Help with multiple FFB devices - VPForce stick and pedals

[mdtenor22001]

Hello everyone,

First off, huge thanks to Walmis and Hiob for their extensive assistance in troubleshooting this issue on the VPForce discord. I decided to open a thread here to see if anyone else in the DCS community had experienced this issue or has advice on further troubleshooting.

In short, I so love my VPForce Rhino that I decided to take the plunge and convert my MFG Crosswind pedals to FFB using the parts Walmis and Kalktori sell. It was a very straightforward installation and setup.  However, I've had a major problem that we cannot seem to solve: After a PC reboot and reopening DCS, DCS stops sending FFB data to the Rhino joystick base and instead sends all FFB data to the pedals instead. The easiest illustration of this: when working properly, in the Huey I have a slight spring on the stick axis and no spring + damper on the pedals. When I press the force trim button, the spring on the stick relaxes, as you'd expect (but the pedals stay the same). When it's not working (after every reboot), when I load into the chopper, the stick is totally limp and the pedal axis has spring applied. When I press the trimmer button, nothing changes with the stick, but the spring force is released from the pedals until I release it. So DCS is seeing the pedals as the "primary" FFB device."

The only thing that changes this is, after booting into DCS and starting a flight where it doesn't work, is to exit DCS and change the pedals' "USB Device ID" between 2052 and 2054, alternating based on where it was set previously. After I change the Device ID and reset TelemFFB to reflect the new Device ID, when I boot into DCS it works properly.

I've tried all sorts of troubleshooting, including completely re-doing my USB setup so the two VPForce devices are directly plugged into my PC rather than via a powered USB hub. Updated all bios and drivers are up to date. The VPForce joystick works perfectly 100% of the time if the pedals are unplugged.

I think the problem is, in part, that DCS sees both devices as FFB; my rudimentary understanding, however, is that DCS doesn't send rudder FFB and instead TelemFFB uses telemetry data to apply affects. But I'm not finding a way to stop DCS from "seeing" the pedals as a FFB controller.  This is all very frustrating and I don't know where to turn next in trying to fix it.  When it works, it is amazing. When I load into a flight and the stick is limp (when it's not supposed to be limp) it is a total bummer!

Any input help would be appreciated! How do I make DCS "see" the Rhino joystick base as the primary controller every time?!?

Thanks in advance!

I should add, this happens regardless of module. I gave the Huey example, but it happens with all my modules. For example, the F-16, which I have set to have a very strong spring and short throw, when it is "malfunctioning" the stick is totally limp and the pedals have the spring force. I've also tested it with nearly all of the other modules (I own a pretty diverse amount of modules as I like to go between rotary, jets, and warbirds--hence, one of the reasons I was attracted to the idea of FFB pedals to ease in the changing feel of the pedals.)

[hsth]

Have you tried creating new profiles for the stick (both devices) and rudder? Does DCS see also 2 rudders like it does with the stick? Maybe try it for one module and see if that works.

[propeler]

It is general problem with FFB devices in windows and in games. It's related to enumeration of devices and pretty old support of FFB capable devices. Try to turn joystick first after booting windows, and only then when it will be enumerated by Windows turn on pedals.

[mdtenor22001]

Re: New Profiles, I'm not sure I've tried that, although part of my troubleshooting was using the VPForce Configurator and I changed the name of the Rhino Joystick Base to see if it would maybe fix things. It created a new "device" that I had to map the axis for, so is that what you're talking about?  And yes, DCS "sees" the original Crosswind rudder (because the USB is connected and because the brake pedal axis are controlled by the original rudder) and a separate VPForce controller, which I set the rudder axis to.

 

Re: Turning on the joystick first in Windows, I did think of trying this.  I kept the power off and unplugged the USB of the pedals until after Windows was fully booted, hoping that would cause Windows to "see" the joystick first. Unfortunately that didn't help. I also tried the inverse: keeping the VPForce base off and having the pedals powered up first to see if more "recency" would help Windows see the joystick. That didn't help either.

Appreciate the thoughts and if anyone else has ideas, I'd appreciate them! 

[mdtenor22001]

If anyone reads this thread and has similar problems: I figured out what the problem was.  It was SimHaptic's auto-start function; when enabled (and in export.lua), it breaks FFB.  When I removed the line from the lua and manually start SimHaptic, everything worked properly.

[hsth]

Wow, nice find!