My X55 Rhino Came Today

[Snacko]

When I ordered it last week, it was a pre-order, and Saitek's webpage said pre-orders would ship in early April.  So, I was very surprised to get a shipment tracking email just 3 days later.

 

Overall it seems pretty good.  I have only unboxed it, put it together and attached it to my pc, installed the drivers and software. 

  

 

Pros:

• The stick is very 'tight' and there is very little slack when I tested it in the Windows Game Controller Settings.  (it shipped with the Green spring which is the strongest)
• All of the rotaries are very, very smooth.
• All of the metal toggles on the throttle are real metal, and so are the dividers on the bottom of the throttle.
• Stick and throttle are both made of good plastic.
• The throttle has a lot of resistance and moves very fluidly which seems very realistic.  With the tension knob totally loose, it still takes about 2-3 lbs of pressure to slowly slide the throttle forward.  This feels very realistic and I like it a lot.  I will leave it loosened until I get used to it.  However I will probably have to mount the throttle down to keep it from sliding.

 

Cons:

• The top and bottom rotaries on the throttle have almost 0 resistance.  On my X52 Pro they have good resistance which is nice when you turned them.  But I will get used to this, and it is really minor.  All the other rotaries do have some good resistance and seem realistic.
• The large round mounting nut at the base of the stick handle is plastic, and so is the base threads.  The first time I tried to screw the stick onto the base I was not holding it perfectly flush and halfway on it popped off.  I was worried I may have stripped the threads.  After holding it perfectly flush and straight I was able to tighten it on and it seems ok, but this could be a problem if you strip those plastic threads.
• The stick's hand rest is not adjustable like on my x52.  My hand fits on it ok, and a bigger hand would be a little better.  A smaller hand would have a little trouble.
• It does not have a 2 stage trigger.
• So far, it appears that in the HUD software you can only edit the throttle 'or' stick at a time.  But you save them as the same profile.  You open your profile and switch between each device and save as you go.  

  

 

 

The only real other thing is the programming software window is not resizable!  That is very annoying.  And I would say that it was ok, and I would get over it since they will probably make it re-sizable at some point.  But Saitek's focus had rarely been on improving their software.  So, I am not so sure that a simple thing like this would ever be fixed.

 

Here's a screenshot of my older x52 editor and the new x55 HUD editor.

 

 

Overall, I like this HOTAS so far.  Time will tell..

[Snacko]

I'm currently working out a problem with firing weapons.  I assigned the keystrokes in the profiler but IL2 does not fire the weapons (guns, cannons, rockets, bombs) when the joystick sends the keystrokes.  I have testing the keystrokes are being sent into notepad, the profiler's test window, and also within the IL2 game's Controls window.  I pull the trigger and it sends the Enter key to IL2 Controls window and it pops up a box saying that key is already assigned to the Weapon 1 command.  So it is getting the keystroke.  When in the game if I press the Enter key the guns do fire.  So I don't know.  

 

I have removed the keystrokes from my profile and just assigned the sticks buttons to the game's weapons commands and that does work fine.  

 

Does IL2 keep track of joystick hardware somewhere?  Other than just ID2, ID2...?  I don't understand what is confusing it...  I created a new Pilot but that did not help.  I am thinking of backing up my files and trying this on a new install.

 

 

Also there is some interesting info on the 1C forums on the stick.

 

[Perfesser]

I spent a lot of time playing with the (uhhm crap) Saitek software.

Try NOT loading the software.

Then go into the game, select the box to fire the weapon and hit your stick button.  Test to see if that works.

Then quit the game, load the software, go back into game and see if it still works.

 

I found most things worked better without the software.

 

Just out of curiosity, is the controller you're trying to use as the Enter button  the first in the "game controller" list in Windows?

[Snacko]

I spent a lot of time playing with the (uhhm crap) Saitek software.

Try NOT loading the software.

Then go into the game, select the box to fire the weapon and hit your stick button.  Test to see if that works.

Then quit the game, load the software, go back into game and see if it still works.

 

I found most things worked better without the software.

 

Just out of curiosity, is the controller you're trying to use as the Enter button  the first in the "game controller" list in Windows?

I have removed the keystrokes from my profile and just assigned the sticks buttons to the game's weapons commands and that does work fine.

As I posted above, I did get it to work if I did not assign the 'keystrokes' and went into the game and just assigned the hardware buttons/triggers.

No, the first controller in the list is my CH Pedals always as it starts with a C I guess. It has always been first.

[Perfesser]

My enter button would only work if that controller was #1 on the list but I ended up not using the software at all.

If I want any extra strokes I use joytokey but I'm new with that bit of kit

[Snacko]

What stick do you have?

Sent from my Galaxy Note 2 with Tapatalk 4.

[Painless]

It certainly looks the part Snack.

I seem to remember not using the saitek software for my X52 when installing on a fresh windows 7 install with jabo. Never had a problem since.

How much is one of those ?

P.

[Snacko]

$199 Mick.

I never had a problem using the older Saitek profiler. I made the mistake of trying the newer version about a month ago, and the driver was very flaky. When I reinstalled the old one it kept installing a different version than what it was!

I noticed that the properties of the install file said "Web install"?.. So I unplugged my network cable and then it installed the version that it was. I think it was using the Internet to install the" latest" version.

Sent from my Galaxy Note 2 with Tapatalk 4.

[Ovy]

One thing is quite sure guys: - do NOT use Saitek's soft. Just like my predecessors said i concur that simply assigning keys in the game menu works allright.

A warning for all Saitek fans ( me included...)

 

Good luck bud !

~S~

Ovy

[fruitbat]

Never had a problem myself with the saitek profiler.

[Crash]

I have never had a problem either apart from "magic mouse" turning selecting icons into a game

[Friar]

me neither. been using it for ages.

[FoolTrottel]

Me neither. Then again, I've never used it... 

[Perfesser]

What stick do you have?

Sent from my Galaxy Note 2 with Tapatalk 4.

I bumbled along with the X52 till the stick began to give out(the flashing LED's). Bought a CH fighterstick and am using that with the X52 throttle(and stick too - extra buttons)

[Snacko]

I tested the x55 with DCS World and also CLOD today and the space, enter, and backspace keys are never recognized by the game from the stick. But it works fine in the profile test window and also notepad. Very strange.. F, G, F1, F2, etc.. all seem to work fine. May just be a 'special' key problem. We had to program Touchbuddy to send 'hardware' OEM keystrokes to the games/programs and it was not all that hard. But it is not just sending a keysroke, it's sending a low-level hardware command to fit an industry standard so all keyboard setups in the world will work with it.

I'll be plugging it into my other computer tomorrow and see if this happens there.

EDIT:

Couldn't wait. Doesn't work their either. That pc has HSFX7 and only a logitech driver for a joystick. No saitek drivers were ever on that one. So waiting for Saitek support to respond now I guess..

[BadAim]

I aggree that Saitek cant write either a driver or software to save their lives, but they have improved somewhat. The method I use is to assign Direct X buttons to the game wherever possible and only use the profiler when I need to do something that direct buttons can't accomplish, and if I have a problem with a given button, I just use another one.

 

That is a mighty handsome looking stick you got there son........

[Snacko]

The latest reply from Saitek Support:

 

Hello Sancko, 

Thank you for your patience. It is much appreciated. IL2 1946 is not on our compatible simulator list for the X55. By the looks of it, the game operates on a single joystick basis. The X55 utilizes the capabilities of a two controller setup because the stick operates as single usb device and the throttle operates as a single usb device. It seems like the only way you can possibly use it for that game will be the advanced commands. What you can do is send me the profile for your X55 and your profile for the X52. We will go ahead and take a look into each to compare and contrast both profiles given the fact that IL2 is not officially compatible to the X55. 

Best regards,

 

 

This secret list would have come in handy maybe 6 weeks ago?..  And they really don't know anything at all about IL2...

 

But I am still testing and think I have found part of the problem with commands being sent randomly when flying online.  I have had my x52 Pro plugged into a powered USB Hub for months with no problems.  But I don't think the x55 Rhino likes that.  Since I have plugged both the stick and throttle directly into my motherboard I have not had any problems like this online.

 

If this was the fix, then the only 'problem' seems that you need to program Advanced commands for many simple keypresses, which is very annoying.  But if it works, it works so I will be happy.  I will continue to test it online for my confidence in it to come back since the problems were really quite random and sporadic.  And that does seem like how I would expect the problems to act if the problem was the USB Hub and power...

[Crash]

I dont think that Saitek have a clue what they are on about.

[Snacko]

Here is their Compatible list.  Scroll to the bottom of the page:

http://store.madcatz.com/brands/saitek/Saitek-Pro-Flight-X-55-Rhino-H-O-T-A-S-System-for-PC.html

[DD_Arthur]

Check this out Snacko;

 

http://theairtacticalassaultgroup.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9870&p=108535#post108535

[Snacko]

Not sure what that's for Arthur, unless your just saying the x55 is a big April Fools joke?  

But at least I may have found my problem.  Should have bypassed the USB Hub earlier, but my x52 Pro worked there just fine.  I am going to be very happy if this fixes it.  I do love the x55 when it works.

 

BTW, Saitek Support should have a Support Script that all their support reps follow.  This is standard in tech support as I am sure Jabo can attest.  Just go through the basics: 1) Did you install the drivers?  2) Did you install the software? 3) What ports do you have your x55 plugged in?........  They never even asked me anything about my computer.  But this was my mistake.

[DD_Arthur]

I thought the interesting bit was about new software that is available from the Saitek site but not the Madkatz site yet.

[Snacko]

I just did a search for Madcatz and Saitek and didn't find anything... where is that?

[DD_Arthur]

Doh!!!  Sorry Snacko - just realised I posted the wrong link.

 

This is what I'm trying to show you;

 

http://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/5104-project-x-55-germany-mod/

 

Sorry for the confusion - I'm an idiot.

[Snacko]

I'm glad that I hung in there with you... I'm downloading them now.

 

You are by no means an idiot... a bone head, moron, imbecile maybe, but never a simple idiot!    

Thanks!