FSUIPC and X-keys

[mfkillen]

Hi all

Just joined the forums. What a fantastic program. I'm building an F/A18E pit and am in the process of intefacing the switches. I was wondering if anyone here is using the X-keys matrix board and software. I found that when I programed my switches on the A10 stick and throttle it was easy and worked like a charm. No problems at all. when I started to connect all other switches in the pit I needed to use X-keys software and have it running it the background, using that works great too but why not use FSUIPC for it all. So I tried to program the switches but when I would manipulate a switch other then what was already programmed on my A10 controls the FSUIPC would not recognise the switch at all and thereby not allow me to assign any keys. I not sure why it would not see the switch at all because it is still powered through the computer.

so my question is can the switches connected through the X-keys matrix board be programmed through FSUIPC or am I looking at purchasing another interface board? Any suggestions on this would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Mark

[Pete Dowson]

I not sure why it would not see the switch at all because it is still powered through the computer.

I don't think power is the relevant factor in a program's ability to "see" switches. FS and FSUIPC can "see" switches and buttons which are on devices which look like "joysticks" to Windows, because both rely on DirectInput to read those switches and buttons. You CAN program Lua plug-ins to read switches on other HID (Human Interface Devices), but this does requires some extra effort and understanding of the devices concerned. The built-in provisions in both FS and FSUIPC rely on standard Windows joystick recognition.

So my question is can the switches connected through the X-keys matrix board be programmed through FSUIPC or am I looking at purchasing another interface board?

I've never heard of an "X-keys matrix board", but from what you said above I must assume that it does come with its own driver software which makes it look visible to Windows (and therefore FS and FSUIPC) as a joystick or keyboard device. Is that right? You didn't really explain that sufficiently for me to understand.

This is the case with many add-on devices -- Saitek panels and GoFlight panels, for instance. GoFlight supplied "GFDev.DLL" as the driver supporting their devices and FSUIPC takes advantage of that, but without that they too would need Lua plug-in handling.

[LATER]

I googled "X-keys matrix board" and found that it, in general is not specifically a joystick device. BUT it did say this:

Pi3 Firmware

Our new Pi3 firmware offers all the features of our Classic X-keys Matrix Board plus a host of new features including:

• Hardware Mode programming in Windows 7 and beyond
  
• Joystick (game controller) emulation
  
• Keyboard and mouse emulation
  

I've highlighted the part relevant here. Maybe your board is out of date and doesn't have the right firmware for joystick emulation? Or perhaps it needs enabling? Does the Windows Game Controllers applet in Control Panel see it?

Regards

Pete

[mfkillen]

Thanks for the quick reply Pete. I'm not at home right now but I will check as soon as I get home and get back to you..

[mfkillen]

Hi again Pete

I've never heard of an "X-keys matrix board", but from what you said above I must assume that it does come with its own driver software which makes it look visible to Windows (and therefore FS and FSUIPC) as a joystick or keyboard device. Is that right? You didn't really explain that sufficiently for me to understand.

X-keys have neen out for a while from my understanding, The guy's at viperpit.org who build there own F16 pits use it alot, but then again they are flying BMS, and not fsx in most cases. From talking with them it seemed like the best way to go.

This is the case with many add-on devices -- Saitek panels and GoFlight panels, for instance. GoFlight supplied "GFDev.DLL" as the driver supporting their devices and FSUIPC takes advantage of that, but without that they too would need Lua plug-in handling.

I'm not sure what you mean by this but I'm all ears.

With regards to the computer reading it, it does not fall into the joystick device area but unspecified area as does the track ir as illustrated in the screen.

As for the Pi3 firmware I don't see it and it does not indicated firm ware so I'll check into that one asap and let you know.

[Pete Dowson]

I'm not sure what you mean by this but I'm all ears.

Eyes, not ears. Please refer to the Lua package installed into your FSUIPC Documents folder. The COM library supplied in the Lua facilities includes facilities for handling HID devices, which might be useful for you if your X-keys looks like one of those. You can check by using HidScanner, available in the Lua thread in the Download Links subforum above.

With regards to the computer reading it, it does not fall into the joystick device area but unspecified area as does the track ir as illustrated in the screen.

As for the Pi3 firmware I don't see it and it does not indicated firm ware so I'll check into that one asap and let you know.

Seems that it does not have the requisite firmware, or it does but it needs the joystick emulating interface enabling somehow.

Regards

Pete

[mfkillen]

Finally getting back to this now and getting things setup. I cannot seem to find the exe for the HidScanner. Can anyone please pass it my way please if they have it.

Cheers

Mark

[Pete Dowson]

Finally getting back to this now and getting things setup. I cannot seem to find the exe for the HidScanner. Can anyone please pass it my way please if they have it.

HidScanner is provided in the Download Links subforum, in the thread with the Lua plug-ins package which it complements.

Regards

Pete