360 PC Controller question.

Hey so i have a wireless 360 controller with a plug n' play wired connection (obviously that doesn't work on PC) what do you guys recommend, grab a wired 360 controller, get the wireless PC adapter, or get the whole wireless PC kit (new controller and adapter) and send the old 360 controller back to the 360.

Just get the wireless adapter. They can be found dirt cheap ($13) on Amazon. I have one I bought about 3 months ago and I'm almost positive it's one of the unauthorized Chinese knock-offs, yet it still works just fine.

Elycion wrote:

Just get the wireless adapter. They can be found dirt cheap ($13) on Amazon. I have one I bought about 3 months ago and I'm almost positive it's one of the unauthorized Chinese knock-offs, yet it still works just fine.

I'll warn you strongly against going this route unless you are absolutely sure you're getting an MS dongle, or your willing to potentially get your hands dirty hacking drivers to work (probably in an unsigned state).

MS no longer sells dongles by themselves (unless they've changed very recently), so what you see on Amazon, Ebay, etc are all either knock offs which will give you the driver issues mentioned above, or gray market dongles that somebody's bought the 360 Wireless Controller for Windows and split up to sell the dongle and controller separately at a profit.

The later will work just fine, the former is a potential headache.

You're better off getting the pack. Early this week there was a really good sale at Amazon ($39 IIRC), but it sold out very quickly.

I can't vouch for every third party unit out there, but my wireless dongle required no hacking or unsigned drivers of any kind. You just plug it in, open device manager and find the "Unknown Device", select the properties and click "Update Driver", then tell it to browse your computer for drivers and look under "All Devices" filter by Microsoft, and select “XBox 360 Wireless Receiver for Windows Version: 2.1xxx”. Install that and you're done, perfectly functional with the Microsoft drivers.

I've heard that if you use the newest Microsoft driver that it won't work, but the older version that comes shipped with Windows works fine.

Elycion wrote:

I can't vouch for every third party unit out there, but my wireless dongle required no hacking or unsigned drivers of any kind. You just plug it in, open device manager and find the "Unknown Device", select the properties and click "Update Driver", then tell it to browse your computer for drivers and look under "All Devices" filter by Microsoft, and select “XBox 360 Wireless Receiver for Windows Version: 2.1xxx”. Install that and you're done, perfectly functional with the Microsoft drivers.

I've heard that if you use the newest Microsoft driver that it won't work, but the older version that comes shipped with Windows works fine.

Mine has a completely different USB device ID from the true MS dongles. I tried all versions of drivers, from built in drivers to drivers I had, to the ones on the crappy knock off disc they included, to the newest ones I downloaded.

Since MS doesn't sell them any more alone, you're taking a risk to just buy a dongle.

If you get one, at least try to get a black one. Probably slightly more likely to be a MS version. (Note the comments about potential refrubs, etc. I think they're split out from the controller bundles.)

I'm not the only one here to get knock offs that give problems. There are a couple of other threads. All I'm saying is you're taking a risk of a big headache. You might get lucky.

Or you could just buy a wired controller.

The big advantage to wired is that it always works. No batteries, drivers built into the OS, no graymarket crap. Just plug in the controller, and you're done.

Malor wrote:

Or you could just buy a wired controller.

The big advantage to wired is that it always works. No batteries, drivers built into the OS, no graymarket crap. Just plug in the controller, and you're done.

But you have a cable in your way. And if you want to play on the couch using a long HDMI cable, it's likely not going to work.

Plus, I already have a bunch of wireless controllers, and if I want to play two player games, the dongle will work for that.

Wired is fine, but I like the flexibility of wireless.

Love my wired 360 pad. It's got a long enough cord for it to go up the side of my case, over, and back down the far side from my sitting position and back out to me as I lean back in my chair and still have lots of slack. Also, Wired devices make me happy for reasons Malor mentioned. I bought it and it worked flawlessly even back in the WinXP days.

My only complaints are inherent to the controller design itself, having nothing to do with wired/wireless and specifically 2 things with the d-hat, as it's defined in Windows. Older games will not register (1) the already terrible individual directions (2), so even if you want to use it as a 4/8 way pad, a lot of times you can't. Guess I could just try the Sixaxis and MotionInJoy + JoyToKey, as I've already got it running (through the USB cord, no bluetooth).

And if you want to play on the couch using a long HDMI cable, it's likely not going to work.

USB extension cord's good for that.

And yes, wireless is more flexible, but it's a big pain. If you're willing to suffer through the pain to get to the flexibility, then by all means, do so, and don't think I'm being critical of your efforts. Personally, I love the simplicity of the wired approach, so I'm willing to tolerate the wire.

yeah i'm 50/50 on wire/wireless hence the thread, currently i've got my cpu right next to my monitors but i'll be moving soon and there is a potential to get a longer, and co-op gaming would be awesome... If i get one wireless PC kit i can then use any wireless controller with it right?

Malor wrote:
And if you want to play on the couch using a long HDMI cable, it's likely not going to work.

USB extension cord's good for that.

And yes, wireless is more flexible, but it's a big pain. If you're willing to suffer through the pain to get to the flexibility, then by all means, do so, and don't think I'm being critical of your efforts. Personally, I love the simplicity of the wired approach, so I'm willing to tolerate the wire.

Actually, Monoprice has both long usb and hdmi cables. I was seriously contemplating running some + ethernet from the computer to the living room for a while since I have attic access, albiet very cramped and only a tall exterior wall where it would need to drop.

Malor wrote:

And yes, wireless is more flexible, but it's a big pain. If you're willing to suffer through the pain to get to the flexibility, then by all means, do so, and don't think I'm being critical of your efforts. Personally, I love the simplicity of the wired approach, so I'm willing to tolerate the wire.

It was no effort when I got the original MS dongle. The problem came 3 years later when the fuse burnt out. I took the risk and went with an potential gray market dongle, and paid the price. Decided to try to solder around the fuse, which got the original back to working with no issues (been a year+ now). I got the gray market dongle working on another computer with a bit of driver unpacking, ini editing, and acceptance of unsigned drivers. An afternoon of frustrated trial an error after being sold a pile of crap was the real hassle.

So if you truly get an MS dongle, it's no more hassle than wireless controllers on an Xbox, which is pretty much the norm these days. It requires no additional drivers (there are some you can download that will give you a GUI, but they aren't needed). It allows you to hook up multiple wireless controllers that if you have an Xbox, you probably already own, etc.

I suggest getting a wired controller. I originally got the wireless adapter from Microsoft but I found that for some reason it seems to drain the batteries much faster than the 360 does. Also certain games/apps didn't work as well with the wireless dongle for me. Some would require me to plug-in the dongle first while others would require me to launch them first then plug-in the dongle and I would have to shutdown and restart some of them if the controller ever lost connection or turned itself off due to being idle. Though I was using it for development more than gaming and this was under Windows XP. Everything was much smoother with the wired controller and Windows 7. I just got a used one for like $20.

Rykin wrote:

I suggest getting a wired controller. I originally got the wireless adapter from Microsoft but I found that for some reason it seems to drain the batteries much faster than the 360 does. Also certain games/apps didn't work as well with the wireless dongle for me. Some would require me to plug-in the dongle first while others would require me to launch them first then plug-in the dongle and I would have to shutdown and restart some of them if the controller ever lost connection or turned itself off due to being idle. Though I was using it for development more than gaming and this was under Windows XP. Everything was much smoother with the wired controller and Windows 7. I just got a used one for like $20.

I've never had any issues other than a few games requiring the controller to be synched prior to starting the game. My batteries last a long time.

Ended up going with the certified Microsoft through Amazon and so far super simple plug and play and Batman joy abounds!

MannishBoy wrote:
Rykin wrote:

I suggest getting a wired controller. I originally got the wireless adapter from Microsoft but I found that for some reason it seems to drain the batteries much faster than the 360 does. Also certain games/apps didn't work as well with the wireless dongle for me. Some would require me to plug-in the dongle first while others would require me to launch them first then plug-in the dongle and I would have to shutdown and restart some of them if the controller ever lost connection or turned itself off due to being idle. Though I was using it for development more than gaming and this was under Windows XP. Everything was much smoother with the wired controller and Windows 7. I just got a used one for like $20.

I've never had any issues other than a few games requiring the controller to be synched prior to starting the game. My batteries last a long time.

I had to do the solder trick on the fuse to get my dongle working again. Once that failed a second time, I went with the Razer Onza wired one. It's really nice.