Nvidia Shield: fix the Xbox (Guide) controller button

nvidia_shield_fix_xbox_button.md

Nvidia Shield: fix the Xbox (Guide) controller button

On the Nvidia Shield, the Xbox (Guide) button of Xbox Series controllers is mapped to "Home".

These instructions unmap the Xbox (Guide) button so that it can be used in Steam Link or other apps.

1. On the Shield, enable the developer options:

• 1. Click the Menu button
• 2. Navigate to Device Preferences > About > Build
• 3. Click Build repeatedly until it shows "You are now a developer"

2. On the Shield, enable network debugging:

• 1. Click the Menu button
• 2. Navigate to Device Preferences > Developer options > Debugging
• 3. Click Network debugging
• 4. Wait until it shows "Enabled on" followed by the Shield IP address

4. On a computer:

• 1. Download Android SDK Platform Tools from https://developer.android.com/tools/releases/platform-tools
• 2. Extract the ZIP
• 3. Open a terminal in the extracted folder
• 4. Execute ./adb connect 192.168.x.x (replace 192.168.x.x with the IP of Shield)

5. On the Shield, authorize the connection
6. On the computer, run ./adb shell pm uninstall com.nvidia.shieldtech.hooks
7. Reboot the Shield
8. Disable Network debugging and Developer options

The command is actually adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.nvidia.shieldtech.hooks

Also, didn't seem to work for me using an Xbox One S Bluetooth controller.

Finally, the change can be reverted with adb shell cmd package install-existing com.nvidia.shieldtech.hooks

Edit: I discovered that this requires a rooted version of the shield.

Edit 2: Uninstalling the hooks does work without a rooted version, but if you are like me and tried testing it either in an App or a different part of the dashboard, you would find the guide button still behaves exactly the same as before.

But IF you are in a game the guide button will work as you would expect. I tested this in Moonlight but I expect other apps like Steam Link to behave similarly. If you are in a menu in Moonlight, the guide button will still take you back to the home screen.

Can confirm no root required and the S button works in game using adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.nvidia.shieldtech.hooks!

Thanks for sharing. Was successful with a non-rooted shield.

adb connect 192.168.x.x
adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.nvidia.shieldtech.hooks
Rebooted shield

When using Moonlight and in a game my Xbox Controller guide button was successful in not reverting back to the home screen. However, it seems like there's a bug in Steam Big Picture now where you press the guide button and the screen loses focus back to the Mouse. I gotta do some "Share" button + "Menu" button simultaneous presses to get it to alt tab and re-focus itself. Frustrating but better than nothing. Chime in if anyone figures out this issue.

Update - I've been doing the following with more success upon exiting a game:

1.Pause game
2."Share" button + "Menu" to alt-tab/refocus, shows a black screen
3. Then pressing Xbox guide button
4. Steam menu pops out and I can use up and down correctly

In my case it was necessary to reboot the Shield after enabling Network Debugging. Before that I wasn't able to establish a connection from my PC. I used Power Shell instead of the terminal. So, the proper commands are as follows.

• Reset server if connection fails: ./adb kill-server
• Establish connection: ./adb connect 192.168.x.x
• Uninstall button hook: ./adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.nvidia.shieldtech.hooks

Thanks for sharing. Was successful with a non-rooted shield.

adb connect 192.168.x.x
adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.nvidia.shieldtech.hooks
Rebooted shield

When using Moonlight and in a game my Xbox Controller guide button was successful in not reverting back to the home screen. However, it seems like there's a bug in Steam Big Picture now where you press the guide button and the screen loses focus back to the Mouse. I gotta do some "Share" button + "Menu" button simultaneous presses to get it to alt tab and re-focus itself. Frustrating but better than nothing. Chime in if anyone figures out this issue.

Update - I've been doing the following with more success upon exiting a game:

1.Pause game 2."Share" button + "Menu" to alt-tab/refocus, shows a black screen 3. Then pressing Xbox guide button 4. Steam menu pops out and I can use up and down correctly

I'm having a similar problem. This fix sort of works in moonlight making the xbox button not return me to the home screen of the shield. However, if you press the xbox button more than once ie a second time, it pops up the steam menu and kinda freezes there and i can't move up down left right i have to press the xbox button again and again and again until it restores my ability to navigate around with other buttons so I might just change it back honestly. Let me know if anyone comes up with a fix to this.

this behavior is all in steam big picture mode.

also, if anyone happens to have any info on how to get the session to close when doing back + start + LB + RB and steam big picture mode to turn off on the host pc when you terminate a session in moonlight that would be awesome been searching for hours for that.

Yes, it is a bit finicky. Messing around with the guide button and alt-tabbing seems to get it in that odd state. Where it's a black screen and just the bottom bar. No luck with the mouse emulation either during that state.

also, if anyone happens to have any info on how to get the session to close when doing back + start + LB + RB and steam big picture mode to turn off on the host pc when you terminate a session in moonlight that would be awesome been searching for hours for that.

I don't know about that specific key combination, but I am able to "Quit" each game which brings me back to Steam Big Picture mode. From there I do not use the "Guide" button to open the menu, but rather I press "B" which opens the Steam Menu and from there I can turn off my PC and shutdown accordingly. (Backing out of all the menus from Library)