Hi all,I've been giving alot of thought to picking up the new Backlit Information Panel (BIP) from Saitek, but I've read that several folks have had issues with it locking up, and not lighting up the lights correctly. Obviously, this has had me hesitate on pulling the trigger and ordering one of these. So for folks that have it already, are any of you running it without problems with the original drivers, and for those who have had it crashing, have the panel crashing and lighting problems been resolved with the new driver that Saitek released today? (Link to the post about the new drivers below:)http://www.saitekforum.com/showthread.php?p=88957#post88957I just want to make sure that any outstanding issues have been addressed before plopping down $150 and then having to shelve the thing because of problems with it (not to mention my wife would never let me hear the end of 'wasting' $150!) So for folks that have already bought this hardware, I'd really appreciate your feedback on whether or not it worked out of the box for *anyone*, and for those that it didn't work for, if the new drivers actually fix the problems, or are there still problems there (which would make me hold off until at least another driver were to come available.) My tax refund should be in the bank early next week, and I really want (and really want to like) this hardware, but I've been hesitant with the posts I've seen about it so far because of its problems.Thanks for any information, and I hope the new driver fixes any issues folks were having so I can pick one of these bad-boys up.Also, in a similar topic, I read someone posted that another company is coming out with something like this as well (possibly better). Does anyone know what that new piece of hardware will actually be, and who the manufacturer will be? That alternate one may be the way I'd have to go if it's cheap enough and works right. :)Thanks again,-George

Hi,I have yet to see a saitek stuff working with the saitek drivers. It is simply impossible. They make great hardware with lousy drivers which they have never tested. :Shame On You: Hopefully there is always Maximo http://fstools.weebly.com/forum.html who comes to their rescue. :Applause:you'll have to wait for his release, if there is one...

Yeah, I had problems with my switch panel and multi panel with the Saitek drivers on my old system build. Especially the multi panel, which would crash randomly during a flight. However, I've still not tried the SPAD drivers as both of my Saitek panels have worked fine so far since my last upgrade, using the Saitek drivers. That said, I have been considering giving SPAD a whirl, as I've only heard positive things about those drivers, and they're apparently *much* more functional than the default Saitek drivers (for those of us fortunate enough to have them working). From everything I've heard of the SPAD drivers, Saitek (Mad Catz) really needs to try and hire that guy, as he seems to know how to interface with their hardware a lot better than their own programmers! But looking over his forums, it appears SPAD development is currently halted, so who knows if it'll get updated to support the BIP or not. (I hope he does resume development, as I'd feel a lot more comfortable about buying the BIP, knowing that his drivers would work if Saitek's didn't.) :\-George

HiIt seems that the guy behind the Spad drivers has vanished. I made a donation and he did not even thank me Too bad, he is so talented

That's really a shame. It's too bad he doesn't at least release his source code so that others could try to pick up where he left off. Especially now, where so many folks seem to be having an issue with the BIP.-George

I wound up getting a BIP, and have also experienced it crashing as well as the parking brakes light not working (though tests fine). In any case, I've been able to eliminate my crashing by using an external program to make sure the panel's software completely shuts down when FSX exits (and also verifies that it isn't already running when FSX is started.) This has been working for me, though I have only just made it available for others to try out to see if it helps with anyone else's crashing issues. I plan on posting the source code to saitek's forums if the feedback is mostly positive. For anyone that is having crashing issues with the BIP, this *might* help. Note that it will only work if you installed the saitek panel plugin to its default location (in Program Files on 32-bit systems, and in Program Files (x86) for 64-bit systems). Be sure to follow the instructions in the readme file to set it up. If you are not comfortable editing text files (specifically the exe.xml file), then I'd recommend holding off on trying this until other folks have reported on whether or not it's helped their issue. This is NOT a replacement driver, and does not fix any issues with the panel software itself. All it does is make sure that the panel software gets shut down properly when FSX closes.Here's a link to the file, please let me know if it helps or not, and I'll pass the source code on to saitek through their forums, and hopefully it will help them narrow down why the panel software doesn't shut down properly.Link: http://rapidshare.com/files/448702686/BIPLauncher_v1.zip-George

Yet another new BIP driver has been released by Saitek this morning. I have not yet tried it out, but will be doing so when I get the chance today. For folks using my BIPLauncher, make sure to disable the BIPLauncher.exe in the exe.xml file to see if these new drivers fix the outstanding issues (which, if they do, will make BIPLauncher unnecessary). Of course, if the program (ProFlightPlugin.exe) still isn't shutting down properly on FSX exit (you can check this in the task manager, but it's noticeable on the BIP itself, as some panel lights remain lit when the plugin doesn't terminate properly,) then you can always re-enable the BIPLauncher and disable the new proflightplugin.exe.Here's hoping for working Parking Brakes, improved stability, and proper exiting of the plugin when FSX exits so that BIPLauncher will be obsolete! (Fingers crossed!)-GeorgeLink to the new drivers (Same as from the original topic, just scroll to the second post in that thread.)http://www.saitekforum.com/showthread.php?p=89040#post89040Driver Page Link:http://www.saitek.com/uk/down/drivers.phpGood luck, and I look forward to see how this works for other folks (and myself, when I get to try it out later on.) :)Happy Flying!-George

Just to report back, the newer drivers for the BIP seem to have fixed the stability issues. I have not been able to get it to crash or stop responding during a flight, and another person I've spoken with, that couldn't get the unit to keep functioning for more than a few minutes, is also now able to use the unit without crashes, so it looks like the new drivers are a huge step in the right direction! The new drivers don't fix the Parking Brakes light though, so while they are a huge improvement, they still aren't 100% working correctly. :PJust wanted to give fellow BIP owners a heads-up on my experiences with the latest drivers.-George

Hi George, I have had on going issues with the BIP myself. Not quite the same as the ones others are having for the most part. Mine doesn't crash so much as it will crash my Track IR4 device when I try to calibrate the thing with my head position. I can avoid that if I plug the BIP in after I am runningFSX and have calibrated the Track IR4. All in for naught though as the BIP is totally in lah lah land. No displays are coming on at all. I know the BIPis fine as it works on another system I have running Windows 7, 32 bit with an EVGA 780i board. It fails on my Windows 7, 64 bit ASUS Rampage IIIsystem. I installed the latest drivers but little change if any from the ones I used when I bought the unit. Any suggestions would be appreciated.Thanks,Grits

Hi,Have the issues with Track IR been ironed out yet or do I need to still keep clear of this unit?Thnx,LouP

They haven't, but there is a workaround:Connect the BIP-Panel to USB AFTER(!) the TrackIR driver has loaded. Then the two will work together flawlessly until you shut down your computer.BTW, I mailed customer support at Saitek with the problem, sending them detailled system specs. they replied four days later, asking me for detailled system specs.In return, I wrote them to either READ the customer mails when they get them or to place their products in a warm, moist place that can be reached from their back bottoms.

Thanks Darem,How is the BIP working otherwise? I have read some posts where only a few lights would go on and not the correct ones and then would not shut off. I am in the middle of building a sim pit and could use this if it is working OK.Thanks,LouP

Hi George, I have had on going issues with the BIP myself. Not quite the same as the ones others are having for the most part. Mine doesn't crash so much as it will crash my Track IR4 device when I try to calibrate the thing with my head position. I can avoid that if I plug the BIP in after I am runningFSX and have calibrated the Track IR4. All in for naught though as the BIP is totally in lah lah land. No displays are coming on at all. I know the BIPis fine as it works on another system I have running Windows 7, 32 bit with an EVGA 780i board. It fails on my Windows 7, 64 bit ASUS Rampage IIIsystem. I installed the latest drivers but little change if any from the ones I used when I bought the unit. Any suggestions would be appreciated.Thanks,Grits

Hi Grits,I've had no issues with the BIP and TrackIR, but I am running TrackIR 5. Have you tried the TrackIR 5 software to see if that fixes the issue? It's supposed to work just fine with TrackIR 4 hardware. One question about your workaround though, (sorry if this is obvious and you've done it already) if you're plugging in the BIP after starting FSX, are you manually launching the BIP's executable? The BIP's executable will get loaded by FSX's exe.xml file by default, but if the panel isn't connected, it typically unloads, so if you plug the panel back in after FSX, I'd guess you may need to launch the BIP's executable file manually. Just a thought in case you haven't tried this already.One other thing worth mentioning is that on Saitek's facebook page, I got a response from someone from Saitek who said a new BIP driver was in the works. That said, he told me that it would be out this past Friday, and as far as I can see, no new driver has been released yet, but it at least makes me hopeful that they may actually be working on improving the driver, and that there should be one coming soon. He definitely didn't commit to anything about the parking brakes light getting fixed though, but did say they were "looking into it as we speak". :\If you go to Saitek's facebook page, and find the post from May 20 that says "Excellent review of the Saitek Pro Flight B.I.P. on the Flight Simulator Network, written by Jessica Bannister-Pearce", you can see where the person posting on behalf of Saitek said the driver could be out last Friday.Best of luck in getting things sorted, and sorry I couldn't be more helpful.-George(Edit, just realized you asked this a couple of months ago. Very sorry for taking so long to respond, and I hope you've already got things working.) :)

Just thought I would follow-up as I've been using the BIP for a few days and it works great, no conflicts with Track IR here. :)LouP

hello all :

does anyone know of of a problem with Saitek bip panel and tracker 5 not being able to work together ? I was using the bip panel without tracker and with the latest drivers , no problem, but when I began to use tracker , FSX would freeze. At first I thought it was my tracker but I unplugged the bip panel and all works well now. I have all panels , never had a problem . the bip panbel does have a problem it even made another sim that I have condor , a glider sim to crash , when I want to use that game , the bip panel must be disconnected .  so any ideas on how maybe the bip panel can work with other add ons ?

thank youy, regards

leo96