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CNET: Nintendo has an easy fix for the Switch Joy-Con desync issue

G

ggx2ac

Member
Long article, check the link for more details:
https://www.cnet.com/news/nintendo-switch-joycon-desync-connectivity-issue-fix/

Last Wednesday, I shipped my Joy-Con to Nintendo. On Friday morning, I got an email confirming they'd received the shipment, and another on Friday afternoon to let me know the Joy-Con was on its way. This Monday, my original Joy-Con was back (same serial number, same internals) and working perfectly.

What I can't tell you: why this issue is occurring in the first place. One YouTuber suspected Nintendo failed to add a dedicated Bluetooth antenna to the left Joy-Con, and had some success adding his own -- but when I cracked open my own working and faulty controllers, there was no additional antenna to be found.

But because I photographed the inside of my faulty Joy-Con before I sent it in for repair, we can see the obvious change Nintendo made. They actually added one tiny little thing to my Joy-Con while repairing it.

Do you see it, in the image below? Hint: It's not a new board, a new chip or a new wire.

Yep! It's that little black square of foam in the lower-right corner.

I spoke to Bill Detwiler, managing editor (and teardown guru) for our sister site TechRepublic, and he explained that it's likely a piece of conductive foam, which is foam that's been specially treated with nickel, copper or both so it can shield electronics from RF interference. (It's often used in portable electronics when there isn't space for a traditional shield.)

Unless we're totally mistaken, this piece of foam is sitting directly on top of the Joy-Con's antenna traces, too, which suggests that it's protecting the antenna from interference.
Click to expand...

I can't seem to get the images, it's there in the link or on Post #3 of this page if you want to see the placement of the piece of foam.

They also talk about how the Joy-Cons you buy separately don't have the de-sync issue and that they have a different serial number on the circuit board which suggests they may have fixed the hardware issue with the left Joy-Con but on newer models.
 
A

akashhhhh

Member
So the easy fix is to recall all these things, fix them and send them back?

Easy would be something that could be accomplished remotely, this is a logistical nightmare...
 
P

Platy

Member
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Cool gambiarra they got there
 
H

HardRojo

Member
So it definitely is a hardware issue. Hopefully this won't be a problem by the time I get my Switch, that and the bent docks.
 
Z

ZSaberLink

Media Create Maven
Well this does show they have probably figured out what the problem is, and have a band-aid solution for now. Hopefully this means that joycons in the next shipment or whatever won't have this problem. Problem is you at least have like 2M of these potentially faulty joy-cons out there...
 
PAULINK

PAULINK

I microwave steaks.
When I got my switch, I tested my left joycon immensly but could not replicate the signal issues, seems to affect a certain batch. Though I haven't opened mine up to check if there is a piece of foam there.
 
Jigolo

Jigolo

Member
Interesting. Here's the new one he bought on Amazon without the conductive foam that he thinks is revised. Because even without the foam, his controller isn't having the de-sync issue.

nintendo-switch-joy-con-board-2.jpg


There's one more interesting wrinkle to the story. In addition to calling customer service, I bought a brand-new $50 controller on Amazon. (I blame free one-day Amazon Prime shipping for my weakness.) While it was ultimately unnecessary, it provided me with an interesting "control" comparison.

Because, out of the box, the new Amazon-bought Joy-Con seemed to work perfectly, too.

Even weirder: Cracking it open revealed that the working controller from Amazon doesn't have the foam. And while it doesn't otherwise look any different to my eyes, it does have different codes on the top center of the circuit board ("0-4" and "16342" compared with "Q-1" and "16402" on my original controller).
Click to expand...

Ninty pls confirm
 
E

EloquentM

aka Mannny
PAULINK said:
When I got my switch, I tested my left joycon immensly but could not replicate the signal issues, seems to affect a certain batch. Though I haven't opened mine up to check if there is a piece of foam there.
Click to expand...
I thought so at first to but the more I used it the more it started happening.
 
T

TheGamingBox

Banned
ZSaberLink said:
Well this does show they have probably figured out what the problem is, and have a band-aid solution for now. Hopefully this means that joycons in the next shipment or whatever won't have this problem. Problem is you at least have like 2M of these potentially faulty joy-cons out there...
Click to expand...

except the desync issue did not affect every left joycon out there
 
H

HardRojo

Member
Vital Tundra said:
No problem man. It's been pretty great so far.
Click to expand...

While I don't think of current users as beta testers, I'm glad all these problems are being noticed and fixed so that when I pick my Switch up by Holidays next year, I can be sure that I'm purchasing a product with all those problems ironed out, not to mention more games will also be out, and if I'm lucky, a new Metroid will have been announced too!
 
G

ggx2ac

Member
Jigolo said:
Interesting. Here's the new one he bought on Amazon without the conductive foam that he thinks is revised. Because even without the foam, his controller isn't having the de-sync issue.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's what I was pointing out because I didn't want to copy the whole article.

It's very likely newly shipped Switches will have the newer model Joy-Con which fixes the de-sync issue.
 
PAULINK

PAULINK

I microwave steaks.
EloquentM said:
I thought so at first to but the more I used it the more it started happening.
Click to expand...

the way i tested it was similar to gameexplain's setup, went far, covered it up pretty good, and i never saw it lose connection. Is that what you did?
 
V

Vinnk

Member
ZSaberLink said:
Well this does show they have probably figured out what the problem is, and have a band-aid solution for now. Hopefully this means that joycons in the next shipment or whatever won't have this problem. Problem is you at least have like 2M of these potentially faulty joy-cons out there...
Click to expand...

Mine and my friends joy-cons work fine. So I am guessing not all 2M are affected.
 
S

spared

Member
Jigolo said:
Interesting. Here's the new one he bought on Amazon without the conductive foam that he thinks is revised. Because even without the foam, his controller isn't having the de-sync issue.

nintendo-switch-joy-con-board-2.jpg




Ninty pls confirm
Click to expand...

My thought on the matter would be that they already have started to ship new hardware revision Joy-Cons already to retailers. I'd think that Amazon is probably the one (by far?) who goes through their stock of Joy-Cons the fastest and probably have the bigger customer base therefore most likely biggest demand and would get revised hardware stock already in hand.

That or it's not all Joy-Cons that are affected? Mine are fine, I got 2 of them. Not sure what else to tell ya!
 
D

Diablohead

Member
My joycon seemed to be fine on day 1 but i've had it disconnect and stutter from only a few feet away, it ruins any kind of gameplay if I try to play laying back in my chair.

It sucks that I have to think about sending it in, i'd repair it myself if I knew of a garenteed 100% fix I could do at home.
 
E

EloquentM

aka Mannny
PAULINK said:
the way i tested it was similar to gameexplain's setup, went far, covered it up pretty good, and i never saw it lose connection. Is that what you did?
Click to expand...
Yes as in I tested it like GE and it was fine. Then I tested it behind my back and started having issues. So then I was like "that's extreme it's never going to happen during real gameplay" and then it started happening D=
 
FingerBang

FingerBang

Member
I think I play too close to the TV to have connectivity issues but it seems like an easy fix. Is that kind of foam usually sold in stores?
 
N

ngower

Member
so1337 said:
I don't have one and I don't want one.
Click to expand...

giphy.gif


brochiller said:
Has anyone got a launch Switch and not had an issue? Mine has been fine.
Click to expand...

I may have made it up, but I thought there was some joycon desync the other day. I use the pro controller most of the time so it's never been an issue, but I also haven't tested to see if I'm just making it up or what.

I had the sleep issue where I had to turn the system off because it froze on the sleep overlay, but that's stuff that'll get fixed with firmware updates.
 
Shpeshal Nick

Shpeshal Nick

aka Collingwood
This is part of the reason I waited.

By the time Odyssey comes out, the hardware issues should be sorted and there should hopefully be a bundle with an LE console.
 
N

Nerrel

Member
so1337 said:
I don't have one and I don't want one.
Click to expand...

You should, because it's a damn good controller. The analog sticks are a gigantic improvement over the joycons, it's a substantially better way to play. I didn't want to buy it due to the price, but now that I have it I've got absolutely no regrets. I'd buy it again in a second if I had to.
 
TLZ

TLZ

Banned
I tell people it's a hardware issue and all I get is the illogical defense force out.

Guys seriously I love Nintendo as many of you rabids do, but I'm reasonable and seriously you need to just accept what wrong is wrong and point it out for them to fix it. Believe me it's only in our advantage because we'll get better products. Getting defensive and illogically covering things up for your favorite machine won't do you any good. You're basically telling them to take advantage of you. No one should be okay with being sold bodgy stuff. I hope everyone learnt something today. We all want better products.

And finally, thank you beta testers ;p
 
V

Vinnk

Member
brochiller said:
Has anyone got a launch Switch and not had an issue? Mine has been fine.
Click to expand...

Launch day and have had no problems whatsoever. I play exclusively with the joy cons (no pro controller yet). I've put in over 100 hours and when docked sit about 2-3 meters from the TV.
 
F

Feel the Swift

Member
TLZ said:
I tell people it's a hardware issue and all I get is the illogical defense force out.

Guys seriously I love Nintendo as many of you rabids do, but I'm reasonable and seriously you need to just accept what wrong is wrong and point it out for them to fix it. Believe me it's only in our advantage because we'll get better products. Getting defensive and illogically covering things up for your favorite machine won't do you any good. You're basically telling them to take advantage of you. No one should be okay with being sold bodgy stuff. I hope everyone learnt something today. We all want better products.

And finally, thank you beta testers ;p
Click to expand...
No one in this thread is defending them lmao
 
G

ggx2ac

Member
Omeganex9999 said:
I think I play too close to the TV to have connectivity issues but it seems like an easy fix. Is that kind of foam usually sold in stores?
Click to expand...

Just searching Google, there is nickel foam and copper foam.

It looks like the one used in the Joy-Con might be nickel foam.

I just don't know if you can find it in a hardware store or if you have to buy it online.
 
F

Feel the Swift

Member
4-day process to get my joycon fixed I can deal with since the honeymoon is over. Guess I'll give them a call

honestly though the foam just seems like a band-aid. I'd rather have a brand new joycon if they did actually fix them in new shipments.
 
PAULINK

PAULINK

I microwave steaks.
EloquentM said:
Yes as in I tested it like GE and it was fine. Then I tested it behind my back and started having issues. So then I was like "that's extreme it's never going to happen during real gameplay" and then it started happening D=
Click to expand...

i also tested it from my back, and then held it in another room. No stuttering. Will have to give it more play time to be conclusive but I haven't had any issues with mine.... yet.
 
S

SomewhatGroovy

Banned
Good its sorted and new hardware are out at retailers. I haven't been able to replicate the problem on either of the two left Joy-cons I have.
 
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