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Ubuntu VM doesn't see USB gamepad

Ponlayook Meemeskul 0 Reputation points
2023-09-27T18:37:01.5666667+00:00

Hello.
I have been using USB gamepad to play games on Azure Windows VM for many months now.
And I've started to use Linux VM for cloud gaming this past month, but no matter what I do, Ubuntu will not recognize the gamepad.
This is what I have tried so far.

  1. Gamepad is confirmed to work with the streaming software.
  2. Client side is Windows 10
  3. Server side is Ubuntu (I tried both 22.04, 23.04, Fedora 38 all same result)
  4. I have assigned my user in these groups: input
  5. I have also created a group named 'USB' and gave permissions to it following this documentation:
    https://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/jammy/man3/Device::USB::FAQ.3pm.html#:~:text=If%20you%20want%20to%20allow,the%20mode%20and%20group%20specified.
  6. I have read other posts regarding USB re-direction, but I cannot find the configuration on the AZ Portal
  7. The server is installed with GRID driver, confirmed 3D acceleration working, that games are working (Steam games) the only issue is the USB gamepad.

Kindly advice. Thank you.

Azure Virtual Machines
Azure Virtual Machines
An Azure service that is used to provision Windows and Linux virtual machines.

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  1. yuan fu 0 Reputation points
    2025-10-21T03:12:03.84+00:00

    Hey! Yeah, Ubuntu on Azure doesn’t handle USB passthrough as smoothly as Windows — it’s a common headache. One workaround is using something like ChilliSky USB Server to share the gamepad over IP so the VM sees it as a local device. I’ve used it with other USB gear and it works pretty well on both Windows and Linux. Worth a try if native redirection keeps failing.

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