Xbox controller randomly disconnects during game

[jb33]

Using steam big picture on my HTPC but I'm having a tough time with the controller. Have tried both an Xbox 360 controller (wireless receiver) and an Xbox one controller (both wireless receiver and wired) and both are giving me the same issue.

Basically, everything is fine but the controller just randomly disconnects or freezes during a game. Sometimes for 20-30 seconds, sometimes longer and I have to alt tab out of the game to get back to the desktop.

I'm not part of the beta client and have updated all the latest drivers but I can't figure out why this is happening. I tested it on two other client PC's and both have the same issue with the controllers.

Anyone know how I can fix this? It has pretty much rendered any steam streaming completely useless. Running Windows 10 also and occurs in both steam and big picture modes.

Thanks

EDIT:
Just to clarify, when I mean disconnect, the controller is still on but all buttons including start, etc, don't respond. On the Xbox 360 controller, player 1 is still lit up and on the Xbox One controller, the guide button is completely lit also. Just that nothing responds.

If I am moving at the time it cuts out, the movement continues in that direction like it's locked. I can't stop the movement until I regain control.

Also, powering the controller off and on again does nothing. Take the batteries out, unplug it, etc, and it's still frozen/disconnected but then after 20-30 seconds, allows me to move until it disconnects a minute later.

Sometimes I completely lose it and it never comes back. Stays disconnected and I have to kill the game then kill the game on the host also.

[willinator]

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από General Grievous:

i know this is pretty old, but if someone is having the same issue still just connect your controller to your pc via usb and then install xbox accessories via the microsoft store and them update your controllers firmware, fixed the problem for me immediatly.

+1 this fix worked for me. I didn't even realize there was a way to update the firmware this way.

[Ronyn77]

I used the Bluetooth connection with my xbox one controller until one week ago and I never have any kind of problems. I bought the original microsoft wireless adapter in order to use voice chat and the problems started. The disconnections seems to occure on specific games and not to all.
It seems that the main issue has been caused by the xbox controller profile. If the games start with that profiles it starts to disconnect frequently.
I have manually changed the config file In C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\config\config.vdf, after disabling all controller support options in steam, turning off the controller and closing steam. I have deleted all the strings under SDL_GamepadBind.

I restarted the pc and when the game loads on the steam popup it shows controller profile loaded and it worked. It worked until a moment in which it disconnects again for a couple of seconds, and then it reconnects with the steam message popup xbox one controller profile loaded. After this happens, the game starts to disconnect frequently. So for some reason steam is forcing to use the xbox one profile that causes me problems.
I am not sure, but the only way is to disable all the default controller config profiles and set in big picture in-game controller settings to active or enabled and not to default.

The downside is if you use the guide(xbox) button for steam overlay, the game cannot be more controlled by the gamepad but only with keyboard and mouse.
It is very frustrating.

[mugen808]

@Ronyn77 and anyone that it could help, in my case, what did the trick was to update the XB controller firmware with XBOX Companion app. No more disconnections in Steam now!

[Kučoslav]

Hi, I had a problem like Ronyn 77. https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/qb9yts/xbox_controller_keeps_disconnecting_from_my_pc/?rdt=36438 didn't help either. Connect USB C to x box controller and USB to PC. Start the game, move the controller, if everything goes normally, disconnect the USB.

[ornion]

Im late but. If you have the xbox 360 controller drivers installed from steam, try uninstalling it. I uninstalled it and my controller then worked perfectly. Or you could maybe try another USB slot. Just saying for anyone else who ends up on this page.

[Markonije]

Updating firmware via XBOX Accessories app didn't help in my case.

My Xbox controller was loosing connection all the time with PC and I found out the hard way that the Integrated Bluetooth 5 in my Gigabyte motherboard uses the external antenna (that I got with bundled with MB) as a signal booster for both WiFi and the Bluetooth.
Now it works fine almost from the other room when I hooked up the antenna.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από Markonije:

Updating firmware via XBOX Accessories app didn't help in my case.

My Xbox controller was loosing connection all the time with PC and I found out the hard way that the Integrated Bluetooth 5 in my Gigabyte motherboard uses the external antenna (that I got with bundled with MB) as a signal booster for both WiFi and the Bluetooth.
Now it works fine almost from the other room when I hooked up the antenna.

So are you suggesting you were un-aware that your WiFI & BT runs through the same chipset and thus using either requires that external antenna? I thought this was common sense? It's been this way on Laptops as long as I can remember? Is this your first time using a PC where WiFi + BT uses the same antenna? Since there is no dedicated BT USB dongle.

[Markonije]

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από Bad 💀 Motha:

So are you suggesting you were un-aware that your WiFI & BT runs through the same chipset and thus using either requires that external antenna? I thought this was common sense?

Yes.

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από Bad 💀 Motha:

It's been this way on Laptops as long as I can remember? Is this your first time using a PC where WiFi + BT uses the same antenna? Since there is no dedicated BT USB dongle.

First time using BT or WIFI on desktop machine.
I'm not aware of laptops that require external antenna for wifi and bluetooth. Its internal so no need for me to worry about it.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

So yea on the Desktop find out which model of WiFi it has and then you can download most recent driver from the brand maker and it would include a d4ive for the Bluetooth part of that WiFi chipset as well. You might just be using the driver Windows OS has supplied and that might be why it's not working 100%

If it's onboard the Motherboard then the rear WiFi antenna is also the antenna for the BT

[Michael]

This thread was quite old before the recent post, so we're locking it to prevent confusion.