Simviation Forums

My Saitek ProFlight throttle quadrant recently quit on me after a good three years of simming and otherwise procrastinating. It's an older model with a PS/2 connector (barbaric, I know) that corresponds to the yoke's built-in PS/2 hub. I've had problems with it before, mostly because I was an irresponsible teenager who bent (and eventually broke) a few of the pins; however, that happened a few months before the throttle quit.

The quadrant is unresponsive in the sim, despite the indicator light being on. My first suspect was the quad's PS/2, but the other PS/2 devices I have lying around don't work in the yoke's hub. So, I bought a PS/2-to-USB adapter and tried hooking up the quad that way, and it didn't work- no indicator light at all, and I was greeted with an Error Code 29 in the Device Manager. I ran the disc that Saitek included with the yoke and quad, and it didn't install any drivers that the now-USB device might have needed.

At this point, the only thing I can think of (I'm not an electrical engineer, far from it) is to buy a new unit, but I don't want to fork over $55 for a new unit. Do y'all have ideas for how I could make my quad workable again?

open it up and look for a broken wire. (happened to me once)

btw, the connector is not wired like a standard ps2 port. saitek just uses that type of connector but its not ps2

I purposely didn't buy the Saitek yoke/throttle set because of that connector.

But as the Captain said, you could try looking for a bad wire/pin. A cheap & simple multimeter will be more than good enough to find the problem if you can't spot it by eye.


If you know anyone handy with simple electronics, you could ask for some help. Ask what kind of pizza they like and bring it over with the throttle.

It never hurts to have more friends.

But don't forget that that connector plugs into the yoke. The problem could also be there.

After almost four hours of screwing and unscrewing, I've found no loose ends (though I've made and repaired a few due to my shoddy workmanship) or broken wires. I think the problem might be a bad driver. Are there any software fixes for this?

Russell Irwin wrote:My Saitek ProFlight throttle quadrant recently quit on me

I've read your post and I may be of some help, I hope..

The advice given to you so far of course are spot on, and is the number one starting point.
Seems though, after a good visual inspection, that you have not found any obviously broken wires.

Time to go to the next level then. Here's what to do.

1.Undo the main yoke covers (again) and lift out the pcb, such that you can get to the boards underside.
2. Do the same with the quadrant pcb, so you can get to the underside.
3. Once you have it all accessible, PLUG IN THE QAUDRANT AS NORMAL, AND LEAVE IT THERE.

Right..I have prepared a drawing for you to follow.

( Set multimeter on "continuity" - touching the probes together results in an audible tone)
Now FOLLOWING THE WIRE COLORS ON THE DRAWING, test for continuity DIRECTLY FROM SOLDER PAD TO SOLDER PAD. --Important--



(The wire colors used here are the actual cable colors)

Note: You cannot use a USB to PS adapter. The quadrant plug is not a "PS" plug, but rather a "mini DIN" general purpose plug.
Also the coms between the quadrant and the yoke is not USB protocol - it is looks to me like a simplified RS-323 protocol..

I really hope this helps you some -- Let us know how you get on after this--