Saitek Yoke Disconnect

[WR269 367]

I am running a Saitek Pro Flight Yoke (Yoke and serial Throttle quadrant) plugged into a separate 7 port powered hub...this 7 port hub also has my Freetrack device, webcam and Saitek Rudder pedals...I usually turn on the power to the hub before I switch on the pc...as soon as the hub is powered, I can see the green light on the rudder pedals, and I used to get the green light on the serial throttle quadrant as well, but not anymore....Last night, I was taxying for departure on my MD-11 out of Hong Kong...I was in a 90deg turn into a taxyway, when I heard a "Ding Dong" sound and all of a sudden I had no control of the aircraft....I thought it was FSUIPC, I got FSUIPC to reset and I had all my controls back...On departure, the same thing happened...and again and again, at random intervals between 2 - 10 minutes...Eventually, 2 hours into the flight, Windows 7 gave up, showed me the blue screen of death and rebooted....*sigh*Today I noticed that if I plug the Yoke usb into my NAS the throttle quadrant green light powers on....I am starting to believe my powered USB hub may not have enough power for the Yoke.I have a 520W PSU in my pc....can anybody tell me if this would be enough to power the Yoke if I plug it directly on my PC?I have an AMD 965BE CPU, 1x SeaGate 1TB HDD and a GTX460 GPU...Thanks in advance

[Chase 303]

It's very possible, some of those USB devices consume a lot more power than you might think. You should give it a whirl and see how everything reacts with the yoke (or one of any of the other devices) unplugged from the hub and directly into the machine. Perhaps you're right at that power threshold. Just a guess...

[MrKen 3]

I always plug my yoke directly to the pc

[WR269 367]

Thanks guys, i think my usb hub is having a looong death, might go and invest in a power adaptor for the yoke, i think it is a 5volt adaptor, should solve my issues.Nothing worse than flying a long haul and your machine starts having a meltdown!

I always plug my yoke directly to the pc

What kind of psu have tou got?

[MrKen 3]

1200w corsair modular. It's overkill, I know...

[WR269 367]

1200w corsair modular. It's overkill, I know...

Holy Smoke! You could power a small town with that! :Money Eyes:I am onl running a 520W so am a bit hesitant, but will plug the Yoke directly to my PC tonight for a flight, might go to the shops tomorrow and purchase a 5V power adaptor for the Yoke, just to be on the safe side.

[MrKen 3]

Psu won't matter. Lack of power is normal with hubs, especially if you have accessories plugged into the yoke.

[Turbine777 13]

A bigger PSU for many reasons. I have a 1000w and don't think 1200 or 2500 is over kill. It's a matter of how you shop. I prefer to buy what won't need replacement next week. It costs more yes, but in the long run you save a lot. ATX specifications for PSU's don't change often enough for me ever to have regretted that. On another note, no matter what size you PSU you have, hubs in general can cause issues over lengthdistance, but if your PSU is already over worked (which yours is) then the problems get worse. Plugging it directly into the PC is always best, so maybe you can free up a port with something less needed like your keyboard or mouse and then plug it into the hub to test. Just be sure FSX isn't running when you do all that or you'll majorly screw up your standard.xml. Having your yoke power in and out alone can cause your xml to get screwed up just the same. Each time windows detects it while FSX is running can cause it to re-ID your controller so all your settings get lost.

[WR269 367]

Hmmm yes, i am in two minds, easiest would be get a power adaptor for the yoke and power it directly, then i could plug the pedals into it. I could also get a new usb hub and plug the yoke into that like i was doing.I have nothing plugged into my pc except for usb mouse. Am very power conscious. Next christmas, a new psu!

[Tango Mike 0]

You don't need a power adapter or new usb hub. Just plug your yoke into your pc. as you say you only have your mouse plugged in your computer it won't be using much power.

[WR269 367]

Did a test flight a few hours ago, this time the yoke was plugged into the pc.As soon as i aelcted the ngx, all i saw was a squeleton frame, nothing recogniseable as an aeroplane.I rebooted my machine and this time i could see the entire aeroplane but the engine fan blades were static, they would not turn.I know this could be a graphics card issue, and it has been suggested graphics card overload (it has never happened before, i dont run any programs apart fro ASE if running fsx) or not enough voltage for the graphics card *sigh*

[Turbine777 13]

Wow, I just lost a very lengthy write up. Something stole focus and wasn't in the text field, hit backspace and all gone. Figures, the one time I'm not using FireFox...To some it up and without explanation, just trust me and try following this exactly:

• PC off
• Disconect all USB, even hubs, everything except keyboard and mouse
• Unplug PC
• Hold power button in for 30 seconds (flush psu), meaning with power plug still out
• Boot PC, check task manager for processes in processes tab. "System Idle process" should stay around 90%, of not tell me which is keeping it from it.
  • Optional but I highly recommend it to better help you. Switch to your "Performace" tab and take a screenshot. Do not crop this image. Either post it here, or PM\email it to me.

  [*]Load FSX. If you have a payware aircraft set as your default saved flight (meaning you see that when FSX is loaded), stop and come back and say which. None should be loaded and you could just have default corruption data.[*]Run FSX and any aircraft. See how it goes. If all is looking good, then keep changine views, pan around with the keyboard or mouse, stress it as much as you can for a couple minutes.[*]If still ok, exit FSX. Once it has been shut down for about 20 seconds, repeat the above step to be sure (or get a second base).[*]Exit FSX again and open a video in windowed mode (anything). Move it around your desktop by clicking the top bar and just drag it back and forth. While you're doing that listen to your PSU fan. Does it sound like it's getting tired?[*]Come back and then let me know how it all went.

[WR269 367]

Wow, I just lost a very lengthy write up. Something stole focus and wasn't in the text field, hit backspace and all gone. Figures, the one time I'm not using FireFox...To some it up and without explanation, just trust me and try following this exactly:

• PC off
• Disconect all USB, even hubs, everything except keyboard and mouse
• Unplug PC
• Hold power button in for 30 seconds (flush psu), meaning with power plug still out
• Boot PC, check task manager for processes in processes tab. "System Idle process" should stay around 90%, of not tell me which is keeping it from it.
  • Optional but I highly recommend it to better help you. Switch to your "Performace" tab and take a screenshot. Do not crop this image. Either post it here, or PMemail it to me.

  [*]Load FSX. If you have a payware aircraft set as your default saved flight (meaning you see that when FSX is loaded), stop and come back and say which. None should be loaded and you could just have default corruption data.[*]Run FSX and any aircraft. See how it goes. If all is looking good, then keep changine views, pan around with the keyboard or mouse, stress it as much as you can for a couple minutes.[*]If still ok, exit FSX. Once it has been shut down for about 20 seconds, repeat the above step to be sure (or get a second base).[*]Exit FSX again and open a video in windowed mode (anything). Move it around your desktop by clicking the top bar and just drag it back and forth. While you're doing that listen to your PSU fan. Does it sound like it's getting tired?[*]Come back and then let me know how it all went.

Hi Dan,Did what you suggested...System Idle Process is steady at 99%....Loaded FSX as per your suggestions....I load a default flight of the default Cessna is a far away aerodrome....loads quickly and with minimum scenery....after panning around etc I am not getting the skeleton aircraft but I can hear the fans in the pc surging.I went and bought a power adaptor for my yoke....I actually forgot to turn it on, plugged my rudder pedals to the yoke and the yoke in turn to the pc...the yoke's power light flickered, and I kept getting a loud "gong" noise from the pc....I remembered the power adaptor, I plugged it in and bingo, all systems operational.The MD-11 operates fine...the NGX does not...I think I will need a new power supply in the near future, but I do have issues with corruption in the NGX..it was a dream until I had to reinslall FSX!

[Turbine777 13]

Hi Will, Just to be sure you did as I mentioned, you did unlpug everything USB from your computer right? You did do the power flush, correct? This is incredibly important to where I'm going with this and need to be sure you didn't just skip those steps. Anything skipped here actually can easily make me give you the wrong advice so please be sure.I would still be able to help you netter with an upcropped (fullscreen) screenshot of that opional step also.

[WR269 367]

yup, unplugged and followed it to the letter...