Fix: Steelseries Stratus XL Not Working
SteelSeries is a Danish manufacturer of gaming peripherals and accessories, including headsets, keyboards, mice, and gaming surfaces. The Stratus XL is a joystick controller manufactured by SteelSeries for Windows and Android devices.
However, a lot of reports have been seen where the controller works fine on android but either doesn’t connect at all on Windows 10 or immense lag is seen while playing games. This problem is caused by a Windows 10 update and was not addressed by the manufacturer. In this article, we will discuss the causes of the issue and come up with viable solutions.
What Causes the “Stratus XL Not Working Error”?
The cause of the error seems to be a bug relating to
- Windows Update: The cause of the error seemed to be a windows 10 update that seemingly caused these connection issues with the controller. The software developers at SteelSeries overlooked the modifications to be made in the controller software in order to make it compatible for the next build of Windows. However, a firmware update was released later to eradicate the problem.
Solution 1: Updating Firmware
Firstly, we will be updating the device firmware to the latest because the new firmware is promised to eradicate this issue. Make sure that you have SteelSeries software installed on your computer.
- Connect your controller to the PC with a micro USB cord (not included so you have to buy it separately) before connecting through Bluetooth
Note: Make sure it is not a “power only” cable. - It will now show up on the SteelSeries Engine
- Now open the SteelSeries Engine and click on this icon (it should be having a red notification on it like indicated in the picture)
Clicking on the icon - Now simply click on update and it will update the SteelSeries Engine to the latest version
Clicking on Update - Also, you will see a red banner below your controller that reads “Critical Update“. Left-Click on the banner
Red Banner below the controller - Allow the firmware update to run completely and leave the controller plugged in. Once complete, you should get a pop-up dialog that looks like this.
Update complete notification banner - Now connect via Bluetooth and wait for it to say “the device is ready”.
- Now restart the controller and it should work fine.
This process should solve all the problems regarding the connection of the controller, its configuration and lag.
Note: The Micro-USB connector is in the place where the batteries go and you will need to remove the batteries in order to connect it via a Micro-USB cable. Also, the cable does not come with the box so u will have to buy it separately from the controller.
