tl;dr: I need to disable my wired Xbox controller in the Device Manager so certain games don't assign it as player one in favor of my PS4 controller, but Windows 10 asks me to reboot for some reason, perhaps my controller is in use by some process or service? What do? (unplugging or a switch are no options for me)
Long explanation:
If you use wired controllers, you're probably familiar with the woes of controller enumeration in games. You can't just turn them off physically like wireless controllers, and thus games always register their presence. In short, it's not always straightforward to use a specific controller in a single-player game, as any of your controllers may be assigned as player one.
I have a Steam, Xbox 360, Wii U and PS4 gamepad connected wired to my PC, so which one is player one matters a lot. Luckily, one of the following ways usually allows you to change the controller enumeration:
I could physically unplug my controllers, of course, or buy a switch, but these methods are not convenient as my PC is in a hard to reach location, and the switch can only be in one place, so if I put it on my desk but if I then game on my TV on my couch it's still inconvenient. Plus it costs money.
A fourth method is to disable USB devices using the Device Manager, and this works for all the controllers except for the Xbox 360 ones. The game will default to my Xbox 360 controller and I still can't use my PS4 controller as it's apparently further down the list as far as the game is concerned.
In Device Manager, when I right click the Xbox 360 controller and select "Disable device", it tells me that my "hardware configuration has changed" and whether I want to reboot or not. The controller won't turn off while the PC is running. This is unlike the other controllers, which can be disabled and enabled this way on the fly.
When googling this issue it seems like many people can easily enable and disable their 360 controllers like that. I read a suggestion somewhere for my issue that this means some process is currently using the controller, therefore not allowing it to turn off. Unfortunately I have no idea how to even start looking for a process that might be keeping my controller shackled and not allowing it to go, so to speak.
Long explanation:
If you use wired controllers, you're probably familiar with the woes of controller enumeration in games. You can't just turn them off physically like wireless controllers, and thus games always register their presence. In short, it's not always straightforward to use a specific controller in a single-player game, as any of your controllers may be assigned as player one.
I have a Steam, Xbox 360, Wii U and PS4 gamepad connected wired to my PC, so which one is player one matters a lot. Luckily, one of the following ways usually allows you to change the controller enumeration:
- the game has an in-game option to change the controller order
- you can change the Xinput order in Steam Big Picture mode
- you can change the Dinput order in Windows using joy.cpl
I could physically unplug my controllers, of course, or buy a switch, but these methods are not convenient as my PC is in a hard to reach location, and the switch can only be in one place, so if I put it on my desk but if I then game on my TV on my couch it's still inconvenient. Plus it costs money.
A fourth method is to disable USB devices using the Device Manager, and this works for all the controllers except for the Xbox 360 ones. The game will default to my Xbox 360 controller and I still can't use my PS4 controller as it's apparently further down the list as far as the game is concerned.
In Device Manager, when I right click the Xbox 360 controller and select "Disable device", it tells me that my "hardware configuration has changed" and whether I want to reboot or not. The controller won't turn off while the PC is running. This is unlike the other controllers, which can be disabled and enabled this way on the fly.
When googling this issue it seems like many people can easily enable and disable their 360 controllers like that. I read a suggestion somewhere for my issue that this means some process is currently using the controller, therefore not allowing it to turn off. Unfortunately I have no idea how to even start looking for a process that might be keeping my controller shackled and not allowing it to go, so to speak.
