My 360 controller suddenly stopped responding to my PC

[Violent By Design]

This is in regards to the wired 360 controller. For what ever reason, my PC has stopped recognizing the 360 controller. Sometimes it will recognize it, but then the controller will suddenly disconnect with out any reason.

I downloaded the latest drivers to see if that was the problem, but it seems fine. If I press the center button on the 360 controller, the button will light up, so the controller isn't fried (and like I said, it will sometimes work).


I just got back my 360, so I will plug it in tomorrow and see if the 360 can recognize the controller, just in case the controller really is messed up (though I dont see why it would be, nothing bad has happened to it).


Does anyone have any ideas? I mean it is really strange that it is working one moment and all of a sudden my PC doesn't recognize what's in the USB port.

[Hobie-wan]

Have you tried another USB port? Are you using a hub with a bunch of stuff plugged in? Maybe you're overloading the power heading to the hub and the pad is the first thing to crap out. Maybe there's some light corrosion in that one or on the controller connector so it is being intermittent? Two of the wires are power and 2 are data, so if just the data is losing connection it could still have power.

[Violent By Design]

Have you tried another USB port?

Yup, makes no difference.

Are you using a hub with a bunch of stuff plugged in?

Nope, only thing plugged in is the controller directly into the comp's usb port.

Maybe there's some light corrosion in that one or on the controller connector so it is being intermittent?

I'm not sure what this means, but how would I fix this?

[Hobie-wan]

Presuming you don't have any contact cleaner, shut down your PC and completely unplug it. If it is a laptop, take out the battery. Flatten a q-tip a bit and dampen with alcohol. Clean the inside of the USB plug on the controller, then plug/unplug it a few times from the PC while it is still a bit damp. Then unplug and let both dry for 20-30 minutes before you hook things back up and power it back on.