Alright, straight to it—I spent way too much time fighting with my Xbox controller on Linux. It said it was connected via Bluetooth, but nope, constant disconnects like a flakey Wi-Fi signal.

Turns out, the fix was simpler than expected. Huge thanks to this blog post for pointing me in the right direction.

Install Kernel Headers & xpadneo

First, make sure you have the kernel headers:

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sudo pacman -S linux-headers

Then, install xpadneo, which fixes a bunch of Xbox controller nonsense:

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yay -S xpadneo-dkms-git

Update Your Controller Firmware

Here’s the kicker—you have to update your controller’s firmware, and Microsoft, being Microsoft, only lets you do it on Windows.

So either:

• Boot into Windows (if you have it)
• Use a Windows VM

And here’s the key part you might’ve missed—head to the Microsoft Store and download the Xbox Accessories app. Once you’ve got that installed, open it up, connect your controller, and you’ll be able to update the firmware.

Reboot, reconnect, and boom—your controller should finally work without dropping every five seconds.

Hope this saves someone the headache I had. Happy gaming! 🎮