The field report that started this work was an Xbox controller that no game could see on a Windows host for two weeks. Root cause was that our Xbox pad reaches no Windows input API a modern title uses. This is the fix, and it is two registry values. Windows promotes Xbox pads with `xinputhid`, whose INF is an explicit hardware-id ALLOW-LIST — its own comment says "we can not use a Compatability ID for the loading of this driver, and so rely on individual hardware IDs". A software-enumerated devnode can never match those ids, so we write what the matching install sections would have written. `045E:0B13`, the PID this identity already claimed, is on that allow-list twice, so the identity choice turned out to be exactly right. 🛑 THE PAIRING IS THE WHOLE FINDING, AND THE TWO VALUES GO IN DIFFERENT KEYS. `UpperFilters` is a `.HW` AddReg (hardware key); `DevicePropertyFlags` is a DDInstall AddReg (software key). A live A/B on .173: removing `DevicePropertyFlags` alone reverts EVERYTHING — no `IG_00`, no XUSB interface, no XInput, no WGI entry — while `UpperFilters` alone is completely inert. `1` = `BusDevice`, which Microsoft glosses as "a focused bus filter driver for the IG_ problem". It is not a description of the device, it is the switch. An earlier session installed the filter WITHOUT it, measured a device that produced nothing, and recorded "never ship it". The filter was never broken; it had never been switched on. That conclusion is now retracted. ⚠️ The Xbox line gets its OWN DDInstall section, `pfGamepadXbox`. All five identities previously shared `pfGamepad`, so an AddReg there would have handed a DualSense, DualShock 4, Edge and Steam Deck to Microsoft's Xbox translator. The regression check below exists for exactly that. MEASURED ON .173 (Win11 26200), INF-SHIPPED — no hand-written registry values: * `UpperFilters=xinputhid` lands on the hardware key and `DevicePropertyFlags=1` on the software key, applied by the INF at install. * The HID child gains the `IG_00` token: `HID\PUNKTFUNK&IG_00\...`. * An XUSB interface appears: `\\?\hid#punktfunk&ig_00#...#{ec87f1e3-...}`. * classic XInput reads it live — packets ADVANCING, `buttons=0x1000` (the devtest's A), and the stick sweeping. XInput had NEVER seen this backend before. * `XInputSetState` rumble round-trips: `rumble from game: pad=0 low=65535 high=32767`. * REGRESSION CHECK PASSED: with the DualSense identity up, its devnode has an EMPTY `UpperFilters` and no `DevicePropertyFlags`. The PlayStation pads are untouched. WGI `Gamepad` lists the pad but reads `ts=0`. That is NOT ours: a real Xbox Elite Series 2, promoted by Microsoft's own driver on the same box, reads `ts=0` in WGI at the very moment classic XInput is reading live data from it (`buttons=0x1000 LY=-32768`). Our pad is behaviourally indistinguishable from real hardware here; the row is a property of the non-interactive session. NOT VERIFIED * On-glass in a console session. Everything above ran over ssh, which is what makes the WGI row unreadable; the real-Elite control is what settles it, not a clean WGI reading. * GameInput — no binding in the `windows` crate, still unmeasured for this backend. * `PUNKTFUNK_XBOX_BACKEND` still defaults to XUSB. This changes what the HID backend CAN do; it does not change which backend is chosen. That is WP-E and it is a separate decision. * Trigger-actuator enable bits, still conjecture — `XINPUT_VIBRATION` has two members and cannot exercise them.
Packaging punktfunk for Fedora / Bazzite
The punktfunk host links system FFmpeg (NVENC on NVIDIA, VAAPI on AMD/Intel, with a GPU-less software-H.264 fallback), PipeWire and Opus. This page covers packaging it for the Fedora Atomic / Bazzite world (rpm-ostree + bootc), where most of those deps are already present; the NVIDIA-specific notes below apply to the NVENC path.
👉 Ubuntu/Debian hosts install via
aptfrom Gitea's package registry — seedebian/README.md(apt update && apt upgradefor new builds).
👉 End-to-end Bazzite setup walkthrough (install → udev/group →
host.env→ service → firewall → verify → troubleshooting):bazzite/README.md. This file is the higher-level packaging rationale.
packaging/
rpm/punktfunk.spec # the RPM (builds punktfunk-host from source with cargo)
bazzite/host.env # gamescope-default config for a Bazzite appliance
bazzite/README.md # step-by-step Bazzite setup guide
bazzite/*sysext*.sh # the no-layering path: build/install/publish the systemd-sysext
bootc/Containerfile # bake punktfunk into a Bazzite-based atomic image
copr/ # COPR build-from-SCM settings
The other packaging targets have their own READMEs: debian/ (apt),
arch/ (pacman binary repo + PKGBUILD + SteamOS sysext),
flatpak/ (the client), windows/ (host installer +
drivers), plus kde/ and linux/ helpers. NixOS / Nix users get a flake (flake.nix at the
repo root) with reproducible host + client packages and a services.punktfunk NixOS module —
see nix/README.md.
What's needed beyond base Fedora
| Dependency | Where it comes from |
|---|---|
ffmpeg-libs with NVENC |
RPM Fusion nonfree (ffmpeg, not ffmpeg-free) |
NVIDIA driver (libnvidia-encode, libEGL_nvidia) |
Bazzite -nvidia images ship it; plain Fedora: akmod-nvidia + xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-cuda |
| gamescope, PipeWire, wireplumber | Bazzite ships these; plain Fedora: dnf install gamescope pipewire wireplumber |
opus, libei |
Fedora base / updates |
On Bazzite the only genuinely new runtime bits are ffmpeg-libs (RPM Fusion) + opus +
libei — the rest of the stack is already there. The default backend is gamescope
(packaging/bazzite/host.env), which the host spawns headless per session — no desktop login.
Option A — systemd-sysext (recommended; no layering, no reboot)
On Bazzite / Fedora Atomic the recommended install is the systemd-sysext image — rpm-ostree
layering is a last resort per the Bazzite docs (it slows every OS update and can block upgrades),
while a sysext overlays /usr at runtime, survives OS updates, and updates in one command with
no reboot. CI wraps the same RPMs below into the image, so content and channels are identical.
curl -fsSLO https://git.unom.io/unom/punktfunk/raw/branch/main/packaging/bazzite/punktfunk-sysext.sh
sudo bash punktfunk-sysext.sh install # then: sudo punktfunk-sysext update | status | remove
Full walkthrough (incl. the F43→F44 rebase behavior and migration off layering):
bazzite/README.md.
Option B — Gitea RPM registry (per-host, rpm-ostree layering)
The host's RPM is published to unom's self-hosted Gitea RPM registry (CI builds it on every
push), mirroring the Debian/apt setup. Add one repo file, install, and track
updates with rpm-ostree upgrade — no COPR account needed. Full guide: rpm/README.md.
# GPG-signed pkgs + Gitea-signed metadata → gpgcheck=1, repo_gpgcheck=1 (see rpm/README.md)
sudo tee /etc/yum.repos.d/punktfunk.repo >/dev/null <<'REPO'
[gitea-unom-bazzite]
name=punktfunk (unom, Bazzite)
baseurl=https://git.unom.io/api/packages/unom/rpm/bazzite
enabled=1
gpgcheck=1
repo_gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=https://git.unom.io/api/packages/unom/rpm/repository.key
https://git.unom.io/api/packages/unom/generic/punktfunk-keys/1/RPM-GPG-KEY-punktfunk
REPO
rpm-ostree install punktfunk && systemctl reboot
# updates: rpm-ostree upgrade && systemctl reboot
Option C — COPR (per-host, rpm-ostree install)
- Create a COPR project, enable build-from-SCM pointing at this repo, spec path
packaging/rpm/punktfunk.spec(seecopr/README.md). Under External Repositories add RPM Fusion nonfree soffmpeg-develresolves at build time. - On the Bazzite host:
# RPM Fusion (for the NVENC ffmpeg) — usually already enabled on Bazzite rpm-ostree install \ https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm \ https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm # enable the COPR + install punktfunk sudo wget -O /etc/yum.repos.d/_copr_punktfunk.repo \ https://copr.fedorainfracloud.org/coprs/enricobuehler/punktfunk/repo/fedora-$(rpm -E %fedora)/ rpm-ostree install punktfunk systemctl reboot
Option D — bootc (image-based, atomic)
Layer punktfunk into a Bazzite image once, then rebase any number of hosts onto it — no
per-host drift. See bootc/Containerfile:
podman build -t ghcr.io/<you>/bazzite-punktfunk -f packaging/bootc/Containerfile .
podman push ghcr.io/<you>/bazzite-punktfunk
# on the target:
sudo bootc switch ghcr.io/<you>/bazzite-punktfunk && systemctl reboot
First-run setup (all options)
ujust add-user-to-input-group # virtual gamepads need /dev/uinput (then re-login).
# On Bazzite use ujust, NOT `usermod -aG input` (atomic OS — it won't stick).
mkdir -p ~/.config/punktfunk
cp /usr/share/punktfunk/host.env.bazzite ~/.config/punktfunk/host.env # edit (gamescope app, etc.)
systemctl --user enable --now punktfunk-host
# Management web console (pairing + status) — pulled in by default (the host RPM Recommends it;
# `--no-install-recommends` / headless-only boxes can skip it). Enable it and read the login password:
systemctl --user enable --now punktfunk-web
journalctl --user -u punktfunk-web-init | sed -n 's/.*password generated: //p' # then open https://<host-ip>:47992
Pair a stock Moonlight client (mDNS-discovered), or connect the native punktfunk/1 client — via the
web console at https://<host-ip>:47992 or directly.
⚠️ COPR caveat: COPR's mock chroot has no
bun, so a COPR build produces onlypunktfunk+punktfunk-client— notpunktfunk-web. For the console on a COPR/bootc host, install from the Gitea RPM registry (Option B — it carriespunktfunk-web; the sysext image includes it too), which is also whybootc/Containerfileinstalls from there rather than COPR.
Why not Flatpak (for the HOST)?
The host needs unsandboxed access the zero-copy NVENC path, /dev/uinput, the PipeWire
graph and the compositor's privileged protocols — a Flatpak sandbox fights all of these.
An RPM (or the bootc layer) installs into the host system where those just work.
👉 The client is a different story — it IS shipped as a Flatpak (the only viable Steam Deck install path: SteamOS
/usris read-only and lackslibadwaita/libSDL3). Seeflatpak/README.md. The client sandbox only needs the GPU render node, Wayland, PipeWire audio, the network and hidraw — all expressible as finish-args.
Building the SRPM/RPM locally (Fedora only)
git archive --format=tar.gz --prefix=punktfunk-0.3.0/ -o ~/rpmbuild/SOURCES/punktfunk-0.3.0.tar.gz HEAD
rpmbuild -ba packaging/rpm/punktfunk.spec # needs the BuildRequires from the spec
# (0.3.0 = the spec's default %{pf_version}; the prefix and tarball name must match it)
(Not buildable on Debian/Ubuntu — use a Fedora toolbox/container or COPR.)