Wii Sensor Bar: It just worked yesterday -- why is it not working today?!

sofakng

WiiChat Member
Sep 8, 2007
3
0
I'm having the strangest problem and it's really, really annoying.

I sit back about 11 feet from my projector screen and I usually place my sensor bar above or below the screen. Everything has been working perfectly until last night.

I have THREE different sensor bars:

1) Official sensor bar modded to use 7.5v (or 9v? I forget) AC adapter.
2) Nyko wireless sensor bar
3) Custom-built sensor bar with high-power infrared LEDs

When I use the Wii sensor bar sensitivity screen I can see my two LED sources perfectly fine. They don't even blink or anything -- they are big, bright, and solid.

However, after I exit the sensitivity menu the cursor will NOT show up unless I get within 3 feet of the sensor bar.

I've tried two different Wii remotes and all three of my Wii sensor bars.

What the heck is going on? The sensitivity menu shows that everything that I have two (and only two) LED sources and they are perfectly viewable at 11 feet.

Also, my setup worked perfect just two days ago!

Can anybody give me any advice? :(
 
well...theres THAT.....but I think you answered your own question with this:

1) Official sensor bar modded to use 7.5v (or 9v? I forget) AC adapter.
2) Nyko<--(?) wireless sensor bar
3) Custom-built sensor bar with high-power infrared LEDs

All the bolded terms shouldn't even be there. Why did you go wireless, what's with the modding, and why did you get a Cutom Built sensor bar? Btw wtf is Nyko? Never heard of that company before.

Someone probably screwed up royal in the "configuring" of the sensor bar, because your problem sure doesn't make any sense to me.

All this modded stuff, why can't people just stick with what Nintendo gave em?
 
did you try blowing into it?:lol: but i have no idea. that is cool how you have yours on a projector, i want mine like that!
 
First off, the custom, modded, high power etc, is not the issue. He says they worked two days ago but don't now.

<start modding rant>
None of what he describes is "wrong", nor is it "illegal". Modding is neither morally wrong, nor is it illegal. Of course you can't expect Nin to continue to support it after any mods, but without modding, we wouldn't have 1/2 (if not more) of all current and past technology. I know there are people who "mod" things in order to use copied games and cheat, but that is an issue for Nin, (and I will agree that it is both illegal and immoral) and the courts. However, modding for ANY other purpose, like extending your Wiimote range, increasing the "field of action" to match your screen size, and other mods of that nature (including re-purposing any device you purchase) is not only morally and legally good, but has led to a heck of a lot of technological advances that we enjoy today. <end modding rant>

As for the OP's problem, I would try new batteries in the wiimotes, then if that doesn't work, I would remove power from all devices (unplug, remove batteries, etc) for 2-3 minutes, and try again. Also try cleaning off the sensor end of the wiimotes (soft damp cloth only) and the sensor ends of the bars. If none of that helps, then I would start looking at what changed in the environment. Any new sources of IR can be causing this problem.
 
Also, I recommend testing another wiimote, be it a spare if you have one or borrow a friend's for a little bit.

Problem seems to be either your wiimote or even possibly your wii. If the problem occurred simultaneously with 3 different sensor bars, I wouldn't think they'd be the cause.

That's my opinion, anyway.
 
Jimmer1720 said:
well...theres THAT.....but I think you answered your own question with this:



All the bolded terms shouldn't even be there. Why did you go wireless, what's with the modding, and why did you get a Cutom Built sensor bar? Btw wtf is Nyko? Never heard of that company before.

Someone probably screwed up royal in the "configuring" of the sensor bar, because your problem sure doesn't make any sense to me.

All this modded stuff, why can't people just stick with what Nintendo gave em?

That's all covered in the original post.
He uses a project screen for one, which means his Wii is probably nowhere near the actual screen which means he'll need an alternative. Also it says he's about 11 feet back from the screen which is pretty much out of range for the standard sensor bar, so he's going to need something that puts out a stronger infra-red light to boost the range.

And to top that off, he said in the original post that it worked before and now doesn't, so your rant about using only the standard Nintendo sensor bar is irrelevant.
 
Skippy said:
That's all covered in the original post.
He uses a project screen for one, which means his Wii is probably nowhere near the actual screen which means he'll need an alternative. Also it says he's about 11 feet back from the screen which is pretty much out of range for the standard sensor bar, so he's going to need something that puts out a stronger infra-red light to boost the range.

And to top that off, he said in the original post that it worked before and now doesn't, so your rant about using only the standard Nintendo sensor bar is irrelevant.

All I'm saying is if Nintendo says the sensor bar will work for a lifetime, and you send it away to get modded, it might stop working after x amount of hours, even minutes. I don't know the condition of his sensor bar, nor do I know how Nyko works, or what their reputation is, but all I'm saying is there is always a risk in modding, and unfortunately, he might have got sucked into it.

I've spilled stuff on my sensor bar and it still works after a whole year, now his modded one stops working after 2 days? only problem I can see is the modding.
 
Jimmer1720 said:
All I'm saying is if Nintendo says the sensor bar will work for a lifetime, and you send it away to get modded, it might stop working after x amount of hours, even minutes. I don't know the condition of his sensor bar, nor do I know how Nyko works, or what their reputation is, but all I'm saying is there is always a risk in modding, and unfortunately, he might have got sucked into it.

I've spilled stuff on my sensor bar and it still works after a whole year, now his modded one stops working after 2 days? only problem I can see is the modding.

He has three different types of sensor bars and all of them stopped working correctly at the same time. Kind of hard to pin that problem as being caused by just one of the sensor bars. The sensor bar is just two infrared lights, that's it. You can set two candles on your tv and it will work as a replacement sensor bar.

It's not the same as having a mod chip installed in your Wii. He just wants brighter infrared lights so that he can sit further away.
 
I had a similiar problem. But I was using Nintendo's sensor bar. And nor would it show up AT ALL. One day it was working fine - the next day death. I couldn't fix it. Tried new batteries, taking the power plugs out, and putting them all back in etc. Nothing. I had to take the Wii back and get a new one. I guess you can hope yours didn't die as badly as mine.
 
Wiizel said:
Looks like he tried a different remote.

My bad, don't know how I missed that the first time around.

rindulus1 said:
Of course your Wii may be knackered. Have you checked the sensor bar socket?

Can't possibly be it. All that socket is good for is delivering power to the sensor bar so that it can emit the LED lights. However, since he's using custom wireless bars, he's likely using something as simple as batteries to power up the sensor bar, so he doesn't even need to touch the sensor bar port. Remember, there's no real data transmitted between the bar and the wiimote. The wiimote only uses the LEDs to sort of calibrate its relative position in relation to the screen, then simply sends the data to the Wii via bluetooth.

Jimmer1720 said:
All I'm saying is if Nintendo says the sensor bar will work for a lifetime, and you send it away to get modded, it might stop working after x amount of hours, even minutes. I don't know the condition of his sensor bar, nor do I know how Nyko works, or what their reputation is, but all I'm saying is there is always a risk in modding, and unfortunately, he might have got sucked into it.

I've spilled stuff on my sensor bar and it still works after a whole year, now his modded one stops working after 2 days? only problem I can see is the modding.

Send it away to get modded? What the heck are you speaking of...? We're just talking about the dang sensor bar, dude. He's mentioned nothing of modding his actual Wii. It's like you're trying to shun people for trying to legally customize their purchased products (or even the small parts of their products) to better suit their environments. He tried to hook it up to a projector screen, and can't hook up the wii close to the projected surface, and therefore needs wireless sensor bars. There's perfectly nothing wrong with that.
Ease up a little bit.


And like I said, if the wiimotes aren't the problem, then the Wii must be it (as Ekiushi sort of helped confirm that much is likely). I mean, you say that the signal works at regular distances when trying to calibrate the wiimote, but the second you get out of the calibration menu it can't pick up the wii at all? It doesn't make sense for the problem to be sensor bar related. The sensor bar is a primitive device, and doesn't communicate with the wii at all...so it would hardly know the difference between when you're calibrating and when you're not; it's outputting the same constant stream of power/energy to the LED emission regardless of what you're doing on the Wii.

But you [the original poster] already knew all this. If you confirmed it's not the wiimotes, then I guess it could be nothing else except the console itself...Question now is, if they'll just simply replace the Wii or if you have to send in the whole original packaging to get a replacement (the wiimote, sensor bar, and all cables that came with). Oh, take a picture to verify the condition of your wii before you send it in, too: Nintendo has a really good track record but recently I have heard one bizarre story where Nintendo sent back a console with some faceplates missing.
 
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