PS4 controller issues

TheOtherDennis

My PS4 doesn't recognise the controller any more, neither wirelessly nor connected.

I tried resetting the controller using a paper clip and the little hole thing. Nothing.

I tried a new cable. Nothing. (Yes, it's a data cable, not just a charging one.)

I tried a new cable and a new controller. Nothing.

While I wait for PS support to get back to me, I tried a third party controller that only works via the cable, and it did work. I should have stuck with it like that, but no, clever clogs here gets an email asking me to call the support hotline.

So I do, and they talk me through rebooting the machine and then resetting the factory settings.

Well that really did it. Now nothing I have works, not even the third party controller that used to work before. I get a message telling me to connect the controller via USB, but nothing happens, no matter what combination of old/new controllers and old/new cables I use.

What I don't get is this.

What Sony support asked me to do was switch the console off, then hit and hold 'start' for 7 seconds. After it's beeped twice, I can let go and I'll get a choice of what to do next.

And I do - a menu of seven items - restart, change display resolution, reset the database, update the software, initialise, initialise and update the software.

I've tried them all. Nothing.

Here's what I don't get.

If I do the seven second/second beep bit, I first get a message asking me to connect a controller by wire, and then the menu with the above options.

I can do all of that. Choose the option, click yes or no or whatever other changes are needed, and then carry those changes out before the console restarts itself.

So why, after I've done whichever of those things I want to try this time (and I've done them all), and the console restarts, does the console now recognise none of my controllers - either OEM Sony or the third party one - but I can still choose which menu item I want.

Any ideas, chaps?

wibble

Seems odd. Do you know anyone else with a PS4 to try your contoller on theirs and vice versa?

TheOtherDennis

Sadly not. My son has an eggs box, so he can't help and no one of my age I know has one at all.

Simonh

where in the country are you? perhaps a TFB person with a PS4 is local ish

Switch625

I'm assuming you can't even log in to the console now and navigate around the menus through another means (TV remote for example)? There was a way to connect a controller without the cable by directly bluetoothing it... but you need to be able to get in to the settings for that.

My uneducated guess would be bad USB ports/board which is why none of the controllers are syncing through the cables you've tried.

Simonh

long shot but is it worth changing the HDD and doing a full clean re-install from ROM?

wibble

@TheOtherDennis I vaguely recall you're in Leicestershire? Or am I mixing you up with someone else? If you are in Leics then I might be able to help test although I've not fired up my PS4 pro since I got my PS5!

Woodenhead

So it recognises the controller attached via USB in safe mode menu but not from the main menu afterwards? That is odd, I'd try re-installing the firmware.

Instructions and download link from Sony website
https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/support/hardware/ps4/system-software/#update

    Using a PC or Mac, create a folder named "PS4" on a USB drive formatted as FAT32. Inside that folder, create another folder named "UPDATE".

    Download the update file (button below) and save it in the "UPDATE" folder. Save the file as "PS4UPDATE.PUP".

    Plug the USB drive containing the file into your PS4 console.

    Start the PS4 console in Safe Mode: press and hold the power button, releasing after the second beep.

    Select Safe Mode option 3: Update System Software.

    Select Update from USB Storage Device > OK.

I don't own a PS4 but used this method to fix a PS3, don't know if it will fix your controller issue but worth a try.

TheOtherDennis

@Woodenhead - that's correct, I can use the controller in safe mode, but I don't even get to the main menu. I get a message saying "Connect a controller and press the Playstation button" but the controllers don't work, so that instruction in all its various languages remains on screen. I was able to do a system update using the safe menu, and got precisely the same result. (I tried using a USB but it wouldn't recognise it and couldn't find the update file.)

@wibble - yes, I'm in Lutterworth, and thanks for the offer, but I'm doing all this as a way of passing the time because I'm self-isolating after testing positive. So I wouldn't recommend coming anywhere near me for a while.

@Switch625 - yes, correct on your assumption, and I'm worried that your guess on the bad ports may also be true, but if it is, why can I use the controllers in safe mode?

@SimonH - as for Switch625's guess, I'm worried that may have to be the answer. Not sure it's worth the cost for how little I use it.

meltedbuzzbox

Simonh said:

long shot but is it worth changing the HDD and doing a full clean re-install from ROM?

Aka go nuclear

Switch625

Found this - https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/323257/Dualshock+4+only+works+in+PS4+safe+mode

which suggests the problem is a broken Bluetooth chip on the console… there’s a link to a YouTube vid at the bottom that suggests going over it with a heat gun or similar might help

TheOtherDennis

Hmm, so why don't the controllers work when connected via cable either, then?

Switch625

“The PS4 console only reads a controller through the the charge cable in safe mode. When the console is not in safe mode, the console reads the controller through the Bluetooth chip that is soldered onto the consoles motherboard. The only way to fix the issue is to have the consoles Bluetooth chip replaced.“

TheOtherDennis

Ah the console's chip!

Apologies, I thought you meant the one in the controller.

Sorry.

Simonh

I’ve got a spare hdd I could send you, but tbh the Bluetooth controller chip is sounding like the favourite to me…

Stratavarious

Done a full OS / firmware reinstall and reset from the options using update file from playstation? May be a corrupted driver 

My PS4 died and this was only option.. had increasing usb device errors.

TheOtherDennis

@Switch625 I checked the link out, and the video shows how to completely replace the Bluetooth chip, using equipment and skills I don't possess. Thanks, but that's out.

@Stratavarious I've done as close to that as the safe menu options allow. A full update, a reset, the works.

So yes, it does sound like it's the Bluetooth chip that's the problem, but I can't sort that by myself.

In another, related issue, for the sake of watching some DVDs without having to buy a new player, I had a bright idea - dig the old PS3 out of the garage! So I did, let it rest overnight in case there were any issues with condensation, plugged it all in this morning and...


...exactly the same problem as the PS4!!!!

I give in.

Technology clearly hates me. Or at least, Sony technology hates me.

Simonh

That is very odd indeed! you need another PS4 or controller to test against.

Stratavarious

Time for a PS5!  My son has one., amazing and backwards compatible with PS4 games too without sounding like Concorde taking off

stickyfiddle

If it's any consolation I've had more than a couple of times where my Sony TV stops talking to my Sony soundbar when using my Sony Playstation....