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TM Cougar Owners: Firmware, older versions, please help :)


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Greetings everyone,

 

I recently equipped my HOTAS Cougar stick with Hall effect sensors, which work very well, but I've noticed that when I test the stick with Foxy Windows Analyzer, the output of the two axes is still a series of small but uneven 'jumps', rather than passing smoothly through the range of output values--the same thing it did when it had potentiometers. The new sensors themselves are completely smooth and linear when tested with a voltmeter, but the Cougar's output is 'micro-jumpy'.

 

I have the latest (I think) firmware, Version 3.06, as displayed in the Cougar Control Panel. I wonder if this is causing the problem. My Cougar is over 10 years old and may not work well with the latest firmware, causing problems with the internal circuitry (linearity of the A/D converter).

 

Does anyone have the original firmware (Version 1.0), or close to it? I'd love to try it out to see if it helps. I'd much appreciate it if someone could post a link to it or email it to me.

 

Thanks so much!

Kit:

B550 Aorus Elite AX V2, Ryzen 7 5800X w/ Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE, 2 x 16GB Kingston Fury DDR4 @3600MHz C16, Gigabyte RTX 3070 Windforce 8GB, EVGA SuperNova 750 G2 PSU, HP Omen 32" 2560x1440, Thrustmaster Cougar HOTAS fitted with Leo Bodnar's BU0836A controller.

--Flying is the art of throwing yourself at the ground, and having all the rules and regulations get in the way!

If man was meant to fly, he would have been born with a lot more money!

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Hi AD,

 

Have you tried calibrating the stick with CCP?? also did you reflash the stick when you put in the new sensors??

ASRock Z590 Phantom Gaming 4/AC / Intel i7 10700K @ 5.1Ghz / Noctua DHS-14 Heatsinkw/Fan /  Samsung 970plus m.2 1TB  /  eVGA FTW3 2080Ti /  RipJaws - 64GB RAM @3200  /  SoundBlaster Z  / Reverb G2 VR /  ThrustMaster HOTAS Cougar & MFD's / Buttkicker Gamer 2

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Hi AD,

 

Have you tried calibrating the stick with CCP?? also did you reflash the stick when you put in the new sensors??

 

Stick is properly calibrated. That's not the problem, it's the 'micro-jumps' that appear to have been dithered to smooth things out a bit. It may just be the design of the Cougar's circuit board; it did it with pots, and still does it with Hall effect sensors. That's why I wonder if it's either the firmware, or the choice of physical microcontroller for the board and it's own limitations.

 

Did not reflash, already had 3.06 installed. That's why I'm looking for version 1.0 or similar so I can try out older firmware to see if it works better with my old stick (it's about 10 years old).

 

It's not a big deal, but I'd like to try and 'iron it out' if possible.

 

Thanks

Kit:

B550 Aorus Elite AX V2, Ryzen 7 5800X w/ Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE, 2 x 16GB Kingston Fury DDR4 @3600MHz C16, Gigabyte RTX 3070 Windforce 8GB, EVGA SuperNova 750 G2 PSU, HP Omen 32" 2560x1440, Thrustmaster Cougar HOTAS fitted with Leo Bodnar's BU0836A controller.

--Flying is the art of throwing yourself at the ground, and having all the rules and regulations get in the way!

If man was meant to fly, he would have been born with a lot more money!

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The Cougar has been at 3.06 for over a decade. I think the last firmware update was in 2003 or 2004. I've never had any issues with it in all that time. I doubt it's the issue. If you want to try anyway, Cougar World is probably your only hope.

 

Wow, the firmware's that old eh? Well, my best guess it that the 'micro-jumps' are a limitation of the hardware itself... I have a spare BU0836A kicking around (USB controller interface doohickey) which is very nice, I could just use that for the axes and leave the rest of the Cougar hardware intact for the stick & throttle buttons & switches :)

Kit:

B550 Aorus Elite AX V2, Ryzen 7 5800X w/ Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE, 2 x 16GB Kingston Fury DDR4 @3600MHz C16, Gigabyte RTX 3070 Windforce 8GB, EVGA SuperNova 750 G2 PSU, HP Omen 32" 2560x1440, Thrustmaster Cougar HOTAS fitted with Leo Bodnar's BU0836A controller.

--Flying is the art of throwing yourself at the ground, and having all the rules and regulations get in the way!

If man was meant to fly, he would have been born with a lot more money!

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