Lizard Mode Suppression — Reference

Background

The hid-steam kernel driver keeps a built-in mouse/scroll fallback ("Lizard Mode") active unless a userspace client suppresses it. Steam handles this while running. Without suppression, the trackpads emit mouse and scroll events directly via the kernel driver, bypassing makima entirely.

Heartbeat

Makima-deckery takes over suppression via a hidraw heartbeat. On startup, it opens the raw controller hidraw device (the .0005 interface, not the emulated keyboard/mouse nodes) and sends suppression feature reports every 4 s. This shares the same file descriptor used by pad_hidraw.rs for trackpad data.

The heartbeat is a built-in safety mechanism: if makima crashes or exits, the file descriptor is closed and Lizard Mode re-activates automatically within ~8 s. No manual cleanup is required.

Makima gracefully skips the heartbeat task on non-Steam-Deck hardware (no Valve hidraw device found).

Configuration

Control which aspects are suppressed via SUPPRESS_LIZARD_MODE in the [settings] section of your base config:

[settings]
SUPPRESS_LIZARD_MODE = "buttons,mouse"   # suppress both (recommended)
SUPPRESS_LIZARD_MODE = "buttons"          # only clear keyboard/button mappings
SUPPRESS_LIZARD_MODE = "mouse"            # only disable trackpad mouse/scroll emulation
SUPPRESS_LIZARD_MODE = "false"            # disabled (default when setting is absent)

Value	Effect
"buttons"	Sends ID_CLEAR_DIGITAL_MAPPINGS (0x81) — prevents the kernel driver from emitting arrow keys, Enter, Esc via D-Pad and face buttons
"mouse"	Sends ID_SET_SETTINGS_VALUES (0x87) with TRACKPAD_NONE — prevents the kernel driver from emitting mouse and scroll events from the trackpads
"buttons,mouse"	Both of the above — recommended for full Steam independence
"false" / absent	Disabled — Lizard Mode is not suppressed

When the setting is absent, Lizard Mode is not suppressed.