USB Joystick key assignments - I keep losing it

[vnangli]

Hello all,
I am noticing a strange behavior of the accessories (Thrust master USB connected). In the past couple of days, I have tried to map the keys to various functions and have saved the "PREFERENCE" in Aerowinx repeatedly. But, every time I have shutdown the computer and restarted AEROWINX the mappings are lost and the PREFERENCE page in AEROWINX would show "OFF".

Do I need to look out for any particular setting, either in my computer or in the accessories? So that I don't lose any key mappings.

P.S. The Aerowinx startup graphics which shows the startup process status doesn't show "USB DISCONNECTED" message. So, the USB connections are good I believe.

Please help.

 By the way, I am running java on a late 2013 MacBook pro.
The frame rate is not great, but it works. Are there any aerowinx settings that I can change to improve the frame rate?

[Chris Stanley]

Not sure if this helps but I've never really got to grips with the default and saved preferences and what's really going on!
But I do know that if I start PSX with the USB devices moved, disconnected , or changed, everything seems lost forever. Loading an old preferences file doesn't seem to work.

[Hardy Heinlin]

Hello,

you may try this: Before you start PSX, move your USB flight controls in order to "wake up" the USB detection in the OS.

Are there any aerowinx settings that I can change to improve the frame rate?

How high is your frame rate? There are some tips in the Aerowinx Operations Manual on page 76. Do they help?


Regards,

|-|ardy

[vnangli]

..move your USB flight controls in order to "wake up" the USB detection in the OS.


How high is your frame rate? There are some tips in the Aerowinx Operations Manual on page 76. Do they help?

I tried the "wake up" tip. My previous mappings were not available.
Due to limited usb ports available (only 2), I am using a usb hub. Could this be causing the trouble?

The frame rates dip to 20-25 fps. This happens around the decision height/inner marker, with the autopilot still on. Are these any good hints? I admit, my computer is pretty old. Just making it work till I get my bonus :-)

[Hardy Heinlin]

Are there any entries in the text file Aerowinx/Logs/errors.txt ?

[vnangli]

Hardy,
This is all the errors text file had : "[Aerowinx Precision Simulator - Exceptions]"

[Hardy Heinlin]

Are there any entries in the text file Aerowinx/Developers/USB-Detect.txt ?

[vnangli]

After my last post, I tried another option. To directly connect the accessories to the laptop. I have a Thrustmaster throttle quadrant and joy stick. And for the mouse function, I bought a Bluetooth mouse (the one without a dongle).
Now things are predictable. The USB mappings are working fine between restarts, either the computer or Aerowinx sessions. Seems like the USB hub was causing this trouble.

To your question about entries in USB-Detect.txt, I see entries. But they are all new, which have been compiled after my latest setup. right? Do you still want to see the entries?

[Kurt]

Hey - another option is to use FrankenUSB addon to connect USB devices to PSX - I use it in my sim.

A bit steep learning curve to setup but once you have it setup the USB assignments are rock steady.

https://aerowinx.com/board/index.php/topic,7764.0.html

Cheers

[voipmeister]

I second Kurt's suggestion, FrankenUSB offers a lot of stability, and configuration options. Once you set it up the way you want, rock solid. Your USB devices need to be supported by the PyGame module though, but most devices are supported.

[Will]

I had some trouble with this in the distant past (circa 2014), but the problem went away when I upgraded my computer. My guess is that there's something going on with the way that Java sequences the USB devices when they are first detected. In my situation, all the controllers and preferences profiles worked perfectly unless I shut the computer off. When I powered the computer back on, my preferences were scrambled. I ended up keeping the computer always on (while sleeping the display), and that prevented me from having to redo the assignments every time.

Of note, this didn't happen with non-Java apps, which is why I think it's a Java issue.

But that was back in 2014, a long time ago, with older hardware. I posted about it a few times on this forum, but what fixed it for me was buying different hardware. I've now had 2 or 3 computer upgrades since then, and the problem hasn't carried forward.

I'd guess that your USB hub doesn't play well with the way Java detects and sequences hardware. Sounds like you found a solution though, which is great.

[United__744]

Depends on the USB controller chip. The first USB3 controllers had a design flaw that affected millions of computers. The only solution was to avoid the controller chip or derivatives. It was fixed in later iterations, but it took years for it to be addressed.