Rudder Snaps Back to Center

[David123]

Hello,

I had to reload MSFS into my computer and I have been working on it since yesterday, trying to straighten everything out. Anyway, I'm trying to fly the Grumman Goose and when I did my flight control check I saw that the rudder moved but then snapped back to center. It did it for both left and right rudder. Knowing that I have to delete any control surface assignments in order for FSUIPC to work, I checked all my control peripherals (keyboard, rudder pedals, throttle quadrant, joystick) and I made sure that no control surface assignments were present in MSFS. Still, the rudder pedals did not hold the rudder in position, it moved slightly and then snapped back to center.

So, I'm writing to figure out what happened. All the other inputs to FSUIPC work, including the brakes which are also mapped to the rudder pedals, and all inputs from all other control peripherals. My setup is as follows:

Pedals are assigned to "Axis Rudder Set"

Left Rudder has an "in" and "out" value of +16383 (for both "in" and "out")

Right Rudder has an "in" and "out" value of -16383 (for both "in and "out")

David McCormick

[John Dowson]

The usual cause of such behavior is dual assignments, i.e. having the rudder assigned to two different axis.

Can you do the following please: once MSFS and FSUIPC7 have started, activate logging for Buttons & Keys, Events and Axes Controls. Load your aircraft, then move the rudder to full left, then full right, then back to center. Then exit FSUIPC7, and show me / attach your FSUIPC7.log and FSUIPC7.ini files and I will take a look.

John

[ark1320]

It might also we worth checking that AUTO-RUDDER under Assistance Options > Piloting didn't get turned on. I have found that sometimes some of these sim assistance settings get automatically reset for some strange reason.

Al

[David123]

John,

Thank you so much for your help. I did what you asked. I started MSFS, started FSUIPC 7 (automatically started with MSFS) made certain that buttons and keys, events, and axis control were checked in the Log tab, Loaded the Goose and moved the rudder left then right then allowed it to center. I am attaching the results of the .log, .ini and events results that I copied just before I shut down MSFS and FSUIPC 7.

Seems that it is, possibly, an aircraft specific problem because the only other aircraft I am currently flying is the PMDG DC-6 and all the control surfaces work fine with it.

Al,  I will check, but I think I turned all of the assistance settings off.

David McCormick

FSUIPC7.ini

[David123]

I can't send the .log file because I am told it exceeds 4.81 MB. I also tried copy/past but it's still too big

[John Dowson]

2 hours ago, David123 said:

I am attaching the results of the .log, .ini and events results that I copied just before I shut down MSFS and FSUIPC 7.

You should always attach files after exiting FSUIPC7, not before.

2 hours ago, David123 said:

I can't send the .log file because I am told it exceeds 4.81 MB. I also tried copy/past but it's still too big

Try zipping/compressing.

You are also using an old and unsupported version of FSUIPC7, 7.4.11 - please update to the latest version, 7.4.16.

2 hours ago, David123 said:

Seems that it is, possibly, an aircraft specific problem because the only other aircraft I am currently flying is the PMDG DC-6 and all the control surfaces work fine with it.

Looks to be. You could try changing the rudder control used, from Rudder Set to Axis Rudder Set (which you use with the DC-6 profile, although you only seem to have a DC-3 in that profile).

Also take a look to see if there are any Input Events or Lvars that look like they may controller the rudder (using Log->List Input Events and Add-ons->WASM->List Lvars)

[David123]

John,

I think I screwed up.  Here are the files.

Sorry for any inconvenience. I downloaded the FSUIPC version you suggested. I think I have to delete the version I have installed and then install the new one, Correct?

FSUIPC7.ini FSUIPC7.log

[John Dowson]

1. You are still using 7.4.11 - please update
     *Ok, I see you posted for an issue with the update - I have responded there

2. You did not activate the required logging so the log file is useless

3. Your ini file is now empty except for the one assignment to the rudder?

Edited August 11 by John Dowson
*added

[David123]

OK, i installed FSUIPC version 7.4.16.  I assigned the joystick, throttle and rudder pedals to their correct axes. I assigned them when I had the DC-6 loaded to make sure that everything was working correctly (which it does).  I then made sure that the Log tab had Buttons and Keys, Events.  and Axes Control were checked. I loaded the JRF Goose and moved the rudder both left and right then allowed it to center. I still have the same problem. I made sure that there were no assignments to flight controls in MSFS. Here are the .ini and .log files you requested. as of now I have not assigned any buttons or switches to FSUIPC, only the rudder, aileron and elevator axes and the throttles, mixture and props axes.

FSUIPC7.ini FSUIPC7.log

[John Dowson]

The log file shows the axis controls being sent and applied correctly, so it looks like this aircraft is not responding correctly to this rudder control.
Try assigning using Send direct to FSUIPC calibration to see if that makes a difference.

Did you check for any lvars or Input Events that could be used to control the rudder? 

Does the rudder function correctly when assigned in MSFS?

 

[David123]

John.

"Send direct to FSUIPC calibration" did not work, nor did assigning the rudder directly to MSFS. I really don't know what I'm supposed to do when looking for Ivars or Input events or, actually, where to look for them.

[John Dowson]

12 minutes ago, David123 said:

I really don't know what I'm supposed to do when looking for Ivars or Input events or, actually, where to look for them.

For lvars, use Add-ons->WASM-> List Lvars - do any look like they control the rudder? If so, you can try setting them using Add-ons->WASM->Set Lvar.

For Input Events, use Log->List Input Events to see what is available.

If either an lvar or an input event is available, I can help you assign to use these.

17 minutes ago, David123 said:

"Send direct to FSUIPC calibration" did not work, nor did assigning the rudder directly to MSFS.

Ok, then you need to try lvars and Input Events. If its also not possible in MSFS, you should ask about this on the aircraft support forum.

[David123]

John,

I went to Add-ons>WASM>List Lvars and the only thing I saw there was "RudderPos=0.000000

I went to Add-ons>WASM>Set Lvar. The only thing I found listed was RudderPos 1193. I tried to set this value but the Set button didn't work (it was a light gray color, unlike the Done button which was colored in such a way that it looked as if it could be pressed)

I went to Log >List Input Events and there was nothing listed for rudder. Alphabetically, it didn't even get up to "R".

I also tried deleting and reinstalling the aircraft but that didn't work either. Maybe I should just forget about it and chalk it up to a bad aircraft.

[John Dowson]

29 minutes ago, David123 said:

I went to Add-ons>WASM>List Lvars and the only thing I saw there was "RudderPos=0.000000

Ok, then you can probably use that... Was the 0 value when the rudder was at the central position? If so, you need to determine the values for maximum left and right deflection: move the rudder full left/right, and list the values again. What is the update value when fully deflected?

29 minutes ago, David123 said:

I went to Add-ons>WASM>Set Lvar. The only thing I found listed was RudderPos 1193. I tried to set this value but the Set button didn't work (it was a light gray color, unlike the Done button which was colored in such a way that it looked as if it could be pressed)

1193 is just the id of the lvar and can be ignored. The 'Set' button always works and is never disabled as far as I remember. What values did you try and set? If you set WAPI debug level logging (Log -> WAPI -> Debug) then you should see the control to update the lvar logged (in the logging console).
It is helpful to determine the max/min values for this lvar, and then try setting those values, as well as 0, and see if the rudder moves/reacts. If this lvar is writeable and working, I can show you how to use this to control the rudder, but I need to know the max/min values for full right/left deflection.

If 0 is the rudder centre position, then the lvar will probably have a range of either -1 to + 1 (as a decimal), or -100 to + 100 (as an integer).

 

 

[David123]

The rudder position value of 0.000000 was when the rudder was in neutral. When I moved the rudder full left and full right the rudder position value did not change {it was still 0.000000) and no other Lvar was logged to show any position change at all. I made sure that I went to Log>WAPI>and checked Debug then I moved the rudder left and right again and went to the logging console, which was blank (it said "console started"). So I moved the rudder left and right again and a whole list of FS Rudder Controls showed up with all sorts of different numbers. I'm not sure which numbers I should use for values since every line has a different number and there are 139 lines (yes, I counted them. I'm good at that) for a single left and right throw of the rudder.

[John Dowson]

15 hours ago, David123 said:

The rudder position value of 0.000000 was when the rudder was in neutral. When I moved the rudder full left and full right the rudder position value did not change {it was still 0.000000) and no other Lvar was logged to show any position change at all

Nothing will be logged, as there is no specific facility to log lvar changes. You need to list the lvars again when the rudder is at the full deflection (not after) to see the value when fully deflected. Did you do that? Otherwise, you can log an lvar by adding it to an FSUIPC offset and then log the offset changes.

15 hours ago, David123 said:

I made sure that I went to Log>WAPI>and checked Debug then I moved the rudder left and right again and went to the logging console, which was blank (it said "console started").

This logging was to check that FSUIPC7 was sending the lvar update request when using the Add-ons->WASM->Set Lvar menu option. Did you try that? What was logged?

15 hours ago, David123 said:

So I moved the rudder left and right again and a whole list of FS Rudder Controls showed up with all sorts of different numbers. I'm not sure which numbers I should use for values since every line has a different number and there are 139 lines (yes, I counted them. I'm good at that) for a single left and right throw of the rudder.

These would be the FS control/event that are logged. You have already tried assigning to the FS controls which doesn't work, so you can forget that.

Try the following:

1. Add the following to your FSUIPC7.ini file:

[LvarOffsets]
1=L:RudderPos=F0xA000

This will add the lvar RudderPos to offset 0xA000 as a 4-byte/32-bit floating point number.

2. Start MSFS and FSUIPC. Then open FSUIPC, remove all logging options except for Events and Input Events, then go to Log->Offsets, and add logging for offset 0xA000 as  FLT32, and make sure to check Normal log file.

3. Load your aircraft, move the rudder through its full range, from neutral to left full, back to neutral then right full and back to neutral, List the lvars (Add-ons->WASM->List Lvars) and then exit FSUIPC7 and show me / attach the FSUIPC7.log file.

[John Dowson]

@David123 Did you try the above or did you manage to sort out your issue, and if so, what was the problem?