Cougar MFD's and Windows 8.1

[Taproot]

Any news on this?

[buedi]

Nothing official I fear. But I came across many other threads in the Microsoft Forums and some Technet articles describing problems with various USB devices in 8.1 due to the new "behaviour" they introduced and which does not seem to be documented at least in the changes for 8.1.

 

There are fixes for some USB drives, so they do not just get disconnected. A similar fix might work for the MFDs. Since I did not upgrade to 8.1 yet I cannot test this. But if someone with 8.1 and the problem wants to check, here´s the Technet article describing the registry change which might fix the problem also for the Cougar MFDs:

 

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2900614/en-us

 

It´s more or less just finding out the VID and PID of the MFDs (should be the same for all produced MFDs) and then changing the "EnhancedPowerManagementEnabled" key to 0 in the HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\USB\<CougarVID_PID> section.

[PoleCat]

Nice work buedi!

 

This fix absolutely works! I am looking at my MFD's right now and they are solid green and functioning fine. I have rebooted, shut down and restarted.

 

In my case I am using a USB HUB and I found the two ports I was using, gathered the VID as stated in the article and then switched the power management to "0" or off in the registry as instructed. Done!

Don't forget to reboot after the registry edit...

 

Thanks again for the heads up buedi.

 

Out

Edited November 7, 2013 by PoleCat

[cichlidfan]

I haven't upgraded the DCS machine but I am keeping this on file just in case.

 

Thanks.

[Taproot]

Off to the registry... Again...

[Taproot]

Nothing official I fear. But I came across many other threads in the Microsoft Forums and some Technet articles describing problems with various USB devices in 8.1 due to the new "behaviour" they introduced and which does not seem to be documented at least in the changes for 8.1.

 

There are fixes for some USB drives, so they do not just get disconnected. A similar fix might work for the MFDs. Since I did not upgrade to 8.1 yet I cannot test this. But if someone with 8.1 and the problem wants to check, here´s the Technet article describing the registry change which might fix the problem also for the Cougar MFDs:

 

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2900614/en-us

 

It´s more or less just finding out the VID and PID of the MFDs (should be the same for all produced MFDs) and then changing the "EnhancedPowerManagementEnabled" key to 0 in the HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\USB\<CougarVID_PID> section.

 

This will fix the issue!

 

My vid and Pid:

HID\VID_044F&PID_B352\7&1C033795&0&0000

Edited November 8, 2013 by Taproot

[PoleCat]

I have also reported this workaround to TM Tech support as a better one then opening the game controller properties and leaving it open.

 

Out

[buedi]

I have also reported this workaround to TM Tech support as a better one then opening the game controller properties and leaving it open.

 

Out

 

And they acted quick. Look what I received by Mail today :D

 

Dear Mr. x,

Regarding your MFD COUGAR Pack.

 

Herewith we are getting back to you regarding the issue you have encountered with your MFD Cougar Panels after updating your operating system to Windows 8.1. We are recommending you to carefully follow the steps from the link below provided directly by Microsoft (Workaround section):

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2900614/en-us

Please do not hesitate to write us back if the above steps have resolved the problem.

We are looking forward to your answer.

 

 

I wrote them another message today and asked them to talk to Microsoft, or at least to the MS Core USB Team. They are currently collecting PIDs/VIDs of affected devices and plan to release a patch for those devices. It would be neat to have the Cougar MFDs in the patch too to prevent that manual patching is needed in the future. Also for other people who may rely upon something just working with plug & play and have no Idea what PIDs are and how to work with the registry.

Edited November 8, 2013 by buedi

[PoleCat]

Yes have them add the MFD's by all means and while your at it let them know you were the one who found the proper workaround!

 

Again nice work!

 

Out

[coolts]

Works for me. Cheers buedi (rep inbound).

 

The MFD's weren't appearing in my device manager as the MS article describes as the on/off action was happening too fast, but I identified them in the registry as two VID's had sequential ending numbers, (351 & 352 for me). I disabled power management to all child instances in those VID keys and POOF, the MFD's now stay on!

 

Rock and Roll!

[buedi]

Works for me. Cheers buedi (rep inbound).

 

You´re welcome :)

 

I also finally upgraded to 8.1 last weekend and for me the Fix is working too.

 

VID_044F&PID_B351

VID_044F&PID_B352

 

are mine and I think they´re the same for everyone, if Thrustmaster did not create a new revision some time (only the PID should be different).

 

In the meantime I also got a response from Thrustmaster and they wrote that they assure me that the issue and the solution is forwarded to the right department in charge. That´s good, because I asked them to really talk to Microsoft about this issue because they are preparing a Hotfix right now with the affected VIDs/PIDs. So hopefully in the near future this will not be a problem anymore.

 

Have fun flying everyone :pilotfly:

[vsviper]

MFD Cougar

 

It seems that the problem can be the a 3.0 USB

Try connecting the MFDs on 2.0 USB

[PoleCat]

It seems that the problem can be the a 3.0 USB

Try connecting the MFDs on 2.0 USB

 

AFAIK Under Windows 8.1 you will need to do the work around listed earlier in this thread for the MFD's to install properly at all. My MFDs were tried connected to both 2.0 and 3.0 ports and failed to install connected to either until the workaround.

 

Out

[buedi]

I am pretty sure I have mine also connected to an USB 2.0 port and there´s also a Hub in between.

Since the problem still seems to exist, I ask myself if either Thrustmaster did not report it to Microsoft like they told so, or MS just takes its time to issue a patch for the various known USB devices which are affected. At least we have a fix now, but I doubt everyone with such problems reads such forums. There are a lot of buyers out there which are not as tech savvy as most folks here who run or will run into problems :(

[Kaptn]

I had this problem and used the regedit too. Whenever I would switch ports though I had to do it all again.

 

This was easier and worked for me

 

right click on start and select run > type devmgmt.msc > press enter >right click on each usb root hub and select properties > click the power management tab > uncheck box for "allow the computer to turn off this device to save power"

[javelina1]

the M$ Regedit worked like a champ! thank you all!

 

no more flickers! :thumbup:

[ampted]

=Prophet=

Did you manage to reawake the dead mfd? Have the same problem just died after a reboot!

[AegisFX]

Just want to go on and bump up the thread. Stopped flying for a while, and trying to come back. MFD units are still affected by this, and thankfully, the support link, http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2900614/en-us, is still an excellent, if somewhat "temporary" fix for users with the MFDs.

 

We're still waiting on a permanent solution, but for new players buying these MFDs, hopefully a bump will be useful.

[Abburo]

I think that issue can be easily overcome by an external powered USB hub.

 

There are a some other changes on USB ports (like charging your phone while computer is off) that had to be addressed by the operating system. I would not expect such permanent fixes for some devices which are not very common.

[buedi]

Yes, it´s sad that either Thrustmaster did not do what they promised me, or Microsoft just ignored them. There´s an official way to add certain Device IDs to an exception list. But if it´s not done, certain Windows Updates just bring back the same issue. Luckily there is a workaround for us, but I wonder how many people in the world are not using their MFDs anymore because they are not computer savvy enough or just not aware of this workaround :(

[Abburo]

but I wonder how many people in the world are not using their MFDs anymore because they are not computer savvy enough or just not aware of this workaround :(

 

 

This most probably means that they are not needed anymore ...

[Iku_CC]

FYI...just tested Windows 10 and this same problem exists there too....and same register tweak helped (id's seems to be same). That usb hub power saving tip didn't helped in Win 10....

[Tucano_uy]

Thank you guys for this one!

20th of April 2015 and the problem still persists. I got my HOTAS Warthog and MFD Cougar this morning and I had a sour day until I found this thread.

 

Do you think it would be good to disable that power management thingy for the HOTAS as well?

[audax]

No need for the Warthog, it works fine.

[Ragtop]

I'm having this issue with Win 7 Ultimate 64. Plugged directly into numerous USB ports.

 

Tried most things from this thread, and it only appears to affect one MFD. It seems to coincidental for it to be a faulty MFD though, this is too common an issue.