Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Windows 10 - Display driver failed to start - crash - XBOX 360 Wireless Controller - Exit to sign in screen - DRIVER ROLLBACK FIX!!

I just couldn't figure out what it was.

I tried loading a game that played perfectly fine for the longest time. Then suddenly, it all seemed broken. It loaded seemingly fine, started with the video adapter display assembly clip, development software splash screen, etc.  then the screen blinked black and the video driver crashed. Most of the time, Windows would exit me to the sign in (login) screen.

I looked at the report from Windows in the lower right corner of the screen



I tried uninstalling then reinstalling the video drivers with DDU to no avail.
I tried DirectX 11 Heaven and DirectX12 Benchmarks Infiltrator, and no issues came about. The video driver played find.

I was contemplating a fresh install of Windows. Then suddenly, after enough time on the confuser, going through the endless pages of troubleshooting, it made sense. The problem was with the software related to the Xbox controller. What was it? Video recording? No, no difference.

Then from the sign in screen, I would move the thumb stick or press the buttons on the controller. The screen would go black, the circle next to the mouse cursor would stop turning, the screen would flash. I tried it again in Windows with no game playing, just on the desktop. Same crash to sign in screen again. 

So where was the problem? The insider preview build?

I eventually narrowed the problem to the Xbox 360 Wireless controller driver. In fact there was an update to that driver that made my system unusable. For gaming with the controller that is.
Below are screenshots I used to address the problem:
Go to the device manager



You can roll back the drivers if available. But get rid of the driver 2017-01-15
 This is the driver you want!

 
All should be good from here. 

You can download the 1.2 Drivers from the Microsoft website

Monday, January 9, 2017

Android file management - as easy to manage since, forever.


Drag and drop is all you need to know - music, video, or any other file. Just copy and paste or drag and drop from a computer to your phone. I love simplicity.


Monday, January 2, 2017

Never use DHL as a shipping option when shopping online

I've been caught once, by receiving a package that was shipped from overseas, where the delivery worker arrived with a package and an acquisition fee for more than what the item was worth.

I looked into fighting it, but found out that the fee was not customs at the border, but the processing and transaction fee charged by DHL. Their FAQ is of no help.

Above shown is an invoice that was presented to me with the delivery of the package. The item is worth  $27. I paid the shipper $17 for shipping which I thought was reasonable. However when DHL delivered the item, they were collecting $3.48 for import tax, which I found fair, but collecting a processing and transaction fee of more than $14.

End of story. Never use DHL.