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Multiple reports of joycon connectivity issues in Switch previews
- Thread starter nynt9
- Start date
GinoFelino
Member
Heh. That's a good question.
NoHeDidn't
Member
Crazy to be seeing so many "so Im playing with Pro controller" comments.Firstly party games using Joy Con for couch coop is a huge deal consumers wanna play those games.Secondly nobody should be forced to buy a second controller just to play properly this problem should never exist in 2017.
Yes. More likely just a weaker signal in the left joy-con. Not sure if the chart was posted in this one or the gamexplain one, but it shows what type of BT is in the left one and it could just be set low for whatever reason.
Discokuningas
Member
Isn't Nintendolife in Europe?
It's not even a problem yet
GoldenEye 007
Member
If it's a signal strength issue, I'm sure it can be patched via software.
I know on almost any router, you can adjust how strong or weak the signal is.
I'd hope it would be the same here. Otherwise, yeah, Nintendo would have no choice but to recall the offending part.
I know on almost any router, you can adjust how strong or weak the signal is.
I'd hope it would be the same here. Otherwise, yeah, Nintendo would have no choice but to recall the offending part.
Yeah, if it's a hardware problem I'll probably end up returning the system. I don't want to spend another $80 just to play Zelda.
casey_contra
Member
Eeek. Must not have had my glasses on. I read "at the preview events" in a more general sense. So, not false, not trying to invalidate your experience. Sorry about that, DigiDom.
I've been seeing these this problem should not exist in this year comments for ever. This will never change. What ever kind of testing that is done internally can never match what the public will do. So it will always be possible that something pops up that might seem obvious to some but not to the company.
I was getting a pro-controller regardless, and have no interest in 1-2 Switch. In light of this news I felt that it was a good idea considering the joy-cons have problems. Nintendo absolutely should be getting flack for this though, and I'm worried that if this goes unresolved that my enjoyment of joy-con controls in ARMS may be compromised.
Skittzo0413
Member
Are they? Do we know if whomever there had the issue did so in Europe or the US? It just strikes me as a bit odd that we've only really heard this from US outlets so far.
Walt_Clyde
Member
Wouldnt you just get a replacement from nintendo?
Discokuningas
Member
Article writers profile says UK at least. Not sure if it was he who tested it though.
Maybe he doesn't want to do the back and forth but yes, this is my plan if it won't work. I'll ship them back as many as it needs until it works, tbh
. Never paid for the shipping.edit: unless the day1 patch fixes it, of course
It looks like Nintendolife are based in the UK.
Skittzo0413
Member
Gotcha so yeah it's unlikely that regional differences in wifi standards are the culprit. It's just very strange that the majority of these reports came from the US. Maybe we just have larger living rooms?
Discokuningas
Member
Funny thing is that Nintendolife says it have not occurred with Zelda gameplay with them:
"In our case, the disconnections occurred outside of gameplay, but others are reporting that it's happening during The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The left Joy-Con disconnecting is quite a disaster in that particular game, as the left stick is of course used to control Link's movements. We've been playing mainly with the Pro Controller when using the TV, but even when using the Joy-Con in the grip for some sessions we haven't had a disconnect in-game."
Assuming it's still very much playable I'm happy to wait for a replacement if it's a hardware issue.
Things I won't be doing: buying a Pro Controller as a workaround; adjusting how I play to accommodate for the issue; keeping the whole system if they don't offer a fix; keeping the whole system if it's unplayable.
In terms of a firmware fix, I'd imagine that would be at least a couple of weeks away due to testing, QA etc.
What I'd really like is some word from Nintendo on this. So far I'm happy to keep my preorder as I perceive it to be a credible but not deal breaking issue. If it's awful then I would return it.
Ding ding ding. Probably people testing it in a huge basement or something.
Looking at the gamexplain video the right joycon also shows the same problem, albeit to a lesser degree, hoping that the signal strenght can be boosted with a firmware update, having to wait for a new set of joycons from nintendo would be pretty bad.
Skittzo0413
Member
So it looks like no one posted this yet in this thread, so in case people missed it in the GameXplain thread:
This seems to indicate that the likeliest cause is that it's stuck in a low power mode, which would indicate a very easily fixable bug. Maybe when it connects to the Switch unit it automatically goes into this low power mode and there is a bug which switches it to that low power mode even when detached.
Interesting, although one would think that if it happens outside of a game it should be happening inside of a game too. Maybe it just wasn't under the same conditions?
Yeah, although it should still be working in such cases. People with large projector screens for instance would be screwed.
Since I have nothing better to do I tried to look into any FCC filings for the Joy-Cons. If HAC-015 (https://fccid.io/BKEHAC015) is the left Joy-Con, which seems likely, then we already have some information about the maximum output power.
This suggests the output power is around 3-4 dBm, which is in-line with what you would expect from a Bluetooth Class2 device (maximum output power of 4dBm). While Bluetooth technically allows up to 20dBm output power for Class1 devices, most chips today will allow up to 10dBm output power. This is informally known as Class1.5 and is common since FCC does not require SAR testing for any devices with an output power below 10dBm.
The good news is then that Nintendo will most likely be able to increase the output power by around 6dB, which should in theory give around twice the current range. This will also not negatively affect the Battery life significantly, as the chip will dynamically change the output power as required. So the additional power will only be used when it otherwise would lose the connection.
The bad news is that the Joy-Cons will have to be re-certified, which means that Nintendo will likely not be able to have this done as a day-one firmware update unless they already caught this issue ahead of time and are in the process of fixing it already. (They will also likely have to measure SAR as well even if they are below the 10dBm limit, since Canada recently lowered the limit where you do not have to measure SAR to 6dBm).
The thing that surprises me however is that 4dBm should absolutely be enough power for the type of environments shown in the video above. Deliberately covering the entire device with both hands will probably always be a problem. The antenna is probably quite narrowband so doing that will likely detune it as well causing even more losses than what you get anyway from the absorption in the hands. But simply placing the device behind the back and breaking line-of-sight? When you are indoors and only a few meters away from the main console, this should absolutely not be a problem. So unless there is something really strange going on with their antennas (like if they didn't account for the detuning that might happen when you hold the device normally) then it might actually be possible that the real Joy-Cons are using lower power than they are certified for, either due to a firmware bug or because someone though it would increase battery life (it really shouldn't). In that case, it would be fairly simple to issue a new firmware to increase the power.
This seems to indicate that the likeliest cause is that it's stuck in a low power mode, which would indicate a very easily fixable bug. Maybe when it connects to the Switch unit it automatically goes into this low power mode and there is a bug which switches it to that low power mode even when detached.
Interesting, although one would think that if it happens outside of a game it should be happening inside of a game too. Maybe it just wasn't under the same conditions?
Yeah, although it should still be working in such cases. People with large projector screens for instance would be screwed.
kraspkibble
Permabanned.
I really hope they fix this quickly. I cancelled my preorder. I know there is always a risk of buying new hardware at launch but has never really been an issue for me except the iPhone 4 and I'd have cancelled that too if I knew about the antenna issue. So yeah I'll just hold off. Was really dying to play Zelda though.
Seems like an overreaction to me. Wait for an official Nintendo comment before doing anything.
Schnozberry
Member
Seems really premature to cancel a preorder before Nintendo has a chance to investigate. If it's firmware bug it could likely be fixed by release.
Okami Haundo
Member
You're doing the lord's work Skittzo. Glad to see that this might not be the system-killing defect that some are making it out to be.
Outrun
Member
Yeah, me also.
I am not playing 450 Canadian for shoddy hardware.
If it is a problem, Nintendo needs to make it right.
LordRaptor
Member
If its within standard failure rates for devices they won't say anything at all, they'll just RMA defective units
CuckFupertino
Banned
What regional differences are you talking about? Wifi is wifi. Some counties might default to a different channel, but every router I've ever owned let's you change this. Most automatically pick the least-crowded one.
But if they say the will have a fix ready for launch and people that cancelled their preorders won't be able to secure one who would be at fault?
Who is this dude you posted
Spine_Ripper
Member
Facebook comments, from politics to pop culture, is filled with some pretty shit opinions and logic. Yikes, indeed.
Rebel Leader
THE POWER OF BUTTERSCOTCH BOTTOMS
They are investigating
yikes
Someone was making this exactly, and erroneous, point in this thread yesterday.
Shrike Alvaron
Member
The way I see it, this will be fixed one or another. If it's a software bug it'll be patched, if it's a hardware defect Nintendo will be obligated to offer replacements. There's no way they're just going to shrug this off if it really is a widespread issue. Do people who are cancelling preorders think this is just never going to be fixed or something? That Nintendo will just go "meh six feet is good enough" despite the harm that would cause them? People are too reactionary...
Well this is reassuring. Thanks for the screencap.
NoPiece
Member
There are small differences in the channels available, and thereby frequency used, depending on region. For example, there are only 11 2.4ghz channels allowed in the US, vs up to 14 possible in other countries. These differences shouldn't be an issue though.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_WLAN_channels
Stairouais
Member
Not to add another "problem" but Jeff was toying arouind with the switch during the GB live show that just ended, and the joycons seemed to come off easily.
Like really, really easily.
Like really, really easily.
-Not even pushing the release buttons- easily.
He himself said you had to do up some latch thing and give them a good yank to get them off.
I didn't see the video but is it possible Jeff just hadn't put the joycons in all the way in the first place? Makes a click sound when they're in, so maybe he didn't do that in the first place?
Stairouais
Member
Ign Italy reported one on this disconnections.
AdmiralSnackbar
Member
yikes
Makes sense. They did the same thing with the 3DS. A small number were released in early 2011 before they released the final product in 2012.
Standard Nintendo
Lol
It's kinda worrying Jeff is saying they may get easier and easier to come off, possibly leading up to the point where you're holding it and the tablet just falls off.
BetterWorldz
Member
Lol
It's kinda worrying Jeff is saying they may get easier and easier to come off, possibly leading up to the point where you're holding it and the tablet just falls off.
That is worrying, getting DS family loose stylus vibes from this.