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The home-button of my wired Xbox controller is blinking, even though my Xbox 360 is turned off. I've searched around a bit and found out the blinking of wireless controllers is a sign that the battery of the controller is low. But, since my controller is wired, this can't be the issue. What is the reason my controller blinks?

Note that it's not always blinking. Sometimes when the Xbox is off, my button doesn't blink. That's what makes it even more confusing for me.

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  • There are 4 green led's on the Xbox controller, which one is blinking ? and are they doing a pattern ?
    – Render
    Mar 10, 2013 at 19:51
  • It's the complete circle.
    – Joetjah
    Mar 10, 2013 at 20:26
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    I do have an other controller which I don't use (BigBen with an automatic movement to the right). I could plug it in and see if I get the blinking results during the week. I can't reproduce it because I don't know when it will or won't happen. I'll update as soon as I get more information!
    – Joetjah
    Mar 10, 2013 at 21:41
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    I've seen this happen occasionally on my PC. As far as I can tell, the blinking is coming from the fact that the controller is powered but it isn't "connected" to the system (i.e., recognized by the OS as connected). I imagine it's the same on the actual 360 hardware though I don't know what would cause that to happen. Defective hardware/cables could be a possible cause. Or possibly the Xbox itself is in a weird state and needs to be restarted? Mar 22, 2013 at 0:42
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    I actually have the Xbox connected to a switchbox (so at night, I turn everything off so I save power). Sometimes when I flip it on again (for TV and internet as well), the controller blinks, other times, it doesn't. And that while I don't touch the controller or actually turn on the xbox...
    – Joetjah
    Mar 22, 2013 at 7:44

4 Answers 4

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+100

I have seen this several times myself as well. Is your Xbox360 hooked to your TV with an HDMI cable? If so, on several occasions I have tried to turn on my Xbox without having the TV on previous to the attempt and my controller does the same thing. My hypothesis is that someone or something accidentally bumped your controllers home button and it is trying to turn the console on without the TV being on, which the console will not do for some reason, thus causing your Xbox controller to blink even though the console is in fact turned off.(Note that this may be possible even with the normal cable hook-ups, I just don't use mine so I can't say for certain.)

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  • Easiest way to test this would be to turn the TV and console off, then hit the home button in the middle of the controller. if it starts blinking and wont stop(and the console does not in fact turn on), turn on the TV. The console should start at this point. If it turns the console on without the TV being on then my answer will obviously be incorrect.
    – Ravekner
    Mar 23, 2013 at 10:25
  • My Xbox doesn't have a HDMI output. Also it's impossible to bump the home button since it's behind the tv and cannot be touched unless you specifically want the controller. Thank you for thinking with me though!
    – Joetjah
    Mar 23, 2013 at 10:31
  • did you test the theory? regardless of if someone bumped it on accident, i still think this is probably what is happening
    – Ravekner
    Mar 23, 2013 at 11:39
  • The TV and Xbox are on different power inputs. So it's possible the tv was completely off while the Xbox was on 'standby'-off. I had the tv on for almost a week and the problem didn't return. Therefore, I think your theory is correct.
    – Joetjah
    Mar 29, 2013 at 7:46
  • glad to help :)
    – Ravekner
    Mar 30, 2013 at 4:30
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That could be an indication of a faulty controller, or it could indicate that the controller is looking for the Xbox and cannot find/connect to it, so the wiring might be faulty. Have you tried actually playing games/does the controller work correctly?

Try this solution: When the xbox is on and the controller is plugged in, try separating the cord (at the middle thing where it disconnects). One user in this forum post said doing that was successful.

Edit: Adding more possible solutions

Potential solution 1

Potential solution 2

Potential solution 3

Potential solution 4

If all else fails, call customer support, good luck!

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  • This was a solution I tried before posting here. It didn't solve the problem. Thank you for the input though!
    – Joetjah
    Mar 29, 2013 at 7:44
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Is your 360 set to download even while off? This sounds like what mine does when I have it off but it's still downloading - the ring on the front that shows what controllers are connected blinks intermittently. Since I use wireless controllers, I never noticed this same thing happening there, but it could just be an indicator that extends out to the controller.

If it's not disturbing your gameplay or a sign that something is wrong (which, it sounds like everything still works fine), then you can 1) just unplug it when you're not using it 2) see if it happens with another controller/cable combo 3) pay M$ or someone else to "repair" it, although it sounds like it's not an issue worth paying for tbqh.

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  • The ring on the controller is the one blinking, but my Xbox itself isn't blinking though.
    – Joetjah
    Mar 28, 2013 at 13:30
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It means your Xbox is hot letting you know system fan is still on to cool it down

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  • This actually sounds like the answer. Have you got a source for that?
    – Joetjah
    Nov 27, 2013 at 10:24

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