Intermittent controller problems P3D v5.1

[WestEnd 33]

Hi,

I wonder if someone may have a solution to a controller problem I am having.

Intermittently when I press the buttons on my Alpha yoke to extend or retract the flaps, or to apply trim, nothing happens. Also If I am using my Thrustmaster Airbus sidestick on FSL A320, intermittently the stick doesn't move the pitch and roll. When either of these things happens, if I move the Alpha yoke, then the buttons on the yoke, and the sidestick work properly again, until the intermittent problem returns, which may be a few hours away, or may be a few seconds.

At first I thought it could be because both the yoke and the sidestick are assigned to pitch and roll axes in P3D v5.1. Deleting those axes assignments from the sidestick does not resolve the problem though, neither does unplugging the sidestick from my PC.

It is happening across various aircraft. PMDG 737 and 777, FSL A320 and Carenado aircraft.

I have uninstalled all my controllers in device manager multiple times, then restarted my PC to have them reinstall, and that has not helped.

In control panel, under game controllers, the yoke, and sidestick are showing as working properly, with all the buttons lighting up when pressed. I do also use the Thrustmaster Airbus throttle and thrustmaster rudder pedals. Windows control panel says they are working properly too.

I have repaired my P3D installation in add/remove programs multiple times.

I have tried without Chaseplane running, and the issue was still there, so presumambly nothing to do with Chaseplane.

I do have FSUIPC on my PC, but just for a couple of plug ins, LRM and a call out plug in for the FSL A320. There is nothing being done with my controls at all through FSUIPC.

Possible things I could still try are the following :-

• Put all controllers in P3D v5.1 back to default settings then set them up the way I want them again. 
• Delete generated files within P3D.
• Completely uninstall P3D then reinstall it.
• I do have X Plane on my PC although I don't use it. I could spend some time on that to see if I have any controller issues there or not.
• uninstall FSUIPC and see if the problem happens without it.

When I Google about this problem, absolutely nothing comes up, so it cannot be a common problem.

It would be good to get some advice from knowledgable people on here before doing something that may take me a few hours to complete, up to a few days if I do a complete uninstall and reinstall of everything.

Thanks

Edit - Having been mulling this over, I may delete the Honeycomb software from my PC and just set up all the buttons etc for the yoke directly within P3D, in case this software is causing the problem. Currently I have no yoke buttons assigned within P3D and the bindings are loaded from the Honeycomb software as the aircraft is loaded in P3D.

I deleted the Honeycomb software and the problem is still there - a good wiggle of the yoke at the end of a test flight circuit was needed before the button to retract the flaps worked.

Edited June 8, 2021 by WestEnd
addition

[Samaritano 303]

This worked for me. I did it for every USB device that I have connected. 
 

USB

[WestEnd 33]

5 hours ago, Rob_Ainscough said:

This does suggest a wiring problem which would also increase the resistance which you would see when having a USB Digital tester connected.

Cheers, Rob.

Hi Rob,

Thanks for your help. If there is a wiring problem do think it would be within the alpha yoke, or within the PC?

Would the wiring problem need addressed, or if my alpha yoke was plugged into a powered USB hub would that be likely to fix the issue anyway?

It is a fairly expensive gaming motherboard that is in my PC. I would think that that would run 4 usb game controllers for flight sim, unless of course there is a problem with it.

Thanks

[WestEnd 33]

10 hours ago, Samaritano said:

This worked for me. I did it for every USB device that I have connected. 
 

USB

Hi,

 

Thanks for your answer.

Unfortunately this didn't work for me. The first flight I loaded up after doing it, the flaps didn't extend by pressing the honeycomb yoke button until I moved the yoke.

[djbully 210]

I had issues with my Saitek X-55 Rhino throttle (the stick was fine), all solved by using a powered usb 3 hub. It’s certainly worth a try. 

[WestEnd 33]

9 hours ago, Rob_Ainscough said:

I've run into this problem and it's not specific to a flight sim platform but to USB power.  I my case, I was not getting enough USB power to my devices (I run 47 USB devices across MB and 2X PCIe USB controllers).

Some USB devices will consume more power than others ... what I recommend is that you use the USB digital testing device to monitor loads:

Solutions to my issues was to reduce the number of USB devices and add PCIe USB controllers in addition to using USB 3.0 powered hubs.  USB 3.0 hubs support higher current like  Sabrent 7 port 36W (12V/3A power adapter) ... or Sabrent 16 port units provides 90W.  (USB 3.0 hubs are fully compatible with USB 2.0 and USB 1.1).

Cheers, Rob.

I just took my PC tower to an IT repair place I use, and showed him it with a photo of all the controllers I use. (this was the guy who built my PC for me after I bought all the components online)

He said the same as you, that it was too high a load on the USB slots, and that I needed a PCIe USB express card with a direct power feed from the power supply, rather from the motherboard. He is certain that will fix the issue.

I have ordered one and I will take it to be installed when it is delivered.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

Edited June 9, 2021 by WestEnd