XBox One Controller Hell

So I decided to buy myself a new XBox Controller to use on my PC for when I’m sitting in front of the TV due to my 360 controller refusing to turn right. I wanted another XBox 360 controller, but seems you can’t buy them new anymore so I had to buy the more expensive XBox One controller and it has been hell.

It connects via Bluetooth to my PC and while I’m playing a game, it disconnects and reconnects randomly. So I did some troubleshooting, updated my Bluetooth drivers to the latest drivers, connected the controller via a USB cable which in turn updated the firmware on the controller. Now it is even worse. It used to do it every couple of minutes, now after the updates, it happens every couple of seconds to the point that it is essentially unusable.

Has anybody else experienced this or have a solution?

Luckily it hasn’t been 30 days yet, so returning this piece of crap to Takealot might still be an option, but then I’m still without a proper controller for lounge playing.

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How far are you away from your Bluetooth dongle / PC? I’m using a newer Bluetooth XBOX One controller with my desktop, but I’m sitting fairly close to my dongle. The dongle is plugged into my keyboard’s spare USB port and I’m sitting at my desk playing, so the controller is about half a meter from the dongle.

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I am using a BT dongle on my desktop, and it is one floor down from my tv with just a single timber staircase in between. I often play on my Android box’s Steam Link and it still works from that far away.

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That really sucks @Viper, I can imagine your frustration.

I know the first gen controller didn’t really have bluetooth, my MacBook doesn’t even pick them up when scanning. But if this is a new device it shouldn’t be an issue. I don’t have any issues or concerns with the newer controller on my MacBook and is detecable and stable once paired.

Perhaps you have interference somewhere?

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I have noticed if I have my USB BT dongle plugged in at the back of my tower, my xbone controller will disconnect quite frequently. It’s currently plugged into a USB hub on my desk by my monitor and that problem has gone away.

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Bought some Xbox one controller, when Star Wars released. Windows 10 broke the Bluetooth, reliability. Also any 3D game now stutters down to 14 frames a second. Doesn’t matter if it’s directx, OpenGL or Vulcan. Microsoft reportedly fixed the bug, but the problem persists. I will never buy that trash heap of a controller again. It’s fucking useless. If a had a golf club, I would take it to the driving range and pretend it’s the guy that cut me off turning into a parking the other day.

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I’m lucky that I’ve had no problems. XBox One controller just working perfectly with the computer and the other two with the console.

I can’t remember if you have an XBox or not. But I played a PC game though my Series X this weekend. Basically using the Wireless Display app on the XBox and then you use the controller on your XBox to control the game that’s running on your PC. It worked much better than I thought it would. So basically I was able to sit comfortably on my recliner and play a pc game on the tv. The controller worked like a mouse since it’s a game that’s controlled with a mouse.

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I almost caved and got an Xbox controller because my Logitech F710 of about 6 or 7 years now is a bit worse for ware. Reading this thread, I’m glad I didn’t, I bought a new mouse instead.

I’ll probably just get another one to replace it. Zero issues over all these years and I’ve only replaced the batteries about 4 times, even though I play lots of controller games. 900+ hours of rocket league for example.

F710 masterrace! :raised_hands: I can’t recommend it enough.

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I had one and only used it for about a year. It never felt accurate, battery-life was terrible and it just never lived up to the quality of a DS4 or XBOX One controller. I honestly love my XBOX One (Cyberpunk 2077 edition) controller and won’t trade it for anything else.

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I agree. I love the XBox One controller!

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I second this notion!

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My PC has Bluetooth built-in. The couch is about 7m away from my PC, but the same happens if I sit right in front of the PC. The 360 controller had its own wireless receiver that needed to be plugged in and it was extremely reliable. Pity they didn’t do the same for the XBox One.

I made some progress last night. I’m busy playing AC Odyssey (Atlantis) and the controller worked without any issues while I’m playing, fighting and running around, but as soon as I open the map / character / inventory screen, then the problems start and I either have to switch on the old controller to navigate or go to the PC to use the mouse.
Before the driver and firmware updates, the issue happened every couple of minutes and now after the update, it seems that the issue is gone while playing and unusable in the map screen.
So this is weird.

Will try another game tonight to see what happens.

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Are you sure there isn’t some kind of driver conflict on your PC? Perhaps try uninstall any controller / XBOX-related drivers from your PC and take it from there? I also have less luck with my laptop’s built-in Bluetooth (I had some trouble getting it synced up properly), so maybe try a cheap Bluetooth 4 or 5 dongle and see if you have better luck?

I’ll maybe first try another game. I see that other people have also struggled with XBox controller disconnecting in Assassin’s Creed. So it could be that my updates fixed the issue and then by some weird coincidence, I’m playing a game that has controller issues.

Unfortunately, it seems that people are complaining about both AC Odyssey and Valhalla. I hope the issues are at most similar in Valhalla and not worse. By the time I’ll be playing that, we might be in a new house where the PC isn’t as close to the TV as it is now.

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It’s weird that I just read an entire article about Xbox controllers disconnecting randomly thinking that it’s exactly your problem - even mentions AC Valhalla - and only afterwards realized it’s all about Series X controllers.

The first game mentioned in the first post in the 40+ page support thread is also Valhalla.

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/xbox/forum/xba_console/xbox-series-x-controller-keeps-disconnecting/16d9f462-57c0-4b6c-93fd-b03711e632ee?page=1&auth=1

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It is strange, while playing AC Odyssey, it only disconnects occasionally, but as soon as I open the map, it is almost instant. One or two seconds and then I can’t do anything.

I tried Agents of Mayhem last night to see if the controller works better, but that game doesn’t support the controller at all it seems. The Start and Menu buttons don’t work, the look is inverted and the ABXY buttons are messed around. I’ll try another game tonight and see if I have better luck.

If I want to return it, it must be this week, but then I’m without a controller. So I don’t know what other options there are since XBox 360 controllers aren’t available anymore except for the Chinese knockoffs.

Ok, so I’ve tried a couple of games quickly.

  • Darksiders Genesis
  • Recore
  • Witcher 3
  • We happy few
  • Hitman 2

I was just briefly in and out of all the games except for Darksiders that I played for maybe 15 minutes and Recore for about 30 minutes, all with no disconnects. It seems that the controller disconnects are only with Assassin’s Creed Odyssey.
Although with Hitman 2, I couldn’t aim through the scope. This is the second game where the buttons don’t seem to register (other was Agents of Mayhem).

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So after two years, this little device seems to have brought an end to my XBox controller hell.
https://www.takealot.com/8bitdo-wireless-usb-adapter-2-for-xbox-ps-switch-windows-mac-ras/PLID90018444

The official XBox wireless receiver is out of stock… worldwide. I was considering importing a 2nd hand one, but thought I’d give this one a try first. No disconnects at all and apparently I can even pair a PS controller with it.

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That’s pretty awesome!

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Isnt that just a Bluetooth dongle?

I love it when alternatives just work!

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