what causes joystick settings to "reset"?

[Dejmos]

Hello.
Can someone tell me what causes joystick settings to "reset"? I play, turn off the game, go to sleep. The next day, I launch the game, and the buttons on my HOTAS no longer trigger the actions they were previously assigned to. I’ve already contacted support once, and I think I'm not the only one with this issue. There was a period of peace for a while, but now the problem is back. It’s frustrating to have to remap the buttons every time. At some point, it’s easier to just quit the game rather than remap the HOTAS buttons again. Maybe someone has an idea how to fix this? The developers managed to solve it briefly.
Regards.

 

[Riverside]

I get this very occasionally, it's because my PC somehow forgets that the controllers are connected (via USB). I run joy.cpl to test each controller (while not in the game) and unplug/reconnect each if required so widowns re-detects them then on starting the game everything is back to normal again.

It may also help to have a saved controller profile (in-game) rather than just leaving it as 'custom'. There's a sticky thread in the PC section that covers saving your controller profile:

lost your binds? want hasstle free backed up binds look no further

keybindings can reset if you visit the control section without one of your usual devices used to play the game ie hotas , xbox pad etc not plugged in or at that present moment is undetected by windows as it thinks your just using keyboard and mouse it simply rewrites your binds for you...

forums.frontier.co.uk

 

[Dejmos]

I get this very occasionally, it's because my PC somehow forgets that the controllers are connected (via USB). I run joy.cpl to test each controller (while not in the game) and unplug/reconnect each if required so widowns re-detects them then on starting the game everything is back to normal again.

It may also help to have a saved controller profile (in-game) rather than just leaving it as 'custom'. There's a sticky thread in the PC section that covers saving your controller profile:

lost your binds? want hasstle free backed up binds look no further

keybindings can reset if you visit the control section without one of your usual devices used to play the game ie hotas , xbox pad etc not plugged in or at that present moment is undetected by windows as it thinks your just using keyboard and mouse it simply rewrites your binds for you...

forums.frontier.co.uk

"Every time I set up my HOTAS, the settings are saved under 'Custom.' However, when I restart the game the next day, that 'Custom' profile is gone. If I close and relaunch the game the same day (even after a few hours), the problem doesn’t occur. Thanks for your response."

 

[Dougie]

"Every time I set up my HOTAS, the settings are saved under 'Custom.' However, when I restart the game the next day, that 'Custom' profile is gone. If I close and relaunch the game the same day (even after a few hours), the problem doesn’t occur. Thanks for your response."

When I started I took the advice of that linked thread and renamed my binds to something else. Since it is only "custom" that is mucked-about with by the game, my saved (renamed) binds are (hopefully) safe from such issues.

Maybe if you also did the renaming as in that thread, you would benefit?

 

[Bigmaec]

You need to copy your custom (custom.4.2.binds) save file to the same directory, give it another name ("Bigmaec.4.2.binds" for example because I'm that modest)
(C:\Users\PC\AppData\Local\Frontier Developments\Elite Dangerous\Options\Bindings in my case)
and then you need to find the line <Root PresetName="xxxxxxx" MajorVersion="4" MinorVersion="2"> and change the x's to your name of the bind.

Voila, never overwritten binds again. Except when we get a new version, then you start again More details in Riversides link.

 

[the100thmonkey]

The behaviour you describe happens when the game client cannot find a device specified in the bindings file on launch. The binds have not been deleted; the file is still in the bindings folder. However, you won't be able to select it from the dropdown menu.

In the same folder where your binds are saved (Bigmaec explains where in the post above), you will find a file called BindingLoadingErrors.log. Open this file. It will show you the USB ID of the device(s) that the game can't find, expressed as string of numbers and letters similar to AB12:CD34. You can use USBDeview to identify which USB ID corresponds to which device.

If you want to ensure that your custom binds do not get overwritten, do as Bigmaec describes above. Renamed custom binds are never overwritten unless you open the binds in the game and edit them.

I find that the most common cause of this problem is wireless gamepads. I have an 8bitdo 2.4GHz wireless controller. It goes to sleep to save power. If I have it mapped in the game it must be active when I launch the client or the game craps the bed and loads default bindings.

 

[metatheurgist]

The settings don't actually reset. What happens is if the game doesn't detect any of the controllers in your custom binds, it goes off and chooses another default bind that it thinks matches whatever you do have plugged in. Usually this is completely different to whatever you have in custom so it may appear as if you have "lost" or "reset" your binds. The trick is not to panic and plug in whatever the game didn't detect when you started the game. I'm told the game is now smart enough to self-correct once the correct controllers are plugged in, but if not, just exit the game and start again with all the controllers connected.

 

[Commander Biscuit]

The settings don't actually reset. What happens is if the game doesn't detect any of the controllers in your custom binds, it goes off and chooses another default bind that it thinks matches whatever you do have plugged in.

Yup this. This issue can sometimes be caused by Steam. If Steam renames your stick/controller then Elite detects it as a new one. Check your controller settings and see if it has a #2 at the end of it, or something like that, then rename it. If you're not using Steam, then maybe your OS is detecting it twice, or a companion app is at fault.

 

[Ashnak]

Easiest way to find out what actually happened is to take a look into your BindingLoadingErrors.log (in C:\Users\yournamehere\AppData\Local\Frontier Developments\Elite Dangerous\Options\Bindings ). You may have to enable "show hidden directories" or somesuch nonsense in Windows, as MS doesn't trust you with your own PC out-of-the-box.

Besides the above (and others) Steam issue, some controllers are notorious for USB power issues, so you can sometimes improve the behaviour by connecting them through a powered hub (with a sufficiently hefty power supply). Oh - and if you're using an XBox gamepad - either go wired or use the original XBox wireless adapter. Going via a generic Bluetooth connection is also known to couse problems.

 

[Dejmos]

"Thank you for all the responses and suggestions. By the way, I wanted to ask—how far do I need to travel from the system where I committed a crime? Recently, I had a Powerplay mission to commit a crime in some system (I don’t remember which one) up to a value of ~245,000 credits. Now, there’s a 22-million-credit bounty on my head. I jumped about 12 systems away, but they’re also ‘sorry, but for that amount, we can’t clear your bounty.’ Do I just have to serve my time? Unless I can pay it off somewhere, but the ‘Interstellar Factor’ doesn’t seem to exist there."

 

[Dejmos]

Easiest way to find out what actually happened is to take a look into your BindingLoadingErrors.log (in C:\Users\yournamehere\AppData\Local\Frontier Developments\Elite Dangerous\Options\Bindings ). You may have to enable "show hidden directories" or somesuch nonsense in Windows, as MS doesn't trust you with your own PC out-of-the-box.

Besides the above (and others) Steam issue, some controllers are notorious for USB power issues, so you can sometimes improve the behaviour by connecting them through a powered hub (with a sufficiently hefty power supply). Oh - and if you're using an XBox gamepad - either go wired or use the original XBox wireless adapter. Going via a generic Bluetooth connection is also known to couse problems.

Yes, I have an Xbox controller connected via USB.

 

[robbyp]

Rule 1.

This is the primary rule of all IT issues

Turn it off. Make sure everything is connected. Turn it on.

Do not try and reconfigure

 

[robbyp]

Use my multi joystick tester program if you want to check first everything is ok

 

[geoffrey.hdt]

Using wireless gamepad Vader 4 Pro here, with REWASD application.
The trick is to power on the gamepad first, launch the game, turn off/on the REWASD profile, then it works 100% of the time.

 

[DjVortex]

Same problem happens with game controllers as well. I'm not 100% what causes it, but it's somehow related to the controller (or its wireless dongle) becoming disconnected from the USB port. I don't know why the game cares about that and decides to reset all the bindings when that happens, but it just does. (It really shouldn't be doing it, but for unknown reasons it just does.) ED is probably the only game in existence that does this. This has been reported for years, and they just won't fix it.

Anyway, the keybinds file renaming trick probably works to protect against this.

 

[Mr Lindsay]

 

[tomalus]

If you unplug joystick and run the game it all messess up.
If you unplug it and put in another USB location and start game it messes up.
Sometimes after a patch bindings can mess up.
Backup your binds.