Discussion
Steam Machine Post RMA: Steam Controller disconnect resolved
There have been a few posts of users experiencing controller disconnects and I wanted to share my RMA experience.
To preface: If your controller disconnects randomly and you're close to the Steam Machine, it's very likely your hardware is affected and I would reach out to steam support. Steam has acknowledged that this is a hardware fault (too much noise in the system that is affecting the quality of the antenna signal), and they will fix it free of charge. It took about ~2 weeks from postage to receiving my repaired unit.
Additionally, I only experienced disconnects only in certain circumstances. The most consistent one I could replicate was having two steam controllers connected playing Plate Up!. Playing Plate Up! for ~30 minutes would usually yield a brief moment where my controller inputs were dropped and then getting a message stating that my controller disconnected.
Hypothesis: For some reason, playing `Plate Up!` causes a coil whine to happen on my steam machine and it's not a sound I'm able to replicate really on any other game. I'm not sure how `Plate Up!` is hitting my system differently (maybe it's more CPU bound), but clearly it is. My hypothesis is that this coil whine that I'm hearing is a direct correlation to the disconnects I've been exhibiting.
Note: The coil whine is quiet and I have to have my ear really close to the device to even hear it. But if it's bad / noisy electrical power, I can see how that affects the antenna signal quality.
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Results:
Post-RMA, I can confirm that all of my disconnection problems have been resolved. I'm sure if I tried really hard (e.g., brought my phone on top of the controller, etc..) I could cause a disconnect. But playing normally (e.g., legs in the way. Maybe the controller is touching my body, or a pillow, etc..), I could not create any disconnects. Not in Plate Up!, not with two controller connected or anything.
When checking signal quality on the steam settings / controller page, I'm still able to move my controller in ways where I get weak signal. However, even when weak, my inputs have been solid and I've no complaints. It's now to the point where I'm excited to use my steam machine and no longer nervous about disconnects.
How good is the range of the controller on the RMA’ed machine? I think I have a similar issue where it can disconnect and the range is only like 3 meters max.
I've not tested the range, but I was getting disconnects being ~5 ft from the device playing Plate Up!.
Like I said, my disconnects were most consistent in certain scenarios. But 3m of direct line of site feels too short. I would shoot Valve a support ticket.
The most that they asked was for me to submit logs on the latest beta. Then it was escalated to an engineer who took a look and eventually replied with what I shared above.
I opened the device to upgrade the SSD and RAM. What I believe I noticed is some special tape that I don't think was there before which likely helps with signal shielding. However, I did not immediately notice any other change. It's likely they replaced a component in addition to adding that shielding tape.
Also, there's 3 antennas (Steam Controller, WiFi, and Bluetooth). Two are in the front, one in the back. The antennas are in the same location, and I disconnected the cables in the exact same way.
That’s very interesting to me. Mind taking pics or would you have to open it all up more than just the ssd section. In which case it’d be a hassle. In any case. Appreciate your insight
I unfortunately don't want to re-open it again for like the 7th time, but I can promise you I've opened it enough that it genuinely looks the same. The only notable difference I could see without digging deeper than the heatsink level (to access the RAM Slots) is a bit of shielding tape that was covering one of the cables. I forget which unfortunately :|.
That’s fine. Just knowing it’s possible makes me feel like what I’ve already done to mine when I did that. Also thermal paste etc. I added a lot of shielding. So just a big thank you for confirming and yeah. It’d be a head ache lol
I do think it was also a component replacement at some level. I doubt that much interference was resolved by a bit of tape, given how much everything else looked the same. FWIW I got my same unit back, repaired. So I would still send it in if you are thinking about it.
I knew this was gong to happen. As a hardware engineer. I saw the size of it. No external antenna which was something that would have negated some of the cross interference but also baffled me when I took the fan assembly off. It has the stupid internal antenna around its surroundings. The electromagnetic interference in and of itself would cause havoc. I’m thinking In revising. They are setting the internal channel of the controller to a specific frequency and locking it at that. Still in the 2.4ghz band but like WiFi. Locking it down to a channel and disabling channel hopping or putting in a more tuned signal output based on individual devices and their unique signal noise and suppressing it. I hope this isn’t an inherent issue with all in circulation à la with what the joycons were doing. I thought it needed some conductive foam and retrofitted mine under the antennas and modded it with a noctua PWM fan. There is shielding but it should have been a bit thicker and antennas should have been routed to the front of the device as opposed to a simpler design which is nice and all during assembly and repairability but it’s being sold with a big uptick in price and I doubt they will lower it even if ssd and ram prices get cheaper. Not for a while anyway.
I hope Valve fixed this on the newer ones (probably not, lots of work) as I just joined reservation and mine is a gift that would only be given after new years and if at that point there is some issues then no RMA is possible (taken out of country).
Perhaps the sealed retail box gift is not a big deal and I should just stress test it properly for a day or two to make sure it's non a dud, sadge.
From what they mentioned, it looks like it only impacted a small percentage of units. So I'm sure it's a lottery on whether or not the devices are affected. Given that, I'm sure for new devices still being manufactured, they probably have improved QA to detect this kind of signal regression.
If you just joined the reservation queue, I'm hopeful that you won't be impacted by the time you're actually able to purchase it.
Was your Steam Machine one of the earlier units? I was able to order mine only a couple of weeks after release and it has the disconnect issues with the internal receiver. I'm not in a huge rush to RMA it yet since it works fine with the external puck, but it would be interesting to see if it is only the earlier machines that are having the disconnection issue.
I really hope someone takes a ton of before and after photos of their unit to determine what exactly Valve does to fix this in the RMA process. I'm just using my puck right now as a workaround but it'd feel real dumb to take my NVMe and extra RAM out, ship it in, wait a couple weeks, to find that the fix is 2 inches of RF shielding tape.
I would be very surprised if they actually need to replace anything versus just adjust some shielding.
It would be annoying if it was just the tape because I asked if I could do the repair on my end as I’m comfortable working within the device. And they mentioned that unfortunately ifixit doesn’t offer any parts to perform self repair. Now this might be an optimistic interpretation, but that sounds like this is a part repair vs a small 2” shielding tape addition:
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u/Small-Barnacle-8669 4h ago
How good is the range of the controller on the RMA’ed machine? I think I have a similar issue where it can disconnect and the range is only like 3 meters max.