Help with x52 Pro Yaw left drift

[PhilBehring]

I reinstalled ED after a few months break and now have a strange issue which i never encountered in 5 years of play.

Using a x52 pro HOTAS i get a strong yaw drift to the left whenever i am in cockpit. Strangely, when i have the joy.cpl open in the background while being on the "Deadzones"-Tab the problem dissapears. Switching Tabs/Closing the joy.cpl window reintroduces the problem. Playing with the Deadzonesliders both ingame and in the joy.cpl settings doesnt solve the problem either, nor does reinstalling the software/drivers or changing USB-Ports. I even tried the Logitech-Tool that removes all Calibration settings from the registry an re-calibrated all axis.

Does anyone too encountered this problem? I am out of ideas here...

 

[SMcA]

I reinstalled ED after a few months break and now have a strange issue which i never encountered in 5 years of play.

Using a x52 pro HOTAS i get a strong yaw drift to the left whenever i am in cockpit. Strangely, when i have the joy.cpl open in the background while being on the "Deadzones"-Tab the problem dissapears. Switching Tabs/Closing the joy.cpl window reintroduces the problem. Playing with the Deadzonesliders both ingame and in the joy.cpl settings doesnt solve the problem either, nor does reinstalling the software/drivers or changing USB-Ports. I even tried the Logitech-Tool that removes all Calibration settings from the registry an re-calibrated all axis.

Does anyone too encountered this problem? I am out of ideas here...

I've found that setting my deadzones in the Windoze Game Controllers > properties is the way to go. Close it when playing.
It used to be that I had to keep joy.cpl open for things to work but with the s/ware from Logitech, when it is open, a lot of the macros don't work.
I thought for years that all the ships had a built in drift. Silly me.
Occasionally I have to pull out the USB connector and put it back in for it to reset. Then re-select your profile from the icon on the task bar.
See if that works.

 

[PhilBehring]

Thanks for the reply, unfortunatly your tips didn't help. I noticed that the rotation wheels around the E and I-Button on the Thrust-Part of the x52 do slightly judder too which prevents me from assigning buttons in the ED controls menu because everytime i try to assign a button to a function it recognizes the E-Wheel before i can input another button because the wheel seems to send an input all the time. Increasing the deadzones A LOT fixes this, but its annoying... I use the E-Wheel to adjust sensor range ingame an the little Blip beneath the radar keeps juddering all the time even with deadzones set to max.

I never had problems with the x52 before, but i upgraded my CPU/Mainborad a few weeks ago to a Ryzen9 / MSI B550 Tomahawk. Could this be a USB-related problem? Googled a bit and found out some other people have the Yaw drift to the left issues as well, but never found a solution

 

[SMcA]

Thanks for the reply, unfortunatly your tips didn't help. I noticed that the rotation wheels around the E and I-Button on the Thrust-Part of the x52 do slightly judder too which prevents me from assigning buttons in the ED controls menu because everytime i try to assign a button to a function it recognizes the E-Wheel before i can input another button because the wheel seems to send an input all the time. Increasing the deadzones A LOT fixes this, but its annoying... I use the E-Wheel to adjust sensor range ingame an the little Blip beneath the radar keeps juddering all the time even with deadzones set to max.

I never had problems with the x52 before, but i upgraded my CPU/Mainborad a few weeks ago to a Ryzen9 / MSI B550 Tomahawk. Could this be a USB-related problem? Googled a bit and found out some other people have the Yaw drift to the left issues as well, but never found a solution

It could be related to the USB. Years ago when I first got my X52 Pro, it was recommended that it should be plugged into a USB 2.
Just now I noticed that if I plug it into a USB 3 the Windoze properties appeared without any deadzones. Going back to USB 2 my original settings returned. As if there were two setups.
In ED controls to get the rotary to register instead of the E button. I had to rotated it back and forth, a lot. How much noise is visible in the Game Controller Properties?
After clearing the registry, did you calibrate the inputs by moving them back and forth 10 times (recommended)?

Below is a s/shot of my deadzones. Large deadzone for the thumb mouse as the jittering affected my real mouse. The big deadzone for the slider is to turn it into a on/off switch for FA on/off. (Setting that; down/up reverses the use from up/down. The same with the rotary pots.)
We will get this working even if it kills you.

Spoiler

 

[Project Havok]

I've got the x52, not the pro version, but i have found that it does not play well if it is connected to your PC via a USB3.x connection. If you haven't, double check that your x52 is not plugged into a USB 3.x slot, try it in a 2.x slot and see if that fixes the issue.

 

[VR micmacmoc]

I have x52pro. If you put usb game controllers in the search box theres a thing called usb game controllers, in that you can set dead zones. Hope this helps.

 

[Terekhov]

I have an x-52 pro. I actually found the quality low and had multiple issues with it. One of the issues is that, because of two (arguably three or more!! *) issues, the stick does not always fully centre, and has some wobble which is not contested by the springs, and has deadzone issues.

You also need to note that the x-52 pro stick calibrates itself when it is powered on. The position of the stick at that critical time will determine drift. If the stick is not at its optimal centre position (and your stick suffers the same issues as mine) then you will get drift.

The basic advice that I can offer is to get the stick set up in exactly the physical location it will be operating in (for me that is particularly important as I clamp my base to the table, which in my situation tilts my base minutely), Then ensure the stick is in its optimally centred position (more about that below), then briefly disconnect/reconnect the ps/2 cable to the stick. That reconnection, re-centres the stick.

One thing that I found, is that the free play issues I mentioned above made combat harder, and deadzones don't really help with minor corrections/fine aiming. I ended up using JoystickCurves to set a more gradual in-game movement near the stick centre. that, along with some physical mods to the stick alleviated some of the the issues (and whilst not perfect, made the stick usable). One thing that Joystick curves has is a grid that shows both the physical stick position, and the logical (in-game) stick position. A procedure that I do is before starting to play, is to wobble that stick through the range that (as Ii said above) the springs to not centre, and choose what I think is the mid point (using the display in Joystick Curves to assess). I then disconnect/reconnect the stick, check that the stick is now centred correctly, and repeat if it is not.

* - so what issues did I have - Excessive free play (added extra magnets inside the stick), stick shaft wobble (partially fixed by packing out an internal grommet at the base of the shaft), Friction between stick shaft an the inside of that grommet (lubricated with silicone grease, Nyogel would have probably been better). Friction between the stick unit base and the aluminium inverted mushroom (lubricated as above).

 

[PhilBehring]

Thanks for all the replys, i managed to find a solution: I already tried switching USB 3x and 2x Ports which didn't change anything. BUT today i tried ALL my ports and found out that when i use the powered USB Port on the backside of my PC the problem disappears. So the problem is indeed related the the USB ports. Why it works on the powered one (not even sure if its 3x or 2x) and not on the others remains a mystery to me, but at least i can roam the galaxy now (after i bought a USB extension cable that is...).

I hope this thread is useful to someone. See you all in the black!

 

[SMcA]

Good to hear that you got it working.
USB 2.0 Connectors are coloured white or black inside while USB 3.0 is coloured blue

 

[SMcA]

You also need to note that the x-52 pro stick calibrates itself when it is powered on. The position of the stick at that critical time will determine drift. If the stick is not at its optimal centre position (and your stick suffers the same issues as mine) then you will get drift.

Thanks, I didnot know that.
I started looking what the Sim guys were saying about re/calibrating the X25. I found a neat little utility someone (friend of a friend of a friend) had written.This was on a bulletin board, would you believe? Anyway there were quite a few post in different threads about how useful it was. When I found it I ran it in a VM. It is handy, it gives the resolution of the analogous. That's it, you can filter throttle or stick or both. It is called joytester2.exe
It shows that my throttle is over scale. And it is right, full scale is off the scale before it reaches the end stop. If there is an adjustable one.

The usual reminders apply.
You might want to look at the sort of chaps the link came from.

ATAG THE AIR TACTICAL ASSAULT GROUP

A link to the page that has the link.


Author: vranac Date: Nov-05-2013, 13:46

 

[LifesAJourney]

BUT today i tried ALL my ports and found out that when i use the powered USB Port on the backside of my PC the problem disappears.

Good for you! I had the same issue but none of my USB ports helped. So I had to return my X52 to the store.

 

[Terekhov]

To be clear, there may be a number of issues at play here:

My response above, came from the OP's statement of continual drift. I personally don't think USB issues explain that (but the disconnections/reconnections whilst trying that might have re-centered the stick as I described.

My response also came form my own frustrations thatI had with the quality of the stick. Thannkfully I'm technically competent and was able to mittigater them myself. I didn't have the option of throwing the HOTAS back as I actually think I purchased the last one from a mainstream UK supplier, before HOTASs became extinct this summer!, and repair times at Logitech were reportedly through the roof as well...

The X-52pro is also famous for ghosting of inputs, jitter of analogue inputs etc.. This IS usually USB port related. Obviously ther is th old chestnut of disabling power management to usb devices. More relevant however is making sure that the device has enough power. USB2 or 3 should not be an issue for these sticks, but that availble power IS. Some PCs habe USB ports documented to be high power. There are powered USB hubs that might help. It's also worth noting that USB ports are commonly paired into groups of two on PCs. Those pairs of ports might (commonly do) share power. It might be worth. If looking to diagnose these issues it is useful to ensure that the other port in a pair is not connected during the test.

 

[Daffan]

I reinstalled ED after a few months break and now have a strange issue which i never encountered in 5 years of play.

Using a x52 pro HOTAS i get a strong yaw drift to the left whenever i am in cockpit. Strangely, when i have the joy.cpl open in the background while being on the "Deadzones"-Tab the problem dissapears. Switching Tabs/Closing the joy.cpl window reintroduces the problem. Playing with the Deadzonesliders both ingame and in the joy.cpl settings doesnt solve the problem either, nor does reinstalling the software/drivers or changing USB-Ports. I even tried the Logitech-Tool that removes all Calibration settings from the registry an re-calibrated all axis.

Does anyone too encountered this problem? I am out of ideas here...

Wow.

My X52 joystick had the exact same thing on the Z TWIST AXIS.

In Windows, there is literally zero problem with drift or jitter nor in other games. Yet in-game Elite, it moves to the left for no reason. When I open joy.cpl and go to deadzone tab, it stops and is perfect. So I have to keep it open.

How strange.

 

[C)(R!$Py]

I took my throttle apart cliped wire to that stupid mouse nub thing its allways imputing like your using it when your not. that worked for a while. the issue my stick has is the directional stick on the throttle i can never go left or up after a while of playing. I've put my USB now in a powerd hub helps but still after a few hours starts doing it again. my hub has button to turn off and back on usally resets it. but doesn't last long. I blow out everything with my aircompresser once a week.
I think the issues with these HOTAS are the software not the hardware. I'm not even close to a programmer but if i had to speculate i would say that its confused by to many inputs happing at same time causing a traffic jam of inputs that get stored and jumbled up and confuse stuff thats why unpluging and pluging back in works sometimes other time i have to log out and find after cleaning junk files tends to work better again. we need a 3rd party programmer to develop software that goes threw and deletes the input data as fast as its stored so to better stream line input data from the controls. I don't know if any of this makes cents. lol

 

[Terekhov]

Once the stick is sat in the place you will use it, and with the stick centered, unplug the connecting cable (between stick and throttle) at either end and re plug it. The stick should re-calibrate to that the stick reads as centered when it physically is.