Saitek Control Drivers

[pilot100ll 5]

Hello all,
I tried a search for my question but nothing really answered it completely. Here's some background...
I have P3D v4. I love it!!! My hardware is all (100%) Saitek. See the list below
YOKE
THROTTLE QUADRANT
RUDDER PEDALS
(6) INSTRUMENT PANELS
TWO RADIO STACKS
AUTO PILOT
SWITCH PANEL
TRIM WHEEL

(NON SAITEK) - I have the Xtop Pro Panel and two industrial USB external power hubs to drive everything. I use the flight sound X to use my Bose aviation headset.

For all the Saitek hardware to run correctly, I have read that one must install Saitek drivers from Saitek. The I read "no don't use Saitek drivers, use Logitech drivers". Then another site says "don't use either drivers use SpadneXt".

So I humbly ask the P3D v4 community.... Where do I get reliable drivers for my Saitek hardware? SpadneXt seems like you need a doctorate degree in programming just to download it. I prefer simplicity. If SpadneXt is the way to go, so be it. I just want to hear it from those who are not salesmen to promote their product.

What's the consensus?
Thank you in advance.

[pmb 5,137]

Saitek was bought by Logitech 2 years ago, thus, Logitech should have (and indeed has) the most recent drivers for all your gadgets.

Concerning SPAD.neXt, I am a beta tester, probably someone you would classify as a salesman, forbidding me to answer that point.

Kind regards, Michael

[pilot100ll 5]

Thanks for the reply pmb. Sales or not I still would appreciate your feedback.

[krono 13]

Hi

i will jump in here. SpadNext when you get use to it us in a word awsome. I use Saitek yoke, pedals, Fip, Switch panel, Auto pilot panel, radio panel, a Derek Spears board and a PacLed64 board controlling another 42 leds 22 switches and 8 encoders all running with the use of this program. There are numerous downloads on the site for different boards and planes from all over on the site to get you going. You dont have to buy the full licence to start with, in fact I still havnt but Connex (the owner) is extremelly helpfull. You can try the program on a trial ( I cant remember how long) to see if it is for you. By the way I am also a Beta tester but definetly not a salesman.

Ken

[FreeBird(Josh) 314]

SpadNext is the only way to go with Saitek/Logitec stuff. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to use it. Just spend a few minutes with it and you will see. The download snippets and profiles will get you up and running in no time. The interface is graphical unlike fsuipc so its easier to see what your doing plus with the depth of the program you can make so much happen and make your controllers and panel to do what you want them to do and your not limited to the basic saitek drivers and panel software. My only wish is that there would be a manual on programing some of this as it is way over my head. I usually just hack away at it and figure it out and that in return has given me more insight on more complex programing but it sure be nice to have a manual. 

[Rossco 23]

+1 for SpadNext. Held of getting it till a few months ago. I now marvel at what it can do & wished I had started using it much earlier.

Must add it works on non Saitek controllers as well. I have been able to program switches/buttons on my PFC yoke for things too difficult to find in FSUIPC (LVARS).

[DaveCT2003 1,820]

I use SpadNext, but it's pretty far from Plug-n-Play if you get away from using SimConnect (which is very easy, in fact I'd say too easy).  Thankfully there are some very good YouTube Videos that can help one out. There are also aircraft profiles that people have uploaded (available from within the SpadNext application itself) that you can not only use, but can learn from.

I've seen reported from people who are using the Logitech drivers in FSX, P3DV3 and P3DV4, though the latter still requires a quick manual edit of files.

If you're looking to use Saitek panels with different payware aircraft and you want to assign switches and knows to non-standard functions then I'd strongly recommend SpadNext. If not, then I'd use the Logitech drivers.

I sincerely hope this information has been of use to you.

Best wishes.

 

 

[pilot100ll 5]

thanks to all that added their two-cents to the forum. I am sure that this info will also help others in their quest for Saitek drivers. I think I am going to go with SpadNext and give it a whirl.

Good day All

[odourboy 1,288]

1 hour ago, pilot100ll said:

thanks to all that added their two-cents to the forum. I am sure that this info will also help others in their quest for Saitek drivers. I think I am going to go with SpadNext and give it a whirl.

Good day All

Please report back on your findings and experience with this endeavour. I'm using my Saitek controllers with default W10 PnP  drivers and direct (buttons) input into P3Dv4. It works, but not without some issues and a lack of flexibility, so I'm looking for a better solution. 

[mkear 0]

I am trying to use SPAD.neXt to control my Saitek Pro Flight Yoke and Pedals and Throttle quadrant.      2 weeks after buying the full licence it's still less than satisfactory for me.  I have a support ticket in for a week now and no response. 

I can't start FSX with  SPAD.neXt running.   A warning box comes up saying do i want to run one of the SPAD.neXt components, and if i say yes,  FSX crashes. If i say No,  FSX will start but with no SPAD.neXt.    Obviously other people have got theirs going ok, so it's not a big problem with the software - I've done something wrong installing it and setting it up   or maybe I have something else conflicting but I can't find out what to do about it. 

Also, when I go to my throttle quadrant set up,  the left lever goes in reverse - when I push it up,  the throttle in FSX goes down.   There's a way to change the behaviour in SPAD.neXt but it's greyed out in this case.  

Can anyone give me some help as to where i might have gone wrong getting it set up? 

I have windows10,  running FSX from an external USB3 drive,    FSX . Accelerator /  SP2.   

Cheers
Mike Kear
Windsor, NSW, Australia