I try and steer clear of rants, but this blog is mainly a chronicle for myself in the future. And this month, my frustration with Microsoft and Windows have been numerous. So this is for next time I’m considering a new machine. 2020 will surely be the year of the Linux desktop.
Recently, after yet another Windows update, my XBox One controller stopped connecting. This in itself is unacceptable, but the story gets weirder than that.
So I try and fix it. The Bluetooth settings page is showing every device except the controller. They all still work. My MacBook detects it fine, the controller works fine. (Also, it works fine via USB.)
Side-note: Microsoft’s shenanigans is infesting everything. Apparently, it isn’t possible to configure an XBox One controller without an XBox Live account. Which I’m not doing, because a month ago, I tried to play Halo on Steam (Master Chief Collection), and… it didn’t work. It was stuck in sign-in, for the single-player too. Luckily, Steam is great for refunds. That’s customer service, love you Steam (and why I just don’t care for the Epic store, but that’s probably another post).
Eventually, I find this post by
TestifyAUS
on answers.microsoft.com:
Ok this one took me a little while to fix.
The wife’s PC uses blue tooth mouse and keyboard that suddenly stopped working one day. When i checked it had this exact same error that you have here. After following some of the posts that have replied to you and having no luck checked out the Intel website and installed their driver assistant app (https://www.intel.com.au/content/www/au/en/support/detect.html).
The intel assistant told me that the Bluetooth drivers were up to date but the Wifi drivers where not - updating this driver instead actually fixed the error with the bluetooth
My theory for why this worked is that Wifi & Bluetooth appeared to be on the same chip so when the driver versions for each don’t match we get these errors.
I hope this helps!
What a hero. Unbelievably, this fixed it. So is this Microsoft’s fault, or Intel’s? If it breaks after an update, if their driver model is broken, if everything else works giving no indication it’s amiss, I think I’ll blame Microsoft until there’s a better explanation.
As much as I hate Apple’s keyboards (finally fixed in the new models?) and their walled garden push, I need machines that work every day, reliably. Apple has delivered on this front (for me).
Another indication of this is Microsoft’s failure of the replacement Control Panel thing called “Settings”. Twice, on two different machines (home and work), stuff that worked fine in the Control Panel simply didn’t work in the Settings monstrosity. See this Reddit post if you’re interested - if not, I don’t blame you.