Enable HID Mode on Nintendo Pro Controller 2

yukais@pinapelz.com (Pinapelz) — Thu, 04 Dec 2025 23:19:29 -0800
Switch 2 Pro Controller is very comfy in my hands, but unfortunately it didn’t work out of box on PC (Linux) for me like it’s predacessor. Until there’s actual better driver support for this thing in the kernel (or Valve does something), here’s a hacky Python script to initialize HID-mode on the controller
# I only tested this script on Linux w/ Steam but in theory it shoud work on Windows?
import usb.core # install pyusb first: pip install pyusb
import usb.util
import time
import sys

VENDOR_ID = 0x057E
PRODUCT_IDS = {
    0x2066: "Joy-Con (L)",
    0x2067: "Joy-Con (R)",
    0x2069: "Pro Controller",
    0x2073: "GCN Controller"
}

USB_INTERFACE_NUMBER = 1

INIT_COMMAND_0x03 = bytes([0x03, 0x91, 0x00, 0x0d, 0x00, 0x08, 0x00, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF])
UNKNOWN_COMMAND_0x07 = bytes([0x07, 0x91, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00])
UNKNOWN_COMMAND_0x16 = bytes([0x16, 0x91, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00])
REQUEST_CONTROLLER_MAC = bytes([0x15, 0x91, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x0e, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x02, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF])
LTK_REQUEST = bytes([0x15, 0x91, 0x00, 0x02, 0x00, 0x11, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFF])
UNKNOWN_COMMAND_0x15_ARG_0x03 = bytes([0x15, 0x91, 0x00, 0x03, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00])
UNKNOWN_COMMAND_0x09 = bytes([0x09, 0x91, 0x00, 0x07, 0x00, 0x08, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00])
IMU_COMMAND_0x02 = bytes([0x0c, 0x91, 0x00, 0x02, 0x00, 0x04, 0x00, 0x00, 0x27, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00])
OUT_UNKNOWN_COMMAND_0x11 = bytes([0x11, 0x91, 0x00, 0x03, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00])
UNKNOWN_COMMAND_0x0A = bytes([0x0a, 0x91, 0x00, 0x08, 0x00, 0x14, 0x00, 0x00, 0x01, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0x35, 0x00, 0x46, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00])
IMU_COMMAND_0x04 = bytes([0x0c, 0x91, 0x00, 0x04, 0x00, 0x04, 0x00, 0x00, 0x27, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00])
ENABLE_HAPTICS = bytes([0x03, 0x91, 0x00, 0x0a, 0x00, 0x04, 0x00, 0x00, 0x09, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00])
OUT_UNKNOWN_COMMAND_0x10 = bytes([0x10, 0x91, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00])
OUT_UNKNOWN_COMMAND_0x01 = bytes([0x01, 0x91, 0x00, 0x0c, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00])
OUT_UNKNOWN_COMMAND_0x03 = bytes([0x03, 0x91, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00])
OUT_UNKNOWN_COMMAND_0x0A_ALT = bytes([0x0a, 0x91, 0x00, 0x02, 0x00, 0x04, 0x00, 0x00, 0x03, 0x00, 0x00])

def send_usb_data(ep_out, ep_in, data, description=""):
    try:
        ep_out.write(data)
        time.sleep(0.01)
        try:
            response = ep_in.read(32, timeout=100)
            hex_resp = " ".join([f"{x:02x}" for x in response])
            print(f"[{description}] Response: {hex_resp}")
        except usb.core.USBError as e:
            if e.errno == 110:
                print(f"[{description}] No response (Timeout)")
            else:
                print(f"[{description}] Read Error: {e}")

    except usb.core.USBError as e:
        print(f"[{description}] Write Error: {e}")
        raise

def set_player_leds(ep_out, ep_in, led_mask):
    command = [
        0x09, 0x91, 0x00, 0x07, 0x00, 0x08, 0x00, 0x00,
        led_mask,
        0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00
    ]
    send_usb_data(ep_out, ep_in, bytes(command), f"Set LED Mask: 0x{led_mask:02x}")

def connect_usb():
    print("Searching for Nintendo Switch Controllers...")
    def match_device(dev):
        return dev.idVendor == VENDOR_ID and dev.idProduct in PRODUCT_IDS
    dev = usb.core.find(custom_match=match_device)
    if dev is None:
        raise ValueError("Device not found")

    product_name = PRODUCT_IDS.get(dev.idProduct, "Unknown Device")
    print(f"Found {product_name} (ID: {dev.idProduct:04x})")
    if dev.is_kernel_driver_active(USB_INTERFACE_NUMBER):
        try:
            print("Detaching kernel driver...")
            dev.detach_kernel_driver(USB_INTERFACE_NUMBER)
        except usb.core.USBError as e:
            sys.exit(f"Could not detach kernel driver: {e}")
    try:
        dev.set_configuration()
        print("Configuration set.")
    except usb.core.USBError as e:
        print(f"Error setting configuration: {e}")
    try:
        usb.util.claim_interface(dev, USB_INTERFACE_NUMBER)
        print(f"Interface {USB_INTERFACE_NUMBER} claimed.")
    except usb.core.USBError as e:
        sys.exit(f"Could not claim interface: {e}")
    cfg = dev.get_active_configuration()
    intf = cfg[(USB_INTERFACE_NUMBER,0)]
    ep_out = usb.util.find_descriptor(
        intf,
        custom_match = lambda e:  usb.util.endpoint_direction(e.bEndpointAddress) == usb.util.ENDPOINT_OUT)

    ep_in = usb.util.find_descriptor(
        intf,
        custom_match =
        lambda e: usb.util.endpoint_direction(e.bEndpointAddress) == usb.util.ENDPOINT_IN
    )

    if not ep_out:
        sys.exit("Could not find OUT endpoint")

    print(f"Found Endpoint OUT: 0x{ep_out.bEndpointAddress:02x}")
    print("Starting Initialization Sequence...")

    try:
        send_usb_data(ep_out, ep_in, INIT_COMMAND_0x03, "Init 0x03")
        send_usb_data(ep_out, ep_in, UNKNOWN_COMMAND_0x07, "Unknown 0x07")
        send_usb_data(ep_out, ep_in, UNKNOWN_COMMAND_0x16, "Unknown 0x16")
        send_usb_data(ep_out, ep_in, REQUEST_CONTROLLER_MAC, "Req MAC")
        send_usb_data(ep_out, ep_in, LTK_REQUEST, "Req LTK")
        send_usb_data(ep_out, ep_in, UNKNOWN_COMMAND_0x15_ARG_0x03, "Unknown 0x15")
        send_usb_data(ep_out, ep_in, UNKNOWN_COMMAND_0x09, "Unknown 0x09")
        send_usb_data(ep_out, ep_in, IMU_COMMAND_0x02, "IMU 0x02")
        send_usb_data(ep_out, ep_in, OUT_UNKNOWN_COMMAND_0x11, "OUT Unknown 0x11")
        send_usb_data(ep_out, ep_in, UNKNOWN_COMMAND_0x0A, "Unknown 0x0A")
        send_usb_data(ep_out, ep_in, IMU_COMMAND_0x04, "IMU 0x04")
        send_usb_data(ep_out, ep_in, ENABLE_HAPTICS, "Enable Haptics")
        send_usb_data(ep_out, ep_in, OUT_UNKNOWN_COMMAND_0x10, "OUT Unknown 0x10")
        send_usb_data(ep_out, ep_in, OUT_UNKNOWN_COMMAND_0x01, "OUT Unknown 0x01")
        send_usb_data(ep_out, ep_in, OUT_UNKNOWN_COMMAND_0x03, "OUT Unknown 0x03")
        send_usb_data(ep_out, ep_in, OUT_UNKNOWN_COMMAND_0x0A_ALT, "OUT Unknown 0x0A Alt")
        set_player_leds(ep_out, ep_in, 0x0F)

        print("Controller initialization sequence complete! All LEDs should be on.")

    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error during sequence: {e}")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    try:
        connect_usb()
    except ValueError as e:
        print(e)
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Unexpected error: {e}")
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Enable HID Mode on Nintendo Pro Controller 2
