I've been using a whole GoFlight set-up for about a year with few issues at all. In recent months, however, it has started to develop freezes within FS2004. I should qualify this slightly and say that my suspicion is that there is a link between screen freezes and the GF hardware. I thought it might be my UT AI or POSKY 747s but it isn't; those items function fine and reasonably fluidly.I use the GF MCP and love it, but it has been glitchy and freezy at times. I use version 1.33 of the GF software with version 1.05 of the MCP. It's been working well. I had used their 1.50 software but it seemed to make things unstable in the sim and seemed to be the cause of occasional, highly intractable screen freezes that required a reboot of Windows XP.I received a newer MCP from GF today, version 1.06 of the MCP, and am using it with version 1.33 of the software. It started off beautifully and then quite suddenly without any warning froze, and the LED data vanished, in the default 777 at 3000' into Princess Juliana Int'l.I am working as a concerned customer of GF with one of their people to try and figure out why this stuff happens and where the problem is. Has anybody else had "deep" freezes with the GF MCP (or any GF hardware) and if so, what version of the MCP and GF software are you using (if you know)?I am flying to EGLL in a real 777 tomorrow night, so I may not post much here over the next few days but I'll try to check in and at least read any responses; and I will reply but not promptly. Appreciate any posts, thanks.JS

I'm using the MCP with 1.33 and it's totally solid - in both senses of the word. I would hate to be without it.I assume your diagnosis involved disconnecting the unit to prove the lockups are directly related? No MCP, no lockups? boneshttp://fsaviation.nethttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/ng_driver.jpg

When I started using goflight, I encountered problems like this. All of a sudden, all displays went black. After extensive research with a USB debugger, I found out it was an incompatibility between the USB hubs I used. Because of the nature of goflight (all models have their own USB connector), it's highly likely you are using one or more USB hubs. Check to see if the power light of the USB hub goes out when the problems occur. This indicates that the computer has somehow switched off the hub. I solved my problem by simply rearranging the hubs. Some work better then others if they are attached to eachother.

Now THAT is very interesting. I use a BELKIN 7-port USB hub and I have actually wondered for some time if the hub might have some bearing on the situation. But I am not sure how to re-arrange stuff as it's the only hub I use for the GF equipment. My PC has 10 USB ports and I use one or two of those for the GF stuff as well as my joystick etc.Have your blackouts and freezes gone now? How did you re-arrange things?Thanks!JS

My freezes are gone completely. I have a lot of usb stuff (3 radios, 2 button panels, 1 switch panel, 1 mcp, 1 simkits controller, 1 yoke, 1 rudder pedals) so I use 3 hubs. I simply switched a few and it helped. I would suggest that you hook up as much as you can directly to your PC and test run it for a few hours. If there are no problems, you'd better try out a different hub. Also, you can check the windows device manager. It should show all hubs that are connected. If the problem occurs, you might see that a hub gets deleted from the list. In that case windows has shut the hub down. In my case, all hubs disappeared completely and I had to disconnect and reconnect hem to get them listed again. USB might cause all sorts of problems between different hardware (my PDA still won't work when connected to a hub, but works if directly connected), so I believe that if you play enough with different hubs it will finally work rock solid. I myself have never experienced a single problem after playing around with the hub layout.

Also, watch the power requirements of your equipment! A goflight MCP is quite power intensive. Try to isolate the most power hungry devices and balance the low power equipment (switches/yokes) with the high power equipment (everything containing leds). Windows may decide to shut down stuff randomly if it believes you're drawing too much power. Two 4 port hubs might be more stable than one 8 port hub.

Ah, also interesting. I wondered about splitting them up some time ago but never did it. I shall do all this when I return from my trip.Thanks!JS

Are you using POWERED hubs? GF highly recommends them.