Restarting bazzite-dx with a controller plugged in launches the Steam gamescope configuration screen and gets stuck at Update Error

[LA208602-Gouthiere]

Hi,

I picked the Bazzite distro with KDE and without Steam Gaming Mode. It works as it should, running KDE without issues and if I restart my PC with a controller plugged in it launches KDE and not Steam gamescope (as expected).

Then I rebased it to bazzite-dx (rpm-ostree rebase ostree-image-signed:docker://ghcr.io/ublue-os/bazzite-dx:stable), it also worked without any issue and I can restart it, it still launches KDE. But when a controller is plugged in while restarting, it brings me to the Steam gamescope configuration screen. The biggest problem is that when I go into that screen and select the option I get stuck with an “Update error” message after selecting the network (similar issue reported on discord). Each time I reboot, even if my controller is disconnected, the Steam configuration screen appears.

So basically I'm stuck unless I switch to tty2, kill the Steam process and manually launch KDE plasma (startplasma-wayland).

If I rebase back to the regular (non-dx) bazzite the problem disappears.

[dosubot]

Hi @LA208602-Gouthiere! I'm Dosu and I’m helping the bazzite-dx team.

The behavior you’re seeing is likely due to systemd services and udev rules in Bazzite that detect controllers at boot and trigger Steam/gamescope mode. When you rebase to bazzite-dx, these hooks are inherited and may be configured differently, causing Steam gamescope to launch when a controller is plugged in—even if you chose KDE without Gaming Mode originally. This logic is present in shared system files and isn’t unique to the DX or desktop experience.

The “Update error” on the Steam configuration screen is probably a Steam-side issue, often related to network or update problems, and not something bazzite-dx directly controls.

To diagnose or work around this, you can check system logs with journalctl -p 3 -xb for errors related to gamescope-session.service, and use coredumpctl for crash info. Also, make sure your GPU and drivers meet Vulkan requirements, as unsupported hardware can cause session failures and odd boot loops source.

If you want to prevent gamescope from launching, you’d need to adjust or disable the relevant systemd services or udev rules that trigger on controller detection. These are found in the shared system files and overlays in the Bazzite codebase. There isn’t a simple toggle in bazzite-dx for this behavior.

If you’re stuck in the Steam config loop, your workaround (switching to tty2, killing Steam, and starting KDE manually) is valid. Rebasing back to regular Bazzite works because it doesn’t include the same hooks or overlays.

Let me know if you want more detailed steps on how to identify or disable the specific services/rules responsible for this trigger.

To reply, just mention @dosu.

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