4replies
A Firmware Update Broke My Controller, Can I Go Back To The Old Version?
You are not imagining it and you are not stuck. Microsoft publish an official firmware reversion process for exactly this. Roll back, then test the…
Alistair ThorneVerified Gamepad Tester team member
Embedded Systems And Firmware Programmer at Gamepad Tester
Writes and tests controller firmware, and knows why a pad reports itself the way it does.
Alistair is an embedded systems programmer. He writes custom firmware for third-party PC gamepads and builds input-parsing test rigs on microcontrollers such as the Arduino and Raspberry Pi Pico, which means he can see what a controller is sending at the wire level rather than guessing from what the operating system reports. That is usually the fastest way to settle whether a fault is in the pad, the driver or the browser.
On Gamepad Tester he answers the firmware and driver questions, including the ones where an update has broken a working controller.
- Experience
- 9+ years
- Hands-On
- Reads controller input at the wire level on custom test rigs to confirm whether a fault is hardware, driver or browser.
- Answers On Gamepad Tester
- 2
What Alistair Works On
Controller firmwaremicrocontroller input parsingHID descriptorsdriver-level debugging
Tests Alistair Looks After
Gamepad TesterLive test of every button, stick, trigger and axis on any controllerFree · Open tool Button TestCheck each button for response, double presses and dead inputsFree · Open tool Trigger Pressure TestAnalog trigger travel, pressure levels and sensitivityFree · Open tool
Questions Answered By Alistair
4replies
Right Trigger Reads As Pressed When I Am Not Touching It, Xbox Series X Controller
A trigger pinned at exactly 1.00 is almost always a dislodged spring or a shifted potentiometer arm inside the trigger assembly, not firmware. It is…
The Team Behind These Answers
Calder WrightFront-End Web Architect And Gamepad API Lead
Elena RostovaHardware Diagnostics Engineer
Garrett LindsayHardware Reviewer And Input Performance Specialist
Venom’s Tech (Abhishek)Peripheral Reviewer And Tech Journalist
Chloe HendersonHall Effect And Thumbstick Analyst
Thiago AlvesHardware Repair Educator
Devon MillerLow Latency And Input Timing Engineer
Liam DaviesBluetooth And Wireless Test EngineerEach answer is written by the specialist who owns that part of the hardware, tested on a real controller, and checked by a second team member. How we verify answers