New Steam Controller firmware will not update on my Arch Linux install

Question

I recently received my first Steam Controller in the mail, hoping to use it with my desktop running Arch Linux.

If it's connected wirelessly, I'm able to use it with Steam, but when I go into Big Picture Mode, it asks to update. However, when I initiate it, it never finishes, not even after a half hour.

Wired mode doesn't work correctly right now, at least not on Linux. It's a known issue/regression.

I've tried creating the udev rule at /etc/udev/rules.d/70-steam-controller-permission.rules,

#USB devices
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="28de", MODE="0666"
KERNEL=="uinput", MODE="0666", GROUP="chris", OPTIONS+="static_node=uinput"

I've tried unplugging/replugging/rebooting countless times, udevadm control -R, chmod 666 /dev/uinput, adding /etc/modules-load.d/uinput.conf with uinput as the contents, tried installing someone else's build of Steam that worked for firmware updates for them, tried adding myself to group steamcontroller... Nothing works! This firmware just won't update!

Here's some relevant bug reports with Arch:

• FS#46752 - [steam] steam controller not detected properly
• FS#47330 - [steam] Steam Controller rules not working anymore
• FS#47995 - [steam] 80-steam-controller-permission.rules is a potential security problem!
• FS#49926 - [steam] Fix Steam Controller Hot Swapping

Answer 1

Here's how you install firmware manually on Linux, according to this guide: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=572740074

First you download this file, open it in a text editor, and find there the location (on their server) of the latest firmware. Then you add that location to http://media.steampowered.com/controller_config/ and use that address to download the firmware file to your computer, renaming it "firmware.bin". Next, you plug in the controller via a Micro USB cable while holding down the right trigger until it clicks. Find where the device "CRP DISABLED" mounts to, and cd to that location. Finally:

dd conv=nocreat,notrunc oflag=direct bs=512 \
if=~/"Path to new firmware.bin without quotes" of=./firmware.bin

This worked for me, and my controller firmware is now up to date.