Fake Microsoft XBox 360 wireless controller adapter in Windows 7 64-bit
by krisrowland
I recently bought an XBox 360 wireless control adapter on eBay. It seems the only way to buy an official Microsoft adapter is via an official retailer and I couldn’t find any on eBay. The adapter I ended up purchasing was, and I knew it was, a cheap(ish) Chinese knock-off. I had read around enough to know that it should work, but hadn’t realised how varied people’s experiences had been.
The adapter I bought was from the eBay store Console Mate (a popular Australian, NSW, power seller) and was listed as “WIRELESS GAMING RECEIVER – Xbox 360 Controller on PC”. the store was easy to deal with and the device arrived in under a couple of days via express post.
A genuine wireless adapter will have “Microsoft” written on the top of the adapter itself. These knock-offs (at least mine) say only “XBox 360″ with no branding, copyright, etc. Otherwise, they look like the real deal.
My issues began when trying to install the adapter in an install of Windows 7 64-bit. I tried using the software bundled with the device, but had the same experience with the official software (which I ended up getting to work). Using the driver on the CD that came with the adapter, I kept getting the error message:
Windows found driver software for your device but encountered an error while attempting to install it. PC Wireless Gaming Receiver. The system cannot find the file specified.
I then turned to the official drivers. After installing the official Microsoft software (http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/en-us/d/xbox-360-wireless-controller-for-windows) I then plugged the device into a USB port. My install of Windows 7 64-bit couldn’t install the device; ultimately, the adapter always ended up being listed as “Unknown Device”.
Googling will bring up a few solutions for this issue, but I found only one works. These are the steps I took to install the drivers for the device:
- Install the official software: http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/en-us/d/xbox-360-wireless-controller-for-windows
- Start -> Search for “Device Manager” -> Open it
- Find the “Unknown Device” -> right click -> properties
- Driver -> Update driver -> Browse my computer -> Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer
- Double click “All devices” -> Search for “Microsoft” in the left pane and select it -> Search for “XBox 360 Wireless Receiver for Windows Version: 2.1xxx”
- Choose “Next” and complete the install
The “Unknown Device” should then disappear from the devices list. I was then able to sync my existing wireless XBox 360 controller (which came with my XBox 360 console) with the adapter by pressing the large “X” button on the controller to wake it (it should start blinking), then pressing the button on the adapter (its light should start blinking), then pressing the receiver sync button on the controller (a small button in between the left shoulder button and the central top port of the controller). After a few seconds, the controller and adapter lights stopped blinking, leaving the top left light of the controller lit (the Player 1 state). Viola! Done.
These links helped me:
http://www.dealextreme.com/forums/Forums.dx/Forum.31881~threadid.504450
http://www.ehow.com/how_6745166_360-controller-won_t-connect-pc.html
I also highly recommend XPadder: http://www.xpadder.com/
It allows you to fully customise the way the controller interacts with the OS and applications.
I cannot thank you enough! I bought one of these crappy wireless receivers some months ago, worked just fine under XP. But that computer broke. Bought a new computer with Windows 7 and it wouldn’t work at all!
Thanks!
many thanks, you help me a lot
Excellent stuff, my 2nd official receiver died last week after blowing a fuse which is a common problem so I bought this cheap one for £8 on eBay in hopes that the Chinese knockoff has a better fuse than the more expensive official one only to encounter the driver problem and this helped a lot
Dude you made my day!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!
Man thanks a lot. There were similar instructions on the sellers ebay page but i couldn’t get it to work. This worked perfectly. Thanks again.
[...] sources: The thread where I originally found the updated driver A blog article troubleshooting similar problems under Windows 7 64bit Tagged as: Guides, Hardware, PC, Xbox 360 Leave a comment Comments (0) Trackbacks (0) ( [...]
Thanks! Worked like a charm. However…. whenever I turn off my PC and reboot, it says that the device is unknown again… its like windows is uninstalling this after I turn off my system. why would windows self-uninstall a driver? Any ideas?
Glad it worked
Not sure about the issue with the settings being lost on reboot, though. As long as you’re using the same USB port each time, there shouldn’t be an issue. Hopefully it’s a generic issue regarding new devices and not specific to this device. Good luck googling the answer. If you figure anything out, it’d be great if you could repost your solution here for others. These imitation devices seem to be a real pain for people, requiring different solutions depending on the platform.
Cheers1
So cool you shared this, thanks man.
hey !! i don’t know who u are but i thank u a lot!! I bought this crappy thing and the drver cd dont even semms to work but after your nice an presice discription i work now!!
thanks you again !
keep on with those action
Thank You So Much!!!
many thaaanks :-* ….: D
Thanks, had the same problem and your solution worked perfectly…
I love you, you rock the only tuto that really work!!!!
Thank you if I can help you back it will be with pleasure
I love you!!!
I LOVE YOU!
THANK YOU!
Thanks so much! I never would have figured this out on my own.
Kris – thanks so much for this, very much appreciated.
THX a lot
you legend!!
Got a black wireless reciver from ebay also. This guide saved my day!!
Thanks!!
thanks man
Thanks a lot man!!! Your guide really helped me!! Thanks again!
You are my hero for the day. Thanks for taking the time to write out all the shit you had to go through, you saved me several hours and contributed to the betterment of mankind!
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Thank you sooooooooooooo much, really helped!!!!!
My controller keeps fading in and out, do you have a solution?
Hi Peter,
Can’t say I’ve had that problem yet. By “fading in and out” I guess you mean it disconnects every now and then. Aside from obvious things like batteries going flat or the controller being too far away from the receiver, I’m not sure I have anything sensible to suggest besides more Googling. Hopefully it’s not a problem particular to this particular fake receiver, since there’s not much in the way of documented experiences with it online.
Good luck!
Thanks for the response, I guess the receiver must be faulty, I keep searching and if I find a solution il be sure to post it here
When my controller connects to the receiver it shows up as a xbox 360 headset under device manager. Is that supposed to happen? Is their anyone to update the driver to a controller instead of a headset?
Hi Peter,
All I can say is that that didn’t happen to me. Have you ever used a 360 headset with that computer? My experience, as it seems for a lot of others, is that the device is detected as an “unknown device”. Once the drivers are installed, as per my instructions, you can point the system manager manually to assign the controller receiver device to what it should be. If you’ve tried this (and didn’t accidentally select the headset option from the list of possible devices) then it seems something funky is going on. Possibly the receiver, as you said.
Good luck again! If you make any progress, reporting back with your findings would be great.
Ya its faulty, i’m going to buy a new one.
OMG I thought I was the only one with this problem but now I finally found someone else who had the same problem! Thank you for confirming my analysis!
Thank you SO MUCH! My receiver just arrived today and came across this website, fixed the driver issue in no time at all
You’re the man, my savior! Just bought a cheap receiver from Ebay, and couldn’t connect it with the controller. Thanks to you, I managed to install it ! Thank you sooo muchh!!!!
Thanks so much! Pretty sure I ended up with the same cheap knockoff from eBay, and your advice worked perfectly, after trying some of the similar things that did not as you did. Thanks.
thankyou, I had lost the original drivers that came with it.
My solution was actually a little different, I had to extract the Xbox360_32Eng.exe I downloaded form your links using 7-zip and recover the xusb21.inf file from there, besides that I pretty much followed your instructions. (i had to do this becuase the wireless adapter didnt show up for me under devices)
Hi. Thank you so much for your help. Your guide is written very well and helped me to fix my Chinese generic Xbox 360 PC Wireless Gaming Receiver driver problem. Thanks for your help, it was much appreciated
Thanks Champ, this worked perfectly
Hi all! Help me please. I did everything your instructions. I have a list of installed programs do not appear “XBox 360 Wireless Receiver for Windows Version: 2.1xxx” How to solve the key problems?
I’m on windows 7 maximum it worked out! But on windows 7 ultimate does not work out
Hey check out my comment a little ways up, you’re going to need the xusb21.inf file, thats the actual driver , you can then go to have disk and direct to that file, and then you select XBox 360 Wireless Receiver from there.
I used a program called 7-zip to extract the Xbox360_32Eng.exe file, the driver is packaged in there, you might have to go a couple of folders deep.
You can describe in detail the bolle?
1.Download http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/en-us/d/xbox-360-wireless-controller-for-windows
2. Download and install http://www.7-zip.org/
3. Right click on Xbox360_32Eng.exe, on the menu that comes up, go to 7-zip Extract (wherever you want to store the files)
4. Look for xusb21.inf wherever you extracted. That your driver.
Then you can follow the steps in the blog post,
Start -> Search for “Device Manager” -> Open it
- Find the “Unknown Device” -> right click -> properties
- Driver -> Update driver -> Browse my computer -> Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer->xusb21.inf file->XBox 360 Wireless Receiver
Click “All the devices” (it should be the first line in the list) and then wait for the real device list to load (manufacturer on the left, device on the right)
Thank you so much! I just replaced my old wireless adapter and I just couldn’t figure out how to get it to work with my system again. I can’t tell you how happy I am.
Thank you sir, you made possible for me to play Super Meat Boy porperly!
I have the driver installed but it doesnt pick up my controller when i try to sync? any ideas? fully working controller working with xbox fully charged etc
This might mean that the adapter isn’t installed correctly. Even though the lights would flash when connected, I found that I couldn’t sync my controller when the drivers weren’t installed just so. If you’ve followed the instructions in the post, and maybe the extra tips from others above, including the order to press the buttons to sync it, then I’m not sure what the problem is. These cheap knock-off adapters are a real pain. I’m even tempted to purchase a wired controller just to avoid these and similar issues.
It seems as if Microsoft manufactures the wireless adapters both labelled “Microsoft” and “Xbox 360″ depending on a different revision of the product. It should however, still have a label on the bottom with the Microsoft hologram. I own the original version labelled “Microsoft” but there are official pictures of the “Xbox 360″ labelled version on Microsoft’s website, and in Windows 7 under “Devices and Printers”. For example:
http://www.microsoft.com/games/en-US/Hardware/Controllers/Pages/XboxWirelessGamingReceiverforWindows.aspx/
The official Microsoft versions have a habit of fizzing out due to a faulty fuse, as it did with mine. I’ve heard that the knock-offs actually work better with this regard. For anyone experiencing this issue, here are repair instructions (I actually bridged the connections using aluminum foil tape):
http://replayproject.wordpress.com/2010/10/09/how-to-repair-microsoft-xbox-360%E2%84%A2-wireless-gaming-receiver-for-windows%C2%AE/
This advice worked perfectly. I was another victim to the digitally unsigned or non offical driver problem on my 64-bit OS. I was worried I’d actually have to buy the official microsoft adapter. Thank you for thorough instructions that resulted in my enjoyment of Batman: AC.
Thanks a ton. I had the exact same problem. Cheers!
Same problem as everybody else, it worked for me too. Thank you very much!
Fantastic! My steps were varied just a little from the instructions but your steps helped me get there.
Thank you!
your a star.thanks so much
you rock!!!!! worked perfect.
Wow thanks a bunch…