Can't get Cougar working, tried everything..

I recieved a Cougar from my wife for Christmas and for the life of me cannot get it working. I have gone through every post on this forum, SimHQ, etc, and have followed everything exactly as shown from multiple posters. To recap.. Trying to get cougar working on Win7 Ultimate x64. I have used both 2007 and 2004 drivers, both in and out of compatibilty mode (all the Vista modes), administrator on and off, and UAC off and on.

The errors I'm getting are:

With the 2007_HCO_Vista_64_RC1 driver: It says error E2 - Device detection error - ensure device is properly connect etc...Well, it's connected just fine, shows up as a keyboard though in the device manager (the picture)

When using the 3_HCO_2004 driver, it says I'm missing the STTubeDevice203.dll - Which I have found in the HOTAS directory for the program (C: Program Files(x86)/Hotas/Drivers). With this driver installed, the device is recognized in the device manager, but still won't work

I did manage to reflash the firmware, Ver 3.00.6, or something to that effect, after deleting the firmware as per the thrustmaster instructions (remove USB, disconnect throttle, replug stick in with trigger pressed for 5 secs, etc)

Is there something I'm doing wrong ? Should I just wait for proper Win7 drivers (if and when they come out), or return it and get a G940 ?

Edit *** I just did a restore to before I first tried to install, and same error's as before.

Anyone have an idea ?

Any help is appreciated.

If you follow correctly all steps of the others posts for install drivers, and you get errors, i cant help you. I dont know what is the problem.

The actual Cougars people can buy have poor cuality in components, and this provoque issues.

You can try contact with support team of Thrustmaster, but im in conctact recently for one problem with Cougar in the RoF and TM say my Cougar is not certificated for Win7 and they wash hans.

I feel your pain.I have just recently install Windows 7 and have had a few problems setting up Cougars.

I know it sounds crazy but I had a bunch of problems with BlackShark everything from starting sim to retaining my profile, until I installed the sim in its own folder. Something like c:\sims\eagle dynamic\ka-50\ instead of default c:\programs\eagle dynamics\ka-50

Then before installing 2007 HCO did you use compatable with Vista and admin rights?

Then after installing open device manager check that in/out are seen in universal serial bus controllers, if not just install them from there.

Hope this helps.Worked for me 100%.

Happy New Year All...

I have Cougar working just fine under Win7 64bit... did you download Vista 64bit driver from TM website? Make sure you don't have the Cougar plugged in while you install the drivers... and every time you install something under Win7 make sure you click Run as Administrator... Foxy comes afterward (but you probably already know this)... other than that if you still have issues maybe it's faulty Cougar

Same here, Cougar works flawless under Windows 7 although i had the missing STTubeDevice203.dll error too on installation but with the 2007_HCO_Vista_64_RC1 driver instead.

These are the steps to follow (got it here: http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=45707):

Cougar work nice in Windows 7 64bits RC and Windows 7 64bits Ultimate.

Method for correct installation is the comment by PoleCat.

1. Uninstall everything you have installed so far and reboot.

2. Download drivers http://ts.thrustmaster.com/eng/index...3&pid=50&cid=1 Special attention in download x64, NOT x86.

3. Unplug USB of Cougar of the Computer.

4. Deactive UAC in Windows.

5. Right Click on the Driver downloaded, and press Properties.

6. Go to Compatibility column, in Compatiblity Mode, mark this and select 'Windows Vista (Service Pack 2)'. In bottom mark 'Execute this program with Administrator permissions'. Click OK.

7. Execute installation file drivers, follow all steps, not forgotten installation in one step claim connect the USB of Cougar to the computer. Complete all steps.

8. Restart computer.

9. Click Right in 'HOTAS Cougar Control Panel' and select Properties, in Compatibility column select in bottom 'Execute this program with Administrator permissions'. Click OK.

10. Fly into the skies.

Here's another one but this i did not use. I didn't had to go through the entire DATA IN and DATA OUT crap:

1- Hotas unplugged

2- Install 2007_HCO_VISTA_64_RC1 drivers (the Windows Vista 64 bits version)

3- Plugged the hotas when asket to.

4- Got the DATA IN adn DATA OUT driver problem as mentioned on the first post.

5- Went to START -> CONTROL PANEL -> VIEW DEVICES AND PRINTERS

6- Right click on THRUSTMASTER HOTAS COUGAR and select PROPERTIES

7- Go to HARDWARE, select DATA IN and click PROPERTIES

8- Go to DRIVER IN and click un UPDATE DRIVER button

9- Select BROWSE MY COMPUTER FOR DRIVER SOFTWARE

10- Go to "C:\Program Files (x86)\HOTAS" using the BROWSE button and click NEXT

11- Windows finds the DATA IN drivers

12- Repeat step 8 to 11 but with DRIVER OUT.

13- Done, now the DRIVER IN and DRIVER OUT are installed and working properly, no more "hardware problem" with the Cougar and everythiong working fine, including Foxy.

If you still can't get it to work, please report back. In the mean time i'll look deep into my memory what steps i did to make it work (did already so much in Windows 7 i can't remember every single detail...LOL!)

BTW: it's about time that Frugals gets back in the air...

Thanks for thr replies. Those are the steps I did, but I will try it again tonight one last time before I package it up and send back to the company..The data in/out was fine, and directed to the right spot. BTW, deactivate UAC means to just put it at the lowest settings, as in not notify? that is what I did..

Out of curiosity, I still have saitek drivers installed for my x52 and rudders. I plan on keeping the rudders, but should I remove all the saitek drivers as well before I load the Cougar ones, or disconnect the rudders ? The x52 is not connected while I'm trying to install the cougar..

If your planning on getting the Logitech G940 better read through some flightsim forums because i did read about quite some problems with it.

BTW, deactivate UAC means to just put it at the lowest settings, as in not notify?:---> Yes!

About the Cougar:

- Be 100% sure everything is uninstalled propherly. Check the register for leftovers. Reboot (power off/on is always best), then start re-installation.

A few extra tips:

Back in the days when i first got it (2003), i had quite a few issues with the Cougar not getting connected (the device error you get now), drivers not loaded propherly etc. I did quite a few firmware installations but those are only needed if the device says it needs to do so. You now have upgraded to the last version, you should be fine. Don't repeated it over and over again, it's not needed.

One thing i remember which came up quite a lot in the beginning was the fact that people plugged to many stuff on their USB-ports which were not as well powered as of today. I even bought a external powered USB to overcome that problem. Maybe take a look at where it's plugged in and maybe unplug some stuff? Just an idea.

Don't think because the Cougar shows the E2 device detection error that your Cougar is defective. In it's early life i had this several times, always thinking it had died but it never had. I'm still using it. Occasionaly it will disconnect itself from your system. Just unplug the USB and plug it back in.

It should work and i'm 100% there is nothing wrong with the Cougar, don't give up that fast... :-)

About the X-52:

Best is to de-install all the Saitek drivers (check register too) and then do the Cougar stuff;

About the X-52 rudder pedals: i recon these plug in via USB?

I used a set of race pedals from a steering wheel setup as rudders but because Windows 7 now sees 2 axis (one each for pedal), they can't be used anymore as rudder so i bought me a set of CH rudders with toe-brakes. These work just fine the moment they are plugged in through USB and don't require additional drivers to get them recognised or working. I recon this will be the same with the X-52 pedals.

Some extra information out of Foxy which let's you clean (erase) the register flag which can cause the E2 device detection error:

Info:

Here's another little piece of advice. If you're reflashing the Cougar because you've had problems flashing it before or you've had some software crashing, then when you start up the CCP for the first time after the flash, you may find that the CCP is unresponsive initially and eventually comes up with a message: "Waiting for device to become available." If this happens just wait - the CCP will pop up eventually after saying that the "device didn't become available in time" or something to that effect. Just close the CCP down at this point. To fix this issue you can do one of two things. Either download a file to your Cougar, or run the HOTASCleanse.exe (see Foxy’s Cougar menu) and select Erase polling registry entry . The reason this problem may arise is because when any of the TM apps do anything to the hardware, a flag is set in the registry that prevents any other software (HOTASCompiler, HOTASUpdate, HOTAS CCP) from communicating with the hardware. Once the software is finished it removes the flag. What happens sometimes is that if the software crashes in the middle of the transfer or something, then this flag remains set. From that point on, when the CCP tries to communicate with the HOTAS, it will display the status message "Waiting for device to become available." Just doing a reboot won't remove the registry flag. When you run the HOTASUpdate and reflash the HOTAS, it will clear that registry flag for you. That Erase polling registry entry in the HOTASCleanse.exe does in fact that. It removes the registry flag for you.

It's difficult to find good info on the Cougar at the moment since almost everything was concentrated over at Frugals Cougar forum. And that is gone. Word it that it might be up again soon...

One extra thing: If you have an E2 device detection error when running the 64bit software and not when you run the 32bit version (but the STTubeDevice203.dll error) is there a possibility that you installed, by accident, the 32bit Windows 7 instead of the 64bit version?

Thanks for the info..I used revo unistaller this time and found about 240 entries for TM still on the computer after the uninstall, with most being in the registry, but I didn't try it again after I cleaned them out.

The errors I got where for the 64 bit 2007 driver, and the 2004 driver (6.8 mb) that I read worked for some one else. TM got back to me via email and just said to install using compatibitly for vista and NO service packs, but then proceeded to state that the Cougar is not supported in Win7 (as we all know), and didn't even elude to new drivers becoming available. I'll try it again for the last time tonight..

hm... I had also issue with driver not being installed fully the first time I tried, if I remember correctly what I did after installing the driver then plugging the Cougar into USB port, was going into Device Manager and updated the driver manually (you know, click on to search driver etc) for the 2 (input/output) entries that didn't seem to have driver installed for them, and that fixed it. Hope you get it to work this time.

I would not take much into account what Thrustmaster said. That it is not supported in Windows 7 we all know (same goes for a lot of other stuff from other company's) but that will not mean it won't work. They said the same when Vista came out and released 64bit drivers later (much later!!).

Up until now i found only one program that didn't work in Windows 7 and that's the software for my old(er) Logitech keyboard + the my racepedals which are seen by Windows 7 as a double axis making them useless for flightsimming. Everything else works without a problem.

I did read on a few posts that quite a few people had to install the drivers manually as Kuky points out above. I only had the STTubeDevice203.dll error because i did not select the compatibility mode. That's all. From then on it worked flawless. If i would live in the neighbourhood, i would pass by to help.

yeah cant add anything other than what the others have said... but just saying that my Cougar works fine in windows 7 ultimate 64 with the vista drivers....

I had a bad pot in the throttle and told Thrustmaser what the problem was - still took several emails and a week before i could order a replacement part.... not too good.

Anyways replaced them with hall sensors... when you get sorted and you happy with the cougar look at doiing this if you get REAL serious with the flight sims ;)

Hope you get it sorted soon.

Thanks for all the help people, but I don't want to waste any more time on it and it will be returned tommorow. I think it's the x52 for me for now until the new X65 makes a debut.

Thanks again

Might this be caused by the cougar chip not being flashed as it's still a new stick, also on a side note, don't use the disk that came with the Hotas.

With the 2007_HCO_Vista_64_RC1 driver: It says error E2 - Device detection error - ensure device is properly connect etc...Well, it's connected just fine, shows up as a keyboard though in the device manager (the picture)

Just noticed the same thing. Here it shows up as a keyboard too, or better, the icon is a keyboard. Same for the CH Rudder pedals, these show up with a gamepad as icon...:huh:

I have tried everything said here and still cannot get mine to work...:helpsmilie:

Mine works flawlessly (with Vista64). Kuky's advice was something I had to do for a couple of things in Vista64. I had trouble the first time I installed my cougar (my bad), but not for the last 10 or so times.

Are you plugging it in and erasing the firmware with the throttle hooked up?

You have to follow the instructions exactly or you will have trouble like I did. The best install guide was on Frugs "Cougar world" and was very precise, but that is unfortunately gone for now. I hate to see people dumping their new Cougar's for install problems.:cry:

Mine works flawlessly (with Vista64). Kuky's advice was something I had to do for a couple of things in Vista64. I had trouble the first time I installed my cougar (my bad), but not for the last 10 or so times.

 

Are you plugging it in and erasing the firmware with the throttle hooked up?

 

You have to follow the instructions exactly or you will have trouble like I did. The best install guide was on Frugs "Cougar world" and was very precise, but that is unfortunately gone for now. I hate to see people dumping their new Cougar's for install problems.:cry:

 

Thanks for your answer sir..I have installed it a zillion times in XP and I have the guide printed out and always follow it..The problem is it just wont install in WIN7 64.....It gets to about 50% and just hangs and if I click on anything I get the tube.dll deal...I have followed all of the directions here and nothing works.....I'm really frustrated..:cry:

Thanks for your answer sir..I have installed it a zillion times in XP and I have the guide printed out and always follow it..The problem is it just wont install in WIN7 64.....It gets to about 50% and just hangs and if I click on anything I get the tube.dll deal...I have followed all of the directions here and nothing works.....I'm really frustrated..:cry:

Well, we know its not Vista64, because no one elses would work either. I have installed it in Vista 32 and 64 many times with no trouble. Are you using "run as administrator"? But if its hanging like that, it is likely looking for something (tube.dll?) that is missing or corrupt. Are you running the file from a zip or rar file? Vista doesn't like that and often requires the app to be extracted to desktop.

Also, TM website is confusing and easy to get the wrong one:

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Windows Vista 64bits

System Requirements:

• Windows Vista 64bits

Installation Instructions:

1. Unplug your HOTAS Cougar joystick.

2. Run the "2007_HCO_VISTA_64_RC1.exe " setup to install the new version.

3. Follow the instructions on the screen and Reboot your computer (if asked to) .

4. If Windows ask you, follow the instructions to install the drivers.

5. You are then ready to use your Hotas Cougar.

[Windows Vista 32bits (x86)] 48 MB XNot this one

[Windows Vista 64bits (x64)] 48 MB >This is the one

----------------------------------------------------------------------

They are both under the 64bit heading so its easy to click the wrong one by mistake. That would make it hang big time.

Icarus2 I have done all this at least 10 times and it dosent work!!!!!!!

Icarus2 I have done all this at least 10 times and it dosent work!!!!!!!

Ok, so we know its not the software (it works on mine and others) and we know its not Vista (it works on mine and others), so its either something you are doing differently (and you say its not that) or its your Vista install or a corrupt file in your system (I can't find any reference to tube.dll anywhere and my system does not have such a file). If you can find it rename it and reinstall the Cugar software.

The only other suggestion I have to remedy that is you know what. The R word. Sorry, just trying to help.

Going back to XP tomorrow......:mad:

(I can't find any reference to tube.dll anywhere and my system does not have such a file). If you can find it rename it and reinstall the Cugar software.

He's talking about the STTubeDevice203.dll error.

@clayp: Just a few things to check and do:

- What version of Windows 7 do you use? (mine is Ultima)

- Check if, by accident, you didn't install the 32-bit version of Windows 7 instead of the 64-bit version.

- If you do a re-install of the Cougar, do you erase every entry in the registry before you re-install? Any leftovers might cause a second install not to work.

- After a registry clean, reboot first before you do anything else.

Remember people, when install drivers of Cougar and this not work, BEFORE install other drivers for Cougar, need ERASE ALL directorys of COUGAR, including empty directorys. "...\programs files\HOTAS"

And is good point clean register.

AFTER this, you can install new drivers.

For STTubeDevice203.dll you NEED copy this file, inside in "...\programs files\HOTAS\drivers" to this HOTAS root file "...\programs files\HOTAS"

He's talking about the STTubeDevice203.dll error.

 

@clayp: Just a few things to check and do:

- What version of Windows 7 do you use? (mine is Ultima)

- Check if, by accident, you didn't install the 32-bit version of Windows 7 instead of the 64-bit version.

- If you do a re-install of the Cougar, do you erase every entry in the registry before you re-install? Any leftovers might cause a second install not to work.

- After a registry clean, reboot first before you do anything else.

Well if he'd have been more accurate.:doh: Others have fixed this problem by installing with Compatability mode and/or run as administrator. Google is up last I checked.:music_whistling: