Keyboard assignments being reset... Why?

[martinlest2 58]

Every now and then the buttons on my Saitek X52 or Nostromo N52 stop working and more often than not it's nothing to do with the hardware profiles, but because something has reset the keyboard commands in FS9 assignments. I had, for instance, F6 and F7 set to enrich and lean mixture incrementally. Suddenly F6 is still set but F7 suddenly has no associated keyboard shortcut - deleted. Certainly nothing I have done. Just one example of several recently.

 

Any idea what does this? Could be a million things, I suppose. Maybe someone found a culprit though, so I can narrow down my options.

 

How do I back up the keyboard settings? I used to back up the fs9.cfg file, which I supposed was doing this, but when I change the assignments and save the configuration, via the FS9 menu, the dates associated with the fs9.cfg file (C:\Users\Martin\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\FS9) don't change. So when I alter keyboard assignments in FS9, where is the information stored? (OK, the keyboard assignements do show in the FS9.cfg file, but then why no update to any of the file date info when I change assignments in FS9?).

 

I tried making FS9.cfg read only, but FS9 will not start with the file set like that... I also had a batch file that reinstated a backed up fs9.cfg every reboot, but I'm not too happy with that either, as probably some changes to other parts of the file, if FS9 is making them, are best kept (??).

 

Martin

[pschlute 37]

This has been an issue since FS9 was released.

 

I use FSUIPC exclusively to do all my assignments to avoid this problem.

 

There are a very few payware products that need to be assigned through the FS9 system directly.

[martinlest2 58]

Hi. Maybe I should do the same, let FSUIPC take the assignments, though I would need to read up about how to do it.

 

I should have said that restoring my backed up FS9.cfg file, made at a time when all my assignments were working fine, did not bring back the keyboard settings, even after a reboot, which is a real mystery to me. If the keyboard setting are in that file (as they appear to be!), why did restoring the the old cfg file not resolve the issue?

[HaraldG 559]

Martin,

Just a question - did you eventually change your keyboard?

I experienced similar problems when I replaced my old joystick. FS9 gave it a new hardware designation in the FS9.cfg file (the line in [ ] above the button assignments), while the old sections were still there, too. This seemed to cause system's disorder somehow. I think I solved the problem by building a new FS9.cfg and then not just by replacing it with my backup file, but by copying the section lines of the new file over to the appropriate positions of the old file (and replacing the old section lines of course) before replacing the new file. I'm not totally sure because I'm far away from my FS9 system and will return not earlier than in a week. I hope this helps a little, though.

 

Regards,

Harald

[martinlest2 58]

Hi,

 

I did try exactly that, copying over the long keyboard section in the backed up cfg file to the current one, but it didn't restore the old keyboard shortcuts, I had to put them in again. There are doubtless some I have not restored, which will be clear when something else doesn't work as it used to.

 

Very odd that: surely the fs9.cfg file is the only place fs9 store the keyboard shortcut data? then why were the functions not restored? Beats me...

 

Not sure what you mean Harald by 'did you change your keyboard'? I haven't changed any hardware, if that's what you mean...

[HaraldG 559]

Martin, yes I meant a hardware change indeed. In my case, it was the cause for this sort of problems. Sorry that I could not help. The problem sounds quite mysterious to me and I never knew it as an "issue since FS9 was released"...

[martinlest2 58]

Well, Peter says that this has always been an issue with FS9. In that case, can anyone give a sure-fire way of backing up the keyboard assignments in case this happens again? I always thought I had covered that by saving a fully working fs9.cfg file, but as restoring that did not bring back my keyboard functions...

[Dave Morgan 68]

Hi Martin.

 

To back up any changes made within FSUIPC you just need to make a backup copy of FSUIPC.ini from your ../FS2004/Modules/ folder. I have half a dozen, matched with half a dozen fs9.cfg files for different hardware configurations and different planes, with names like 'FS9.blackwidow', 'FS9.seneca' or 'FSUIPC.one lever does four engines' et c..

 

My Saitek yoke & throttle came with their own configuration software. I never got the hang of using it, which is why I have all those copies. Did your X52 come with such software, and is it still installed? If it's there, I suppose it could be having an effect.

 

As an aside, I've a faint memory of FS9 resetting keyboard commands for me, but I think reusing a good backup FS9.cfg solved it. If all else fails, you may have to customise a new FS9.cfg and make a copy of it while it still works...

 

 

Best regards,

Dave

[martinlest2 58]

I haven't addressed the issue yet of getting FSUIPC to take over the keyboard commands - what with joystick commands included I am a bit worried about messing things up (and the time needed to learn how to change everything from FS9 to FSUIPC).

 

Quite honestly, I am quite happy to leave the assignments to FS9, if I can back up the settings somehow.