# Odd issue with Xbox One Controllers that stop responding mid-game



## RockWood610 (Mar 11, 2017)

Hey guys,

I hope someone can help me. I have spent the last 3 days looking all over the net and posting on several different forums, and I either don't get any helpful replies, or no replies at all. I don't get to game much on my PC, so the last couple days where I actually had time, I had this frustration issue....

I have a custom built PC running Windows 10 Pro that I built for my project studio. I do a lot of multi media things with this pc from video editing, to music production, to gaming. Here is a link to my PC Parts picker page that has a full list of all my parts:

liberty610 - Saved Part Lists - PCPartPicker

Ok, so here is my issue. I recently fired up a couple games on my PC this past week. I am not a huge gamer these days, but I do enjoy it in my free time. I am not a mouse/keyboard guy when it comes to gaming. So I have 2 different Xbox One controllers. One is the Elite controller that can only be used on PC with a USB cable, and the other controller is an Xbox One S controller with built in bluetooth. I have tried both controllers, and tried the S controller through wireless bluetooth, and this issue happens with BOTH controllers in wired and wireless setups. I did NOT have this issue back in December when I last played any games.

What is happening is, I will fire up a game and everything will be fine. Then after a little while, the controller becomes un-responsive. The Xbox logo on the controller stays lit, but it becomes un-responsive. I have to use my keyboard in some form or fashion to get the controller to come back to life. Usually I press ALT+Tab and it brings the controller back. The odd part about this is, ALT+Tab does NOT make the game screen minimize like it normally would. It simply flickers real quick, and brings the controller back. If the controller is in a state where it is still functioning, then the ALT+Tab will minimize the game right away like it's suppose to. But once the controller stops responding, the ALT-Tab simply 'wakes' the controller up. It's almost as if the game is being over-ridden by another app to where it is not the foreground focus, or it's like the USB port for my controller goes to sleep or something and using the keyboard wakes it up.

I run my games through Steam, and I notice that as long as I use my keyboard to send chat messages to people on my friends list from time to time (using SHIFT+TAB), the controller seems to stay responsive. But if I don't use my keyboard after a set amount of time, the controller will stop working.

This issue has come up in 2 different games I have tried. Dying Light and WWE 2k17. In WWE 2k17, the controller simply stops working, but the game continues to run normally. In Dying Light when the controller stops responding, the game audio mutes, and the in game camera starts moving around in whatever direction the controller's analog stick was last in. Hitting ALT+Tab brings the audio and controller back to normal, until it happens again several minuets later.

I'm pretty tech savvy with PCs. I build them on the side and know my way around windows. I have tried un-installing and re-installing the Xbox One controller drivers SEVERAL times, I have went into device manager and un-checked the option that allows windows to put the controller to sleep to save power. I have no screen savers active, I do not have any sleep or hibernation modes for my pc active. I have tried different USB ports on my system - different 3.0 ports on the back of it, and the only 2.0 ports that are in the front. It does it on every port I have tried.

The only options I have not tried yet are running the games in Windowed mode (which I really hate doing), or running Steam in Big Picture mode which where other options I was told to try because I have tried almost everything else.

This issue continues to happen with BOTH the Elite controller while connected USB, and the S controller while connected through blue tooth. I did not run into the issue at all yesterday, but I am not sure what may have caused it to stop, as after I did a reboot, the problem came back.

I don't know if my keyboard has any conflicting issues that is causing this or not. All I know is, this issue was NOT happening back in December when I last gamed on my PC. The keyboard I am using is the Corsair K70 Lux RGB and I have my mouse plugged into the back of that keyboard where the port is for it. All the software for the keyboard is up to date. If I remember correctly, that is the only thing I have changed up since December when I did not have this issue.

I am using a Focusrite 18i20 USB audio interface as my sound output to studio monitors as well, although I was using it back in December without any issues so I don't think it's that causing this conflict.

As I said, I don't get much gaming time, so now that I have a couple free days ahead of me, I would like to resolve this issue, if anything because I am a tech geek and hate when my electronic devices do not perform as they should. Does ANYBODY have any possible solutions or at least has had this experience with their own setups? This is driving me nuts.

Thanks in advance for any replies/help.


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## RockWood610 (Mar 11, 2017)

Couple of things I forgot to mention - I have all the latest Windows 10 Pro updates, and my GTX 1080 card had a driver update that I installed yesterday. The issue happened before AND after the driver update, so I don't think it would be graphics card driver related.


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## JimE (Apr 16, 2009)

If it occurs after a specific amount of time (ie: 15 minutes or whatever), you may want to take a look through the power settings, starting with USB support.


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## RockWood610 (Mar 11, 2017)

JimE said:


> If it occurs after a specific amount of time (ie: 15 minutes or whatever), you may want to take a look through the power settings, starting with USB support.


I actually went through all my power settings already. I am not sure if you are talking about a specific one, but I went into advanced power options and tweaked everything. That's where the no sleep/hybernation options where put into effect.

Under the Windows 10 Pro USB settings in the power options screen, the only thing I have found is the 'USB Selective suspend Setting' option. Would this have anything to do with it? That option is currently Enabled.


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## RockWood610 (Mar 11, 2017)

I also just went into device manager and under every USB hub controller, I unchecked the 'allow to turn off to save power option'. I did this yesterday under just the Xbox Controller portion of the device manager, but I went ahead and did for all USB root hub options as well. I'll report back after I test things out today.


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## RockWood610 (Mar 11, 2017)

Controller just stop responding again after I turned off all those USB power options. It took about 10 or 11 minuets after I last touched a key on the keyboard for it to stop responding. But as I stated, I already turned off the option to allow the PC to turn off the USB ports to save power.


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## JimE (Apr 16, 2009)

Very odd. I'm not sure what else it would be.

You may also want to check any other settings for sleep, hibernation, or even the monitor settings/screen saver options.


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## RockWood610 (Mar 11, 2017)

Pretty sure I figured this one out.

There is an issue with the Elite controller drivers for sure. Because I un-installed ALL controller drivers, and went directly to my S model controller, install the drivers for that one, and it works fine now. There is something about the Elite controller drivers that overrides the other drivers and it isn't a solid driver for Windows 10 apparently.


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## JimE (Apr 16, 2009)

Doesn't surprise me a bit. It very likely was stable when it was released and another update simply broke it.

Glad you have it isolated.


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## JimE (Apr 16, 2009)

Doesn't surprise me a bit. It very likely was stable when it was released and another update simply broke it.

Glad you have it isolated.


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