Thrustmaster HOTAS 4 Drivers Problems

[carlomoretti73]

Hail everibody
Newbie here. I read some of the post to see if I can found my problem already discussed, but I can't. So, here it is: I made the mistake to connect the brand new joystick Thrustmaster Flight HOTAS 4 BEFORE installing his drivers. My OS is Windows10. I launched the game in tutorial and I went through the first steps, up to the Cargo mission: scan and shoot. There, I disconnect. The day after I launched the game again and NO throttle anymore! I checked the game setting and the joystick seems working fine. I tried to use the throttle for another action but the game told me the throttle is already selected for... throttle!, that should means the game can read properly the controller. I tried to set a free command via keyboard to 25% speed, but the ship is not moving anyway. I checked Steam controllers setting and it is ok, I downloaded the proper drivers and installed them. the joystik seems working just fine: in the Thrustmaster Control Panel everything is ok: stick, throttle, buttons... but Nope, no throttle in the game. Uninstalled the drivers, disconnected the joystick, installed the drivers again and connected the joystick when asked... nothing. Throttle is still not working. I tried the joystick with Falcon BMS and I have the same problem: no throttle. I tryed to contact Thrustmaster support but I can't get any information.
Did anyone went thru the same problem and can help with some tips? thanks in advance guys!

 

[Templar01]

I feel your pain brother. This was something that so frustrated me when I was a newbie that I actually walked away from the game for almost a year. It's one area of the game that has been severely neglected by FDEV and if you dive into the Bindings file, you'll find evidence that there were very different teams and approaches used for key bindings between versions and controls. (i.e. SRV controls are structured very differently from ship controls in the .BINDS file lending to the notion that this was something that has the minimal amount of effort put into the design. I guess in all fairness, why would they put resources into something that is only used once during game setup. It just needs to be "good enough"

It sounds like you maybe chasing the wrong problem though. If you're able to get your joystick to work but not the throttle, then it's most likely an ED settings issue. I've had this experience with the Thrustmaster's T16000m HOTAS when I first started. Hopefully these troubleshooting steps below will help.

There are two issues usually working against you. First, the Thrustmaster HOTAS products are actually recognized as two separate Joysticks by the operating system. However, the second challenge is that ED does not obviously distinguish labels between buttons and controls on the two joysticks.

So as an example JOY1 on joystick one or two are simply labeled JOY1 in the configurator. If you dive into the the bindings file, you will see that internally the two JOY1 are labeled as Device="T16000M" Key="Joy_1" and Device="T16000MTHROTTLE" Key="Joy_1". However, in the configuration menu it just says "JOY1" without the designation of which JOY1 you've selected.

<Primary Device="T16000M" Key="Joy_1" /> <=== This is how Joystick button one on a T16000M looks like in the key Bindings file.
<Primary Device="T16000MTHROTTLE" Key="Joy_1" /> <=== This is how Joystick button one on a the Throttle looks like in the key Bindings file.

However, in the OPTIONS/Controls configuration, this is how it looks on screen without any indication as to which Joystick JOY 1 refers to.

Confusing? You betcha and it had me going in circles until I learned how to read the Key Bindings file. Fortunately you won't have to if you follow some easier steps I'll lay out here.


___

Step 1) If you haven't already done so verify that your OS is seeing BOTH joysticks and verify the "name" that they are known under.
You need to go into the Joy stick control panel. The quickest way is to hold the Windows Key and "R" and bring up the "run" dialogue box and run "joy.cpl" to run the joystick calibration panel.

If you see both joystick and throttle, you know they are connected and ED will be able to use them. It also means you're drivers are correctly installed. You can verify the throttle is working by going into the calibration but this will likely not produce any new results.

___



Step 2) Verify that you have your joystick selected as the current control device and NOT the mouse and/or keyboard. This will be found in the Options/Control Panel in ED.

It should say something like this at the top:

Or if you changed your configuration already it will say this instead.

The simplest remedy is to simply change the throttle button by clicking on it. You will be prompted to operate the control or key stroke that you want to use for your throttle.

You will then be presented with an option to move or press the keys you want to use for your throttle. Do this then save your configuration and test.

____


Alternatively, you could try out Thrustmaster's Target Software which is a free download. It doesn't look like they explicitly support the HOTAS 4 but try it out. If it is supported, this utility inserts its own driver and creates a combined "Single Joystick" appearance in the OS. The software also allows for a lot of granular control over Joystick behavior such as power curves and sensitivity.

As of this posting, it can be found here:

Flight Sim Joysticks, Yoke and Accessories | Thrustmaster

Check out our flight sim gear for PC, PlayStation and Xbox. Joysticks, yoke, rudders and accessories for amateurs and experts.

www.thrustmaster.com

This is not only a utility but a deep scripting application more suited towards those with some programming experience but the out-of-box scripts are easy to use without special knowledge. My suggestion is to look on YouTube for tutorials. There are a number of them out there which will walk you through how to use the utility.

 

[carlomoretti73]

Thank you so much! I will post a message with the results! Thank you again!

 

[carlomoretti73]

Thank you Templar! I finally could get it work with proper drivers. Got some help from a friend and at the end I think he did on my computer what you have suggested. Thank you again!