The Energon Pub

No, I don't have the RROD.

I have two problems with my Xbox 360. Maybe someone here knows how to solve them.

I have two controllers in my house, and both insist that they're first player. I initially had the one, and used that one exclusively. Then my sister and her boyfriend, also with an Xbox 360, moved in. One day I grabbed their controller and used it (probably the closest one at hand) without my first one being on. It naturally took the first person slot. But the other day I tried to play a multiplayer game with a friend of mine. Now I can't get one or the other to give up that first person slot. And only my controller is recognized by the Xbox, even though both are on and the center Xbox button is lit up as first player on both. Only one works and the other one is ignored. This is probably because both insist they're first player and the Xbox only has room for one first player. But for the life of me I can't get one to go to second player. I tried the button on the back of the controller, thinking it would reset the controller. The center Xbox button flashed, but the controller went right back to first player after a few seconds. I tried shutting the Xbox off and restarting. Everything. Nothing worked. So I can't get two players on the Xbox. Seems to me this wireless thing is just a curse in disguise for multiplayer games.

My second problem is that I don't think my charger is working. I bought a Microsoft Xbox controller charger (yes, the official Microsoft brand, not a third-party one) and it worked out great for the first month or so. Now it seems that the battery that it came with only holds a charge for a couple hours. I'll charge up the controller, then use it wirelessly, turn off the Xbox, and come back and suddenly the controller has no charge. It never dies in the middle of a play session, only when I start up again. This makes me suspect something. So I have to charge it up again every time. I now use the controller more with the charger plugged in than wirelessly. It's only maybe 3 months old. The green button on the charger will come on, meaning that the battery has a full charge, but it only lasts a short time, and only dies between sessions.

Does anybody know any solutions to either of these problems?

Have you tried resyncing the controller with the 360? And I mean a full sync by pushing the button on the console and then the one on the controller?

The charging problem seems to be a sort of widespread problem. Obviously it's either the battery or the charge cable. Let the battery completely discharge through playing. Literally until it shuts itself off and then wait a day. Then try charging it again. If that doesn't fix it, a new battery is probably in your future. You might also want to check that the contacts are clean on the controller and the charge cable. Any dust or gunk/oil can cause it to have a bad connection and report a false positive which would make it think the battery is charged.

It sounds like the two pads are synched to two different consoles and as such doing what Muffin has said will eliminate that. The second problem is the charging circuit on your pad. I had the same problem with a fresh pad where it wouldn't charge the pad, it would instantly show the green light even though the battery is empty and refuse to charge it. Try charging the battery with the other pad or purchasing one of the many charging dock solutions.

TheMuffin wrote:Have you tried resyncing the controller with the 360? And I mean a full sync by pushing the button on the console and then the one on the controller?

I didn't try pushing the button on the console. I think I tried pushing every single button on the controller. Some made it "think" but both decided they were first player again. I'll try pushing the console button.

TheMuffin wrote:The charging problem seems to be a sort of widespread problem. Obviously it's either the battery or the charge cable. Let the battery completely discharge through playing. Literally until it shuts itself off and then wait a day. Then try charging it again. If that doesn't fix it, a new battery is probably in your future. You might also want to check that the contacts are clean on the controller and the charge cable. Any dust or gunk/oil can cause it to have a bad connection and report a false positive which would make it think the battery is charged.

I'll try this. As far as I can tell, it's completely discharged, but I'll see if I can drain any more drops of power from it. I really don't want to buy a new battery. I'd hate to think a problem like this can't just be solved by a simple company replacement since I don't abuse the equipment and it's a Microsoft brand charger, but I don't think I have my receipt anymore and it's about five months bought now. Ugh. I'll try cleaning the connectors first. It's possible I touched the nodes and left some oil on there, but I try not to touch these things with grubby hands, so there can't be too much gunk on there.

sniper_samurai wrote:It sounds like the two pads are synched to two different consoles and as such doing what Muffin has said will eliminate that. The second problem is the charging circuit on your pad. I had the same problem with a fresh pad where it wouldn't charge the pad, it would instantly show the green light even though the battery is empty and refuse to charge it. Try charging the battery with the other pad or purchasing one of the many charging dock solutions.

I'd hate to try this one, since they still use the controller on a regular basis I think. Will it mess things up for them if they try to resync it back to their machine? I'll definitely try charging the pad with the other controller, but I don't want to spend more on new dock solutions just yet. I don't instantly get a green light though. It seems to take the normal time to show the green light (but it HAS been a while since I've charged it, just haven't used enough lately to need a recharge).

I haven't had much need for the controller lately since I've mostly been playing Rock Band, but I hope I can solve this problem for the future. I'd hate to have never to play multiplayer games or have a wire sticking out of my controller all the time. Thanks for the suggestions!