Tripod

Hey Hectic, Yes mate my throttle has not missed a beat since my original post last year. And its interesting with your history you mention because I only got this issue when I moved to a new system I built as a dedicated sim PC last year. It is a Gigabyte Z490 Vison G Motherboard, it worked fine for a while with this board and then one day started playing up, prior it worked for years. I just went back & tracked down my purchase date, it was March 2012 so she is an oldie..... Serial No. 11439 Maybe it could be something with the new USB ports causing an issue, I really am not sure. I am now running with the F18 Grip as of last year and I am not in a habit of doing firmware updates but I am pretty sure I did one a few years back. It is such weird problem but at this stage after almost a year of flying with it like this she still starts up every time without issue, I still have not placed an order for a new board. Considering the age of it and the hours it has given me I am thinking if she dies completely I will purchase another set brand new and fix this set for later use as a backup. I have always wanted to build an tandem Simpit so that would be a good start. But I can advise no hiccups since my discovery. I also just purchased the TPR's back in June this year, really loving the setup..... Thankyou for reporting in on this as it should help others, keep us posted with any changes as will I. Cheers Tri.

Good to hear that worked for you also @kmonicekm..... Interesting that we are not the only ones to see this issue and now that is at least 3 cases. I can still confirm that my Throttle is still fully functional running it on the lowered voltage level and I have not ordered a replacement board as yet, I suppose I should before it catches me out, but I would have thought it would have died by now. @Vekkinho, I really cannot say that running on a lower voltage is going to stop the problem appearing in the future, I do know that it seems to be a common problem and many people have replaced their logic board or had it repaired, but nobody has confirmed where the fault actually is. I do not think the issue is in the microcontroller itself because if a tech was to replace the microcontroller he would then have to re-upload the original code/software to it and I do not think that it would be commonly available, this would be protected by the manufacturer. I believe the problem is in the supporting components around the microcontroller that have changed value such as a cap or a resistor going high or low with age. Obviously the people that are carrying out repairs to these boards know the answer abut it is not being shared. Cheers Tri.

No problems Sydy, Still running fine here for now. Will order a new board early in the new year, at least I can keep flying at the moment. Cheers Tri.

Oh and just an update for other users, mine still acts as though it's bricked whilst plugged into a USB port directly. Plugged into an old non powered USB HUB with other devices attached it starts and runs fine. That is over a month now, I will keep this thread updated if anything changes. Tri.

There is no ambiguity in my initial post bn880, The Title says "Temporary fix for bricked warthog throttle". The very first sentance says "A few days ago my Warthog throttle died like so many others and I just wanted to post a quick fix that just might get you going again until you can sort it out with an official board replacement/repair." I have never claimed it is a permanent fix, only a fix to allow you to keep flying whilst you order/get a new board from Thrustmaster. It doesn't sit well with myself and probably many others around the world to send my board to you half way around the globe especially in these current conditions where shipping companies are taking longer than normal times to get packages to their destinations and in some cases losing them all together. If I lived in Canada I probably might get you to just repair it for me but the distance means a very long wait and a risk of it not getting back and the whole time not being able to use the device. I am suggesting here that people can temporarily keep their unit running whilst they wait for their new board from TM, sounds like a better option to me. It is not very good for your TM repair business though, I am happy that you can repair them, good on you, that is a great service but just not practical for everyone unless they live close by. I am also going to question the actual fix, you claim that in most cases the micro controller is replaced in another thread. How can you possibly do that without programming the the new micro controller with the TM source code. I would be very careful if I were you, as I would imagine the source code is copyrighted and the micro controller set to a copy protected state, TM are not that silly, surely. If you are replacing discrete components around the micro controller, that is a different story and no violation of copyright infringement laws there and you deserve to be paid for the services you provide. You don't have to reveal the fix to us at all and keep it a secrete, that is fine and you have the right to do so, but it will be only a matter of time before it is known I guess. Tri.

Its seems to be the Voltage level on the USB lines, not necessarily whether it's USB 2/USB 3 or a HUB or directly plugged in or whatever. Mine is still working fine with a lowered USB Voltage, it may keep going, it may not but at least I can place an order for a new board and use it in the meantime. I don't know about crashing harder, it was bricked, now its not, it will just stop working again if anything, nothing to lose really. The obvious thing everyone goes for is to raise the voltage by using a powered HUB or USB 3 and they probably never try lowering the voltage. Would love to hear from anyone else who has recovered by dropping the USB voltage. Tri.

Thanks for reporting back DerFangzahn. It is good to know this trick most likely will work for probably most of the others out there, I was not a 100% sure if it might have just been my unit. Cheers Tri.

A few days ago my Warthog throttle died like so many others and I just wanted to post a quick fix that just might get you going again until you can sort it out with an official board replacement/repair. This worked for me and I have not seen anybody else recover their throttle in any posts I have read. I found that by reducing the 5V line on the USB cable to less than 4.5V, the throttle came back to life. I did this by simply putting a Non powered USB hub between the throttle and PC, you could also add some other items onto the hub to load it down a bit more. Most people seem to try connecting direct to system board or another powered USB hub thinking it might be a low voltage issue causing the throttle to fail, which is the logical way to think. Another alternative would be to supply your own external power to the USB line to the throttle only that can be adjusted to less than 4.5V, isolating the power line from the PC/Hub, but only do this if you are confident in what you are doing. If you are faced with a dead throttle or stick give it a try, if you have had a failed firmware update you will have to do the firmware update again and get the last green verification tick before it will work properly. You can read my full ordeal with this issue here: https://forums.eagle.ru/forum/english/dcs-world-topics/input-and-output/thrustmaster-aa/64402-post-motherboard-specs-of-bricked-tm-warthogs-here-please?p=7130525#post7130525 Cheers Tri.

Hi Guys, Well just went through the Bricked Warthog throttle drama's, my stick and throttle have always been connected to a USB Powered HUB, and connected to the same mother board for probably over 5 Years now, I have lost track of when it was purchased but I could look it up. I have been through all the bullshit, "USB Device not recognized" etc. etc. I fortunately did not give up and screwed around & around until I got it going again, there have not been many people who have recovered from this failure from all the google searching I have done, I am one of the Lucky ones. But for how much longer I do not know., I do not know if this issue is the same for others, maybe there are chips that just die, maybe they do get hit with ESD or over voltage from system boards & hubs but here is my experience, and something others may want to try to at least get back in the air again. The reason I did not give up is because I noticed a week ago when I switched on my system to have a fly that the throttle was dead with no lights. This was connected to a new (older refurbished) system that I had just setup a two months or so ago just for flying and have been flying nearly every week without issues, it was all connected through a Powered USB Hub also. Prior to this the stick & throttle were connected to another system unit for over 5 years also with a powered USB hub and never had a problem So last week when I first noticed the dead throttle I thought, oh that's strange, so I dicked around with the USB connection, plugged it into the motherboard directly and was back up and running again. This week it happened again, still plugged into the motherboard directly, moved back to the USB Hub, tried every USB port on my system and nothing, bricked..... So I though I would move it back to the original computer where it was always connected for so many years, at first I plugged it directly to the system board but it was dead, just the 5 LED Flash that everyone see's. Then I plugged it into the powered USB Hub and it sprung into life, so I thought well I think I will do a firmware update anyhow as that is the recommendation from TM when this issue occurs, I thought I better do it whilst it is alive, as I have not done a firmware update since I first purchased it, there has never been a reason to. So off I went, hunted the firmware update from TM Installed & run the procedure...... Oh Oh, Error 0x34100002 at the very last stage upon verification.... Could not get it to work and thought well I have really done it now. So I tried USB 2.0 ports, USB 3.0 Ports, different computers, turned of the xHCI settings in BIOS nothing would work, then I tried it with the USB Hub once again that allowed it to light up and become recognised by the system. By the way with the 0x34100002 error the throttle would light up like it was working but the drivers would not load correctly and I could not do the button tests in Devices & Printers under windows, there was an icon showing the warthog was connected and alive but it had an exclamation against it and would not work. So this time I thought I would try with the USB Hub "Not Powered" and bingo the firmware update went through, The Controller was fully recognized and functional, all Buttons & Axis tested Good. So I though well I will try now with the USB Hub Powered and also directly on a Motherboard port both attempts here yielded a USB Device not recognized device failed error. I went back to the unpowered USB Hub and all good again. I thought its time to crack it open and take a look, and in particular measure the USB Line Voltage for all these conditions. The 5V Line on the USB Cable where it connects to the the throttles motherboard measured like this. Direct to USB Port on System Board 4.8V (Would not work) USB Powered Hub 5.2V (Would not work) Unpowered USB Hub 4.4V (Working fine) So in fact reducing the 5V Line on the USB Cable will make the throttle work, so I would suggest for people that are facing this situation to try a non powered USB Hub in line to reduce the voltage. Even run a few devices on the same Hub to pull the voltage down and see if you throttle kicks in and you can possibly get it back up and running again. If you have already attempted the firmware update you may have to run through that procedure again to get a good firmware upload before it is recognized by your system properly once again. I have a suspicion that there are some regulators on the throttle motherboard and either the regulators themselves are going out of spec or the components around them are. I have not looked at the board very closely but there is some circuitry there that looks like they could be power regulation related, all surface mounted of coarse so not easy for the average person to desolder. I wonder if the fellow in Canada might be replacing the these components that he has worked out are going bad and bingo the board springs back into life. I would suggest the next person to send him a board to take very detailed pictures before and after & then we might find out what he has removed and replaced. If he has not cleaned up after the repair properly somebody might even have a board that he has worked on that will give us the evidence. Anyhow hope this helps somebody out there that has lost faith in their TM Gear, it may not be the same for everyone so mileage may vary but there is nothing to lose to give this a try. Cheers Tri.