The GF-166A has reduced me to tears

[Binto100 0]

I own two GF-166A’s. I purchased them from GoFlight about 5 years ago and am just now trying to use them as I’ve finally built a simulator in earnest. I’ve got $6k into everything and it all works but the #@##$& GF-166A’s. I have the latest drivers of everything and nothing in Program Files or Program Files (86). I have plugged them into a 2.0 hub as well as direct into 2.0 and 1.0 inputs on the back of my computer. Sometimes they show on the GF configuration, sometimes don’t. Sometimes one will show but the other won’t. I’ve gone through all the standard stuff (device manager, usb power management etc etc etc) with no success. They show on the GIT but won’t do a thing. Fsuipc wont even acknowledge their existence. 

I have never in my 64 years dealt with an issue so frustrating. They have made me feel absolutely incapable and incompetent. The GF166A has beaten me into a nearly inconsolable pile of tears. I have spent hours upon hours upon hours trying to figure things out. 

I tried running GFWindows8fixer but the log file comes back with multiple lines of Device Parameters: Unable to open.

I don’t know what to try next. I am wide open to suggestions. Anything. I want to take a hammer and beat them into tiny bits. In the end I do believe there is a simple and elegant solution (other than throwing them in the garbage where they belong), I just don’t know what it is or where to turn. Today I wrote an email to Tony at GoFlight but I have no expectations of a response. This is a simply ridiculous problem.

I apologize for the rant. I am frustrated to the boiling point.  Yes I’ve posted this in a couple places.  Any help would be so appreciated.

Bruce

 

P3Dv4.3.29.25520. Win10 pro. Gigabyte GA-Z270X-Gaming 5. i7-7700k 16gb running at 4.2gh. Asus ROG-STRIX-RX580-O8G.

Edited August 25, 2018 by Binto100
Enter system details

[vp49p3 216]

Have you tried using usb 1.0 cables? My 166's work fine with USB 2.0 cables, but my old GF autilopilot won't work without a usb cable I took off of an 8 year old scanner.

[Ray Proudfoot 8,954]

Bruce, do you have access to another PC you can try them on? If they aren't recognised on that then I would request a swap.

I bought two 166s in October 2003 and one developed a display fault some years later. Even though I live in the UK GoFlight said send it back to California and they would swap it. I did and the replacement has worked fine ever since. The original still continues to work fine 15 years after purchase.

Mine are plugged into a powered USB hub using the cables that came with the 166. I'm sure you will get it sorted by GoFlight. It sounds more like a software or cable issue than a faulty 166. Or two faulty 166s which is inconceivable.

[Chocorua 112]

I agree with what Ray said: Try plugging into another PC, install the GF software and see if there is abnormal behaviour while configuring things, if possible. 

[Binto100 0]

I have found the GF166A works fine if just one is plugged.  Plug in two and things go south as follows:

I ran windows8fixer.
I plugged a GF166A into a 2.0 plug on the computer and reran w8fixer. I left all knobs and buttons unassigned.
I started the GIT and P3D and got a 166 tab. I selected device0 and enabled Com.  
All of a sudden it woke up and started working perfectly in both frequency selection and transfer as well as the lower com1 left button and the com2 right button. The virtual cockpit radios were right in sync too. 
I exited P3D, plugged in the second GF166, closed gfconfig and reran w8fixer. Reopened gf config and started P3D and GIT. The GF1, the one I had first assigned to com simply went dead. GF2, which I assigned to nav, worked perfectly. GF1 showed in GoFlight config but it was unresponsive. When I clicked on GF2 in GoFlight Config the lights would come on the NAV GF166. When I click on GF1 in GFC the lights will turn off on the previously selected NAV GF2 but they do not turn on on the GF1.  

The GF1 just goes dead to the fs and git even though it shows in GFC. To verify, I tried to recreate the same install later in the day and it did not go well. NAV worked for a while then stuck. After a computer reboot the frequencies would change via the rotary knob and in the virtual cockpit but they wouln’t display display on the GF2

I don’t think I am far from a solution, I just don’t know how to get there.  There is a gremlin conflict I just can’t identify.  

Thanks to all who chimed in.

Bruce

Edited August 26, 2018 by Binto100

[Archer1475 0]

Admittedly this is a late comment.  While this looks like software, you may also be having a hardware stability problem also going on.

Have you tried a powered (fed by external power supply) usb hub which Ray (above) mentioned he's using?  (Suggest trying a USB 2.0 rather than a new USB 3.0 if you have one.)  Computer ports (usb) supply limited power, but with multiple devices, the port controller might not be able to provide enough power (amperage) to run the two 166A panels together not to mention, the hub itself. 

I've experienced it many times where one direct usb port works fine with a device, and the one next to it won't recognize the hardware plugged in.  If going to a hub, it could also be a characteristic of the hub you are using, especially if not a powered hub.

[Ray Proudfoot 8,954]

A powered hub is an absolute necessity for GF166 and similar units. The display makes all the difference with power requirements.