Saitek x55 HOTAS Configuration Files for anyone who wants them

[TRLOS]

Hey guys.
Just thought I would share this with anyone who has a Saitek x55 HOTAS.

Its the configuration files for Elite Dangerous
It took a while for me to find a decent configuration that will let me use the mouse and keyboard the least amount of time while in game (of course cannot be avoided when in the Galaxy Screen), which is why I thought I would share this with everyone.

(sneak peak of the keybindings)

Instructions are in a readme file on the google drive link below.
https://drive.google.com/folderview...pCbFMwNlZKQzVsTmNtZXlDUnVsdjBwRnM&usp=sharing


If you have any other configurations for Elite Dangerous, I would love to have a look at your keybindings.

 

[Wasp0]

Has anyone who owns and uses a X55, found a use for the 2 rotary switches on the throttle side of things? Seems a waste of 2 switches for me?

 

[Almond]

Nice. I am now confused whether I should choose X55 or X52pro. Can anyone give me some advice?
I watched a lot of videos and review. It seems X55 has a lot more problems, but i do like its design. X52 pro seems good, and it's CHEAPER.
I never use a joystick before, maybe I should start from a simple one, like x52 pro?

 

[Chris Simon]

Has anyone who owns and uses a X55, found a use for the 2 rotary switches on the throttle side of things? Seems a waste of 2 switches for me?

I use them for thrusters. Top one for lateral, bottom one for vertical. They are actually pretty awesome. They have that "click" in the middle, so they work without deadzones and I can have finer control over the thrusters. For example while landing with FA off, one needs to set vertical thrusters to fire a little, constantly, to counter the microgravity in stations.
Naturally for crude handling in battles and such, I also have the POV hat set up.

Or do you mean the two on the base? I use one for radar zoom and the second one for switching firegroups.

Nice. I am now confused whether I should choose X55 or X52pro. Can anyone give me some advice?
I watched a lot of videos and review. It seems X55 has a lot more problems, but i do like its design. X52 pro seems good, and it's CHEAPER.
I never use a joystick before, maybe I should start from a simple one, like x52 pro?

I have both. X52Pro has MUCH more precise joystick. X55's hard springs (even the lightest one) make the controls choppy around the middle. If I could choose, I would take X52 joystick with X55 throttle. That would be an awesome combo.
As for the software problems, I can't really say. I'm probably the lucky minority with no issues, whatsoever.

 

[GeoFalke]

Nice. I am now confused whether I should choose X55 or X52pro. Can anyone give me some advice?
I watched a lot of videos and review. It seems X55 has a lot more problems, but i do like its design. X52 pro seems good, and it's CHEAPER.
I never use a joystick before, maybe I should start from a simple one, like x52 pro?

I'm using a pair of thrustmaster T16000m s. about $40 each and they work like a dream. I use the right one for weapons and pitch/yaw/roll and the left one has vertical thrust set to my x axis, lateral to y axis, and double bound throttle to the throttle lever and to the twist axis.

it took a little to get re-adjusted to sticks after having to gamepad fly for so long, but it's worth it.

 

[CMDR Reaper]

Has anyone who owns and uses a X55, found a use for the 2 rotary switches on the throttle side of things? Seems a waste of 2 switches for me?

I use the top one for sensor range

I use the bottom one for the Jaw asis. I got so tired of the jaw squaking/friction on the stick, that I decided to use one of the rotary switches for the rudder.

 

[Chris Simon]

I use the top one for sensor range

I use the bottom one for the Jaw asis. I got so tired of the jaw squaking/friction on the stick, that I decided to use one of the rotary switches for the rudder.

You know that rotary thingy that serves to tighten the stick to the base? Just pry it a little with the screwdriver and put some vaseline into the slit. It then twists really smoothly and without a sound. (Though the spring might have been a bit lighter...)

 

[Wasp0]

I use them for thrusters. Top one for lateral, bottom one for vertical. They are actually pretty awesome. They have that "click" in the middle, so they work without deadzones and I can have finer control over the thrusters. For example while landing with FA off, one needs to set vertical thrusters to fire a little, constantly, to counter the microgravity in stations.
Naturally for crude handling in battles and such, I also have the POV hat set up.

Or do you mean the two on the base? I use one for radar zoom and the second one for switching firegroups.



I have both. X52Pro has MUCH more precise joystick. X55's hard springs (even the lightest one) make the controls choppy around the middle. If I could choose, I would take X52 joystick with X55 throttle. That would be an awesome combo.
As for the software problems, I can't really say. I'm probably the lucky minority with no issues, whatsoever.

I use the top one for sensor range

I use the bottom one for the Jaw asis. I got so tired of the jaw squaking/friction on the stick, that I decided to use one of the rotary switches for the rudder.

I mean the 2 rotarys on the base marked in OP's picture as RTY 3 and RTY 4.

Does everyone else's Flight sick Yaw control graunch, squeak and stick a little? Mine sticks a very tiny amount, but if you line up on a station at say 500Ls away, by the time you get to lining up it has wandered off by quite a way! It hate that bit of this HOTAS. That's a good idea of using the top Rotary on the Throttle for Yaw, i'll give that a go

 

[TieKnee]

Nice. I am now confused whether I should choose X55 or X52pro. Can anyone give me some advice?
I watched a lot of videos and review. It seems X55 has a lot more problems, but i do like its design. X52 pro seems good, and it's CHEAPER.
I never use a joystick before, maybe I should start from a simple one, like x52 pro?

X52 pro works very well. no issues for the last few months. Good luck on deciding your direction.

 

[Commander Debic]

Has anyone who owns and uses a X55, found a use for the 2 rotary switches on the throttle side of things? Seems a waste of 2 switches for me?

Yep, up down and left right motion while in galaxy map.

 

[Wasp0]

Nice. I am now confused whether I should choose X55 or X52pro. Can anyone give me some advice?
I watched a lot of videos and review. It seems X55 has a lot more problems, but i do like its design. X52 pro seems good, and it's CHEAPER.
I never use a joystick before, maybe I should start from a simple one, like x52 pro?

Having had 2 X55 (One warranty replacement) and the other now squeaking more than a pig, i would really consider the Warthog, but i can't do the foot pedals for the Yaw. For me in ED, Yaw is very critical !

I will not replace my X55 with another X55!!!

 

[Commander Debic]

I mean the 2 rotarys on the base marked in OP's picture as RTY 3 and RTY 4.

Does everyone else's Flight sick Yaw control graunch, squeak and stick a little? Mine sticks a very tiny amount, but if you line up on a station at say 500Ls away, by the time you get to lining up it has wandered off by quite a way! It hate that bit of this HOTAS. That's a good idea of using the top Rotary on the Throttle for Yaw, i'll give that a go

Mine used to it seems to be due to the sharp lip that the bottom plastic rest underneath the spring cup of the stick having a very sharp edge.
We used some very fine wet and dry, used dry, to soften it down and round it off and it has never caused a problem since. Took a bit of trial and error until it worked without the stickiness but worth the effort.
But don't use any lubricant to stop it graunching, as if it finds itself down into the lower innards it can ruin the stick. Just take the stick off as if changing one of the springs and then work on the lip of the seating that the stick/spring/bottom spring cup rest on. If you use any lubricant on the wet and dry ensure it doesn't get inside the base and that you clean and dry it off after, before reassembly.

 

[Iskariot]

Even simply scratching the roughness off the underside of the cup that sits directly underneath the spring with your bare fingernails will improve the squeaking.
It is almost completely gone in my case.

 

[Wasp0]

Guys and Gals, appreciate your reply's, but the squeakiness, grunching is not coming from the spring ball area. It is the YAW movement which if you look closely is not connected to the spring and ball area, the actual Yaw twist movement is internal to the stick. I have had a look inside, (This i was instructed to do by support on the first one i had before is said to tech support" I am not doing your job for you" so they said send it back and they replaced it). Undo the 5 screws on the handle, un-snap the stick and you can see the twisting YAW movement inside. Support said it is sometimes caused by lack of lubricant on two bits of plastic rubbing together and a metal spring clip catching.

It was at this point i told Tech support the above. They sent me a whole new set, and after just 3 weeks the new one is doing EXACTLY the same. Reading up on this it is a known design fault of the X55.

I won't be buying a 3rd!!!!

 

[Insomnia]

The squeaking doesn't bother me much nowadays. But I am pretty pedantic about the hats as I've heard those are the first to brake. I've had it for more than 6 months and no issues so far *knock on wood*.
I'd like to use the slider as a forward/backward button.
And the nipple would be great to use as a secondary mouse pointer or with free look.

All in all, I love my X55. It shines so bright and sings so loud.

 

[TRLOS]

Nice. I am now confused whether I should choose X55 or X52pro. Can anyone give me some advice?
I watched a lot of videos and review. It seems X55 has a lot more problems, but i do like its design. X52 pro seems good, and it's CHEAPER.
I never use a joystick before, maybe I should start from a simple one, like x52 pro?

I will admit that the x55 did have a couple of quirks straight out of the box.
The only 2 modifications I made was:
- To remove some of the resistance gel from the throttle controller (which took a total of 5 minutes and was super easy to do)
- I shaved about 1-2mm of plastic from the bottom of the joystick between the joystick and the screw tightener (or whatever you call it). It is basically the lip of the plastics.
Honestly, if Saitek just modified their manufacturing plant to remove that lip completely, the joystick would be perfect.

The issue I had with the joystick was that it squeaked and wouldn't bounce back to centre position when twisting the rudder. It was a bit of a fiddle around to do it but once it was done, the joystick was absolutely perfect. You can't even see where it was modified.

For anyone looking for photos of the joystick mod to eliminate that squeak and resistance, here is the link : http://imgur.com/a/WmQ89

Apart from those 2 mods, the x55 is an awesome HOTAS

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Or do you mean the two on the base? I use one for radar zoom

Ohhhhhhhh, I likey
Thanks for that. Am binding that right now.

EDIT:
Which option did you use for radar zoom in game ?
I tried the 'Decrease Sensor Zoom' and bound that to [+JOY RY-AXIS] (which is turning the RTY 4 to the right), but that only emulates a single '.' press when turning it all the way to the right.
Is that what happens with yours or have I bound the wrong option ?

EDIT 2:
I think I figured it out.
For anyone who is interested: Go into Mad-Catz software and change the RTY 4 as a Directional Axis and decrease the sensitivity down to about 1/6th of the slider.
Then bind the + to the '.' (dot) key and the - to the ',' (comma).

 

[Aussiedroid]

Has anyone who owns and uses a X55, found a use for the 2 rotary switches on the throttle side of things? Seems a waste of 2 switches for me?

I found a use for them, but I have configured them more as two switches with a very large neutral zone (98% deadzone & 1% either side). I have set them up to take screenshots on one (HD screenshots and also Steam screenshots) and on the other I use it to disable hud & display the OSD for framerate etc.

Can check out my profiles here:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=456122613

Having had 2 X55 (One warranty replacement) and the other now squeaking more than a pig, i would really consider the Warthog, but i can't do the foot pedals for the Yaw. For me in ED, Yaw is very critical !

I will not replace my X55 with another X55!!!

Yep, I feel the same, will never buy another Saitek product. Awful quality, awful customer support!

You will need to lubricate it up yourself. I did it with 2 types of lubes .. primarily the WD-40 Dry PTFE (apply sparingly and work in, then reapply as needed - less is more) which works really well and also used some graphite powder lube on the joystick handle inside for the twist (near the spring). Mine started squeaking within an hour of play time, and needed multiple applications until it was actually good to use. Once done though, the joystick operation is super smooth.

 

[Chris Simon]

EDIT 2:
I think I figured it out.
For anyone who is interested: Go into Mad-Catz software and change the RTY 4 as a Directional Axis and decrease the sensitivity down to about 1/6th of the slider.
Then bind the + to the '.' (dot) key and the - to the ',' (comma).

You didn't have to do that. Apart from +, - buttons, the radar zoom can also be bound to the actual axis. Just check the options once more

 

[5an Holo]

I mean the 2 rotarys on the base marked in OP's picture as RTY 3 and RTY 4

I have VLC Volume control mapped to RTY 3 which I use in game.

 

[Wasp0]

I found a use for them, but I have configured them more as two switches with a very large neutral zone (98% deadzone & 1% either side). I have set them up to take screenshots on one (HD screenshots and also Steam screenshots) and on the other I use it to disable hud & display the OSD for framerate etc.

Can check out my profiles here:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=456122613



Yep, I feel the same, will never buy another Saitek product. Awful quality, awful customer support!

You will need to lubricate it up yourself. I did it with 2 types of lubes .. primarily the WD-40 Dry PTFE (apply sparingly and work in, then reapply as needed - less is more) which works really well and also used some graphite powder lube on the joystick handle inside for the twist (near the spring). Mine started squeaking within an hour of play time, and needed multiple applications until it was actually good to use. Once done though, the joystick operation is super smooth.

A reply from AussieDroid...Man i feel privileged, i have followed all your advice on the X55 and have your 55 Binds....Work brilliant and helped me get the hang of this game. I value your guidance and opinion . I thank you sir.........Could you elaborate on the Lubrication of the stick twist sticking granching please, i am so desperate to get this sorted.