Guitar Hero II Controller (XBox 360) on Vista

Hello there!
I'm not sure if anybody is familiar with this piece of hardware - it's a
normal USB game controller. =)
Anyway - I've read ALL over the internet that people have no problems at
all with Vista recognizing the guitar as an XBox 360 Controller straight
away... Well... Not for me...

I installed the 1.1 XBox 360 Acessories Software from Microsoft and the
controller kind of installs, but only partially.

What I mean is this:

In the Device Manager I have the XBox 360 controller under the standard
controller for Windows class.

USB\VID_1430&PID_4748&REV_3122

Then I have an USB HID interface device:

USB\VID_1430&PID_4748&IG_00

And then I have an unknown Device under "Other devices":

HID\VID_1430&PID_4748&IG_00

(parent: USB\VID_1430&PID_4748&IG_00\6&1b44eb60&10&00)

The problem is that although the controller IS working in some games it
isn't listed in the control panel under "game controllers" and most
games/programs don't recognize it. I guess they would if the most
important device ID strings weren't in the "unknown device" part, e.g.:

HID_DEVICE_SYSTEM_GAME (this line enables the game controller
functionality in Vista)
HID_DEVICE_UP:0001_U:0005
HID_DEVICE

Does anybody know how to fix this problem? So basically how to make the
controller appear in the "game controllers" list? I've spent half the day on
trying to figure that one out...

Jan Milewski

P.S. The installation process in itself was a bit... strange. At first the
guitar was recognized as a "Guitar Hero X-plorer" and Vista automatically
installed the XBox 360 Controller drivers for it BUT after that the
controller was recognized a second time and this time no drivers could be
found - I ran a driver search on my system and the "second part" of the
controller installed itself as the "HID device/unknown device" combo listed
above...

Lim-Dul,

Some folks have had good luck resolving USB device recognition issues like
you have by deleting the INFCACHE.1 file, which can get corrupted with bad
data and cause issues like you have. The file is located at C:\Windows\inf.
There, scroll down to the INFCACHE.1 file and right click it and select
delete. To do this, you will likely have to give yourself permission to
delete it, because of Windows
built-in security. Just right click the file, select Properties and then
click on the security tab. Let us know whether this procedure does anything.
Sometimes it does and sometimes not. Post back on the results.

--
freddy


"Lim-Dul" wrote:

> Hello there!
> I'm not sure if anybody is familiar with this piece of hardware - it's a
> normal USB game controller. =)
> Anyway - I've read ALL over the internet that people have no problems at
> all with Vista recognizing the guitar as an XBox 360 Controller straight
> away... Well... Not for me...
>
> I installed the 1.1 XBox 360 Acessories Software from Microsoft and the
> controller kind of installs, but only partially.
>
> What I mean is this:
>
> In the Device Manager I have the XBox 360 controller under the standard
> controller for Windows class.
>
> USB\VID_1430&PID_4748&REV_3122
>
> Then I have an USB HID interface device:
>
> USB\VID_1430&PID_4748&IG_00
>
> And then I have an unknown Device under "Other devices":
>
> HID\VID_1430&PID_4748&IG_00
>
> (parent: USB\VID_1430&PID_4748&IG_00\6&1b44eb60&10&00)
>
> The problem is that although the controller IS working in some games it
> isn't listed in the control panel under "game controllers" and most
> games/programs don't recognize it. I guess they would if the most
> important device ID strings weren't in the "unknown device" part, e.g.:
>
> HID_DEVICE_SYSTEM_GAME (this line enables the game controller
> functionality in Vista)
> HID_DEVICE_UP:0001_U:0005
> HID_DEVICE
>
> Does anybody know how to fix this problem? So basically how to make the
> controller appear in the "game controllers" list? I've spent half the day on
> trying to figure that one out...
>
> Jan Milewski
>
> P.S. The installation process in itself was a bit... strange. At first the
> guitar was recognized as a "Guitar Hero X-plorer" and Vista automatically
> installed the XBox 360 Controller drivers for it BUT after that the
> controller was recognized a second time and this time no drivers could be
> found - I ran a driver search on my system and the "second part" of the
> controller installed itself as the "HID device/unknown device" combo listed
> above...

Holy macaroni!
You're my new god! I wouldn't have guessed that the solution is SO simple
and so hard to find on the internet (though I considr myself an expert in
finding information =). I deleted the file (had to give myself the permission
to do so like you said), restarted the system, plugged in the controller and
suddenly it works like a charm - it installed itself with no questions asked
and popped right up in the Game Controllers section of the Control Panel.
Thanks man! You saved my Frets-on-Fire party tonight. ^^

Jan Milewski

"freddy" wrote:

> Lim-Dul,
>
> Some folks have had good luck resolving USB device recognition issues like
> you have by deleting the INFCACHE.1 file, which can get corrupted with bad
> data and cause issues like you have. The file is located at C:\Windows\inf.
> There, scroll down to the INFCACHE.1 file and right click it and select
> delete. To do this, you will likely have to give yourself permission to
> delete it, because of Windows
> built-in security. Just right click the file, select Properties and then
> click on the security tab. Let us know whether this procedure does anything.
> Sometimes it does and sometimes not. Post back on the results.
>
> --
> freddy

"Lim-Dul" wrote:

> Holy macaroni!
> You're my new god! I wouldn't have guessed that the solution is SO simple
> and so hard to find on the internet (though I considr myself an expert in
> finding information =). I deleted the file (had to give myself the permission
> to do so like you said), restarted the system, plugged in the controller and
> suddenly it works like a charm - it installed itself with no questions asked
> and popped right up in the Game Controllers section of the Control Panel.
> Thanks man! You saved my Frets-on-Fire party tonight. ^^
>
> Jan Milewski
>
> "freddy" wrote:
>
> > Lim-Dul,
> >
> > Some folks have had good luck resolving USB device recognition issues like
> > you have by deleting the INFCACHE.1 file, which can get corrupted with bad
> > data and cause issues like you have. The file is located at C:\Windows\inf.
> > There, scroll down to the INFCACHE.1 file and right click it and select
> > delete. To do this, you will likely have to give yourself permission to
> > delete it, because of Windows
> > built-in security. Just right click the file, select Properties and then
> > click on the security tab. Let us know whether this procedure does anything.
> > Sometimes it does and sometimes not. Post back on the results.
> >
> > --
> > freddy

Hello, I had relatively the same exact problem with my xbox 360 controller
via Windows Vista home premium (32 bit). I'll give a brief description of my
prblem real quick. I plugged my xbox 360 controller via USB into my pc, and
of course got the automatic update and now I have the "Xbox 360 Wireless
Controller via Play & Charge Kit" under my device driver list. Yet my pc
doesnt even recognize the controller itself, like "Lim-Dul" said, I cannot
find it under control panels "game controllers". I took the step "freddy"
suggested and that still didn't work, my controller is yet to be recognized
my on pc. I have even uploaded some driver extensions from microsoft download
website and that didnt help either. Please help me out, any info is
appreciated! -Jay



"Lim-Dul" wrote:

> Holy macaroni!
> You're my new god! I wouldn't have guessed that the solution is SO simple
> and so hard to find on the internet (though I considr myself an expert in
> finding information =). I deleted the file (had to give myself the permission
> to do so like you said), restarted the system, plugged in the controller and
> suddenly it works like a charm - it installed itself with no questions asked
> and popped right up in the Game Controllers section of the Control Panel.
> Thanks man! You saved my Frets-on-Fire party tonight. ^^
>
> Jan Milewski
>
> "freddy" wrote:
>
> > Lim-Dul,
> >
> > Some folks have had good luck resolving USB device recognition issues like
> > you have by deleting the INFCACHE.1 file, which can get corrupted with bad
> > data and cause issues like you have. The file is located at C:\Windows\inf.
> > There, scroll down to the INFCACHE.1 file and right click it and select
> > delete. To do this, you will likely have to give yourself permission to
> > delete it, because of Windows
> > built-in security. Just right click the file, select Properties and then
> > click on the security tab. Let us know whether this procedure does anything.
> > Sometimes it does and sometimes not. Post back on the results.
> >
> > --
> > freddy

"Jay Morris" wrote:

>
>
> "Lim-Dul" wrote:
>
> > Holy macaroni!
> > You're my new god! I wouldn't have guessed that the solution is SO simple
> > and so hard to find on the internet (though I considr myself an expert in
> > finding information =). I deleted the file (had to give myself the permission
> > to do so like you said), restarted the system, plugged in the controller and
> > suddenly it works like a charm - it installed itself with no questions asked
> > and popped right up in the Game Controllers section of the Control Panel.
> > Thanks man! You saved my Frets-on-Fire party tonight. ^^
> >
> > Jan Milewski
> >
> > "freddy" wrote:
> >
> > > Lim-Dul,
> > >
> > > Some folks have had good luck resolving USB device recognition issues like
> > > you have by deleting the INFCACHE.1 file, which can get corrupted with bad
> > > data and cause issues like you have. The file is located at C:\Windows\inf.
> > > There, scroll down to the INFCACHE.1 file and right click it and select
> > > delete. To do this, you will likely have to give yourself permission to
> > > delete it, because of Windows
> > > built-in security. Just right click the file, select Properties and then
> > > click on the security tab. Let us know whether this procedure does anything.
> > > Sometimes it does and sometimes not. Post back on the results.
> > >
> > > --
> > > freddy