I was playing Gears of War on my XBox 360, and randomly, the controller would just disconnect. I’d be in the middle of a firefight, about to p@wn a n00b, and suddenly, my character wouldn’t move, and I’d see the “Please reconnect your controller” appear on the middle of the screen… ack!
At first I thought it was my mic attachment not attaching properly; it’s got a pretty flimsy attachment to the bottom of your wireless controller. Unplugging it, though, didn’t solve my issue. Looking online, I found a plethora of what I thought were similiar issues. It was hard to tell, but I think most were referring to the optional attachments you could get for XBox, not XBox 360. At first, I was happy to know I was not alone. Turns out, they were old forums with the new XBox 360 badges… bleh.
Frustrated, her majesty suggested I replace the batteries. In a foul mood, I showed her the XBox 360 menu said they were at half-power. I replaced ’em anyway with new batteries since I’m not really in charge anyway. It works now, no problems. Apparently it just needed fresh batteries.
Hopefully this’ll get on Google and be more prominent than the outdated articles that appear to be referring to the problem, but aren’t.
Been there. Actually, it was my friend who suffered this while playing head-to-head in Halo2. So it was a ton of fun when he said, “Shit, I can’t move.” and then just walking up and giving him a shotgun blast to the face.
I thought it was hilarious. My friend, not so much. :-)
You should look to get the rechargeable battery back for the controller. Works great for me.
You really needed somebody to tell you that when the controller stops working you have to change the batteries?
Read the post, n00b! XBox 360’s Dashboard said the batteries were half-full.
Actually I had the same problem and my batteries were low so I replaced them, but then an hour later it did it again and I thought that was odd, I kept playing for about another hour and it did it again and again and again about 5 times in less then 2 minutes so I decided to stop playing, if anyone could help me out please e-mail me.
having the same problem on Gears of war. Everytime i play on line my controller disconnects. No way can it be the batteries as they have 3 out of 4 bars in the power meter and i’ve only have them for 4 weeks.
This is happening to me, i have only had my xbox a week and the controler just keeps disconnecting. I just perserveered with it, and tried to keep playing by reconecting it over and over. At the same time new lights started flashing on the controler, the 2 and 3 would light up then the 1 and 4. I dono what that means, I pressed the reconnect thing on the xbox then the one on the controler. This seems to work for now. Il message again if it happens more.
well, i just put 2 new batteries in both my controllers and it still disconnects :@:@:@ think i just got bad luck lol.
Im having the same problem, batteries are fresh and the control keeps disconnecting (both my controls) dam microsoft, its probably a virus:) I wish macintosh would make a console!
I believe it is not the charge in the batteries but the casing. Try wiping off the batteries at their connection points. It might also be a manufacturing error.
@john
I believe the 360 is actually based on an Apple design.
it is a problem with the controller itself. My friends controllers when connected have no such problem. It first happened when i brought my controller over to my friends house and it started doing it. My only guess is i mishandled it somehow. Now it does it on my 360. My batter status is at 3/4 so its kinda pissing me off. Sometimes the lights on the controller look like its trying to connect, and others it just shuts off with the console telling me.
Ive had my xobox 360 for about a week now and im getting pissed off because my controller keeps disconnecting while im playing halo 3. Its weird because it only disconnects when i hit something or beat someone down. Ill try replacing the batteries but if that doesn’t work ill be taking the controler back.
First when i was playing NHL 08, a message came up saying my controller was disconnected, I figured it was just the battery, so I recconnected my second controller. about three minutes later the same thing happened! I wonder if it is just a coincidence (sorry about the spelling) or maybe my 360 is just screwed up. And I cant even find any AA batteries in my house.
I just figured this thing out. Turn off the vibrate feature. (Press the guide button, go to personal settings, vibration, and deselect “enable vibration”) It sucks, and I’ve been dealing with this problem for a week while playing gears of war, but this appears to fix it.
My controller has been disconnecting while playing HL2: Episode 1. It usually happen when I had just shot a gun (which made the controller vibrate), which somehow made the controller think the right analog stick moved, moving my vision.
I had 3 out of 4 bars remaining, so I was pretty sure it wasn’t the batteries. So I got on Google and found this. Anyway, Don’s explanation seems to work, cause I’ve been playing for a few minutes without rumble, and has its worked flawlessly.
I am having the regular disconnect problem as well. I was playing Halo 3 the other night and it started disconnecting every couple of minutes.
My ideas are:
1. The battery indicator in the menu is wrong and the batteries are actually almost depleted.
2. My 2.4(5.8?) gigahertz cordless phone is interfering with the signal to the game system-but not likely since the phone and the XBOX 360 have occupied the same spots since I got the console and it only recently started disconnecting.
3. Something on my coffee table is causing the signal from the controller to scatter or refract-perhaps a glass or a stack of books.-But again not likely as it is a recent occurrence and I have had stuff in the way before.
4. When i can get off my lazy ass, I am going to take a pair of rechargeable batteries and install them in place of the duracells that are in the controller now and see if that fixes the problem.-I will write about the result before I post this.
Well, so far, the rechargeable batteries seem to be working. It hasn’t disconnected yet. But it disconnected a while ago on the original batteries. So the only thing that has changed in the last half hour or so is the batteries. Of course, the on-screen battery meter still shows the batteries as 3/4 full. Which is plausible since the rechargeables I am using now have been used in my digital camera to take a few pics, so they are not freshly charged.
Strange that it would show the energizer disposables as 3/4 full, yet disconnect. Of course, sometimes I can put certain alkaline batteries that are brand new in my digital camera and they can’t even power on the camera.
So it has to do with the amperage output of the batteries.
Obviously the disposables are more of a peak and valley as far as output. When new, they reach that certain minimum output level easily, yet fall below that threshold more quickly than the rechargeable batteries.
So evidently, the answer is to do what I did with my cordless keyboard, mouse and digital camera, which is replace all their batteries with rechargeables.
When I put rechargables in my controller, when I shook it it disconnected. I now know that the metal tab on the battery case has to be pressed down all the time, and when you shake it, the circuit breaks and the controller turns off. I’ve solved the problem by putting a piece of cardboard over the tab so it gets pushed down farther. Now I can have rumble on and still keep it connected. :D
My disconnection problem was solved when I pulled the 360 off the entertainment shelf and put it on the floor. I think it was interference from the metal frame of the shelf. The more I play with the 360 (not mine) the more I like my PS3.
Thank you very much!!!! i was getting so mad when i was laying halo online , kept getting owned lol anyway, ty!
im gonna take a shot and ask if your controller thats acting up is the controller that came with the console? cause mine is and i cant find a way to fix this problem
… just throwing that out there
Ok, I’m having this same BS issue. But my 360 is inside of a entertainment center as well… so when I get home tonight I’m going to try and take it out and see if that helps…
If it doesn’t, I’ll try the vibrate feature… turning vibrate off… the sad part is the vibrate shouldn’t have to be turned off to make it work correctly. Thanks for stealing my money if that’s the case Microsoft. Need another $70? No problem, I’ll head to the store today! Anything for you!
…..
Hmmm…i get the same problems….bought new batteries and replaced old ones….doesnt help…..farkin pissed to the shit lol because now i cant play Lost Odyssey without any farkin interference…..ill figure somethin out……well i think my xbox controll pack thing (whatever the bitch is) is a fraction loose? maybe sticky tape or some shit would make it better? well my name is my gamertag on live Andeh666
Add me….catchya
Yeah people dont worry…if your having the same feeling turn on your controll and then shake it once or twice…it will turn off..>.> fuckin peices of shit…sorry for the language but i got really pissed off….i really wanted to actually get further in the game XD lol
LOL its just a bad case of loose battery pack ;P stickytape the bitch down =DDD
i had the same problem, changed the batteries over to rechargeable ones until i have enough cash to get 2x battery packs and the charger thing.. i love having my controls wireless so there’s no way i’m using a wire to charge it up :P but yeah, so far the flashing lights and cutting out seem to be working.. will post back if there’s any more problems.. better work, my 360 elite’s only 2 weeks old!
I know this topic might be dead, but another question that should be asked is, What position is the Xbox360 in? (is it standing vertically or laid down horizontally) Some people seem to get better reception when its laid horizontally on its side. Also, the vibration thing, works for some, not for everyone, reason for this is, in my case, when playing Portal, it can even disconnect while i’m standing still, not touching any buttons. I’ll try using a play and charge kit, and keeping my 360 vertical, and with rumble on. Then I’ll mess with other configurations and report back if someone responds.
Same thing happens to me i will be running around in halo 3. and ill shoot someone 1 time or ill get shot one time or get hit by anything one time and my controller will disconnect. my batteries are full and im like wat the fawk!!@# it mite be because i threw it at the ground.. but idk
I have my controller plugged into the xbox 360 and it still disconnects my controller. it’s not the batteries. it’s just another great F’n product from microsoft. i should’ve gotten a PS3
if your controller keeps disconnecting every few seconds when you try and play a game like mine, i have found a solution. it seems everytime you shake the controller it disconnect. i turned off the vibrate feature and it has been working well. however, i twisted the controller with a little force and it caused a disconnection as well :( try it, if it works awesome. if not, gl!
dunno if this is dead now, but i just started getting this issue in gears of war 2, and i’ve now figured out that it only happens when i melee something lol. Not pressing B on its own but when i physically hit something it disconnects, nothing else disconnects it lol. Ive been playing it for a couple of days and it jus started causing this issue so i really cant figure out why this wud suddenly start happening :S hopefully epic can patch it tho they rnt known for their quick timeing patches
I just got this problem about 2 weeks ago. i was playing COD4 and everytime i shoot it disconnects. i can do everything else but shoot. It’s happening on both of my controllers and one is 2 of 4 bars and the other is 3 of 4 bars. so what is up with the disconnecting? Its not easy killing ppl with just grenades and knives even though it is more challenging.
@ Fed up, i got exactly the same problem, and I simply can’t find the solution either.
My brother and I have been playing Halo 3 for a while now. Just recently, in the middle of a game, our controllers will start flashing. Mine flash because my batteries are dead, but my brother’s will flash and then turn off. When he reconnects, it’ll say he has 3 bars left. It doesn’t occur while playing Gears 2, nor does my controller screw up. I’ll try the vibration thing, but I’m not sure about the position of the xbox, because ours is vertical and only about 2 or 3 feet away. Nothing blocks it, and we’ve replaced the batteries several times. I really don’t want to have to buy another controller, or the whole plug pack thing, so if the vibration doesn’t work, anymore ideas?
Yes, its starting to drive me crazy now. We only just got the Xbox back from MS after it had Red Rings of Death, now we have this connection problem with both controllers. Tried batteries, resetting the box and the controllers, etc no luck. It hangs everytime we play any attack game Halo, TMNT and it will hang on the same spot time and again. Just aggrevating….. might try a new controller, but that shouldn’t be the answer!
I also just got my xbox back from its ring-of-death MS repair, and now both controllers disconnect every few minutes. Not the batteries since iv gon thru several new packs back-to-back.
Im pretty sure they sent me a faulty console; it aint right!
Same problem here, we just received our console back from MS because of the RROD. Now both controllers are disconnecting consistently and only work at a distance of about 5 feet.
Kinda in a rush out the door as I see this, but I’ve replaced the batteries, kicked it a few times, powered on and off (the console and controllers, and just controllers) and the only thing I found that works 100% of the time? Disable the vibration of the wireless controllers. Dunno if the elites have this problem too, but the pros and arcades do, and that was the only fix. Ironically, if you have an old xbox 360, I don’t think you’ll have this issue.
mines doing the same thing rite now but it vibrating wtf do i do as soon as the remote comes on it vibrates and then dies what do i do plz email me to fix it