Saitek ProFlight Not Recognized / Power Issue

[wde12 19]

Howdy,

 

I am posting about what I can best guess is a combination of many known issues with this hardware. However, despite my best research efforts, I haven't seemed to find the exact solution. I am desperate and don't know what to do at this point. In fact, I have even thought about turning to Craigslist or something like that to see if there is someone locally that could assist. 

 

Okay, here's my problem. Recently, I purchased Saitek ProFlight Rudder Pedals, Yoke, and Throttle Quadrant. They were purchased second-hand, but they were out of the box new. I don't think they've been registered. My point is (1) they're not end-user defective / damaged and (2) I don't think I have a warranty option. 

 

The rudder pedals are USB as is the yoke. The throttle is that round prong connector (blanking on the name). Prior, I had used CH Yoke. So, I unpacked the hardware and plugged it in. I plugged the throttle into the port on the yoke. Shamefully, while I own a registered FSUIPC, I hadn't done much research regarding these items beforehand. I just plugged them in and went from there. 

 

At first, there wasn't really a problem. The green light on the rudder pedals lit up, as did the green light on the throttle. The green clock on the yoke worked too, and just for basic testing, I booted up FSX and the PMDG 777 and ran a few tests. There were many things to tweak etc., but by and large, the basic axes worked and default buttons worked. 

 

I had unplugged the USB connections at least once to rearrange my rig and get it all clamped right. This is when the problems first started. For the record, I have a custom built rig. I have an ASUS motherboard and am running Win7. I believe the actual Asus model is in my profile. Anyways, I have never had an issue with the rudder pedals and they continue to work fine today (they need serious tweaking, for example, when I go into slew mode the plane slides to the side nonstop, but other then sensitivity or whatever, they work). When I go into the device manager, in the joystick or HID sections (maybe both I am at work, can't confirm), the manager shows the Saitek Rudder Pedals name. The rudder pedal green light is always on when plugged in.

 

My problem is the yoke / throttle. First, it started powering up when I plugged both in to the USB ports. Then after a minute I would hear the "duh-dum" usb noise and the icon in the lower right screen would pop up: USB device not recognized. The power lights would turn off. I confirmed that this is not the 10 minute auto timeout issue that some encounter with Win7. It's always a few seconds later and appears due to the connection / driver issue.

 

I also checked the FSUIPC forums and learned that I violated another major rule in downloading the Saitek SST / drivers. I believe I did this after I first started having "device not recognized" issues. I figured it was a driver issue. I have since deleted the SST and all the Saitek stuff I downloaded from their website. In my research, I also came across a word document that I thought furter addressed my problem. Some of you may be familiar, it was prepared by (maybe) a Saitek/MdCatz tech regarding unrecognized devices on Win7 and some cyborg keyboard of Saitek. 

 

I believe it was aimed to erase any drivers that had been installed and use a default Win7 driver so to make the device recognized. I tried to follow this  document the best I could but it was of no use. I also went to BestBuy and bought a AC power adapter. It is set on the 5v setting and the prong seems to fit the power port on the yoke. I had read that this was often a problem with Saitek yokes quitting. I plugged it in but have yet to see the green light on the throttle or the clock come back on. 

 

Oddly, when I UNPLUG the power cord, I hear the "duh-dum" noise and THEN the device not recognized message comes up in the desktop lower right corner. The yoke/throttle still remain unpowered. I am especially dumbfounded about this.

 

I have gone into the device manager and for the life of me, still cannot get it to recognize the yoke. 

 

If ANYONE cane offer ANY ideas or assistance, I would greatly appreciate it. I have no idea what to do at this point. I am thinking about buying a new yoke, but don't want to if this is necessary. The thing is brand new. And I really don't want to buy another one if this is going to happen again. 

 

Thanks all - look forward to hearing from you

 

William 

[Benrik 0]

Hello William,

 

I had the same problems myself. Glad I found a good advice from Saitek :

 

"To recalibate, first unplug the yoke.

Go to start/run and type regedit.

The registry editör will have a list of folders on the left hand side. Go down into the following folders in order:

 

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE (CURRENT_USER if on VISTA) 

System

CurrentControlSet

Control

Media Properties

Private Properties

Direct Input

 

Inside the Direct Input folder, delete any folder that begins VID-06A3.

 

Once done, close the editor. Plug the yoke back in and move all the axes (including throttle) through their full range of movement 4 times.

 

Now go to control panel/game controllers/properties to see if everything is ok on the test screen.

 

If the problem persists then test the device on another PC. If the problem still occurs the it is most likely a hardware fault."

 

And my advice: make a backup from the Registry. However, when there is no Registry present at starting FSX ; FSX will make a new one.

 

 

Cheers,

 

Ben

[FreeBird(Josh) 314]

I got a (Brand) Pluggable 10 port hub which gives you 20w of power to the hub and haven't had your issue since. Before I had constant issues with my controllers just like you are describing.   http://plugable.com/products/usb2-hub10c2

[DaveCT2003 1,820]

Do you have a separate power supply for the Yoke (one that plugs into the wall)?

 

If not, try plugging the rudder pedals into a USB port on your computer (not the yoke) or into a USB hub that has a power cord (to plug into the wall).

 

That should fix it.

 

Dave

[ark 1,290]

I have the Saitek rudder peddles, throttle quadrant and yoke as you have. My rudder peddles and throttle quadrant are plugged into the yoke, and the yoke plugs into the computer via a USB port, and the yoke is powered by an external adapter. A couple of suggestions that have helped to eliminate problems for me are:

 

1. Check that the polarity provided by your power adapter is correct, or as has been suggested, don't use an adapter and plug the rudder peddles into their own USB port on the computer. If you do that, the goal is to hopefully plug the rudder peddles into a USB port that is powered separately from the USB port the yoke is plugged into (or has sufficient power for all). If problems persist, try a few different ports.

2. If using an external power adapter, don't power up the yoke until the computer has fully booted up.

3. If using an external adapter do power up the Saitek equipment before starting FSX.

4. Assign "joy names", as Pete Dowson calls them, to the yoke, throttle quadrant and rudder peddles with FSUIPC. This prevents problems if you unplug and replug the USB connections or move the Saitek equipement to a different USB port. See the FSUIPC User Guide section listed in the Contents as Keeping track of multiple control devices ("Joy Letters").

5. Don't use any Saitek software -- do everything thru FSUIPC.

6.  See Calibration Fix at http://www.saitek.com/uk/supp/yokefsx3.html as was suggested above.

 

Good luck,

Al

[darem 84]

This cured everything for me and ended months (!) of headache:

 

http://uraster.com/en-us/products/usbenhancedpowermanagerdisabler.aspx

[wde12 19]

 

 

I had the same problems myself

 

I will try this option again. I now realize that my post was a tad misleading / incomplete. I have tried other corrective measures as well. I do recall trying to make some kind of registry fix. I cannot remember the exact details, so just to make sure I check this possible solution off the list, I will try this exact suggestion. Thanks,

 

 

Do you have a separate power supply for the Yoke (one that plugs into the wall)?

 

I do. This is the one I got from Best Buy (I tried to order the Saitek one off Amazon but it wasn't in stock). It is possible that this power adapter is wrongly configured or simply doesnt work right with the yoke. I have powered it up separately and I have yet to see the clock on the yoke or the light on the throttles. And to confirm, the throttles are plugged into the yoke. There is no option to plug them into the back of the rig. 

 

And this is why it's so weird to me: I plug it in and it appears there is no power to the yoke / throttle. But, when I unplug the power adapter with the yoke connected to the rig, THAT is when I get the "duh dum" usb noise and the Device Not Recognized. In other words, there must be something with that power adapter going on because once its removed, the connection process starts on the yoke. 

This cured everything for me and ended months (!) of headache:

 

http://uraster.com/en-us/products/usbenhancedpowermanagerdisabler.aspx

 

Ill take a look thanks. Do you think it matters that I run Win7 vs Win8? 

[darem 84]

No, because these problems of losing the connection were also there when I ran Win 7. Just give it a try.

[ark 1,290]

If plugging in the power adapter "turns off the lights" that is an indication there is something wrong with the power adapter at least as it applies to the Saitek yoke. The wrong adapter ( in terms of polarity, pin connections, voltage, AC vs DC, etc ) can damage the USB circuitry inside the yoke. I have the adapter from Saitek. It provides 5v DC, has a 2A current capability, and the outside barrel of the connector that plugs into the yoke is negative wrt the "tip" of the connector. There may be a label on the adapter you have that shows the plug polarity and output voltage and current values. Or, if you have an on-line link to where you bought the adapter the specs should be listed there.  And I suppose there is a small chance that the adapter is defective. If you happen to know someone who has a multimeter and could measure the output for you that would be best.  In any case, I definitely would not use that power adapter until you are sure the "specs" are correct wrt the yoke.

Al

[wde12 19]

 

 

This cured everything for me and ended months (!) of headache:
 
http://uraster.com/e...erdisabler.aspx

 

Wish I had good news to report but unfortunately this appears to have not worked. Same thing happens: rudder pedals work (usb connected directly into back of rig) and the yoke / throttles do not. Specifically, I get the USB Not Recognized notification icon on the bottom right and when I click that icon, it opens a box. It lists the Saitek Rudder Pedals as normal and the Unknown Device is in bold, referring to the Saitek Yoke hook up. The yoke still does not have the clock illuminated and the green light on the throttles (connected to the yoke) is off. Also, I am not using the power adapter.

[ark 1,290]

If you have access to another computer (laptop, friend's machine, etc), it might be worth plugging the yoke into a different machine to see if it is recognized and lights up. If successful, you can try plugging the throttle quadrant into the yoke to see if you get a green light on the TQ as well. The idea here is to try and determine if the problem is your computer (the USB hardware or drivers, etc) or if the USB interface circuitry in the Yoke is defective.

You could also try unplugging the rudder peddles and plugging the yoke into the same USB port the rudder peddles were using. Different USB ports on a computer may have seperate interface circuits, and the circuit where you are plugging in the yoke could be defective (although perhaps unlikely).

Al

[ark 1,290]

William,

Have you had any luck in resolving your yoke problem?

Al

[wde12 19]

 

 

Have you had any luck in resolving your yoke problem?

 

Ha - well, define "luck." Sadly, I think I narrowed down my problem.

 

 

No, because these problems of losing the connection were also there when I ran Win 7. Just give it a try.

 

Thank you all for the advice. I am sure this download would have helped. But as ark suggested, I have a hardware problem. I plugged it into my laptop and the same thing happened. No green clock and "USB device not recognized" icon pops up. Guess it is a hardware problem.

 

I have to get a better yoke. I can't stomach this CH crap anymore. Any thoughts on how I may have fried my yoke? Do yall even think it was my fault? I have read about quality control issues with Saitek manufacturers. Any suggestions on who to buy from (or what type of yoke to get)??

[Benrik 0]

Hello William,

 

Reading all the posts till now I come to the conclusion that the yoke is not OK. In normal cases the clock must light op and the led at the throttle also when you start op the computer and connect the USB. You could try another USB that works for sure, otherwise let your yoke check by the supplier.

 

Cheers,

 

Ben

[ark 1,290]

Unless the external power adapter you tried was defective, or the wrong polarity or voltage for the yoke, I don't see anything in what you have described that would obviously have damaged the Yoke's USB circuitry. And since your problem started before you tried the external adapter it seems unlikely that it is the culprit.

 

If you have plugged other things into the same computer USB port as the Yoke, such as the rudder pedals , and they work then that seems to eliminate the computer's USB interface circuit as a cause of problems.

 

Regarding getting a better yoke, they are certainly out there as a Google search will reveal. The "problem" is, it seems to require a fairly big jump in cost. I have not been able to find anything new for "just" $100 or so more than the Saitek yoke. And typically the main advantage of these more expensive yokes is their mechanical construction which results in smoother pitch and roll axis operation. I have no reason to believe their USB/electronic circuitry is much different than in the Saitek yoke, except perhaps they may offer somewhat better axis position resolution.

 

At this point I think you have nothing to lose by contacting Saitek support and explaining the problem and what you have tried to fix it. They will want the serial # which is on the back of the yoke and throttle quadrant. They may have some ideas for you to try, or at least be able to confirm the nature of the problem. You can open a trouble ticket at http://support.madcatz.com/Tickets/Submit . Worth a try.

 

If you do end up buying another yoke, you can probably recoup some of your costs by selling the yoke and throttle quadrant on Ebay pointing out the yoke, at least, is not working and is being sold "for parts only". There often are do-it-your-selfers looking for parts.

 

My $.02.

 

Al