cannot connect to padctl daemon

[T3sT3ro]

After installing and enabling on ubuntu 26.04, subcommands scan, status, devices, list-mappings don't work, and print cannot connect to padctl daemon

Furthermore connected vader 5 pro via usb is not detected in hidraw.

systemctl claims the service is active and enabled, but has 2 errors related to capabilities:

$ systemctl --user status padctl.service
● padctl.service - padctl gamepad compatibility daemon
     Loaded: loaded ([/usr/lib/systemd/user/padctl.service](file://toosterlap/usr/lib/systemd/user/padctl.service); enabled; preset: enabled)
     Active: active (running) since Tue 2026-05-05 16:27:47 CEST; 1ms ago
 Invocation: c1a08179d7964578b1a9d059cf053997
   Main PID: 286812 (9)
      Tasks: 1 (limit: 37427)
     Memory: 1.2M (peak: 1.2M)
        CPU: 1ms
     CGroup: /user.slice/user-1000.slice/user@1000.service/app.slice/padctl.service
             └─286812 /usr/lib/systemd/systemd-executor --deserialize 93 --log-level info --log-target auto

May 05 16:27:47 toosterLap systemd[13916]: padctl.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 1334.
May 05 16:27:47 toosterLap systemd[13916]: Started padctl.service - padctl gamepad compatibility daemon.
May 05 16:27:47 toosterLap (padctl)[286812]: padctl.service: Failed to drop capabilities: Operation not permitted
May 05 16:27:47 toosterLap (padctl)[286812]: padctl.service: Failed at step CAPABILITIES spawning /usr/bin/padctl: Operation not permitted
May 05 16:27:47 toosterLap systemd[13916]: padctl.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=218/CAPABILITIES
May 05 16:27:47 toosterLap systemd[13916]: padctl.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.

I installed via .deb package from quick guide

I also printed the hidraw devices and the pad is present:

$ for f in /dev/hidraw*; do
    FILE=${f##*/}
    DEVICE="$(cat /sys/class/hidraw/${FILE}/device/uevent | grep HID_NAME | cut -d '=' -f2)"
    printf "%s \t %s\n" $FILE "$DEVICE"
done

hidraw0          MSFT0001:01 06CB:CE2D
hidraw1          Logitech G502 HERO Gaming Mouse
hidraw2          Logitech G502 HERO Gaming Mouse
hidraw3          ITE Tech. Inc. ITE Device(8296)
hidraw4          Realtek USB2.0 HID
hidraw5          Realtek USB2.0 HID
hidraw6          Xbox Wireless Controller

Running padctl install without sude results in error.AccessDenied, and running it with sudo gives:

$ sudo padctl install
  /usr/bin/padctl
  /usr/bin/padctl-capture
  /usr/bin/padctl-debug
  /usr/lib/systemd/user/padctl.service
  /usr/lib/systemd/user/padctl-resume.service
  /usr/bin/padctl-reconnect
warning: source `devices/` directory not found (near binary, in cwd, or at /usr/share/padctl/devices)
hint: run `padctl install` from the source checkout, or ensure your package ships device configs under /usr/share/padctl/devices
  /usr/lib/udev/rules.d/60-padctl.rules

Reloading system daemons...

Install complete.

Even though I manually created the parent directories at /usr/share/padctl/devices, it still prints warning. After installation I also logged out and in again and rebooted, and nothing really changed.

Furtermore (but this is a separate bug), mentioned in the docs padctl dump is not recognized at all — it says unknown argument (and prints it twice):

$ padctl dump
error: unknown argument: dump
error: argument error: error.UnknownArgument

[BANANASJIM]

It was a package issue, Im working on it.
Quick fix: you could build from source file.

[T3sT3ro]

ok, I will wait for the update for now since I don't need it immediately. I can also take some time if you want to help you debug stuff with vader 5 pro. For example here are some similar related problems when I am experimenting locally. Running padctl manually and turning the pad (bluetooth) ON (after I created empty ~/.config/padctl/config.toml`):

padctl
warning: inotify watch on /home/tooster/.config/padctl/mappings failed: .NOENT (continuing with root watch only)
warning: skipping config dir '/home/tooster/.config/padctl/devices': error.FileNotFound
warning: skipping config dir '/etc/padctl/devices': error.FileNotFound
info: scanning config dir '/usr/share/padctl/devices'
info: no devices found in config dirs, waiting for hot-plug
warning: hotplug: /dev/hidraw6 not ready (AccessDenied), will retry
warning: hotplug: /dev/hidraw6 not ready (AccessDenied), will retry
warning: hotplug: /dev/hidraw6 not ready (AccessDenied), will retry
warning: hotplug: /dev/hidraw6 not ready (AccessDenied), will retry
warning: hotplug: giving up on hidraw6 after 3 retries

running the same with sudo:

sudo padctl
info: user config: no config.toml found; create ~/.config/padctl/config.toml or /etc/padctl/config.toml to set per-device defaults
warning: skipping config dir '/root/.config/padctl/devices': error.FileNotFound
warning: skipping config dir '/etc/padctl/devices': error.FileNotFound
info: scanning config dir '/usr/share/padctl/devices'
info: no devices found in config dirs, waiting for hot-plug

I hope you don't mind I reuse this issue for now? Otherwise I would have to create multiple new ones, which even though cleaner, would take extra effort for both of us.

[BANANASJIM]

Right now bluetooth mode isn't covered yet . Please connect via USB cable or the 2.4G dongle.

[T3sT3ro]

Do you have the access to the pad or need some assistance/testing for the bluetooth mode later? If so, feel free to ping me. In layman terms, can you tell what is the difference between the two modes that make one supported and the other not? Are those two separate custom binary protocols, limitations in linux interfaces or some other thing? Asking just in case I wanted to take a look into it myself to know where to look.

[BANANASJIM]

Same kernel layer on both. BlueZ exposes BT HID as /dev/hidraw*, and padctl reads VID/PID via HIDIOCGRAWINFO without filtering on bus type.

What blocks BT: devices/flydigi/vader5.toml matches on USB descriptors (VID 0x37d7, PID 0x2401, USB interface 1). Bluetooth HID has no USB interface number concept (single HoG HID descriptor), and the BT VID/PID may differ. The existing config never matches in BT mode, so padctl falls through to "no devices found".

Whether the report layout is the same is the open question. Vader 5's input report uses a custom magic prefix (5a a5 ef ...) at fixed byte offsets, not HID report IDs. If BT firmware sends the same byte stream, a BT variant config (different VID/PID, no USB interface filter) likely just works. If BT reshuffles offsets or wraps in a report ID frame, a second [[device.report]] is needed. No capture on file yet.

[T3sT3ro]

If it helps, I recorded some wireshark bt packet data (filtered btl2cap, not sure if you need other handshakes or something). I then proceed to press X Y A B C Z, dpad L R U D, LB, RB, LT, RT (adaptive, then switched to microswitch), LT RT again, LM, RM, M1 M2 M3 M4, extra buttons next to main button for powering on/off — left right, extra buttons next to paddles — left right, then left stick circling left, left stick press, right stick circle circling left, right stick press, and finally main button. On windows I have configured the gyro when holding M1 (to left stick iirc?), but when I held M1 and moved the pad it didn't seem to print anything to wireshark, though it works in game (or rahter it prints something constantly, maybe that's that but exact data hidden deeper in the packet, so it all looks the same in packet list). Here is the dump:

vader5pro-wireshark-bt-trace.pcapng.gz

Here is the output of btmon (same inputs as above, different session, I did a left-right-up-down motion holding M1 for gyro). Just strip the trailing .txt from file, stupid github disallows files based on extension 🤦

vader_handshake.snoop.txt

[T3sT3ro]

Looks like it still has problems connecting to padctl daemon, even after removing it and installing 0.1.5:

$ systemctl --user status padctl.service
● padctl.service - padctl gamepad compatibility daemon
     Loaded: loaded ([/usr/lib/systemd/user/padctl.service](file://toosterlap/usr/lib/systemd/user/padctl.service); enabled; preset: enabled)
     Active: activating (auto-restart) (Result: exit-code) since Wed 2026-05-06 20:04:58 CEST; 1s ago
 Invocation: 49f5ab3dfcad4f53804ea3b6cceec065
    Process: 261130 ExecStart=/usr/bin/padctl (code=exited, status=218/CAPABILITIES)
   Main PID: 261130 (code=exited, status=218/CAPABILITIES)
   Mem peak: 2.2M
        CPU: 8ms

$ journalctl --user-unit padctl.service
May 04 23:05:36 toosterLap systemd[23279]: Started padctl.service - padctl gamepad compatibility daemon.
May 04 23:05:36 toosterLap (padctl)[728380]: padctl.service: Failed to drop capabilities: Operation not permitted
May 04 23:05:36 toosterLap (padctl)[728380]: padctl.service: Failed at step CAPABILITIES spawning /usr/bin/padctl: Operation not permitted
May 04 23:05:36 toosterLap systemd[23279]: padctl.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=218/CAPABILITIES
May 04 23:05:36 toosterLap systemd[23279]: padctl.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
May 04 23:05:39 toosterLap systemd[23279]: padctl.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 1.
[...and so on...] 

Is it possible some old files were not cleared? (I removed with dpkg and purged before)