Suggestion

[aburley]

Hi guys,

 

Obviously, this is a Windows 8 thing, not a problem with FSUIPC. And this post is just a friendly suggestion to throw and idea out there. :)

 

Using Windows 8, my sticks and throttles work fine, but sometimes if i open the FSUIPC option dialogue box (or any dialogue box within FSX), my controls suddenly stop responding when i close the box and return to FSX. The only fix is to restart FSX.

 

Like i say, this only happens some of the time when opening the options, I cant seem to replicate the issue every time. I was setting up some profile specific buttons on the 777 last night, and on 5th restart of FSX, the controls were still alive after exiting the FSXUIP options.

 

It can make setting up profiles frustrating for assigning buttons.

 

It would be very handy to be able to access the options dialogue from outside FSX as a stand-alone application. That way, we would be able to assign buttons to a new aircraft without having to worry if the controls might stop working; set the profile specific new plane up in the 'seperate' application, start FSX and be done. I think this would save the 'hit and miss' nature of FSX on Windows 8 and save a ton of time setting up a clean install of FSX.

 

 

 

Thanks!

 

Adrian

[Pete Dowson]

Using Windows 8, my sticks and throttles work fine, but sometimes if i open the FSUIPC option dialogue box (or any dialogue box within FSX), my controls suddenly stop responding when i close the box and return to FSX. The only fix is to restart FSX.

 

 

Thanks!

 

Adrian

 

Is this all controls, axes and buttons? Does it only affect axes and buttons assigned in FSUIPC, or in FSX too?

 

Do the controls work when you are IN the dialogues, or do they stop when simply entering. It makes a difference.  FSUIPC does nothing at all with joystick devices on exiting the dialogues -- it simply exits, nothing more. But on entering it does re-initialise and rescan all devices automatically, just as it does if you press the "Reload" button on some of the tabs. If it is this which causes Windows 8 the problem then you can stop the automatic scan by simply changing this parameter in the INI file:

 

AutoScanDevices=Yes

 

to say 'No'. Then the scan only occurs when FSUIPC is first loaded and when you press Reload in some of the tabs.

 

Or have you tried this already?

 

It would be very handy to be able to access the options dialogue from outside FSX as a stand-alone application. That way, we would be able to assign buttons to a new aircraft without having to worry if the controls might stop working; set the profile specific new plane up in the 'seperate' application, start FSX and be done. I think this would save the 'hit and miss' nature of FSX on Windows 8

 

 

The outside way is to edit the INI file directly. If someone out there wants to write a utility to do that they are most welcome.

 

... and save a ton of time setting up a clean install of FSX.

 

A clean install!? It messes you installation up?

 

Regards

Pete

[aburley]

Thanks for replying so quick, Pete!

 

"Is this all controls, axes and buttons? Does it only affect axes and buttons assigned in FSUIPC, or in FSX too?"

Nothing is assigned in FSX - all FSUIPC. This issue affects all buttons and controls. Start FSX, they are fine. Open FSUIPC options, and nothing (and remain dead when returning back to FSX). So, they die when opening FSUIPC... Sometimes! :) I have not tried the autoscan config you mention - sounds interesting! Are there any drawbacks to making this change, for example will changes to assignments still be applied immediately?

 

"A clean install!? It messes you installation up?"

No, this problem has not caused long lasting problem - i am just thinking in the event that FSX has to be reinstalled for any other reason.

[Pete Dowson]

Nothing is assigned in FSX - all FSUIPC. This issue affects all buttons and controls. Start FSX, they are fine. Open FSUIPC options, and nothing (and remain dead when returning back to FSX). So, they die when opening FSUIPC... Sometimes! :) I have not tried the autoscan config you mention - sounds interesting! Are there any drawbacks to making this change, for example will changes to assignments still be applied immediately?

 

Yes. The only drawback is that FSUIPC won't see any device changes, for instance if you have just connected or reconnected a joystick. With FSX you'd have to reload FSX to get t to recongnise a device. I wanted FSUIPC to be better than that.

 

Basically all the defaulted-on AutoScanDevices option does is exactly the same thing as FSUIPC does when first loaded -- i.e scans the registry to identify all devices, then acquires those which are joysticks and reads their details. It is most odd that Windows 8 doesn't like this. It does release all previously acquired ones first, so there really should be no problems at all.

 

At present this process also happens if you press the reload buttons to reload settings from the INI file. So if that causes you to lose the controls it would preclude making changes like adding Lua plug-ins or multipe assignments to buttons by INI editing without reloading FSX, so i suppose it might be worth my adding another value to the option, like

 

AutoScanDevices=Never

 

I'll do that in the upcoming version 4.92 due for release on Monday.

 

Regards

Pete

[aburley]

I always leave my controllers plugged in all the time, and in the same USB ports, so im hopeful on the AutoScanDevices option.

 

The 'never' flag would definitely be useful.

 

Thanks again for all your suggestions, Pete! Very much appreciated!

 

Adrian

[aburley]

Hi again, Pete!

 

Over the weekend, I have tried your suggestion about changing AutoScanDevices to No, and it has definitely helped. My controllers no longer disconnect when opening FSUIPC.

 

Thank you for your help!

 

Adrian

[Pete Dowson]

Over the weekend, I have tried your suggestion about changing AutoScanDevices to No, and it has definitely helped. My controllers no longer disconnect when opening FSUIPC.

 

Good.

 

The "never" option is available in 4.92, which will replace 4.91 tomorrow (probably within 8 hours, in fact).

 

Pete