So I'm running into a minor problem. I'll be in the middle of flying and FSX will all of sudden decide to not recognize any of my controllers and switch to mouse yoke. I go into the controller setup and nothing shows up except the mouse yoke, and keyboard. Windows recognizes them though outside of FSX even whil FSX is running.

I'm running Win8 (same for Win7) and I had the same issues using the Saitek Pro Flight Yoke. I presume your controller to be USB.

 

Firstly you will need to change the option 'Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power' for your controller.

 

To view the 'Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power' check box, follow these steps:

 

Click Start, type 'device manager' in the Start Search box, and then right click 'Device Manager' to run as Administrator.

 

In the Device Manager dialog box, expand Universal Serial Bus controllers, right-click on "Generic USB Hub', and then click Properties. (There may be more than 1

depending on your computer and hardware). Identify which hub is being used to power your controller.

 

In the Generic USB Hub Properties dialog box, click the Power Management tab.

 

The 'Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power' check box is displayed. Uncheck it. Click ok.

 

After the step(s) are performed, it's best to reboot.

 

You should no longer have any issues with your controller powering down after 3-10 minutes when flying.

 

Hope this helps. Performing these steps worked for me.

Just tried it thank you for the help

I take that back after about 2 hours of flying my controllers are gone

Im assuming you have the axis and buttons programmed thru FSX. Try programing for now, at least the yoke axis thru FSUIPC. This will help troubleshoot where the problem comes from. Ive had that happen to me twice in past couple months. When I looked the Controls menu in FSX the Activated was unchecked even though I had never done this. FSUIPC kept me flying though as the axis worked thru that and not FSX.

Its puzzling for sure and I don't have an answer yet but at least I was able to dismiss a hardware issue. FSUIPC will allow you to program all the buttons as well but try the axis as an initial test.

I doubt it's any particular hardware brand as It happened to me with 2 different yoke brands.

After spending weeks reading different threads on various forums about losing my joystick in FSX on Win8 I finally came across a little dll file called dinput8.dll. Just search on Google for it or go to www.dll-files.com/dllindex/dll-files.shtml?dinput8 and get it from there (the .zip file not the installer).

 

I think it's a file from DX8 - before the trouble started.

 

Place the dll in your FSX folder and let me know how you get on.

I've been running this for a while now and the problem seems to have gone, whereas before I was losing it after 5-10 minutes of flight.

 

I understand this works for some but not others. The only other thing I can suggest is to update your controller drivers from the manufacturer's web site and replace the native Windows8 drivers.

Interesting but is this strictly a Win8 thing .... this dinput8.dll?

Im running Win7 with a similar joystick problem, albeit not very often.

I've been having this problem in Win7, but only during the last 2-3 months. It wasn't consistent, so sometimes everything would stay connected throughout a simming session, sometimes the pedals (CH) would drop out, but most often it was the yoke (CH) that went. I have always had power saving disabled, so that wasn't the problem. Any dropouts were universal: they sometimes disappeared from "Printers and devices", but even when they were still shown there, no axis movements were shown when I tried to calibrate them through Windows. The axis assignment function in FSUIPC4 did't respond to axis movements. Even TrackIR was sometimes going AWOL during this period, and I also lost the USB mouse and USB keyboard a couple of times. The only way to restore control was by unplugging the device for a few seconds and then plugging it in again.

I read somewhere about USB3 causing problems, so I disconnected my scanner and printer, which had been connected to USB3 ports. This gave a huge improvement, but I still get very occasional dropouts. The problem now seems to be only with the yoke, and it doesn't seem to happen during hand flying, where the yoke is in constant use. Any dropouts now seem to be only partial, so though the sim itself doesn't respond to yoke input, the yoke buttons are still recognised by TrackIR; also, if I go into FSUIPC4 and move the yoke in the axis assignment tab, the axis is immediately recognised and control is restored in the sim.

Hope someone can come up with a solution to this one.

 

Dugald

If everything connected to your usb connections is being lost sporadically like this I would be tempted to suspect the power supply or motherboard. Most likely the power supply though. I did have that kind of a problem a few years ago and replacing it solved it. Its really a very simple job and especially if you have a typical store brand version pc (HP, Acer, Lenovo, etc) its a chance to install a proper and more capable unit.

You shouldnt normallynhave any issues with USB3 ports as they automatically default to USB2 depending on the hardware connected.

If everything connected to your usb connections is being lost sporadically like this I would be tempted to suspect the power supply or motherboard. Most likely the power supply though. I did have that kind of a problem a few years ago and replacing it solved it. Its really a very simple job and especially if you have a typical store brand version pc (HP, Acer, Lenovo, etc) its a chance to install a proper and more capable unit.

You shouldnt normallynhave any issues with USB3 ports as they automatically default to USB2 depending on the hardware connected.

 

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm aware that USB3 ports automatically default to USB2, but the fact remains that removing any devices connected via USB3 ports stopped the PC as a whole from losing the USB connections. Also, I hadn't been using the USB3 ports earlier, and I'm fairly sure, with hindsight, that the problem started at about the time that I rearranged my setup and started connecting the printer and scanner through the USB3 ports. My PC is less than a year old, and I deliberately opted for a large power supply, so that shouldn't be the problem. I did suspect a fault in the yoke for a while, but it has happened at least once to the pedals, and, as I mentioned in my earlier post, when occasional dropouts do occur now, the device that appears to have dropped out (nearly always the yoke) is still recognised by TrackIR when I press the "pause" or "centre" button, and also by FSUIPC4 and by the Windows calibration tool. Moreover, I don't suffer from dropouts in X-plane now. This suggests to me that the device itself is not in fact dropping out, but for some reason FSX "thinks" it isn't there.

 

Dugald

When this happens, have you ever checked the Contollers menu in FSX to see if the contollers are checked as Active? The 2 times his happened to me, they had become unchecked on their own. Even unchecked though, the axis which I had programmed in FSUIPC still worked. I just lost all the button commands but would have lost the axis too if programmed in FSX.

When this happens, have you ever checked the Contollers menu in FSX to see if the contollers are checked as Active? The 2 times his happened to me, they had become unchecked on their own. Even unchecked though, the axis which I had programmed in FSUIPC still worked. I just lost all the button commands but would have lost the axis too if programmed in FSX.

 

I haven't tried that, but I can avoid the dropouts by hand flying or by nudging the controls every now and then when flying on autopilot. When I do that, the dropout is most likely to occur while I'm setting up the cockpit and the flight plan pre-flight. It's then just a matter of remembering to check before takeoff (but naturally I often forget). Finding out whether the controllers are active in the FSX menu would be of no value to me, since it wouldn't tell me how to stop the problem from happening in the first place, rather than having to rely on dodgy memory.

 

Dugald

Actually it will give us a clue to troubleshoot the problem. Just check it next time.

You might also try calibrating your yoke in FSUIPC and see what happens.

Sorry about the late reply guys have been out all week and haven't had a chance to get on my personal computer. Anyways I'm going to give that .dll file a try and if not I'll go ahead and buy FSUIPC. Will post back with the results after another flight or two to double check

if this happens, you should check first in your Gaming Controllers properties to see if the joysticks are even listed. i noticed when this happened to me that mines had disappeared. if so, even FSUIPC won't save you. that being said, everyone should have FSUIPC anyways so