Unwanted MS Update Makes Aftermarket XBox Controllers Unusable | Forums

[JTCoop]

Last night I invited a buddy over to check out RS for the first time. Obviously after a brief introduction, the intent was to show him how much fun multi-player mode could be. Sadly, it didn't work out that way.

I let Rick see how many cool songs there are, how the RSNH works, how leveling up works, etc. I let MiniCoop demonstrate what things look like after you've leveled a song up, mastered a song, etc. Then I turned my buddy loose in Amp Mode to jam (he loved Amp Mode, by the way). Everything was going great. But, when we went to do some multi-player rocking, I could not get my second XBox controller to work. It had been working perfectly just a day before. It would light up, identify itself as Player 2 and then promptly shut down. It appeared to be a battery issue. So, after about 30 minutes of running around the house digging AA batteries out of chargers and everything else that might possibly have a good set of batteries in it - with no success - we ended up driving to the nearest convenience store at 10:00 to buy some fresh batteries. Of course, those didn't help at all because it was NOT a battery issue. Even with brand new batteries (with a use-by date 5 years in the future), my aftermarket second controller would not work. So, no multi-player rocking.

My wife, meanwhile, was on the internet looking up possible causes and solutions. She discovered that good ol' Microsoft had pushed an XBox update within the past couple of days which renders many aftermarket XBox controllers (in particular, the brand I own) inoperative. There is a software patch that can be downloaded to update my controller, but apparently this is very much an ad hoc, pre-beta bit of code that some whiz-kids have cooked up and posted on a tech geek website. No guarantee that it'll work.

Be warned. If you have an aftermarket XBox controller, don't count on playing multi-player RS with it. Or anything else, for that matter.

Thanks, Bill, for a lovely evening. This is why my laptop runs an Ubuntu OS with Open Office software. Sadly, I don't see an Ubutu-compatible version of RS being released in October 2012 and Sony is just as bad.

[Seventy_X_Seven]

Wow, that sucks. As a possible solution - I'm not sure how Xbox controllers work - on PS3 you can use one controller and then hold the PS button and change the controller channel to fool the system into thinking you have a second controller. I do this all the time on Rocksmith multiplayer, takes about three seconds to switch back and forth. Xbox have anything like that?

[rchiav]

Step back from the ledge. It's not all aftermarket controllers and it's being addressed by the controller manufacturer.

http://support.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-3...ntroller-issue

[metaleg]

I'm with you on Ubuntu JT. I choose to do as little business with Microsoft as possible.

[raynebc]

Thanks, Bill, for a lovely evening.

Thank you for remembering that Bill Gates hasn't been CEO of Microsoft for over a decade.

As mentioned in rchiav's link, Datel controllers are not licensed, and that's why Microsoft doesn't test Datel controllers to see if they'd be affected. If it was a licensed product, this probably wouldn't have happened and if it had, it would be Microsoft's job to fix it. Nobody is responsible for the usability of Datel's unauthorized third party controllers except for Datel.
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[PRS_Rocker]

JTCoop, I hate to agree with Microsoft on anything, but not allowing unlicensed hardware is a very good idea for them. I'm sure you know that there are people who are mod'ing controllers to shoot faster, etc, and if a user is caught by MS, they are turned off from XBox live. By having a licensing requirement, they ensure that users don't have an unfair advantage and that their testing for releases are compatible with all devices on the market. Yeah, that costs the device manufacturer money, but why should their devices get free testing? Just about anyone who is asked which online service is best, XBox live is best. Why? Cause they charged money from day one and they use that money to provide better services. Now PSN charges for their premium services that used to be free.

Anyway, I know the controllers are probably less expensive, but now you know why. They have an unfair advantage over manufacturers who are paying MS for licensing. I may sound elitist, but my kids only own MS controllers.

[Marauder359]

Anyway, I know the controllers are probably less expensive, but now you know why. They have an unfair advantage over manufacturers who are paying MS for licensing. I may sound elitist, but my kids only own MS controllers.

Silly people are the only reason MadCatz is still in business.

It doesn't sound elitist at all... it sounds like you actually want your kids to have the ability to properly use the expensive console you bought for them.

[PRS_Rocker]

Silly people are the only reason MadCatz is still in business.

It doesn't sound elitist at all... it sounds like you actually want your kids to have the ability to properly use the expensive console you bought for them.

You're right, Marauder. I pay over $100 a year for a for a family XBox Live account, and I don't need to pay for unusable time because of illegal hardware.

[JTCoop]

Step back from the ledge. It's not all aftermarket controllers and it's being addressed by the controller manufacturer. . . .

Yep. That's the patch to which I referred in my OP. Thanks for posting the link. Might be useful for others.

Thank you for remembering that Bill Gates hasn't been CEO of Microsoft for over a decade.

For the purpose of this discussion, it wouldn't matter if YOU were the current CEO of MS. Bill Gates will likely always be the personification of the company for those of us who remember when it started. I could have said, "Thanks for a lovely evening, Steve," as in Steve Ballmer, the current CEO. But, only about 3 people would have had any idea what or whom I was talking about, which would make that useless as a communication device even if it were technically correct.

As mentioned in rchiav's link, Datel controllers are not licensed, and that's why Microsoft doesn't test Datel controllers to see if they'd be affected. If it was a licensed product, this probably wouldn't have happened and if it had, it would be Microsoft's job to fix it. Nobody is responsible for the usability of Datel's unauthorized third party controllers except for Datel.

I didn't call on MS to fix it. I'm blaming MS for pushing the update. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know - it's a good thing, makes the software better, keeps tigers away, feeds the poor, and keeps the Earth spinning about its axis. But, I'm tired of constant updates to software. ALL of it. Seems like every time I turn on one of my computers, I've got to wait for an update. In this case, a MS-pushed update to my XBox caused me considerable inconvenience. Tomorrow it'll be a Firefox update that won't leave me alone until I install it AND restart my computer. The day after that, it'll be Adobe, Quicken, Pinnacle and the 100,000th Java update this year. Basically, I'm just tired of it. Period. And, I reserve the right to bit.** about it - particularly when unrequested "stealth" updates result in ill-timed inconveniences such as the one described above.

Did I SAY I expect MS to fix the problem? No. Did I say that I expect MS to somehow determine how their updates will affect every single user? No.

What I would expect might be some sort of warning that an update is ready to be installed. Then I can decide whether Saturday evening at 8:00 PM (or whatever) is a convenient time for me to experience a change - however positive, however minute - to my system.

JTCoop, I hate to agree with Microsoft on anything, but not allowing unlicensed hardware is a very good idea for them. I'm sure you know that there are people who are mod'ing controllers to shoot faster, etc, and if a user is caught by MS, they are turned off from XBox live. By having a licensing requirement, they ensure that users don't have an unfair advantage and that their testing for releases are compatible with all devices on the market. Yeah, that costs the device manufacturer money, but why should their devices get free testing? Just about anyone who is asked which online service is best, XBox live is best. Why? Cause they charged money from day one and they use that money to provide better services. Now PSN charges for their premium services that used to be free. Anyway, I know the controllers are probably less expensive, but now you know why. They have an unfair advantage over manufacturers who are paying MS for licensing. I may sound elitist, but my kids only own MS controllers.

All that makes perfect sense and I agree with it except for one point. I didn't buy the Datel controller because it was cheaper. As I recall, if it was any cheaper it wasn't much cheaper than a regular MS controller. I bought the Datel controller because it's programmable. It gives me more control lay-out options than a stock MS controller and those lay-out options are independent of the in-game options. I don't play many games on XBox apart from RS, but I have played a couple of games where I just didn't like the controller options available in the game. The Datel controller allowed me to assign things as I like them. As far as Datel doing their own testing, etc., sure. Fine. I have no beef with all that. But, ultimately my question would be this: What was the update and what did it "fix?" My system doesn't seem to work any better than it did before. If this was necessary to prevent the sort of "cheating" you describe, I'm OK with that, too.

As I said above, I just get dam-n tired of the constant updating and restarting, etc. etc. etc. Of course, it's probably important to point out that I was OK with DOS. . .

[rchiav]

Software gets updated. May I suggest...