Topic: A very strange connection issue with joy cons

Hey!
I know the heading reads like the most obvious problem in the switch but it's really not ...

First my switch was bought 4 years ago. I can turn on the switch using the right joycon home button when it is detached. The switch turns on and wirelessly detects the right joycon immediately. The left joycon cannot be detected no matter what. If I enter in the switch to the change controller order the right joycon disconnects and cannot reconnect to the switch no matter what.

Tried with my friend's left controller - same issue. So I know the left joycon is fine, I know the switch's Bluetooth antenna is fine because both the right joycon and my pro-controller connect no problem if they are the one's who turn the switch on... my pro-controller cannot connect to the switch if the switch wasn't turned on by it's home button.

Any help, crazy idea or reference would be very much appreciated! Also ask any question that might help if I missed some piece of relevant info.

@Starstrike I can only make a suggestion regarding your pro controller. Connecting the pro controller with the usb cable can solve some connectivity issues. You may need to be docked.

Step 1 for most of nintendo support's controller troubleshooting is, make sure your joycons and pro controllers are updated. They have to be plugged in to receive the update.

Forgive me if you know these things already. It's all I've got.

Thanks for the reply Woomy!
Yes, I am aware of those things and tried the updates to see if it makes any difference - sadly it didn't.

But I do believe now there is a software issue at the heart of this problem...

I wonder if anyone knows if we can downgrade the switch to older system versions?

@Starstrike Based on what I've seen here since switch launch, I haven't heard of anyone reverting to a previous version of the switch OS. Not saying it can't be done, but I think nintendo may block reverting the OS as a way of maintaining security (financial security/eshop/credit cards).

Generally speaking, usually, when something can't be fixed with switch support site's troubleshooting, that's been a reliable indication that there's hardware failure somewhere, repair was needed to replace a part.

I don't think I can diagnose your situation, but there are some factors that come to mind. I'm thinking out loud here. Forgive me if these factors are not relevant to your scenario. Regarding waking your switch & syncing the joycons, I don't know if you're docked, I don't know if the switch was sleeping with a game open. Leaving a game open adds another unknown factor - some games may have worse stability for sleeping & waking. And I don't know if you put the switch to sleep while in 2player split joycon mode.

EDIT: Side note, if you always use sleep mode, never shut down the console, or going long periods without shutting down/rebooting, that can make strange glitches start occur with the console. I've seen at least a few people here run into this. If you do shut down/reboot your switch on a regular basis, you can disregard.

@WoomyNNYes you're a genius!!!!!!!

Thank you so so much! It worked flawlessly - turning off the console (instead of putting it to sleep) fixed the issue! Such a simple and elegant solution!

Thanks again from me and my kids!

@Starstrike Ah, hahaha, funny. That works out great! Great to hear!🌈🌈🌈