The Joystick/Controller discussion thread

[Rog]

I get that a lefty might be interested in the T-16000M, and maybe someone on a really tight budget, but it's an aweful stick. As someone else mentioned, the buttons look like something you'd find on a toy aimed at a 2 year old. I've got a 15 year old stick (that only cost me £30 even then) that looks more expensive!

I definitely plan on getting the Saitek X55, so certainly interested to see the response to whether it actually is supported. In other threads people that have tried to use it in Alpha found that the game didn't recognise the throttle. Hopefully that either already fixed or will be in the next build.

I still have the ancient 10 yearold X52 (not the pro) which is still just about clinging on to life (with countlessly increased dead zones to remove the ever increasing jitter) which will probably do in the meantime though.

You may be interested in looking at this short guide to fixing your X52 (not pro) for next to nothing in about 5 minutes, or Googling for 'X52 magnet mod'.

Here's a link to the magnets you need. I've used the seller in the past, and they've been reliable.

HTH.

_________________________

As an aside, I've also bought a CH products Fighterstick, and it's a really nice solid item. Not a twist rudder stick, but that's ok, as I was going to try rudder pedals anyway. You can tell CH make industrial controls too - the stick gives the impression of solidity without bells, whistles and blinkenlights.

If I had to pick a fault with it, it would be nicer if the 'pinky' button was offset, rather than being in the middle of the grip, but that's it.

 

[Adept]

You may be interested in looking at this short guide to fixing your X52 (not pro) for next to nothing in about 5 minutes, or Googling for 'X52 magnet mod'.

Here's a link to the magnets you need. I've used the seller in the past, and they've been reliable.

HTH.

_________________________

As an aside, I've also bought a CH products Fighterstick, and it's a really nice solid item. Not a twist rudder stick, but that's ok, as I was going to try rudder pedals anyway. You can tell CH make industrial controls too - the stick gives the impression of solidity without bells, whistles and blinkenlights.

If I had to pick a fault with it, it would be nicer if the 'pinky' button was offset, rather than being in the middle of the grip, but that's it.

Damn is that a clever fix! *slow clap* wow.

PS. Really nice to hear about the Fighterstick, as mine is on it's way.

 

[Y2K]

The X52 is (more) prone to jitter than the X52 Pro, that's probably the biggest difference between them, so you're more likely going to need to adjust the dead zones to keep the throttle and stick stable. Having said that, after nearly 10 years of vigorous use, I haven't had to increase the dead zones too drastically.

However, I have never been able to get the mouse nipple to work properly; it permanently drags the mouse cursor to the right of the screen. I basically have to either disable the mouse nip entirely, or give it such a large dead zone that it basically doesn't work.

The Saitek site also appears to have stopped supporting the original 52, so getting drivers can be a bit of a pain, especially for Windows 8 - you can have to install the driver set in compatibility mode for it to work properly.

The X52 drivers and software are available on the Saitek site. You navigate to Downloads/Software then leave the first dropdown alone and select Joystick in the second dropdown, the X52 is listed there for both updated drivers and software.

Im currently using it in Battlefield 4 and have no problems at all. Both the throttle and stick calibrated perfectly in the control panel.

 

[HoshiQaVam]

Oh don't get me wrong, with the exception of the mouse my X52 was perfect when I first purchased it. Just like most things it degrades a little with time. I got mine when they were first launched, which was what, 2005? 2007? Something like that, so it's definitely lasted quite well.

If it wasn't for the fact that the X55 has such a better throttle and looks a little cooler, I would probably stick with the 52 for another 10 years.

You may be interested in looking at this short guide to fixing your X52 (not pro) for next to nothing in about 5 minutes, or Googling for 'X52 magnet mod'.

Thanks for that, I might check it out, but to be perfectly honest I've never had the need to use the mouse nip, and the sensitivity reduction as a result of increasing dead zones to reduce jitter has never been too big of a hit so it's probably not worth the hassle to fix - especially if I wind up getting the X55 anyway

 

[ConquerorUK]

MadCatz F.L.Y. 5 JoyStick Config

Loving the Alpha 1.1

Does anyone have a good Config/Profile for the FLY 5 Stick ?

I find the movements to much to control & find it hard to even target the waste containers as the ship keeps rolling or spinning too much.

In the 2nd mission i'm lucky if i get to hit the ship twice in 5 mins. the guys on youtube seem to be able to stay on target longer than i can

I have played around with the dead zones but that doesn't seem to help

Thx in advance for your advice

 

[mahoon]

Worth a double-check you've got flight-assist on. You probably have, but it needs checking off the list.

 

[Yaffle]

From the Joystick Thread for you:

I think my E: D has broken my joystick. When I go into a scenario (SP or MP), I appear to be going flat out, and spinning. The joystick is unresponsive (though it seems to be recognised in the controls setting panel). If I hit "x" to stop it, it pauses briefly. If I hold X down, it slows to a halt, but as soon as I release it again, accelerates up to top speed. Nothing seems to stop the behaviour, other than changing focus to, for example, the start menu.

I checked drivers and windows says it was not using one. So I went to the madcatz website (it is a v.1 stick) and downloaded a new driver. This threw up a test program. In that program, the buttons all worked fine, but the joystick axes did nothing. Does that mean my stick is bust, or is there a way to wake it up? Any suggestions?

FWIW: I do not seem to be having much luck. I have installed Alpha 3 on my work laptop, because my desktop looks to have reached the end of its life, and will not boot. In previous E: D versions I was flying with an X52 Pro, but I did not want to go through installing that on the laptop: and in any case, I wanted to have something relatively cheap and cheerful I could use when I'm on the road.

I know it sounds silly, but have you tried unplugging it and plugging it in again?

Are there any calibration panels in the Windows joystick/controller control panel? If so you may be able to recalibrate the axes.

Yes it sounds silly. Unplugged and plugged in again, changed usb ports, complete reboot. Still the same.

There was a deadzone thingy. X and Y axes appeared not to move, Z axis was flickering. It was not at all clear to me what I was supposed to do in there!

Well, an install of their ST software, which seems to have installed another driver, has done the trick. So now when I crash into an asteroid, I know it is my fault.

 

[dhyran]

looking for a joystick profile G940

Hi,

has anyone a logitech g940 profile?
I am not sure what i am doing wrong, cant really map mine in the beta premium 1.1 alpha

thanks in advance

 

[Michael Brookes]

Devices that masquerade as multiple devices (like this stick) aren't supported in the 1.1 build, they are in the full premium beta build.

Michael

 

[deusx_ophc]

Devices that masquerade as multiple devices (like this stick) aren't supported in the 1.1 build, they are in the full premium beta build.

Michael

good morning michael

 

[Anubis Khan]

X65F Profile

Anybody else besides me using the Saitek X65F here on the alpha? If so is there a preexisting profile for it?

Was going to make one but figured I would ask here before deciding to reinvent the wheel!

 

[psychotik2k3]

Devices that masquerade as multiple devices (like this stick) aren't supported in the 1.1 build, they are in the full premium beta build.

Michael

??? can you explain me ? because i was surprised when i started to see it was written alpha 1.1
So when this full premium beta build is expected ?? (i got a hotas warthog and a trackIR so everything that are not supported on this build but that alpha people said it's already fixed in later version of the alpha)
so i'm a little confused about all these different versions.

 

[Cody]

So when this full premium beta build is expected ??

Premium Beta begins on 30th May.

 

[Yaffle]

??? can you explain me ? because i was surprised when i started to see it was written alpha 1.1
So when this full premium beta build is expected ?? (i got a hotas warthog and a trackIR so everything that are not supported on this build but that alpha people said it's already fixed in later version of the alpha)
so i'm a little confused about all these different versions.

FD have given you access to an old alpha build, not the most recent. If you had alpha today the single player missions are all there too, but with a different software codebase around them. Within the new (still only with alpha people) codebase is support for multiple port joysticks.

Your joystick appears to the game as multiple USB points, so the build of the game you have can't handle it. There may be a way of creating a virtual joystick to present itself as one device to the game, I don't know.

You can spoof the Warthog to be a single device using TARGET. I have a script I do this from, PM me if you want it.

 

[DD_Crash]

Logitech never gave the 940 the ability to merge controllers. It was asked for but they decided to abandon the 940. The 940 could have been a must buy for flight sims if they had just made a couple of changes. I used to own one

 

[Worldmaker]

Calibrating joystick axis? (Encountering infinite spin)

Hey everyone,

Apologies if my use of the search function isn't up to par but I haven't been able to locate any information on whether or not it's possible to calibrate joystick axis. I pledged Premium Beta today (Woohoo! Glad to join you guys!) and I've been playing on my X52 Pro. The game locked up due to alt tabbing a couple of hours ago, and since then the pitch axis of my joystick has been near non existent - the ship is in perpetual spin, and only responds when I pull back as far as possible.

I've tried restarting the game, my computer, I've made sure the joystick is still functioning in other games, so short of reinstalling Elite I'm not sure what to do. Any insight would be greatly appreciated - if I can solve this without wasting Frontier's time on a known issue ticket, I'd prefer to.

Cheers!

 

[ste]

Have you accidentally moved the deadzone on the pitch option maybe.

 

[Bikky]

I had similar with x3:reunion.

My fix was to always leave the JS unplugged, until PC booted, and desired game decided.

Then plug in the JS, select profile (if needed) then load the game.

I think i've also got my deadzone somewhere set to about 5 (quite small but sufficient)

 

[MortVader]

Hey everyone,

Apologies if my use of the search function isn't up to par but I haven't been able to locate any information on whether or not it's possible to calibrate joystick axis. I pledged Premium Beta today (Woohoo! Glad to join you guys!) and I've been playing on my X52 Pro. The game locked up due to alt tabbing a couple of hours ago, and since then the pitch axis of my joystick has been near non existent - the ship is in perpetual spin, and only responds when I pull back as far as possible.

I've tried restarting the game, my computer, I've made sure the joystick is still functioning in other games, so short of reinstalling Elite I'm not sure what to do. Any insight would be greatly appreciated - if I can solve this without wasting Frontier's time on a known issue ticket, I'd prefer to.

Cheers!

I encountered this once, and found the following solution to work:

Calibration Fix


If you are finding that the axes on your controller are not travelling through their full range of movement and/or are not centering correctly then try these fixes. The first fix deals specifically with Flight Sim. The second fix deals directly with the controller in Windows and should resolve any issues detected in Control Panel > Game Controllers > Properties.

If you are having trouble with calibration in Flight Sim then you might need to rebuild the config (cfg) file.

To rebuild the Flight Simulator config file, press and hold down CTRL+SHIFT as you start Flight Simulator and start a new flight. Continue to hold down CTRL+SHIFT until the game is in Cockpit view. Note - When you rebuild the config file, some of your joystick settings may change.

This should work for FS9 and FSX. Once you have got in to the cockpit - make sure you move the controller in the full range of all its axes 4 times to make sure the calibration data is recorded properly.

To recalibrate in Windows, first remove the USB plug for your controller from the PC.

Press and hold the Windows key on your keyboard and then press the letter R. This will open the Run box. Type regedit and then click ok.

The Registry Editor will have a list of folders on the left hand side. Go down into the following folders in order by clicking the + next to the folder name.

+HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE (CURRENT_USER if on Vista)
+System
+CurrentControlSet
+Control
+Media Properties
+Private Properties
+Direct Input

Delete any folder inside the Direct Input folder that begins VID_06A3.

Once deleted, close the editor, then plug the USB back into the original port. Move all the axes of the controller through their full range of movement four times.

Now go to Control Panel > Game Controllers > Properties to check the axes on the test screen. If the issue persists then test the controller on another PC to see if the issue is replicated. If it is replicated then it is most likely a fault with the controller which will need to be replaced if it is still within warranty.

 

[icblue]

Had something similar happen on the x52 pro too, in my case the throttle axis was non- existent anymore at game start.
I selected the default setup for the Saitek x52 pro in the their drop-down list and everything was back to normal again.
Might want to try that out ?