• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Using Sixaxis on your PC? Stay away from MotionInJoy

S

Septimius

Junior Member
Some time back, I needed a dual analog input device for a game on my computer. I really like the sixaxis and I've used it for PC gaming a lot earlier. But the way I did didn't give me access to the full functionality of the controller, so I set out to find a program or driver that would, and I found MotionInJoy. I wish I hadn't.

I very rarely turn off my computer, so it took some time for me to piece together that every time I did, when I logged in after the reboot, Firefox would pop up with some site talking about learning Chinese online. When I realised it was actually some sort of ad, I suddenly got very skeptical about the integrity of my system. I haven't had a popup ad like that since windows 95, and I need to be sure my computer isn't compromised, so I immediately started all scans I could think of. Some programs found something, but that might as well have been tracer cookies from Amazon as much as anything else, so I rebooted, to find the same page still popping up.

I googled it, and opened a can of worms. MotionInJoy is a horrible piece of software. The first thing it does, is start popping up ads for you when it feels like it. And for some reason, the standard version simply doesn't work offline. This isn't a program you pay for in any way, but the whole program looks shitty, riddled with ads and a horrible UI - I guess that should've been my warning sign, but I'm honestly OK with a developer using ads for income. But don't you fuck with my system. And this guy does. On the pages I've seen, I've found numerous people calling him out as a "shitty indie developer", "the developer is, pure and simple--a complete asswipe" and worse, and I've come to concur. I've looked into this program, and even after uninstalled, you're riddled with a driver mess that have caused people's wireless mice and keyboards to cease functioning, even in safe mode, because it fucks with the bluetooth stack, in what now seems to be an attempt to force you to buy the "endorsed bluetooth dongle" on their website. I looked at the traffic from the program, and I've found it's talking to servers in China for reasons unknown to me

I'm still trying to get rid off all the entangled mess of drivers, and lately I've been getting BSODs. I've looked up my problem, being KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR - 0x0000007A (0x00000020)

I looked it up, and I found this:
"STOP 0x00000020: KERNEL_APC_PENDING_DURING_EXIT
If you ever see this error, be very suspicious of all drivers installed on the machine — especially unusual or non-standard drivers."


Firefox still opens when I reboot my machine, but there's luckily no ads anymore. Just to add, I'm always very suspicious of installation processes, especially since Java and Adobe now also wants you to install all sorts of crap you have to turn down in *every single update* - I even went through the installation process once more for MotionInJoy, and there's no EULA, and no word that the program will force ads upon you. I'm just all in all very skeptical, and I'll probably be formatting my computer.


tl;dr: MotionInJoy, software that enables you to use the full functionality of you PS3 sixaxis, is the worst software I've touched in years
1) It is ugly, riddled with ads
2) It'll pop open your browser with ads several times a day, unless you're lucky, like me, and only get it every reboot
3) The drivers will likely interfere with everything bluetooth, even after you uninstall it (I can add to this - I've had an extremely hard time getting my WiiMote to work on my computer, and now I know why)
4) The program needs to be online to work, and when it is, it is in contact with servers in China.
5) Even when you remove it, the drivers aren't uninstalled, by default
6) Even when you uninstall the drivers as specified on the homepage of the software, it is still a mess left behind
7) I'm reformatting my computer because of this. I'm telling you this so you don't have to do the same.

Try googling "Motioninjoy virus" if you're curious.
 
G

Ghazi

Member
The drivers part were the only thing that really annoyed me, and even then I just uninstalled the current drivers and ran a CD with my drivers on it and that fixed it.


I never got ads though.
 
P

params7

Banned
Yeah I stopped using it too a while ago and just went out and bought cheapt gamestop made 360 controllers which is plug and play with pc.
 
T

TheExecutive

Member
If you are talking to China your machine has most likely been compromised. Remove network connectivity and run scans in safe mode. If you have any passwords saved on that PC change them immediately from a different source. If you cannot find the source of the transmission reload windows.


EDIT: if you feel like risking it and can correlate the calls to china within the millisecond download process monitor and you should be able to tell where they are being called from. Wireshark coupled with process monitor may be useful in diagnosing what is calling out to china...
 
T

Tmdean

Banned
I can't stand MotionInJoy. Not only is it crawling with ads, the configuration tool is probably the ugliest piece of software I've ever used.

On a side node, when I use my controller with MotionInJoy, it's terrible at recognizing diagonal presses on the d-pad. Is it just my controller or is it the driver?
 
K

kuYuri

Member
I didn't have the problems you had, but I always hated the UI, it's completely terrible. Have been waiting for alternatives, but haven't heard of many.
 
P

Pie and Beans

Look for me on the local news, I'll be the guy arrested for trying to burn down a Nintendo exec's house.
C-Drive said:
This is why Sony should provide official drivers.
Click to expand...

The Playstation Move Sub-controller is like the perfect PC gaming mouse companion. If Sony ever wanted to make some quick peripheral money, its like, RIGHT FUCKING THERE, just needs official drivers.
4424176926_486ea93274_o.jpg

I mean duhhhhhhhhhh.
 
A

AzureSkies

Member
Never had any of the issues you've been listing other than the awful interface and ads. I think the biggest issue for me is that the left or right analog will slightly move itself every 10 seconds or so. This isn't an annoyance for everything, but for games like Just Cause 2 in Multiplayer, I can end up going in a completely different direction flying than I was originally was.

This is getting to the point where I've just had to deal with using my Xbox 360 controller for games on my PC.
 
S

Septimius

Junior Member
Gentleman Jack said:
Isn't the primary coder/owner of the software Chinese? Why panic just because traffic is going to/from China?
Click to expand...

In that case, it makes more sense. I just can't make sense of the need of the traffic. The ad services aren't from there, and you shouldn't need to be online, at all, anyway. I'm more suspicious when it goes out to places like this, because there are completely different laws going in these countries. I never did agree to have anything sent or downloaded from China, and it's a huge overstep of any sense a programmer should have.


Also, to specify - I never had any problem with the functionality myself, but the horribly messy way the drivers are handled, makes me not only scared of being compromised, but I'm angry that a developer would release code that can ruin any other bluetooth dongle, and mess with other drivers, as it seems to be currently doing for me. I'm fairly confident that all intrusions are out of my system, but it never feels good not knowing what's installed on a driver level on your computer.

TheSeks said:
Same, I haven't had it talk to China or throw chinese ads at me or anything like that. Weird.
Click to expand...

That's the problem. The ad services aren't from China. They're normal ad services, and I can trace its traffic. I don't get any Chinese ads, yet this program is sending something to China. And you wouldn't really know if it's talking to China, lest you've dug out a packet sniffer.
 
E

epmode

Member
MotionInJoy's awful drivers fucked with my bluetooth drivers and I can no longer get my Wii remote to work with my PC. So yeah, stay away.

I haven't seen any ads though. But I almost never use my sixaxis.
 
S

Shadow780

Member
I've been using it a long time since I can't stand 360 Dpad, get the offline mode tweak and stay in wired USB mode, bluetooth mode isn't worth the trouble it brings imo unless you don't have any other bluetooth devices connected. Yeah the UI's pretty shitty but it didn't gave me any trouble otherwise.
 
S

Sullichin

Member
It's ugly, it has to be online to work, but it works fine for me. But I wish there was a less shitty alternative that emulated the 360 pad in the same way.
 
R

RS4-

Member
Haven't had any problems with it, no ads, popups, whatever. Didn't have problems with my Wiimotes either.
 
C

Clever Pun

Member
Valve really needs to release their controller soon. Does anyone have any recommendations other than just a 360 controller for a PC gamepad?

Edit: any special steps for the offline mode? When I click offline it doesn't work at all for me.
 
B

blainethemono

Member
Been using it for years with no problems. On one of the earlier versions I ran into some issues with not being able to unload the drivers for my bluetooth adapter so I could use my wiimote again, but that works fine now too using the remove all function
 
L

Legato.Reborn-

Member
I used this a long time ago to play some fucking games for windows live game

Anyway, I didn't have any issues with it. Worked like a charm

Then again that was.... 4.. years ago?
 
bigace33

bigace33

Member
Motionjoy worked just fine for me. I never had any issues with the Online only version, and now they even have a nifty offline version that works just perfect. I operate it right out of a little folder on my desktop. No adware or spyware of any kind.
 
P

plainr_

Member
I've never had any ads.

That said, I think I'm about to abandon this program once and for all. It works as intended but I simply want a driver that emulates a 360 controller and that's it. Manually enabling the controller after every reboot has gotten annoying and I don't want this bloatware on my computers anymore.
 
S

Septimius

Junior Member
1st Course said:
There are an offline version op.
Click to expand...

Last thing I heard, the analogs don't work? Anyway, it's atrocious that software like this needs an "offline" version. It's just such a red flag for me that this is not software worth having.

RS4- said:
Haven't had any problems with it, no ads, popups, whatever. Didn't have problems with my Wiimotes either.
Click to expand...

I've heard people not getting any popups, and I've heard people getting popups three times a day. I don't get what gives. I got it at each reboot. That wasn't the problem, though. It just feels so nasty when something sneaks past what you think is your way of keeping your computer safe.

I also know that the drivers don't necessarily mean you won't be able to use your bluetooths, but whether that's by luck or the drivers for your bluetooth dongles being different is past me. All I know is that problems for people have varied from no keyboard/mouse working, to no bluetooth dongle working, to no problems at all.

It still leaves behind a mess you can't get rid off, and if you by luck don't have it interfere with you, it's like a cob-web in the corner. It's ugly, but you can look away.
 
A

AlexBasch

Member
Sullichin said:
It's ugly, it has to be online to work, but it works fine for me. But I wish there was a less shitty alternative that emulated the 360 pad in the same way.
Click to expand...
Yeah, playing Sleeping Dogs with Big Picture mode and my Dualshock 3 is godly.

Just wish there was some sort of alternative to do this, because it works wonderfully aside from the horrible app and all that jazz.
 
R

RoadDogg

Member
I have a banner ad in the application itself but it has never done a pop up ad or caused any issues for me. I haven't bothered trying it offline because I am always online but I will just stick with my ignorance to it until something breaks.
 
P

Perfect Cha0s

Member
Pie and Beans said:
The Playstation Move Sub-controller is like the perfect PC gaming mouse companion. If Sony ever wanted to make some quick peripheral money, its like, RIGHT FUCKING THERE, just needs official drivers.
4424176926_486ea93274_o.jpg

I mean duhhhhhhhhhh.
Click to expand...

Yep. Is there any way at all to get it connected to the PC as an input? You could theoretically rig it up with Xpadder, although it may not produce ideal results.
 
M

MechaX

Member
"I have been using MotionInJoy for several years and didn't really have a problem"

... is what I would have said about five minutes ago. But I booted up MotionInJoy after not using it in a few weeks, and lo and behold, I get a Firefox pop-up about learning Chinese.

I just uninstalled that shit and I think I'll look at another alternative at this point. I want to blame the OP for essentially jinxing me, but eh. Probably dodged a bullet.
 
K

KePoW

Banned
Clever Pun said:
Valve really needs to release their controller soon. Does anyone have any recommendations other than just a 360 controller for a PC gamepad?
Click to expand...

Serious question, why is another recommendation necessary? 360 controller is much better anyway than Dual Shock shape.
 
S

Sullichin

Member
How do you get offline mode to work? It just.. doesn't for me. It's annoying because sometimes the MotionInjoy servers are down and then you can't use it. There's no reason for that to be the case for controller driver software

KePoW said:
Serious question, why is another recommendation necessary? 360 controller is much better anyway than Dual Shock shape.
Click to expand...

360 pad is fine but I prefer DualShock, I don't think one is objectively better than the other, it's just preference
 
Haeleos

Haeleos

Member
Completely agreed, op. It's the worst software I've ever installed on my computer, and I do not regret the $40 I plunked down for a 360 controller to avoid it. I used to get blue screens in some games when the controller vibrated, and sometimes the circle button uninstalled the drivers. I'm surprised no one has created an alternative... especially Sony.
 
P

pa22word

Member
Doesn't it send info to china because the people who made the driver are from china?

And they run the online version with ads to pay MS to sign the drivers. They mentioned in an update it runs like $300 a year to keep the program signed, or something.
 
L

Liquid_Bike

Member
My experience with Motioninjoy was the same as the OPs. It never worked while it was installed and when I wanted to remove it I damn near couldn't. IMO its a borderline virus.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Intel GPU drivers will now collect your data
42
3K
rodrigolfp replied
  • Locked
YouTube is slowing down your PC if you have AdBlock installed by making your CPU sweat
44
5K
IAmRei replied
Why are "open source" apps so revered in the privacy community?
5
502
Pegasus Actual replied
GTA 6 scammers are already making fake PC downloads
Cringe
14
941
sendit replied
Wanking Emails: (Up: Also Op is a serial wanker possibly twice between emails)
39
3K
BlackTron replied
Top Bottom