XBox 360 Wireless Controller Adapter dead after connecting to steam link

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Uncle Gief Dec 29, 2015 @ 7:04pm

XBox 360 Wireless Controller Adapter dead after connecting to steam link

I disconnected my 360 wireless adapter from my computer and plugged it in to one of the USB ports on my steam link and the adapter will not power up. I tried plugging in a USB mouse to the same port and the mouse was able to power up just fine. I took my wireless adapter and plugged it back into my PC and now it will not power back on (!). I tried various usb ports on my machine and still no dice.

My roommate, trying to be helpful, tried using his wireless 360 adapter and ended up with the same result; both of our wireless adapters appear to be dead now.

Has anyone else run into this problem? Both adapters were official microsoft.

EDIT: changed title for clarity

Last edited by Uncle Gief; Dec 30, 2015 @ 3:49pm

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Showing 1-15 of 26 comments

Dire Wolf Dec 29, 2015 @ 11:13pm

No, my 360 adapter worked fine. I have seen usb devices spike in power and shut down a usb port on a pc, but not the other way around. That maybe is possible if it has a wiring issue or something.

Davidoff Dec 30, 2015 @ 12:32am

I am using official 360 adapter and it is working fine for me.
As a sidenote - do you remember if you tried the exact same USB port with your friend's adapter as well?

Roadbuster Dec 30, 2015 @ 9:36am

Roommate here. I am fairly certain the OP plugged the first microsoft wireless 360 adapter into all of the ports as this was a first time setup of the Steam Link (Back, side, other back port if I remember the order correctly.) I only connected the second microsoft wireless 360 adapter to the side USB port on the steam link.

I can confirm that both adapters seem to be completely dead. Windows 7 does not recognize either adapter when reconnected to systems that were previously working as intended minutes before disconnecting the devices to try with the Steam Link.

mcd1992 Dec 30, 2015 @ 10:25am

You guys never mention this being the controller adapter. I presume that's what it is, not the wireless networking adapter for the 360?

Also is the green light turning on on the controller adapter?

Last edited by mcd1992; Dec 30, 2015 @ 10:27am

Roadbuster Dec 30, 2015 @ 10:35am

Correct. We are trying to connect the microsoft xbox360 wireless adapter for windows that you sync an xbox 360 controller to. Again, these devices were working until we tried them with the Steam Link, and now they do not function period.

Roadbuster Dec 30, 2015 @ 10:50am

To answer the question about the lights:

Both adapters had green lights on while connected to their respective PC and synced to xbox 360 controllers. Neither one ever lit up when connected to Steam Link. Upon trying to reconnect each of them to the PC they were previously connected to (first, via the same initial USB port on the PC, followed by trying other open USB ports on the PC), neither adapter would be recognized by Windows 7 and would not light up.

Davidoff Dec 30, 2015 @ 11:31am

Originally posted by Roadbuster:
To answer the question about the lights:

Both adapters had green lights on while connected to their respective PC and synced to xbox 360 controllers. Neither one ever lit up when connected to Steam Link. Upon trying to reconnect each of them to the PC they were previously connected to (first, via the same initial USB port on the PC, followed by trying other open USB ports on the PC), neither adapter would be recognized by Windows 7 and would not light up.

Honestly it sounds like the Link has fried your adapters. I have no idea what else it could possibly do to affect hardware in this way. The adapters don't have any writeable/configurable memory right...? So a software change sounds out of the question. And that leaves the hardware.

Uncle Gief Dec 30, 2015 @ 3:51pm

Thanks for the replies; that's unfortunately what I was thinking as well. I checked a few other forum posts and found a few others that said something to the affect of "turns out my adapter was broken" when they tried to plug it back in to their machine, but I think plugging it in to the steam link was what caused it to begin with

mcd1992 Dec 31, 2015 @ 7:24am

https://replayproject.wordpress.com/2010/10/09/how-to-repair-microsoft-xbox-360%E2%84%A2-wireless-gaming-receiver-for-windows%C2%AE/

No clue how the Link would be damaging your adapters but apparently there is a fuse you can replace to get them working again.

Roadbuster Dec 31, 2015 @ 10:09am

I came across that as well in my searches. If it is indeed the fuse that is the culprit, I am not sure how comfortable I am with bypassing a blown fuse in a device that was damaged because it brought in too much power. You lose your failsafe.

#10

WildArmTins Feb 5, 2016 @ 1:25am

Exact same thing happened to mine. I'm too scared to use anything but a wired controller now. After searching I see this is a common occurance, my guess is Valve is not addressing the issue in the hope people wont notice and they wont have to fork out for a few thousand replacement wireless adapters.

#11

Roadbuster Feb 5, 2016 @ 9:28am

Actually, they did address it with my roommate. Valve contacted him after he created a support ticket. They swapped out his Steam Link with a new one, and asked for the xbox360 wireless adapters so they could further troubleshoot the cause and find the issue.

#12

WildArmTins Feb 5, 2016 @ 11:04am

Originally posted by Roadbuster:
Actually, they did address it with my roommate. Valve contacted him after he created a support ticket. They swapped out his Steam Link with a new one, and asked for the xbox360 wireless adapters so they could further troubleshoot the cause and find the issue.

Awesome. I do actually have a fair amount of respect for Valve as a whole so I'm glad to see they're not shrugging this off.

#13