Wiimote won't work with nunchuk attached

[pr8cjb]

So I'm enjoying my first blast on Rayman Raving Rabbids when it all goes pear shaped. About 30 minutes in the controls stop responding, and then after 10 seconds "communications with controller 1 have been interrupted" (or similar) appears.

So I'm thinking it's the de-sync problem that I've heard so much about, toddle over to my PC, get the re-sync instructions from Nintendo's site and re-sync the thing. Or I would, if it would work at all.

Exasperated, I detach the nunchuk - and it's alive! The Wiimote works perfectly. Re-attach it and the pointer hand thingy on the Wii menu locks up solidly. Detach it and the remote works again. The blue light for controller 1 lights up whether the 'chuk is attached or not. Fresh batteries make no difference. Ditto unplugging the Wii itself, rebooting console, game etc. etc. I don't have a spare Wiimote or nunchuk to test. The buttons on the Wiimote still work even when the pointer is frozen.

Being a global mega-corporation, Nintendo only allow customers to bother them on a 9-5, Monday to Friday basis. Has anyone here experienced this, or is my nunchuk borked? I used it once with Wii boxing a couple of weeks ago and it's been sat on the shelf since.

[davidbrit2]

Have you tried connecting the nunchuck to another remote to see which half of the setup is the culprit?

Also of note, Nintendo's 9-to-5 is Pacific time, so if you're, say, Eastern, they'll be open until 8:00 PM.

[pr8cjb]

After 4 attempts and 10 minutes on hold to NoE I finally got through to a human being. The end result is that I've had to send both the Wiimote and Nunchuk back (as they weren't sure which bit is broken) with a letter explaining the fault. The guy on the phone agreed that I shouldn't go buying or borrowing new bits as the fault in the connector may cause new units to break too. Taking it back to the store (Argos) isn't practical as there's no stock locally.

I've sent it off Special Delivery so it'll arrive tomorrow morning, I wonder how long it will take to get the replacement and if they'll refund the five quid postage. The last piece of hardware that failed on me was my Mega-CD, and there was a two-week turnaround on those.

Looks like I'll have to drag the Cube back out of the attic to continue playing F-Zero GX.

[davidbrit2]

Ah, NOE. Disregard the bits about Pacific time, then. :)

I can't speak for NOE service, but NOA had my replacement remote out to me in just a couple days. Mind you, this was with their advanced replacement program, where they send out the replacement, and then you drop the dead hardware in the same box and send it back with the prepaid label. Standard repair service might add a couple days. Nintendo is pretty legendary for their customer service, so hopefully it won't take them very long.