Ok don't know why or how - was nothing I did -i'm to much a noob. But the controller came back to functioning.
I was checking the Controller in setting. It showed the 360 Controller to be "disabled"
But the enable button was missing.
Went back and forth from game and seeking help. Ate. Calmed down (I like this game - I've spent almost 300 hours in survival - my second try - and started building my dream ground vehicle. Just moments away from trying it out for the first time. I need rotor degree readout. But need "experimental" and all.) When I activated "experimental" is when I lost the controller. No enable button. But one of the millions of times of going back and trying what I could think of - the enable button just showed back up and it worked! So back now to getting rotor degrees and I'm lighting this beast off! :P
Stands 4 stories tall on 8 5x5s. Suspension raises vehicle up and down another 10 meters - gonna be fun - I hope.