tillig
05-30-2009, 03:33 PM
The short version: Drum Trainer doesn't seem to work right with the Ion Drum Rocker on Xbox 360.
Sorry, this is going to be a little long, but I want to fully describe the issue.
I have Rock Band 2 on the Xbox 360. I purchased the Ion Drum Rocker kit for the Xbox 360 and enjoy playing songs using that drum controller, but I think there's a problem with the way the controller interacts with the game.
I hadn't really done the Drum Trainer so I thought I'd try it... but I noticed that in any mode with a metronome - Drum Trainer, Fill Trainer, etc. - something odd happens. At random intervals, somewhere between a minute and ten minutes, while you're playing, the game will think the "up" arrow on the directional pad was pressed and the tempo will increase.
I notice this happens primarily when there is a lot of input from the yellow cymbal. For example, the first beat in the beat trainer is a very simple yellow cymbal with the red drum on the fours. Just playing this for three or four minutes I'll see the metronome speed up on me.
At first I thought the issue was that I had gotten 100% on the beat a few times in a row on that speed and the game was increasing the difficulty dynamically to increase the challenge. After experimenting with it for a while, it doesn't appear to be that simple or predictable. I tried, for example, not getting 100% for three or four sets and it still increased the tempo.
Something else I noticed - it happens most often when there's a yellow cymbal input than anything else. If I use the yellow DRUM instead of the yellow CYMBAL, I don't see the issue, though I haven't done an exhaustive test of all possible drum combinations. I do know it happens pretty consistently with the yellow cymbal input.
I have tried running the Ion Drum Rocker connection through a USB hub, through the front port directly on the Xbox 360, and through the back port on the Xbox 360 and it doesn't make a difference, so I don't think it's a USB connection problem.
I've noticed this over the course of several drum sessions, between which the Xbox 360 had been rebooted several times and other games had been played, so it's not just that it needs a reboot.
I tried connecting the pads to the Ion Drum Rocker control box in different configurations but I still saw the issue, so it's not a problem with the drum/cymbal pads. I even tried connecting drum pads into the cymbal slots on the controller but still saw the issue when using the drum pad connected through the yellow cymbal input. In fact, I could replicate it with nothing plugged in but a pad in the red drum slot and a pad in the yellow cymbal slot.
I contacted Ion support and after running through several troubleshooting steps they sent me a brand new drum controller but it still has the same problem, so I don't think it's a controller issue.
The only commmonality is the game, so I have to believe it's a software issue.
My total uneducated guess: When you navigate menus with the drum controller it thinks yellow is "up" so I'm curious if maybe there's something weird in the signal detection when you have both a yellow drum and a yellow cymbal - like maybe the code for firing the "up" arrow is executing when it shouldn't be?
THE QUESTIONS: ANYONE ELSE SEEN THIS? HOW DO I FIX IT?
I'd like to be able to use the drum trainer mode but it's pretty much impossible to work in when the metronome changes on you at random.
Sorry, this is going to be a little long, but I want to fully describe the issue.
I have Rock Band 2 on the Xbox 360. I purchased the Ion Drum Rocker kit for the Xbox 360 and enjoy playing songs using that drum controller, but I think there's a problem with the way the controller interacts with the game.
I hadn't really done the Drum Trainer so I thought I'd try it... but I noticed that in any mode with a metronome - Drum Trainer, Fill Trainer, etc. - something odd happens. At random intervals, somewhere between a minute and ten minutes, while you're playing, the game will think the "up" arrow on the directional pad was pressed and the tempo will increase.
I notice this happens primarily when there is a lot of input from the yellow cymbal. For example, the first beat in the beat trainer is a very simple yellow cymbal with the red drum on the fours. Just playing this for three or four minutes I'll see the metronome speed up on me.
At first I thought the issue was that I had gotten 100% on the beat a few times in a row on that speed and the game was increasing the difficulty dynamically to increase the challenge. After experimenting with it for a while, it doesn't appear to be that simple or predictable. I tried, for example, not getting 100% for three or four sets and it still increased the tempo.
Something else I noticed - it happens most often when there's a yellow cymbal input than anything else. If I use the yellow DRUM instead of the yellow CYMBAL, I don't see the issue, though I haven't done an exhaustive test of all possible drum combinations. I do know it happens pretty consistently with the yellow cymbal input.
I have tried running the Ion Drum Rocker connection through a USB hub, through the front port directly on the Xbox 360, and through the back port on the Xbox 360 and it doesn't make a difference, so I don't think it's a USB connection problem.
I've noticed this over the course of several drum sessions, between which the Xbox 360 had been rebooted several times and other games had been played, so it's not just that it needs a reboot.
I tried connecting the pads to the Ion Drum Rocker control box in different configurations but I still saw the issue, so it's not a problem with the drum/cymbal pads. I even tried connecting drum pads into the cymbal slots on the controller but still saw the issue when using the drum pad connected through the yellow cymbal input. In fact, I could replicate it with nothing plugged in but a pad in the red drum slot and a pad in the yellow cymbal slot.
I contacted Ion support and after running through several troubleshooting steps they sent me a brand new drum controller but it still has the same problem, so I don't think it's a controller issue.
The only commmonality is the game, so I have to believe it's a software issue.
My total uneducated guess: When you navigate menus with the drum controller it thinks yellow is "up" so I'm curious if maybe there's something weird in the signal detection when you have both a yellow drum and a yellow cymbal - like maybe the code for firing the "up" arrow is executing when it shouldn't be?
THE QUESTIONS: ANYONE ELSE SEEN THIS? HOW DO I FIX IT?
I'd like to be able to use the drum trainer mode but it's pretty much impossible to work in when the metronome changes on you at random.
