X52 Pro throttle puzzle

albatros

A
Hi there,

Acknowledging that "playing via Bootcamp on a Mac" is likely to raise some eyebrows and that as a technology it's on its way out, I've been using it for years and have only just run across an issue w/my ~6yo X52 Pro throttle (and only the throttle) after purchasing a new 2020 MacBook Pro. The whole set of details is available on Reddit, but the summary is here:
  • X52 Pro throttle when playing Horizons under Windows 10 on the 2017/2018 MBP ("all Thunderbolt 3/USB-C ports") I've used for three years: tracks beautifully.
  • Same throttle when playing Horizons under Windows 10 on the new 2020 MBP: any movement from zero jumps my ship throttle to 50%, then to 100%, and no amount of physical throttle movement brings it back below 50%.
    • Windows' native "Set Up USB Game Controllers" utility indicates that the Z-axis tracks throughout its range of travel just as smoothly as any of the other continuous axes.
    • X-Plane demo appears to track X52 Pro's throttle smoothly throughout its range of travel.
    • If I set the throttle to zero w/a key binding and walk away for a few minutes, I'll sometimes come back to find my ship traveling at 50% throttle.
All throttle-related bindings have been cleared and set to only the X52 Pro EXCEPT "set throttle to 0%" which I've bound to a key because of this issue.

I've tried multiple USB-A-to-USB-C adapters, both active (CalDigit TS3+ dock) and passive (including Apple's own passive adapter), connecting through a powered hub, and each of the four ports on the 2020 MBP: All yield the same results in ED, and only in ED.

I've even tried a friend's X52 Pro (same vintage): Same results.

Any (constructive) thoughts?

o7,

Alba Tros
 

albatros

A
Another data point: If I bind the continuous throttle control on my really old Saitek Cyborg Evo to the analogue throttle axis, it works exactly as expected. What does Elite have against the X52 Pro (mine AND a friend’s) when used with this hardware/software combination, but not my previous?
 

pr1sm

pr1sm
In options, throttle axis range, have you got that set to full. You probably have and its unrelated but if not then the throttle only works to increase throttle with a separate reverse throttle binding needed set below it.
 

albatros

A
pr1sm said:
In options, throttle axis range, have you got that set to full. You probably have and its unrelated but if not then the throttle only works to increase throttle with a separate reverse throttle binding needed set below it.
Click to expand...
I’ve had my throttle axis range set to Forward Only since I started playing the game years ago. Setting it to Full Range now, I can zero it out by pulling it all the way back, but that should have me at full reverse, right? And any movement away from the full-back position sets the ship’s throttle to about 90%.
1D310840-5718-4A7C-99A0-A3213D4255F6.jpeg
 
Last edited:

albatros

A
albatros said:
I’ve had my throttle axis range set to Forward Only since I started playing the game years ago. Setting it to Full Range now, I can zero it out by pulling it all the way back, but that should have me at full reverse, right? And any movement away from the full-back position sets the ship’s throttle to about 90%.View attachment 222159
Click to expand...
P.S.: As you can see, I’ve also tried in the base game (in addition to Horizons): No improvement.
 

Bravo17

B
What happens if you don't invert the throttle axis? Does it still jump to high throttle, or does it jump to low throttle?

Have you tried with a USB 2.0 hub? Some USB 2.0 devices have issues with some USB 3.0 ports.
 

pr1sm

pr1sm
albatros said:
but that should have me at full reverse, right?
Click to expand...
It should do yes, i'm not an mbp user so i cant be sure but as you have tried 2 x52 throttles with the same response then it may well be something to do with the mbp as that is the only change you have made. you already ruled out the hardware and ED settings. apart from uninstall and reinstall ed, and maybe first try simply deleting the binds files. after that it really only leaves the mbp
 

albatros

A
pr1sm said:
It should do yes, i'm not an mbp user so i cant be sure but as you have tried 2 x52 throttles with the same response then it may well be something to do with the mbp as that is the only change you have made. you already ruled out the hardware and ED settings. apart from uninstall and reinstall ed, and maybe first try simply deleting the binds files. after that it really only leaves the mbp
Click to expand...
Yep, un-/reinstalled, trashing the appdata/binds between: No change. :-/
 

albatros

A
Bravo17 said:
What happens if you don't invert the throttle axis? Does it still jump to high throttle, or does it jump to low throttle?

Have you tried with a USB 2.0 hub? Some USB 2.0 devices have issues with some USB 3.0 ports.
Click to expand...
Yep, with a hub, without. Hub into dock, dumb USB-A-to-USB-C adapter: No change. I did try un-inverting it a while ago, and it didn’t help, but I don’t remember what it did do; will try again...
 

pr1sm

pr1sm
I have to say at this point I am stumped, unless both you and your buddies throttles have suffered the exact same failure at the exact same time which isnt likely given the known facts then i stand by it has to be something to do with the mbp, as a non user and even as a techy a non interest in those products i cant say what the issue would be.

all we know for sure is-
: 2 identical but different throttles from the same manufacturer fail to work as intended in ED yet do work with other games.
: A second but different brand throttle from the manufacturer does work.
: re installing everything and cleansing residual data has no effect.
: ED is seeing the throttle.
: Other games and diagnostics say that windows is seeing the throttle and it is functioning as intended.
: Peripherals i.e hubs etc have no impact

I'm using the same x52 hardware though newer, presumably the same drivers, and also win10 Pro 20H2 but build 19042.928 vs your build 19042.804, i just downloaded and installed saitek Software Version: 8.0.213.0 Last Update: 2018-09-24- Driver version 8.0.116.0 and all is working ok.

I assume your not running the saitek software as not mentioned but that should make no difference anyway.

Considering now that apart from the mbp and things like bootcamp everything else is known to be working then the only difference i can see is in the windows os build but then you would expect to see it cause issues in other games and other players.

Still stumped but we know what is working what isnt and where any differences lie.
 

Bravo17

B
albatros said:
Yep, with a hub, without. Hub into dock, dumb USB-A-to-USB-C adapter: No change. I did try un-inverting it a while ago, and it didn’t help, but I don’t remember what it did do; will try again...
Click to expand...

Have you tried specifically with a USB 2 hub? NOT just a USB 3 hub?
 

znôrt

znôrt
the only thing that comes to mind and i haven't seen mentioned: you say you use newest saitek drivers, maybe testing with some older version (if you can get it) ...

it's very weird since the throttle seems to work for windows and xplane. you could contact support. they're known to be nice and maybe you don't hit a "mac is not supported" wall.
 

STRONTIUM DOG

STRONTIUM DOG
I would use the lost binding renaming guide top of this subforum just to take a possible binding duplicate custom bind file out of your process of elimination
that could potentially be throwing a spanner in the works...……...
just remember odyssey will be of version 4.0 if using alpha
 
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