Hori RAP VX SA bizarreness

[JennyCage]

I ordered a RAP VX SA off Amazon.ca.  The first one I got was DOA (no power through either the PC or Xbox), so I filed for a replacement.  Got it today and it gets power just fine, but any time I come in contact with the bottom metal plate it starts ghosting like crazy, registering super rapid directional inputs and random button presses.  This only happens when a human is touching the bottom plate, doesn't matter if it's a bare fingertip or a clothed lap.  Touching the side and top plastic doesn't produce this effect, and the ghosting disappears when placed on a desk.

I filed for a 3rd replacement which will be here Wednesday, but I can't say my hopes are high.  Has anyone else experienced this phenomena with their sticks?  If the replacement is defective too, I'm tempted to try a Qanba stick instead, but I want to rule out that this isn't some kind of crazy environmental effect.  For reference, the Xbox is connected to a PC with a router and modem nearby.  Everything is wired, not wireless, and moving the stick closer to the PC/modem/router doesn't cause ghosting... only human contact with the bottom metal plate.

Thanks for any info you guys might have.

[Saitsuofleaves]

Considering, I'm in a room with a desktop, a laptop, with everything wired and routers and modems nearby and neither my Madcatz TE nor my Eightarc has malfunctioned (other than my TE having some buttons short out every so often...but that was rare and only started happening a year down the line)...yeah, I would assume it's the sticks themselves.

And go with an Eightarc if you need another replacement.

[BioBooster]

Surprised by that, hadn't heard of any issues like that with the RAP series...

Third time's a charm?

JFYI My eightarc does the trick pretty well for me atm - suppose its detachable cable and felt bottom ftw

(although I will own a RAP at some point)

[Saitsuofleaves]

Yeah, don't you just love the felt?

[JennyCage]

OK guys, I got the 3rd replacement today, and from initial indications it was fucked up too.  Here's the thing though... it's malfunctioning EXACTLY like the other one, extreme ghosting when contact is made with the bottom plate, but if I go into the next room and try it on an old 2005 PC, it works 100% fine.  Xpadder registers everything normal.  Then when I go back in here with the newer PC and Xbox, the PC says, "USB Malfunction" and the Xbox, if it registers the stick at all, goes apeshit with the ghosting.

... At this point I'm at a total loss.  I tried unplugging the PC, modem, router, and all electronics in the room except the Xbox and LCD.  Still won't work.  There are no other dpad controllers I can use except the EX Turbo 2 and that's no longer being made and only lasts about 4-5 months anyway.  I'm afraid to try any other stick, I can't keep returning packages over and over to Amazon, and if I buy from someone private I'd end up having to pay more than my Xbox originally costed plus whatever it would cost to ship it back when it inevitably doesn't work.  I can't put the Xbox anywhere else because this is the only spot with internet access and I won't go wireless.

I'm pretty close to just selling my Xbox at this point.  gg. 

[desmond_kof]

Why don't you put something under the stick? Like put a thin piece of wood under it, then place it on your lap or floor...matter of fact, if I were you, I would open it up and try seeing of that brand has any kind of weird contacts from the ground wire to the actual plate.

[JennyCage]

That's what I ended up doing.  I put it ontop of a cardboard box which has a plastic cutting board wrapped in a towel ontop.  The cutting board and towel alone weren't enough, but the box fixes it and the towel makes it more stable.

... The things I do for KOF.

[Saitsuofleaves]

I still say Eightarc >_> <_<

[BioBooster]

I would try a thin sheet of rubber from some hardware/home improvement store.

That should work out for providing grip on the lap as well.

If that works you can set it there permanently.

I would say eightarc too, but the additional buying and sure that RAP anger wouldn't go away by that.

[Mr Bakaboy]

Just curious did the ghosting ever happen with any other joystick you have? I wonder if it's your xbox system itself giving you joysticks a short circuit. You might wanna try plugging your joystick in the other port to see if that does something if you haven't already..

Pc wise what are you running on the newer computer? If it's windows 7 I can try my Hori RAP VX SA on my wife's computer and tell you what it says. Mine works fine on the xbox. Right now I'm using the old school EX3 With DOA4 on the cover on a Windows XP computer and it needed an automatic update. If windows 7 had some kind of thing where if it doesn't know what it is and it tells you to piss off then that might make sense as to what's going on. I'm not trying to act like I know what's going on by just what you say just making suggestions I could be way off base on both suggestions but it sounds better then losing a great KOF player. 

[SPLIPH]

that is really bizarre and looks hard to pinpoint the problem. im pretty curious why the stick isnt working. the fact that it works on one PC, but not another PC or your xbox, makes it seem like it could very well be the USB ports. have you tried all the ports on your xbox?

for what its worth, i have a newer PC as well with a 2011 mobo. i dont have the same stick, but i couldnt get it work on my PC either without going into BIOS and changing something in the USB settings. default settings the stick did not work. i only bring it up because you said it works flawlessly on the older PC, but not the newer one. i never got "USB malfunction" message though, so what i said could be completely irrelevent.

all the crazy button inputs going off from touching makes it seem like the stick itself could be defective. bad batch or something? thats pretty wierd that its not doing it on the PC it works on though. im really leaning towards faulty xbox USB. i figure that could be easily ruled out though if youve been using other stuff on your xbox USB just fine.

EDIT: i might be grasping at straws on this one, but you say it just happens with human contact on the bottom metal plate? could it be static electricity related?

[JennyCage]

I'm skeptical it's bad Xbox USB as I've tried it on all of the USB ports (front and back) and on a 2008 PC with several USB ports with no success, and I've never had any problems with other peripherals (this is my first stick, though).  I posted a thread on Shoryuken about it and 3 other people are reporting the same problems, including the crazy ghosting when touching the bottom plate.  To quote one guy:

I can second this problem.

Xbox recognizes another devices perfectly (HRAP EX and standard controllers).

I did a bit of digging/opened stuff up. It's a bad PCB. All the wires are live. If you tap a wire, it registers as an input. Same goes for the JLF harness and the buttons. I haven't got around to resoldering the PCB and seeing if it is just bad contacts.

I can't explain why it works on the 2005 PC but not the Xbox or 2008 PC, but I'm convinced it's a defective stock at Amazon, however unlikely 3 defective sticks in a row might seem.  Maybe someone drove the shipping truck through a microwave before they arrived.  

Anyway, I tried BioBooster's advice of the rubber mat.  It didn't work standalone but works when put on top of the cutting board wrapped in a towel.  I think I'm just going to suck it up and keep it.  Hopefully I don't regret that decision later on.

Thanks for all the advice and suggestions guys!  

[Mr Bakaboy]

That's wild. You might be right about the bad stock at amazon. My wife bout me this one straight from Hori. Wish I could see the guts to see the difference. How the heck could the boards be wired that wrong is beyond me.