batteries wearing out really fast

[Galen]

So i have had my viking since early october and one thing that i have noticed that is somewhat annoying is the batteries keep dying. I use the charge play pack that was in my viking box and i allow it to fully charge then shut down my xbox, (when guide button pressed it shows me the battery is full). Then a lot of the time i go to use it for first time since previous charge was done and the battery is like dead but i have had the controller off and not being touched on my table the entire time. Why does this happen? currently iv been having to use regular AA bats and i have to remove them whenever i am not using the controller or the just die. BTW if it might be a hardware issue um i got another viking ordered today (not for this reason lol just like it) and i could like compare them to see if the batteries work the same.. but ya i am annoyed when my batteries die for no reason so ya what do i do

PS is it necessary to remove battery pack to turn off the programming mode? if not can you make it so another button will shut that mode off please thank you

 

[odingalt]

Re: batteries

Firmware issue. I can confirm the existing version of the firmware has terrible power management. This will be fixed in a firmware update soon. I have been waiting on our firmware developer because he basically removed a feature that was included in our contract... I didn't realize he had nuked this until I went to release the power management update.

Basically I need to change some 'configuration bits' in your mod chip. I can do this through a regular firmware update. Unfortunately our firmware tool developer removed the ability to change 'configuration bits'. It took him about 3 weeks to put this back into our firmware update tool. He's testing it out right now. I figured I would release this firmware update the same time that I release the public version of the software that allows 16 pages.

 

[NYjetsNY1]

Re: batteries

also add firmware that lets LEDs + MOD work with play and charge cable

 

[smallx]

Re: batteries

Firmware issue. I can confirm the existing version of the firmware has terrible power management. This will be fixed in a firmware update soon. I have been waiting on our firmware developer because he basically removed a feature that was included in our contract... I didn't realize he had nuked this until I went to release the power management update.

Basically I need to change some 'configuration bits' in your mod chip. I can do this through a regular firmware update. Unfortunately our firmware tool developer removed the ability to change 'configuration bits'. It took him about 3 weeks to put this back into our firmware update tool. He's testing it out right now. I figured I would release this firmware update the same time that I release the public version of the software that allows 16 pages.

Hopefully you can get this update out sometime next week when my controller gets here !!

 

[Galen]

Re: batteries

thanks for the quick reply, and thats great news. Any idea what difference the battery life might see?

 

[odingalt]

Re: batteries

Well imagine this, your modchip is probably pulling 100-200mA (that's milli-amps) when the controller is turned off...

When we roll out the power management upgrade, your modchip will only draw somewhere around 5-10 uA (that's microamps) when the controller is turned off..

What's the difference? Well it's a difference of about 100,000x less power consumed when your controller is off... you should see battery life that is closer to that of a stock controller, minus the LED consumption which I haven't calculated yet. Basically after we roll out the fix, the LED consumption will be the biggest draw on the battery but we've also turned down the brightness in the latest firmware (some of you may have noticed) - this will increase battery life and actually also leads to more accurate color reproduction.

Hope this answers your question Sorry I don't have hard numbers if anybody is actually curious where these calculations come from let me know and I'll tell you where I come up with the information.

 

[Galen]

Re: batteries

sounds good to me, and thanks for clearing that up, makes a lot more sense knowing it is in fact using batteries when off lol.