issues with bluetooth connections, is your controller connected through bluetooth or cable?

[Resh]

Interesting. Maybe. Yes currently only one controller connected at a time, and connected through Bluetooth. I tried removing and reconnecting as well 🤷‍♂️

[Resh]

Also just tried deleting any Bluetooth saved devices from the computer and adding in only the controller… same thing. 
 

PZ jus seems to recognize the controller as a mouse.

 

only last thing I could think to try is formatting the computer? Lol

[Resh]

Ok I think I got it!

 

Going in to Big Picture Mode, and going to Base Configurations. From there changing these:

General Controller Settings
Desktop Configuration
Game-specific controller settings

 

searching for templates that are listed as "GAMEPAD" only for all 3 and applying that config. 

 

Now it's working again.  Really not sure how it stopped in the first place as I didn't change any of those before but at least it's working for now. If anyone has issue with steam games recognizing controller as a mouse, this may be the fix.

 

Thank so much for helping me try to fix, Beard. Appreciate it

[Beard]

Interesting fix, so it seems like it was a misconfiguration on the per-app settings on Steams part, good to know for the future if anyone else has any similar issues.

[Resh]

yeah definitely a strange glitch for sure. Thanks again!