Now it's the throttle!

[beefhole]

Not sure, but just delete both of them. Like I said, a new one will be automatically created. Better safe than sorry.

[Gus_2004]

I just got an X45 and it can get squirley sometimes. Some ideas though:

1. Delete any joystick assignments under buttons/keys in control assignments that are programmed in a "Profiler" profile.

2. I am speculating here but if you have rudder pedals you might want to assign that movement to the pedals and only have rudder trim on the stick.

3. Check device manager for any HW conflicts.

4. Copy and rename the no-CD patch fs9.exe file for trying different settings. I have two and one is for the X45 and the other for the EVO. The EVO exe is called fs9-evo.exe and it creates a fs9-evo.cfg file with it's own unique settings -- the other is just fs9.exe. You can do this a number of times and it's a lot easier then using some of those FS management utilities they have out there. This is not limited to JS assignments.

5. As stated start with a fresh config file.

Give those a shot and good luck.

Later,

Gus

[MattNW]

Is there such a thing as a Saitek virus? I had trouble a while back with my X-45 not staying calibrated. Every time I started FS 2004 it had a tendency to pull to the right and I had to recalibrate the controller. After a week or so of that however it stopped doing this. Been working fine ever since.

Definately had me puzzled. I can understand something going wrong but to suddenly fix it'self is still a mystery. I didn't reinstall the drivers or configurator and I didn't make any changes to my system. It started acting up without warning and then suddenly quit. Only thing I can think of is that I tried to install the latest drivers for the X-45 not long before this started and had trouble with them so I reinstalled the original drivers but that was days before it started acting up. It worked just find right after I restored the original drivers for a while.  ???

[beaky]

Whoa, Nellie! Here I've been pining all day for answers, now my cup runneth over. I like the delete idea, Matt, LoneEagle: I will try that. Gus: I use the rudder bar on the throttle handle for rudder control (not rudder trim), no pedals, and I don't have the no-cd patch (gasp! I know... but one damn thing at a time- I just wanna fly!!).  As far as a Saitek virus goes (let's call it "Kamikaze"),I'd believe it... I was bummed out by this latest malfunction mostly because I'd  had to install/uninstall the drivers like 5 times when I first got it- it just would not lock in. So who knows? Obviously, not enough tweaking was done on this device for use with this sim; hence the warning.
Back to the cfg. file being automatically created: that explains a lot. I'm probably just looking at corrupted versions, somehow generated by fiddling with the Saitek through FS9 (when you think about it, that's probably asking a lot, expecting that to work smoothly). thanks a lot, everybody, and wish me luck...

[beaky]

OK. Deleted the cfg files, restarted, control surfaces are not moving on their own- this is good. However... still having trouble with throttle, whether I use the Saitek or the keyboard commands. For example, in the C172 SP I cannot get rpms above 2200. It's not the gauges, either- I can hear the difference, and in flight it's obvious that "firewalling" the throttle is not producing full power (this is a fixed-pitch prop, here, so it's not that). Redline for that engine is @ 2800, but now I can't even get close. It'll barely climb at all at 2200, so I consider this sim unflyable as it is now. Checking the FS9 subfolder in the App. Data folder shows one cfg. file, no weird dupes. I'm stumped, and I'm bumming big-time. This is no fun at all...

[MattNW]

Do you have a registered version of FSUIPC? If you do you may be able to adjust the throttle through that. Not enough time or space to explain how to do that here but the FSUIPC manual has a good walk through.

I just checked and the throttle doesn't have a sensitivity setting. When I was recalibrating a lot I had to reset the sensitivities every time I calibrated the JS or my airplane acted like it was on Valium.

Try using the keyboard keys to control throttle and see if it works the way it's supposed to that way. If it does then it's an issue with the joystick if it's still not right then something in the sim or sim settings is likely the problem.

The warning about not being MS certified means that the drivers haven't been checked by Microsoft. All device drivers need to go through testing by Microsoft to be WHQL certified. Most newer drivers aren't when they are released but that doesn't necessiarily mean there's anything wrong. Microsoft wants a huge payment for the certification process so some companies don't bother.

PS: I've seen some drivers that have been WHQL certified that aren't worth the time to download.

[beaky]

Thanks for helping, Matt, but:
 There is, in fact, a sensitivity control for throttle in FS9 Settings- you can scroll down that window to get at it. Adjusting that does NOTHING for me . Zippo. Nada.
 And as I said, keyboard commands yield the same (crappy and unworkable) result.
This program you mention could be the fix, but I'd love to know why the heck I have to now add another app to interface with FS9 to fix something that used to work just fine...I know computers are basically evil , but it still makes me think that would be the wrong kind of fix. In short, I feel I need to start at the point where things first went wrong... I'd find the answer there, right?  
  Eh well, back to the old drawing board...

[beaky]

Checked again; now some aircraft generate full power, but now uncommanded aileron movement renders all of them unflyable. No new cfgs... guess I have to uninstall/reinstall FS9. Great.  >:(. And if that doesn't work, all 4 discs are going for a ride... out the window!!!

[LoneEagle]

How many joysticks does your "games controllers'
show in the control panel?

That is: start/control panel/game controllers.

It sounld like a conflict between two controllers.

I have found the X45 to be the finest piece of
flightsim equipment there is. After several years
it has never waivered, has never been calibrated,
and has the boxed drivers. I have two, one out of
box and one that is highly modified. If both are plugged
in at the same time I get shaking like you speak of.

[MattNW]

I was being a dummy and looking in the Assignments for throttle sensitivity. Found it right where you said it was and tried setting it down. I got the same results you are reporting for the throttle. Cessna 182 couldn't make RPMs so that looks like an area to investigate. It's possible that Fs9 isn't saving the info right in the Fs9.cfg. You are setting full sensitivity but it's not saving it. The control spikes, I have no idea. You may want to just replace the Fs9.exe first and see if that helps before you reinstall the whole sim.

Sounds like you are having the trouble with your sim that I am with my car. Heater core went out and that cost $500 to fix. I got it home yesterday and it was still leaking coolant so I took it back. Mechanic put a floor jack under to lift the car to tighten the hose clamp he'd left loose and the jack slipped and punched a hole in the oil pan so now the car needs a new oil pan and they can't get one until Monday morning at the earliest.

Good news is that the owner of the shop sent someone over to pick me up at home and drive me to the shop to pick up a loaner until Monday eve.

[beefhole]

Hmm, sounds like a controller problem to me, I would really, really be surprised if this was a sim problem. Just to clarify-you can't produce full power even using the keyboard commands? (F3, F4, etc)

[beaky]

Checked  w/PF and CFS3 again, and found similar problems (hadn't seen that before with the other two sims- must be intermittent). Interesting.
BTW beefhole, yes, key and stick commands for throttle: same problem (max short of redline)...
Tried re-re-calibrating X45, and it seems OK now. So it seems it was the controller all along, or its drivers (we'll see).
 Trouble is, I already uninstalled FS9  :-X. Sigh. Well, it was getting a little cluttered with experiments, so a good cleaning was in order anyway.  And Matt's plight helps me realize that it could be worse...

Matt, if you haven't thought of it already: Make damn sure that shop guarantees your crankshaft, etc. was not damaged by that jack...!! I've had my share of "whoopsies" fixing cars, but I don't go around charging people money for it. And I can swap out a heater core without forgetting to tighten the clamps.Which one was he: Moe, Larry, or Curly?

[TacitBlue]

Is your throttle a seperate device? If so, can you calibrate it?

[beaky]

I was wrong- my troubles are not over. Uninstalled/reinstalled fs9, updated fs9, uninstalled/reinstalled Saitek, updated Saitek, re-calibrated everything for joystick/throttle in FS9,CFS3, and PF.... opened throttle case to look for mechanical problems and found none... and STILL just SOME of the (default) aircraft in FS9 have this "limited power" problem. The C182 is fine; the C172 won't go above 2200 rpm. The default Extra 300 also will not go anywhere near redline. This is driving me crazy...!! Must be a bad pot inside the unit or something like that. I'll have to check, but I'll bet the warranty expired the day this happened...

[MattNW]

If the problem is the same across multiple games and a driver reinstall doesn't change it then it probably is a hardware problem (can't rule out some weird Windows issue but that's unlikely). If your warranty is expired then you may try resoldering the connections. That's worked for other joysticks from a post I remember some time back although that wouldn't explain why the keyboard commands don't work.

I checked about the crankshaft. It didn't get into that. Usually they do good work there. It's a small shop that our family has been going to for almost thirty years. We've even traded services. I give him discounts on PC repair and he gives me a discount on car repairs.

At least it fixed something that's been bugging me for a long time. That year Grand Am has an oil sensor that some genius designed on the bottom of the oil pan. Every time I run through a puddle or something bounces up it knocks the wires loose and the oil light comes on. when they swapped the pan they also had to put in a new sensor. Been meaning to change that thing since I had the car but keep forgetting when I change the oil.