ROG Ally RC71L gamepad mode not working on armoury crate nor in videogames, only desktop mode works

[thelastjpg]

Hi, I am making this post because I really tried everything but the gamepad mode on my rog ally doesn't respond, I already tried to

• Update to the latest updates on windows and on the armory crate update center
• Turn off/on "Embebed Controller" option on the rapid access panel
• Upgrade the bios 
• Delete latest windows updates
• Reinstall windows using the cloud recovery from the bios 
• Open up the device and check the LSUB large flex that connects both joysticks with the motherboard (As other post suggested) but all seems to be well connected and working properly
• Uninstall/Install Armoury Crate Several times 
• Disable/Enable controller on the device manager on windows 

This happens one day randomly, I didn't change the disk myself, I didn't dropped the device and no water get into, the desktop mode works perfectly I can move the mouse with the left joystick and even the shortcuts with the back buttons works fine, i can take screenshots and start the screen recording using the buttons, and the rgb on the both joysticks work fine i can even modify the brightness using the command center.

If anyone knows a solution or faced this same issue before, please tell me what you did to solved or what else I can try.

I'm thinking on uninstalling windows entirely and install steam os or a similar distro to see if in that way i can play with the integrated controllers as when I open the steam app on big screen mode I can use the controller to move on the screen 

[thelastjpg · Accepted solution]

Hi.

An update of what happened with my device, after a couple weeks of testing finally I came up to a solution to get make my ROG Ally gamepad works again.

It turns to be not a software issue, but a hardware one, the main board couldn't make a connection with the board on the joysticks, because one of the paths was broken.

If you have the same issue as the gamepad only responds on desktop mode, you should check the state of the left sided joystick board as in this board is the ITE microcontroller that manage the I/O of the gamepad. Also if you had luck maybe it is not a problem with the board and it's just the flex cable that connects this boards together came lose or it's just dirty and because of this it can't make a proper connection

Apparently, the main board controls the gamepad when in desktop mode and when in gamepad mode the chip on the gamepad board is the one who controls the gamepad, that's why it appears to work only in one mode.

Also, a couple of recommendations, the path on my board got broken because of the path had a part without insulation and some moisture got into and the corrosion slowly ate the path until it broke completely, I never get a water accident on my device, so I blame this on the humidity in the air and the sweet on my hands, you should take special care and check this connections on the maintenance of your devices specially if you see copper paths without insolation, if you have sweaty hands maybe this is an special concern on your case.

So, be aware of water and humidity on your normal device and if you had this same issue maybe this post helps, I will share pictures of the board and how I manage to repair it in another comment