After using a PS4 controller on my PC for a couple of hours, the controller, keyboard, and mouse all stop responding at the same time. Their RGB lighting stays on, and reconnecting them does not restore functionality. Unplugging them produces the normal Windows disconnect sound, but they still do not work. Unplugging the controller briefly cuts out the audio before it returns. Could this be caused by the controller, its cable, a USB driver problem, or an aging motherboard? The motherboard is an ASUS P8H61-M LX, and no controller-mapping software is intentionally being used.
2 Answers
This sounds more like a USB controller or driver lockup than a faulty controller cable, since the keyboard and mouse fail at the same time while their lights remain powered. Try connecting everything directly to different rear motherboard USB ports instead of using the front-panel ports or a hub. It is also worth installing the newest chipset and USB drivers available for the motherboard, checking for BIOS updates, and testing with only one controller-related program active if Steam Input or similar software might be running. A replacement cable is still worth testing, but a single bad cable normally would not freeze the other USB devices too.
Trying a new data-capable USB cable is a reasonable first step, especially if the current one is worn or intermittently shorting. However, because the keyboard and mouse also become unresponsive, I would not assume the cable is the whole problem. If it happens again with the new cable, test the controller by itself, try another USB port group, and check whether the entire system is still responsive through other hardware when the freeze occurs. That should help distinguish a controller fault from an aging motherboard USB issue.
I already disabled USB power-saving options and I am fairly sure the chipset drivers are current. The motherboard is quite old, though—a P8H61-M LX—so its USB controller or chipset could be contributing to the problem. I am not intentionally using DS4Windows or another controller mapper.