HOTAS Cougar software on a modern Windows

Hi all! Guys, help out, the cat has such a problem, I press the emulator button and some unknown buttons appear to loop, but it feels like a stuck key has turned on, and if you open the notebook and press some button on the joy, it starts typing all sorts of nonsense on its own, I don’t know what I’ve done before already where to dig for drivers, demolished the registry, cleaned the firmware, deleted

24 minutes ago, BAXuTOB said:

Hi all! Guys, help out, the cat has such a problem, I press the emulator button and some unknown buttons appear to loop, but it feels like a stuck key has turned on, and if you open the notebook and press some button on the joy, it starts typing all sorts of nonsense on its own, I don’t know what I’ve done before already where to dig for drivers, demolished the registry, cleaned the firmware, deleted

If your Cougar hardware is having button contacts on its own, it means its getting old. You can try to clean the contacts with a spray cleaner, but you will have to dissasemble the stick to have access to the button switches, not a very easy task.

You can try to identify which are the switches that don't work reliably, using the Hotas Cougar Button State app:

Eventually, a spray contact cleaner might not be enough and you may have to replace the faulty hat switch or button .. My Cougar has 22 years of use and I've had already to replace its mini-stick and Hat4 switches, if yours is still original it may be in need of a parts replacement.

Eduardo

10 минут назад, Rudel_chw сказал:

 

Если ваше оборудование Cougar само по себе имеет контакты кнопок, это означает, что оно устарело. Можно попробовать почистить контакты спреем-очистителем, но для доступа к кнопкам-переключателям придется разбирать стик, а это не очень простая задача.

Вы можете попытаться определить, какие переключатели работают ненадежно, с помощью приложения Hotas Cougar Button State:

 

В конце концов, спрея для очистки контактов может оказаться недостаточно, и вам, возможно, придется заменить неисправный переключатель или кнопку на шляпке. Мой Cougar используется 22 года, и мне уже приходилось заменять его мини-джойстик и переключатели Hat4, если у вас есть все еще оригинальный, возможно, требуется замена деталей.

 

Эдвард

My clicks are not displayed in this program((

1 hour ago, BAXuTOB said:

My clicks are not displayed in this program((

Do you have the emulation mode ON?  Like on my picture?

39 минут назад, Rudel_chw сказал:

 

У вас включен режим эмуляции? Как на моей картинке?

Yes, I turn on the emulation, the button turns green and in the program when I press the buttons in that program the clicks are displayed, but when they start to loop, the clicks are not displayed in the program although printing is in progress))

ok, strange that the software does not register the hotas buttons when the issue starts. looks like a hardware issue with your Cougar, don't know what else to suggest

24 минуты назад, Rudel_chw сказал:

ок, странно, что программа не регистрирует кнопки hotas, когда начинается проблема. похоже на аппаратную проблему с вашим Cougar, не знаю, что еще посоветовать

I think the cat died))

Hey @Rudel_chw,

You seem to know much about this stuff. Bit of a long shot, but I'm gonna try anyways

I have an old Cougar throttle with the USB standalone mod, but for a long time now (I kinda gave up on troubleshooting), the ministick/slew outputs are inconsistent.

The ministick X and Y outputs vary depending on the position of the throttle itself (Z-axis). Is that anything you've heard or seen before?

As I'm interested in Rel4y's FCC R4 mod, I thought I might as well also order a new ministick from him. If you read my above described issue, what do you think, might this just be a worn original ministick, or is this more serious and shouldn't I bother trying rel4y's replacement ministick?

19 minutes ago, sirrah said:

The ministick X and Y outputs vary depending on the position of the throttle itself (Z-axis). Is that anything you've heard or seen before? ... what do you think, might this just be a worn original ministick, or is this more serious and shouldn't I bother trying rel4y's replacement ministick?

A worn ministick symptom is that its axes can no longer reach reasonable maximum or minimum values, or they provide unstable readings. You can check them with the Cougar Control Panel (but I'm not sure if the tM software works on your modded throttle).

In my opinion, outputs that vary when moving the throttle lever are more likely to be caused by wiring issues, as the cable that connects the ministick to the throttle base has a quite tortuous route.

Here is a blog with plenty of dissasembly photos, that you can use as a guide to check the wiring condition.

https://giovannimedici.wordpress.com/2021/02/23/cleaning-thrustmaster-cougar-potentiometers/

This is the ministick on the inside, it is soldered to a small PCB, wich is then connected to the throttle base:

53 minutes ago, Rudel_chw said:

 

A worn ministick symptom is that its axes can no longer reach reasonable maximum or minimum values, or they provide unstable readings. You can check them with the Cougar Control Panel (but I'm not sure if the tM software works on your modded throttle).

In my opinion, outputs that vary when moving the throttle lever are more likely to be caused by wiring issues, as the cable that connects the ministick to the throttle base has a quite tortuous route.

Here is a blog with plenty of dissasembly photos, that you can use as a guide to check the wiring condition.

 

https://giovannimedici.wordpress.com/2021/02/23/cleaning-thrustmaster-cougar-potentiometers/

 

This is the ministick on the inside, it is soldered to a small PCB, wich is then connected to the throttle base:

 

 

Thanks rudel

I'll try the cleaning

Seems like a nice little project for my Sunday morning  

On 10/18/2023 at 5:24 PM, Rudel_chw said:

 

A worn ministick symptom is that its axes can no longer reach reasonable maximum or minimum values, or they provide unstable readings. You can check them with the Cougar Control Panel (but I'm not sure if the tM software works on your modded throttle).

In my opinion, outputs that vary when moving the throttle lever are more likely to be caused by wiring issues, as the cable that connects the ministick to the throttle base has a quite tortuous route.

Here is a blog with plenty of dissasembly photos, that you can use as a guide to check the wiring condition.

 

https://giovannimedici.wordpress.com/2021/02/23/cleaning-thrustmaster-cougar-potentiometers/

 

This is the ministick on the inside, it is soldered to a small PCB, wich is then connected to the throttle base:

 

 

So, I cleaned the ministick pots today as per the detailed instructions (great info!)

Unfortunately, ministick outputs are still inconsistent.

I use DiView (very easy freeware calibration tool). DiView also allows me to see the ministick raw axis output and for some reason that seems to keep changing and the ministick axis are very jittery. I calibrate, fly around a bit and after some time, I suddenly see my slew cursor starts to move.. When I open DiView again, I see the raw output changed 

This time though, I can't say I've seen the z-axis influence the ministick axis. Maybe I didn't see that correctly before.

What do you think, try a new ministick from @rel4y?

49 minutes ago, sirrah said:

This time though, I can't say I've seen the z-axis influence the ministick axis. Maybe I didn't see that correctly before.

What do you think, try a new ministick from @rel4y?

OK, then most likely the ribbon cable within the Throttle has noting to do with the problem, most likely a worn ministick.

@rel4y has great craftmanship, so I can fully recomend his products. I purchased a ministick from him a year ago and was greatly surprised with the fact that it came with the PCB board already included, so no soldering was needed on my part to install it ... unlike the original spare from Thrustmaster, which did require soldering, as I told on this post: