DCS-BIOS/Arduino output issue

[fullwoody]

I did a reinstall on my machine a few weeks ago. prior too DCS Bios worked great, Arduino worked great. Now when i load a simple 2PosSwitch. instead of getting the writeline statement showing whatever i have activated i get a backwards question mark or some other nonsensical data in the serial monitor.

 

I have tried 2 different arduino boards. wired with a basic 2 position switch. (correction... now i have tried 3 boards, all known good).

I have uninstalled and reinstalled Arduino IDE, reinstalled DCS-BIOS.

i have also used 2 different USB cords, in both USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports.

 

I've spent weeks (in my very infrequent spare time) working on a new UFC control panel to add to my setup so naturally this is pretty frustrating.

Attached is a screenshot of the code, and the result, also is the example of the wiring that i have done. I literally made this exactly. In the control panel the board is set to 9600 baud, i have disabled any power control measures in the power management.

 

Before my reinstall i had 6 switches, mixture of 2 and three position. potentiometer and 5 other push buttons all working fine. I have tried various Arduino libraries to see if that solves the problem. versions "master", 2.11 and 2.18 all with no difference.

 

Any Ideas?

[Matchstick]

That looks VERY much like a Serial Port settings problem.

 

Try a very basic Serial Port Hello World program to check that the port and drivers are ok

e.g https://arduinogetstarted.com/tutorials/arduino-hello-world

 

Then if that works ok try your code with difference Baud settings in the Serial console to see if that's the problem

[fullwoody]

I actually did. i hooked up a regular switch

and just pulled it through a digital input. It worked fine. I tried several non DCS-BIOS scripts and they all worked just fine.

 

I'm wondering if i have inadvertently got the wrong library or something. I downloaded the version from the instructions on the site. I went through all the instructions multiple times. So i know the USB ports are working, because the regular arduino code works fine. Ive tried multiple Arduino's with no difference. all known good. my conclusion is that it has to be related directly with the DCS Bios Arduino library somehow..... but what that is, i dont know.

[electricaltill]

I have had the same thing happening since (I think) DCS-BIOS 10. It still works fine in the sim, but it is a pain when I just want to test something without firing up DCS every time.

[fullwoody]

interesting. i hadn't had a problem until the last 2 or 3 weeks after a fresh install on my desktop. When did this version come out? id used the new version with the webhub thing that installs on the machine and it worked great. however... i'm not sure what the old version was compared to this "new" version. i thought it was like 0.93

[fullwoody]

I have had the same thing happening since (I think) DCS-BIOS 10. It still works fine in the sim, but it is a pain when I just want to test something without firing up DCS every time.

 

So i just backed mine all the way back to version 0.93 to test it, and its still not working, and that was the last known version i had working...... i'm at a loss at this point.

[Sickdog]

Are you saying you used to get something other than weird symbols in the Arduino serial monitor? I’ve only been using arduino and DCS-BIOS for the past 3 months but have never seen anything other than weird symbols in the serial monitor. However, in the previous (non-web based version) of DCS-BIOS when you ran the command line to connect the Arduino to a serial port you would see the correct input listed when you manipulated the switch, button, rotary encoder, etc. Now with the web-based version life is easier but I miss seeing the command line window where I can test the switch. Now I’m just happy when I see symbols in the serial monitor to confirm a signal is being sent but I go in game to test my inputs. To me what you’ve described seems normal with the serial monitor since day 1 for me.

 

The bigger question I have is does your arduino setup work in game?

Edited December 23, 2019 by Sickdog

[fullwoody]

Yea i was able to get things to work great. for quite a while.... apparently though, not so much. i tested it in DCS and it does work. but not in the Arduino serial monitor. It used to work just fine and it was awesome.

 

I don't remember what version of things i had. but yes i would see

"MASTER_MODE_AA" or whatever other buttons i had pushed. I sent a message to [FSF]IAN asking him to look into this.

[electricaltill]

Yea i was able to get things to work great. for quite a while.... apparently though, not so much. i tested it in DCS and it does work. but not in the Arduino serial monitor. It used to work just fine and it was awesome.

 

I don't remember what version of things i had. but yes i would see

"MASTER_MODE_AA" or whatever other buttons i had pushed. I sent a message to [FSF]IAN asking him to look into this.

So you're getting the same thing as us then. For me that's how it's been since DCS-BIOS 10. Don't know why, but I'm glad it still works in game.

[fullwoody]

I hooked up my complicated circuit card i built... and tested it and it works as well as DCS-BIOS will allow. however. i will spend some time digging around because i did have it all working with this new version. maybe i can strike gold and get the right combination of libraries and such that i had before. !!curse you hard drive that acted up forcing a reinstall!!