Thrustmaster Hotas Warthog Problems

[roewus]

Hi guys,

 

I am very new to this DCS World theme, and I got some issues with the new Hotas system.

I use the DCS World 1.57 version with the Flaming Cliffs 3 package.

My PC is an I7-3770K CPU @ 3,50 GHz, 8 GB Ram, GTX 1080, Windows 10.

 

I tried to set-up the Hotas System without the Target GUI Software in the DCS game.

 

It normally runs very smoothly and I can play the game without problems.

But from time to time (every 2-3 hours), the game acts strangely.

 

Some of the main failures that appear:

 

- One engine shuts down

- the plane stears in one direction and is doing a roll again and again (I am not using paddles for the side rudder, it is placed on the buttons 11,12 on the flight stick) When I then operate these buttons, I can get it under control again (but I haven't priorly used it to cause this behaviour)

- The electric is turned off in the cockpit without doing anything. But I can turn in on again. It is placed on the APU button on the throttle unit.

 

I hope this is not caused by a damage of the hotas system hardware, because I bought it second hand. (The owner of this hardware said that he never used in before and it really appeared to be brand-new).

When I checked the stearing and buttons in the Win Game controller setup, all is fine and works wihout problems.

 

Does anybody have an idea what could be causing these strange actions?

 

Your thoughts are very much appreciated, thank you for your input and response to my questions.

 

:helpsmilie: roewus

[amazingme]

Hi,

 

Did you Clear all the Categories when you configured the stick? Check if you have multiple buttons/axes configured for the same action.

[Bounder]

Sorry to hear you are having problems. It seems odd to me that your controls are fine most of the time but from time to time you are encountering issues. Are you playing offline or online and does this problem have a pattern, for example it occurs in certain missions or aircraft specifically? Could you be running some flights in "game mode" and others in "sim mode" - I believe it is possible to have different controls setup for the two modes.

 

I'd definitely first try Amazingme's suggestion of checking for conflicting control inputs in DCS but if you can't find anything there it might then be worth checking control inputs when things go wrong - have you tried running the controls input window in DCS when you are flying? It is a small window that shows you controller inputs and can be enabled by pressing "RCtrl + Enter" together on your keyboard. When things go wrong you might get information from that. Also, if you suspect it's a joystick hardware issue, when you encounter problems you could also try going into "game controls" under control panel in windows and examine individual control properties and see if anything is odd there?

Edited August 17, 2017 by Bounder

[Art-J]

I would suggest posting in a relevant section of the forum first. This is the DCS Spitfire section, so you certainly won't get many answers about Flaming Cliffs content over here (hopefully you bookmarked this very thread, otherwise, you might forget where you posted it yourself ;) )

 

Tip no. 2 - as Bounder said, turn on (Ctrl-Enter) controllers indicator and see if any unwanted inputs appear when the plane starts flying strange. I presume that might be the problem. By default DCS assigns automatically numerous functions to various buttons and switches in TH Warthog, many of them being unnecessarily duplicated - for example the little slew button on the throttle gets sometimes assigned to ailerons and elevator, causing the plane to depart whenever you put your fingers on the throttle (been there, done that :D). That's why, whenever setting up controls in DCS for any airplane, it's critically important not only to make new assignments, but to remove all the old, duplicated ones as well.

Edited August 17, 2017 by Art-J

[roewus]

Hi amazingme,

 

thank you for your response.

Concerning to your answer I can say, that there was no other flight stick installed before.

All the fields for Joystick where empty when I configured the controls.

 

I am using the configuration in the game, not the software from Trustmaster.

 

Best regards

 

roewus

[roewus]

Hello Bounder,

 

Thank you a lot for your suggestions.

 

1) I am playing off/ and online, the problems are the same.

2) Just from the beginning I am only using the "sim mode". I will try the "game mode" for testing.

3) I tried running the controls input window in DCS following your tip as well and the problem with the rudders (automatically going to full left or full right) was visible here even though I have not plugged in pedals for rudder functionality (I have placed the ruuders on the joystick but did certainly not touch them that moment. Also, that problem already occured when I first used the joystick (even before I had configured a button for the rudders)).

 

This seems really weird to me as I cannot really grab how this signal can be sent when the functions are not even installed at that time (another example is the engine shut-down, which I installed once and in now erased again and there are still engine shut-downs happening automatically literally every time I am playing).

 

Best regards, roewus

[roewus]

Hi Art-J,

 

Thank you very much for your tips.

 

As written in response to Bounder, the controllers indicator did not really help, but I am assuming now that there might indeen be 'double-functions' on some buttons as you mentioned.

 

A quick question: When I reset all functions in the settings, will my keyboard also automatically be reset? (Sounds like a load of work...)

 

Thanks & Best regards,

roewus

[imacken]

Hi Art-J,

 

A quick question: When I reset all functions in the settings, will my keyboard also automatically be reset? (Sounds like a load of work...)

 

Thanks & Best regards,

roewus

 

Back up your config files and try it! Restore if necessary.

[flyco]

I have had similar problems, but not identical.

 

I suggest that the next time it happens you exit, and take a look at the dcs.log file - it's in the saved games.logs folder. Early on in that file, you should see a number of lines with 'INPUT' in them. This is DCS initialising your USB controller inputs and is perfectly normal. However, I find that at random points in the game my system re-initialises them, which throws many of them out of synchronisation, requiring me to reset them.

 

As I say, look through the DCs.log file and if you find a second, or even third or fourth, sequence of lines with 'INPUT' in them, you have the same problem.

 

That said, I do not know the cure - I wish I did! If you do find this is the case, I would be grateful if you could post here to that effect.

[amazingme]

Hi amazingme,

 

thank you for your response.

Concerning to your answer I can say, that there was no other flight stick installed before.

All the fields for Joystick where empty when I configured the controls.

 

I am using the configuration in the game, not the software from Trustmaster.

 

Best regards

 

roewus

Hmm, did you check the Game Controllers properties in Control Panel\Devices? Press all the buttons and move the axes around there and see if you have any issues. I had a faulty Saitek X55 throttle which behave in the same manner.. when I moved the throttle, some buttons were pushed because the wires were half cut and making contact with each other. I soldered them properly and I'm still using it today with no issues so far. In conclusion, I would open it and check the wires, but first, test both throttle and stick under Game Controllers, thoroughly..

[roewus]

Hi all,

 

I solved now all my problems, and the Joystick is running fantastick without any issues.

Thanks a lot for all the good advises.

 

At the end, I cleared all the categories, and I found out, that there were some functions double taken. This cause for example the problem with the rudder.

 

I learned a lot from you guys about the DCS settings.

Thank you so much, this is really a strong and cooperative community here!

 

Hope to see you on some online matches ;-)

 

Greets - roewus