Flyboy583 Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Hi Guys, I have a problem with my Saitek X45 joystick .. I have owned this X45 since its release (Think it was 2001) and it has always served my without any problem. When I stopped flying Sims a few years back I packed the stick away. With my return to the simulation world I unpacked the joystick and now it does not work. non of the buttons on the throttle lights up and also none of the axis of any of the hat switches or rotary switches work When you try to configure the joystick the x & y axis is all over the place.... and during installation the joystick fails the windows authentication. I have had a good look at the joystick and think I have figured out what might be wrong. It appears to be a fault with the Throttle socket (Where the throttle plugs into the main joystick housing) If you put a downwards pressure on the throttle plug (So putting an upwards pressure on the port in the joystick body) then all the lights lights up on the throttle and all the axis responds with the joystick working normally. I have opened the main joystick body and found the plug is soldered to a circuit board. Has anybody had a similar problem? Any suggestions in getting it fixed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PropNut Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Sounds like there is a loose solder joint, you can test it out by using a fine tipped volt/ohm meter and checking for continuity on the plug and solder connection. Put a bare wire into the plug, connect your V/O meter to both sides and wiggle the plug around, see if the meter jumps. If it does, you can try to resolder the connections by applying a soldering iron to the contacts (just enough to melt the solder, not enough to make it run off and use a very fine tip on a good quality soldering iron, not a soldering gun). It would be good practice for building your Freetrack heaset! This should be needless to say but....lol...I will. Do all this with the joystick unplugged, either into the throttle base or the USB. By the way, the same thing happened on my old X52, it uses a slightly different plug but same issue. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyboy583 Posted September 21, 2011 Author Share Posted September 21, 2011 I had a suspicion it might be something to do with the connections to the board... I will have a crack at this over the weekend if I get board of fiddling with my Free Track project lol Much appreciated David At this rate I will owe you more than a crate of beer.... more like a truck load!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zooly Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 If it is a terminal fault with the stick, I have an X45 knocking about somewhere and I'm happy to send it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyboy583 Posted September 23, 2011 Author Share Posted September 23, 2011 Cheers Zooly I'm taking my stick to my better half`s uncle tonight. He is a dam site better at electronics than I am If it is terminal I will let you know and If you have no use for your old x45 then Ill happily accept (With payment of course! ) Best Regards Leon! If it is a terminal fault with the stick, I have an X45 knocking about somewhere and I'm happy to send it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyboy583 Posted September 24, 2011 Author Share Posted September 24, 2011 So last night I took my X45 to my GF`s uncle (who works with electronic) and a print out of what you suggested David, to have a look if we can fix it... He took the circuit board out and tested the board and the plug. He also re soldered all the connections. When I got home I plugged the X45 (joystick only) in... Initially nothing, so I then plugged the throttle back in and this is what I found. When I screwed the throttle fully in, I had the same problem. I wiggled the plug slightly and the lights came on and off, so I unscrewed the plug half way out and the lights stayed on and the joystick seemed fine. I then ran the Saitek configuration and all axis, button and rotaries worked flawlessly. I did also re-install the drivers, but surprisingly the joystick failed windows compatibility Anyway I fired up FSX, checked the settings (X45 joystick selected) also ran the configuration again through FSX and selected a flight. When the flight started... nothing!! All the buttons worked correctly (gear up down, pan view through the HAT switches ect) no aileron, rudder or elevator input I am going to dust of my copy of Falcon 4.0 and see if it is a problem with FSX or the joystick?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PropNut Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 The problem is defiantly with your hotas, If the connections to the plug are good on the PCB then it might be the cable that has a bad connection. Use a V/O meter to check for continuity from one end to the other (the cable between the throttle and stick). Sorry to hear that you are having such issues. Does the throttle all by itself work ok? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyboy583 Posted September 24, 2011 Author Share Posted September 24, 2011 Hi David, This is the weird thing... In the Saitek configuration tool everything works fine (throttle, x & y axis, buttons ect ect) as soon as you use the stick in a game then neither the throttle, rudder or x& y axis works?? I checked that the correct command was assigned to the correct axis (Even downloaded the FSX profile from the saitek website to ensure everything is correct.. Still nothing I am going to check the joystick on Falcon 4.0 later to see if the same problem is duplicated... Will let you know! I have attached a photo of the board after we soldered the pins... Just in case you can see something obvious that we missed. The problem is defiantly with your hotas, If the connections to the plug are good on the PCB then it might be the cable that has a bad connection. Use a V/O meter to check for continuity from one end to the other (the cable between the throttle and stick). Sorry to hear that you are having such issues. Does the throttle all by itself work ok? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PropNut Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 Sorry, I missed the comment about everything working in the Saitek software. Are you using Windows 7 or XP? If you are using WIndows 7 does the joystick appear under the devices and printers area (in the windows button menu)? If you highlight it and right click then choose game controller settings does it show up as "ok" and can you then double click on it to see the buttons and axis? Windows Vista and XP have similar areas where you can see the joystick functioning outside of a game, in XP you should be able to find the joystick utilities under control panel as a single icon. I know that Windows 7 has issues with older USB devices and does not like their drivers (X36 is not usable with Windows 7 at all...I had one that I wanted to tear apart and use in my simpit). I have not had any experience with the X45 yet but I will continue to research it. A couple of things to try....try exiting out of the Saitek software completely and then go to the windows joystick utility (as mentioned above) and see if it is working, also try something simple like IL-2 to see if they axis are binding (I is, to me, just faster than loading FSX or Falcon). By the way, BMS has released their new Mod for Falcon 4.0. Updates the graphics, modeling, flight dynamics, damage models, etc. A really cool mod to bring Falcon into the new century. You can google BMS Falcon 4.0. or I can get the link for you when I am a bit less lazy, lol. David Here is a picture of the steps in Windows 7 that I was talking about. The person who posted this in another forum is having the same issue but with to resolution as yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyboy583 Posted September 25, 2011 Author Share Posted September 25, 2011 Hi David, I use Windows XP and under device manager the joystick is working properly.. I installed Falcon 4.0 and the same problem appears there. As the joystick appears srill to have a loose connection I decided to re solder the pins. This time the plug appears to be a lot more ridged and there is no connection problem!!! I used the saitek configuration and all the axis are working normally (including buttons and sliders) So confidence was running high!! Unfortunately the problem persists (in all games I tried - MFX , Falcon 4.0) All the buttons work , but none of the axis works (Throttle, rudder, X &Y) What is frustrating is that in the configuration tool everything works... just not in any games Sorry, I missed the comment about everything working in the Saitek software. Are you using Windows 7 or XP? If you are using WIndows 7 does the joystick appear under the devices and printers area (in the windows button menu)? If you highlight it and right click then choose game controller settings does it show up as "ok" and can you then double click on it to see the buttons and axis? Windows Vista and XP have similar areas where you can see the joystick functioning outside of a game, in XP you should be able to find the joystick utilities under control panel as a single icon. I know that Windows 7 has issues with older USB devices and does not like their drivers (X36 is not usable with Windows 7 at all...I had one that I wanted to tear apart and use in my simpit). I have not had any experience with the X45 yet but I will continue to research it. A couple of things to try....try exiting out of the Saitek software completely and then go to the windows joystick utility (as mentioned above) and see if it is working, also try something simple like IL-2 to see if they axis are binding (I is, to me, just faster than loading FSX or Falcon). By the way, BMS has released their new Mod for Falcon 4.0. Updates the graphics, modeling, flight dynamics, damage models, etc. A really cool mod to bring Falcon into the new century. You can google BMS Falcon 4.0. or I can get the link for you when I am a bit less lazy, lol. David Here is a picture of the steps in Windows 7 that I was talking about. The person who posted this in another forum is having the same issue but with to resolution as yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PropNut Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 Hmm...look on the bright side....we fixed the connection issue! (ok, poor humor.....still looking into it) David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyboy583 Posted September 25, 2011 Author Share Posted September 25, 2011 David, u r spot on no more connection problems and..................... IT IS WORKING NOW!! It appears it was a registry error I now once more have a working X45!! Thank you for all your input buddy!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PropNut Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 After reading a bit (Saitek Forums) there are several issues with the X45 that might be causing your problem. 1. Check the deadzones in the Saitek software to make sure they are not pulled all the way out, this would give the appearance in game that the axis are not working but the buttons are. In Windows and Saitek software it would appear that the axis are working. 2. There is a USB driver issue with the older version of the X45 (no idea how to tell them apart) requiring a re-installation of the HID driver in control panel. 3. There is a windows registry issue that can cause your symptoms also. See this post: http://www.saitekforum.com/showthread.php?t=14029 Let me know if these work for you, David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyboy583 Posted September 25, 2011 Author Share Posted September 25, 2011 The registry is what was wrong all fixed now!!! Cheers david your the man!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PropNut Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 DoH! I didnt look to see if you had replied before I posted that last bit, sorry. Looks like you found the problem on your own! I am very glad to hear that everything is back up and running! David Edit: By the way, your 10 rules by Sailor Malan are based on Oswald Boelke's "Dicta Boelke", one of Germany's greatest WW1 fighter aces. He had only 8 rules but they are pretty much the same as those you have posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyboy583 Posted September 25, 2011 Author Share Posted September 25, 2011 David, without your help I'd still be having connection probls lol so thanks for your help!! Ps and there i thought Sailor Malan wrote the 10 rules!! Oh well ignorance is bliss!! Lol dare I say that he perfected a good list Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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