Wireless 360 Controller not working? Try this

Firstly if you have a 3rd party wireless receiver - forget it, I have 2 and have had nothing but issues with these devices. Getting them to install by force loading the driver is not the only bug and the problems just multiply from there ranging from dropouts and constant connectivity issues.

Since I bought an official Wireless 360 controller for Windows I have had not one single issue though certain games like Dark Souls appeared not to work at all.

I purchased Deadly Premonition on Steam which had a patch added recently for controller support - this is the way the game should be played but after launching, just like Dark Souls I could not get my 360 controller working at all, other games like Tomb Raider were fine mind you.

The Solution

After an extensive troubleshooting crusade which involved disabling things like my G13 and various other USB input devices I stumbled on a legacy controller setting within the Advanced controller properties for my device - which I must highlight, will only be seen if you have the controller turned on.

For Windows 7:

Turn your 360 controller on (important)
Navigate to Control PanelHardware and SoundDevices and Printers
Right click on Xbox 360 Wireless Controller and select Game controller properties.
Select Controller (xbox 360 Wireless Reciever for Win) and then click Advanced.
Now select your 360 controller as your Preferred device for use with older programs.

Games like Deadly Premonition and Dark Souls should now work without issue. This issue appears to arise when you have more than one input game controller. In my case my Logitech G13 was the default legacy device. Changing this fixed my problems and I hope this method works for you too.

My new 2011 gaming and media PC Build

With my current system struggling with The Witcher 2, I have decided to upgrade my PC with the latest and greatest Bang for Buck Gaming and media orientated hardware. Here is what I have selected and some reasons for doing so:

Intel Core i7 2600K $319.00

I was deciding on this or the 2500k, probably won't make that much difference to be honest but at least the 2600k will have some decent longevity. The 2500k and 2600k are currently the gamers CPU due to being able to easily hit overclocks of 4.9ghz on Air cooling.

ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 Motherboard $199

To go the Extreme 4 or Extreme 3, that is the question. Further inspection revealed the Gen 3 doesn't gave USB3 pins on the mobo so I grabbed the gen 4. It costs an extra $50 in Australia though its worth it to have the front mountable USB faceplate.

CoolerMaster Hyper 212+ CPU Cooler $33.00

Appears to be the best AIR bang for buck overclocking option in order to achieve those 4.5 - 5ghz speeds with the i2600k.

Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB HD103SJ $69.00

Will be using my current hard drives with this as an added extra, may just use this for my Steam install. I was tempted to go SSD though other than windows starting up quicker I cant really see that much of a benefit. My current Steam games load in a timely manner – maybe in the future. I have an existing Seagate Barracuda ST3320613AS which averages 120ms read for my OS install.

G.Skill Ripjaws F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 $65.00

Most suggestions for a gaming config suggest buying the cheapest possible ram option at 1333mhz though I decided on the 1600mhz at $7 more, I could have also gone for lower latency for about $20 more but the performance advantages hardly seem worth it looking at available benchmarks.

Silverstone Strider Plus 750W ST75F-P $145.00

Gives me room for SLI in the future without overdoing it.

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit with SP1 OEM $105.00

A second copy will come in handy.

Silverstone Fortress FT02B with Window USB 3.0 $259.00

My Silverstone HTPC case was the deciding factor in purchasing a premium case design – yes it costs a premium but the build quality over the $100 over dollar cases is justification enough. Hopefully unlike the last few dodgy cases I have, this will last me quite a few years of PC upgrading.

I am going to try see how my existing 9800gtx goes with this system in the meantime as I really want to hold out for one of the next gen video cards. If it is too much of a bottle neck I'll go and buy a 9950 at MSY or similar.

Future plans:

AMD Radeon 7000 series

Due out between now and the end of the year, Can I hold out that long with my ageing overclocked 98000gtx?

Samsung S27A950 $500

A 1080p 120hz 3D monitor, not sure about this though it is hugely popular - in fact it is sold out everywhere. No nvidia 3D though it makes use of AMD's variant AMD HD3D. Not too fussed about the 3D aspect though 120hz is definitely where it is at in regards to gaming.

As per usual, my current unused PC hardware will be integrated into my HTPC bringing it up to a gaming spec system. (once I remove the current overclocking profile) Will post some unboxing pics when I get this delivered.

EA Account Frequent Disconnections: A Solution!

Every single EA game I have played has always given me connection issues. Frequent Disconnects causing me to drop out every 3 minutes. If I was lucky, I could get a 20 minute gaming session in before the EA Server gave me the 1 finger salute with something like "Connection to the server has been lost"

This first started for me with the first game in the Battlefield series, and it still happens with the latest in the multiplayer fragfest: Battlefield Bad Company 2 PC Beta.

I managed to get around Battlefield 2 by forcing the game to only use one core - A solution but not ideal.

Dragon Age Origins, another game that connects to the EA server gave me issues from the start - luckily it can be played offline, a pain in the butt if you have DLC but workable nontheless.

There has to be a solution and finally I think I have found one that works for every single EA game I have tried. 2 hours online continually for both Dragon Age and Bad Company 2.

A Solution for EA's infamous Connection to the server has been lost.

Increase your TCP timeout value from the default 360 seconds to something like 2500 or more.

In my case I have a Billion Modem which has a hidden page for this value. Just browse to your Modems HTML startup page and add ic.asp to the url eg: http://www.192.168.0.1/ic.asp

This value refers to the Timeout value for established TCP non-well-known port connections. (No traffic during the configured timeout period.)

Hope this works for you too.

Xbox RROD Project - Cheap way to buy an XBOX 360?

I recently just bought 2 RROD Xbox 360's off Ebay after doing a bit of research on common Xbox 360 RROD problems. I must admit, I quite enjoy getting my hands dirty with this sort of thing and being a long time PC builder, this exercise was quite easy.

Upon initial inspection of the console, the previous owner had attempted an xclamp fix and had got thermal paste absolutely everywhere. It took a while to clean all this off and re-apply some Artic Silver.

After turning the console for the first time I got the error code 0031 which appears to be a Southbridge Issue. Undeterred by this, I tried pushing down on the Southbridge chip and then powering up again - which unbelievably actually worked, green lights to be had all round! I applied some pressure on the chip with a clamp and then gave the Hot air gun a spin for a while. Now the Xbox 360 boots without issue and works for long periods without a single fail.

Sometimes you get lucky, some fixes take no time at all.

The last thing I need to do is fix the fan as it sounds like an Aircraft carrier at full throttle:

Xbox 360 fixed RROD loud fans

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ot4OCRDh77g

If you are going to try and do this yourself, be aware that there are quite a few bricked 360's for sale which are usually due to a failed attempted at patching a 360's DVD firmware.

[phpbay]xbox 360 RROD, 8, "", ""[/phpbay]

List of Xbox 360 RROD error codes and how to determine what error you have can be found HERE>

Australian Game Servers

For a full list of some of the best Australian Game server hosts in Australia, check out Gameserved.

I have been looking at the US game providers intently in the last few months and whilst a couple have made it to our waters, it is currently only Hypernia that have managed to infiltrate our market. With incredible Features, Pricing and performance, they have given our few Aussie competitors something to think about.

I can fully recommend Hypernia in a big way, there is nothing like this in Australia:

A 10 slot, 66tick Source (steam) server comes in at around A$30 a month with free 20 slot Teamspeak or Ventrillo server along with it. In line with US pricing with slots around A$2.40 to A$3.00 a month for most games.

I grabbed a HL2DM server which you can find the setup details here: OzSource :: Resurrection

Great latency and professional service, their dedicated Server packages offer great value also.

If anyone wants to share one of their dedicated servers for a gaming community let me know by contacting me here or on Binary Gamer.

Updated 2/12/08 to reflect changes with the Aussie dollar.

MD: Medical Domination TF2 Clan

Medical Domination is a demonic TF2 gaming clan created from the ashes of some slaughtered evil demigod. The vile nature of such a clan seperates them from the other mere mortals in the clanscape, producing a fine legion of gamers. Back to reality, its a great clan to be with, click the image for the real info!

worst parents in the world-Xbox prank

In the world of gaming, this is one of the meanest things I have ever seen - Poor kid.

Engadget
When you were a kid did your parents ever do anything mean to you for their own amusement? Whatever it was, something tells us it wasn't as evil as what Jonathan's (above) family did on Christmas morning, having him unwrap an empty Xbox box with some shirts inside -- while on video, mind you....