Another pilot who fails to get his TM Cougar HOTAS working on Windows 10

Hello:

I have bought a used TM Cougar HOTAS on eBay. Seller told me that It was in good conditions and stored for years (It was in its original case and bags), so I trusted it should works.

Maybe this post will be a little large, but my purpuse is to put in context what I have tryed, and what recipes have worked for me ... for short time sadly.

On my first try to get it run, I followed a step by step guide from Rudel (thanks Rudel for your kindly suppor) to get it working on Windows 10 ... but I give up.

https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=181049&highlight=rudel+cougar

I read that Win10 and Cougar are not good friends, so I decide to try on my Win7 64 Laptop .... and once again I could get it run.

So, I went for an old XP 32 PC, and try all from the begining. Nope ... no success win XP 32 .... very strange ...

Following drivers installation instructions (2007_hco_vista_64_rc1.exe for WIN10 and 3_HCO_2004.exe for XP32), I connected my Cougar in the middle of the installing process when promted to do, and the installator finished without erros. After that, I moved the driver file STTubeDevice203.dll [/ B] to Windows \ SystemWOW64, give admin rights to Cougar's Control Panels and other .exe on HOTAS folder (in case that its program run over secured users and system folders ) and at the end, I run Cougars Control Panel and get that f..ing errror:

Device Detection Error - E2: Ensure that the device is connected and worked properly. [/ B]

Some times it gives me another one telling me that firmware is bad and have to be applied to the joystick.

So, I disconenct my Cougar and reconnect it with trigger button deppresed .... sometimes I get an error message from windonws teeling me that USB device not detected, and sometimes not. Once detected, I run Cougars Firmware Update and, sometimes got an error telling me that Cougars is not connected, and sometimes the program starts, but It freeze on the first of three step (Press and hold the trigger botton on the dives). Other times the process run very fast and get and error telling me that I didn't press trigger button, but firmware ware downloed to the joysitck ... but It is not true: my Cougar is still a metal trash.

Once, I was able to donwload the firmware to my Cougar using my laptop with Win7x64 following a step by step process described by CubPilot:

Open Foxy, goto "Cougar / HOTAS Cleanse / Erase Polling Registery Entry". If this registry setting has a flag set it will not allow communication with the Cougar. I would also use "Erase Windows Calibration" also, just for the hell of it.

Then:

1. Disconnect the Cougar from the computer.

2. Disconnect the throttle (and rudders if you have them).

3. Reboot the computer.

4. After Windows has finished loading, reconnect the Cougar with the trigger held in for a few seconds while reconnecting it.

5. Flash the firmware with the latest version.

[url = "https://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3117326/hotas-cougar-not-recognised-help"] https://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3117326 / hotas-cougar-not-recognized-help [/ URL]

I was really happy !! Then I plugged it into my Win10 PC and voila! It works! Every switch and axis works fine .... well, Antena and ManRange axis where dissaligned and need calibration, so I calibrate my Cougar with Control Panel tool and it works.

I was happy for about 2 weeks and now It die again :(.

Someday my Cougar was not detected by Windows10. I disconected it and reconnected and it wen to life again.

After a couples of days following this workaround, manual calibration gave me a big troubble: every axis started to work in a discontinuous and a coarse way .... hard to explain (as you can guess at this point, english is not my native language). When I move an axis, in some position of axis travel doesn't show any result on Cougar Control Panel viewer. If I try on the sim, it is impossible to fly: all control surface moves on coarse and way skipping some position of its travel.

So I decided to take the risk an reset my Cougar one more time .... and I couldn't get it work.

I have received many suggestion on Facebook groups: some pepople recommend me to use Tusba, other ones suggest an CMUK.

But afaik my problem is FCS. Tusba and CMUK wonrt fix my current issue. I am sure that my Cougar's hardware is fine... It worked before.

I know people that run their Cougars on Win10 without any issue at all.

I remember that after I got my Cougars working on WIn10, I couldn't run manual calibration, so I reinstall drivers and it fixed.

Maybe something went wrong after a Windows update .... maybe something related to drivers where broken ... I dont know.

It would be grat if someone could give me some support. I really want to have my Cougar working on its natural state, and upgrading it to arduino mmjoy or leo bodnar board is my really last resource.

Thnaks in advance.

Salute

Gavilan

... I read that Win10 and Cougar are not good friends, so I decide to try on my Win7 64 Laptop .... and once again I could get it run.

OK, that tells us that the hardware is working .. whatever problem you are having must then be software-caused.

So, I went for an old XP 32 PC, and try all from the begining. Nope ... no success win XP 32 .... very strange ...

Most likely a driver problem .. while the initial version of the Cougar software was meant for Windows XP, my belief is that the current download from Thrustmaster is for windows Vista or newer.

Following drivers installation instructions (2007_HCO_VISTA_32_RC2.exe for WIN10

Using 32 bit drivers on Windows 10 is not a good idea .. I suggest to use the 2007_hco_vista_64_rc1 drivers)

... Then I plugged it into my Win10 PC and voila! It works! Every switch and axis works fine .... well, Antena and ManRange axis where dissaligned and need calibration, so I calibrate my Cougar with Control Panel tool and it works.

 

I was happy for about 2 weeks and now It die again :(

It's strange .. on the one hand, the hardware seems to be OK, but I wonder why it would die after 2 weeks?

Someday my Cougar was not detected by Windows10. I disconected it and reconnected and it wen to life again.

 

After a couples of days following this workaround, manual calibration gave me a big troubble: every axis started to work in a discontinuous and a coarse way

If it were on just a single axis, we could blame a faulty pot, but not likely as it is happening on every axis .. :(

I know people that run their Cougars on Win10 without any issue at all.

I've used it on Windows 10, but currently I'm using Windows 8.1 as I didnt like my PCs uneven performance when using Windows 10.

It would be grat if someone could give me some support.

If you want, contact me by PM and we can coordinate a week-end connection via Teamviewer .. I'd like to delete your current drivers and reinstall it from scratch using the specific downloads that I've used for my own Cougar.

Also, be sure to disable the Windows power-saving feature that turns off USB hubs when not in use.

best regards,

Eduardo

Hi Rudel

A little mistake writing this post.

I am using 2007_hco_vista_64_rc1.exe for Win10.

I will PM you.... thank again!

Salute

Gavilan

Hello all

I did some work last weekend and have news.

I picked up an old HD and I made a fresh Win10 install. After that, the first (and only one) thing I installed was TM Cougar HOTAS drivers (64 for Vista), and have the same results: It wasn't detected by Windows.

But... I decided to disconnect all my USB devices and start to test on different USB ports, and guess what: One port detected my Cougar at the first try, and after that everything went perfect!

I switched to my official SSD with Windows 10 and other stuff, and my Cougar worked well.

No issues with manual calibration.... It seems that USB port is critical on this.

Hope to keep my Cougar working for a while.

Salute Gavilan

Glad to know, on my pc haven’t had that issue.