BU0836X Encoder failed

[schillermetall]

I'm desperate, my Rotary's don't really work under Win10 and MSFS.

The encoders are connected to the BU0836X.

(They worked perfectly under Win7 / FSX.)

When turning the encoder, an offset should be displayed in the FSUIPC in one direction. Turning in the other direction another ofset.

For me, however, it is the case that both offset jump back and forth, no matter which direction I turn.

I connected the board to both USB3 and USB2, no change.

Now I have no more ideas.

 

Greetengs

Roland

[John Dowson]

21 hours ago, schillermetall said:

When turning the encoder, an offset should be displayed in the FSUIPC in one direction. Turning in the other direction another ofset.

When you turn the encoder, you should see the "button number" (as well as the device number) for the rotary in that direction. You will only see an "offset" if you already have an offset assignment to that button.

21 hours ago, schillermetall said:

For me, however, it is the case that both offset jump back and forth, no matter which direction I turn.

Sorry, I don't understand what you mean by this. Can you explain?
Also, please attach your FSUIPC7.ini file so I can see your assignments.

[schillermetall]

Thank you for your prompt reply.

Yes, right, button number is the right name.

When I turn the encoder "forward" a button number appears. If I turn the encoder "backwards", a different button number appears. It should be so.

The problem with me is: I turn in one direction and button numbers "forwards" and "backwards" always jump back and forth.

I've tried different encoders, always the same.

[John Dowson]

10 minutes ago, schillermetall said:

The problem with me is: I turn in one direction and button numbers "forwards" and "backwards" always jump back and forth.

Not sure what you mean by this... Some rotaries have two buttons in each direction - one for a small increments and another for larger increments.
But what exactly is you issue? If you turn you rotary, you thrn get a button number -  can't you then assign to it? Or are you saying that the button number changes when you are not turning the rotary? if so, that sounds like a dirty connection. You can ignore such inputs by using the  IgnoreThese ini parameter (see Advanced User manual). I will be adding a button to the UI for this, but haven't got around to this so far....

John

[schillermetall]

when i turn the knob in one direction, the result is it toggles in both direction

[John Dowson]

3 minutes ago, schillermetall said:

when i turn the knob in one direction, the result is it toggles in both direction

I still don't know what you mean by this! It would help if you could explain what you are doing and what you are seeing, and what the actual problem is.
As far as FSUIPC is concerned, a button is a button, the direction doesn't matter. Various rotaries work in different ways with a different number of buttons. For example, the rotaries on my GF panels are 4 button rotaries, two buttons in each direction, one for slow movement and one for fast, so that they can be programmed/assigned distinctly (i.e. for small or large increments on whatever it is controlling).

But, as I have said, what exactly is you issue? Are you saying that the button numbers are the same regardless of the direction that you turn the rotary? And that this is only in FSUIPC6, but is ok in FSUIPC4?

 

[schillermetall]

look here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrKTUWEWpQQ

[John Dowson]

16 hours ago, John Dowson said:

the button numbers are the same regardless of the direction that you turn the rotary?

So this is the case. It sounds like this is either a problem with the rotary or the driver. FSUIPC is only reporting what it sees from the windows joystick HID API.
Maybe you can check what windows sees under game controllers for that rotary?
What is strange is that you say this was working fine under win 7. What button numbers did it report there in each direction?

[schillermetall]

I don't remember the exact buttons. The computer with FSX is stowed away. I've used other Rotarys as well, same result. Perhaps you can recommend a certain brand?

[John Dowson]

9 minutes ago, schillermetall said:

I've used other Rotarys as well, same result. Perhaps you can recommend a certain brand?

I'm afraid I'm not that familiar with such issues - I'm a software guy and defer to others when it comes to most hardware issues -  maybe @Pete Dowson or @Thomas Richter can help with this. I don't see how the rotary can fire different buttons between win 7 and win10 un less its a driver issue, but maybe Pete or Thomas can explain this.

Regards,

John

 

[Pete Dowson]

On 12/18/2020 at 5:53 PM, John Dowson said:

I don't see how the rotary can fire different buttons between win 7 and win10 un less its a driver issue, but maybe Pete or Thomas can explain this.

No, I can't.  If it is connected properly to the Bodnar board, then if it is functioning correctly AND it is of the type which uses the two output connections separately, one for each direction, then the Bodnar board will encode each direction separately in the Direct Input package as two separate button bits, hence two separate numbers.

However, some encoders don't have such a tidy arrangement, but simply pulse both outputs in both directions, the only difference being how they are phased.  FSUIPC can deal with that too, via conditional assignments as described about half way down page 23 in the FSUIPC6 Advanced User guide (and on a near page in other FSUIPC editions).

But if you aren't seeing two different button numbers reported no matter which direction or how slow or fast, then it really has to be a connection error on the Bodnar board, or a faulty encoder.

Did you ever check what Windows reported in its game controllers - properties display? In case you don't know how to do this, just under 'Devices and Printers', right click on your game controller's icon, then click Game controller settings and finally  click Properties.  You will get a display showing however many buttons and axes you have connected up on your Bodnar BU0836.

As John said, FSUIPC can only handle whatever is reported via DirectInput.

Pete

 

 

[schillermetall]

Hi Pete,

Merry Christmas.

I don't understand which parameter to change.

Unfortunately, my English is very bad.

I have attached the FSUIPC.ini to you. Can you show me there which parameters I need to change?

FSUIPC7.ini

[John Dowson]

7 minutes ago, schillermetall said:

I have attached the FSUIPC.ini to you. Can you show me there which parameters I need to change?

You need to make at least one assignment to the rotary first. Your video showed device C with buttons 24 & 25 firing, and you have no assignments to those buttons.
Try making one assignment in one direction, then look at the ini to find that assignment. Then, as Pete has said, follow the instructions half-way down P23, where 'Joystick 1' would be your Joystick C, B1 would be 24 and B2 is 25 (for the rotary you showed in your video). Otherwise, post your ini again after making an assignment to the rotary, and let us know the device and button number you assigned to.

John

[schillermetall]

Well, I've now made the following assignment:

C 30 Heading Bug Dec fast

C 31 Heading Bug Inc

The .ini attached

FSUIPC7.ini

[schillermetall]

It's strange,

I've just reread the .ini. The parameters for C30 do not match.

The assignment "Heading Bug Dec Fast" is correct under buttons + switches.

In the .ini there is something else (Heading Bug Inc).

I've tried several times, it doesn't change.

[John Dowson]

On 12/26/2020 at 5:48 PM, schillermetall said:

I've just reread the .ini. The parameters for C30 do not match.

The assignment "Heading Bug Dec Fast" is correct under buttons + switches.

In the .ini there is something else (Heading Bug Inc).

I've tried several times, it doesn't change.

It is there, it is just not a annotated correctly:
    39=PC,30,C1024,0     -{}-
This is because there is an issue with the annotation/comments for FSUIPC added controls. This has been corrected in the latest version, v7.0.3. You are till using v7.0.0 - can you please update (as only the latest version of each product is supported).

Also, if you have a two-phased type rotary, you can only have one speed in each direction. It maybe better to  assign to use offset 0x0BC0 and the increment/decrement controls, as explained in this post: 

 

You also need to determine which two buttons control the phase of the rotary - i.e. what are buttons B1 and B2 as explained on P23 of the Advanced user guide.
 

John

[Argaric]

I had to change the Pulse Width from 48ms to 96ms to mostly eleimate this issue.

With the Pulse Width set to 48ms the Windows 10 Game Controller settings showed both buttons being activated on each detent.

With the Pulse Width set to 96ms the Game Controller settings only show one button being acctivated per detent, though when rotating the encoder quickly is does show an occaisonal activation for the other button.

I have not finished the setup for FSUIPC/MSFS2020 yet so I cannot verify that it works correctly.

[schillermetall]

Hello Argaric,

Where exactly can I adjust the pulse width?

[John Dowson]

1 hour ago, Argaric said:

With the Pulse Width set to 48ms the Windows 10 Game Controller settings showed both buttons being activated on each detent.

But they should be - at least in one direction! The other not.
You really need to just determine the button/phase numbers and follow the instructions in the Advanced User guide.
Its difficult to advise on such matters when we don't know how your rotary operates, but the facilities provided should be sufficient.

John

[schillermetall]

I have the answer to the riddle.
I did not have this tool installed.

- BU0836_encoders.exe

The inputs were not switched on for encoders.

 

Many thanks for your help.

Have a good New Year.

[John Dowson]

On 12/31/2020 at 7:34 PM, schillermetall said:

The inputs were not switched on for encoders

Ah, yes - that would explain your issue. Thanks for reporting back - and a Happy New Year to you as well,

John