Warthog throttle bricked after running firmware updater

Sorry cant change the title, its the joystick, not throttle, MODS please change, thx

Hi Guys, any help would really be appreciated. (I will keep this short)

Hotas was working perfectly and has done for years.

Was flying around, took a break and decided to update some stuff. First thing I ran was the firmware updater for Thrustmaster on the joystick.

Its now 'i suppose' bricked' with no firmware.

I cant seem to find a way to force it back.

My error below.

I tried the bootloader method as per thrustmaster site here but it seems dated and not geared for win10 64bit (my op sys)

http://ts.thrustmaster.com/faqs/eng/thr_eng_00140.pdf

Tried my laptop, it only has usb3 ports as well jbtw.

Ont thing, in my HID devices the stick is showing, but not in the usb gaming devices section.

The stick also shows as thrustmaster, where as the throttle that works perfectly has no thrustmaster description , the stick never used to have a thrustmaster description before.

Any help really appreciated.

The hardware was working perfectly 5min before i did the firmware thing, :pray:

This is what the updater sees now ( 0 )

So after calling thrustmaster and waiting over 30mins for an answer on my mobile from South Africa they offered the same bootloader reset sequence that is/was geared for Win 7 win 8.1.

Must say, a very friendly and nice call with someone that really tried, but still stuck.

They said send it back? Economically that is a bitter pill, as it costs bucket loads to send this heavy hardware from where I am to the US, likewise when I bought it getting it here.

All I did was run 'their own proprietary software' and it went pear shaped, how is that my problem?

Was working fine till i pressed 'their update' button

?

Find a friend that has an older pc with windows 7or 8.1 and try thrustmaster’s software again.

Something similar happened to me, I never got the firmware updated but by using a USB 2.0 port on my motherboard it started communicating again and is still functional. I forget if it was the throttle or stick but I imagine the process is similar.

Thx folks.

This USB2 thing!

I have nothing with a usb 2 interface around, at least not in the short term.

My desktop and laptop seem to be 3 configured.

I have sent this to Thrustmaster as well, cause as far as I am concerned asking me to have a floppy drive, say to speak, post 2010 is a little obnoxious if not outright insulting when one pays top dollar for hardware.

all i did was use their own 'Firmware Updater', now kaput, everything was working fine before that.

Just download a trial version of Windows 7 or 8 and run it in a VM like VirtualBox.

Just download a trial version of Windows 7 or 8 and run it in a VM like VirtualBox.

How many gb is that, I get like 100gb/pm at high cost and slow speeds. Africa, shit happens :lol:

I beg to say no, high end hardware should have software to match.

Never had a major issue before, always a few hoops to jump through but not this.

Had much Thrustmaster stuff over the years, love it.,including a Cougar, and for years and a Warthog.

 

So here with the Hog hotas all i did was run 'their own firmware updater software' and it bricked my stick?

 

In the video, this is after the initial run so now it shows the stick with a 0 firmware version. Seems they can't help to sort out the problem they created. Been on the blower to them but meh, nothing that helps.

 

I was using the Warthog Hotas for over an hour before this no problem, years before no problem.

 

I hit 'their software/firmware update button and it all went south fast.

Now the stick component does not work. It is seen by windows, But not in the usb game controller section.

Throttle still groovy as I never ran that update. (Praise God!)

 

Its a weekend when this has happened, but I will gladly report on any positive news moving forward.

 

Stay away from the firmware update options fellas.

 

I did phone them on my mobile from South Africa to the USA. Waited a long time but eventually got hold of a very friendly and helpful chap named Julian (think in Canada). He tried his best but still nojoy in the end.

Thrustmaster, why did your own software brick my stick and please how can I fix this.

had a few (non bot) mails from Thrustmaster looking for info to troubleshoot :thumbup:

Will update on progress.

Can you not run the bootloader in win7 compatibility mode?

Firstly, updating the firmware, when you dont have an identified problem to correct is usually a bad idea.

Why exactly do you think that the bootloader wont work in Win10, and that Win10 is the source of your problem?

When I lubed my warthog, broke a wire, shorted it, scrambled the stick, physically repaired it - I had to re-upload the firmware (with success) with Win10 on USB3.

When you boot the joystick into the bootloader state, as per the instructions you linked to, it wont show up in Game Devices, but will show up in Device Manager.

Hi Blackrat, I will give it a go tomorrow, thx.

Hi Thermal

Yes I hear you loud and clear. I have always been in the habit of keeping my firware up to date for all types of hardware though.

All I did was innocently run the updater expecting it to say no firmware up or firmware update.

Why dont I think the bootloader will work in Win 10, well before I posted I did a search and there were a a few post mentioning to use 7 or 8.1 if it doesnt run for some reason. Even the document thrustmaster sent out and that is on their site doesnt list win 10, guess its just dated.

I can see the stick in the DM, and not the GD as you say but it has no firmware on it now I think and as such not recognized.

I havent messed with it today, been out and about and watching rugby.

Thanks to all for the input, I really do appreciate it and sorry if I came across a little strong yesterday, I was bloody annoyed with the software bricking the stick and more annoyed with myself actually for not leaving well alone, I should know better when it comes to flight sim stuff as Thermal quite rightly points out.

:blush:

Will have another stab at it tomorrow to see if I can somehow undo the mess.

Firmware can't be updated/re-flashed while plugged into a USB hub. It needs to be plugged into a motherboard USB slot, preferably USB 2.0.

I believe the problem is due to incompatibility with the new USB host controllers on more recent motherboards (xHCI). Even if you attach the Warthog to a USB 2.0 port, it is still using the xHCI controller.

See if you can find a PC with an older motherboard using the previous gen of USB controllers (EHCI). Otherwise see if you can find a USB 2.0 PCI card based on EHCI.

I had this issue about 18 months ago. The only solution I could find after many hours of research was to locate an old PC and update the firmware using that. Something to do with modern USB drivers or somesuch as already mentioned above.

Good luck, WB.

Hi Folks

I have had long email discussions with Thrustmaster, stripped the stick down, checked all connections etc but nojoy.

The only potential solution they can come up with is to sell me a new PCB to try, no guarantees of course and I understand that.

Im also on the verge of just buying a new stick, but still holding onto some hope I can resolve this.

Craighl4, thanks I will have a look around for a pci card, maybe even by one if I can from the store to try. Worth a shot.

Whiskeybravo, thanks. So need to find a machine that uses EHCI going on Craigs post.

My laptop is also a brand new dell

I had a similar problem quite a while ago. Try to disable USB xHCI mode in bios for the duration of applying new firmware. In my Asus Z87-PRO it's under:

Advanced menu > USB configuration > Intel xHCI Mode

Default is Smart Auto, I changed it to Disabled, and then I could update the firmware without problem. After the update I switched the xHCI back on.

Vlerkies has the same motherboard as me. Disabling xHCI is not an option as that is the sole USB controller.

Best bet is an older PC or a USB 2.0 PCI-E card. Plenty of options on eBay for cheap. Just make sure it is USB 2.0 and not USB 3.0 as you want an EHCI compliant chipset.

Indeed Craig, no option to disable xHCI that i could locate in the bios.

Edit: I did pick up on the Asus forums some guys saying that option disappeared / was there? Could not concretley confirm it was for the viii board though, but maybe earlier bios version.

But then if you say the xHCI is the only usb controller I suppose the above is moot.

same problem some years ago i fix it by using my wife laptop usb2 to update the firmware and everything works great since then

:lol:Hi Folks

Ok update

I managed to find and use an old windows machine.

We have hectic pc policies at work but after everyone left I zeroed in on the oldest lamest pc we have and took control :joystick:

Ok.

Win7 beast, ran the firmware updater.

It got 2 'green ticks' and a red fail on the end

This was a

0x34100002 BS failure

Sorted out the shoddy default TM connection to base and all good.

Short story is I was able to instal the firmware on the old machine, but when I plugged the hotas into my main machine it reverts to [boot]

I ran the firmware updater; it got 3 green ticks in the old machine, but on my own machine not seen as usb game controller.

I'm still sitting with a pretty expensive paper weight though!

Try hooking up the controller to the old PC again and go through the bootloader method to install the firmware. You can find the instructions for this in the support section on the TM website.

Make sure it is recognised correctly on the old PC after you disconnect and reconnect the controller. Then try connecting it to your regular PC again. Good luck.

Hi Craig

Will give it a go for sure.

I sat today and ran the firmware update on the old machine. It ran well, but then dished out another error (0x34100002) which was new to me.

(after some google-fu) That specific error was a result of me stripping the stick (at TM's request to check the connections) and not seating the female connector back properly, so when I inserted the stick it just pushed the connector down.

I sorted that.

The que's for this was that when I ran the firmware update it gave me 2 green ticks, but error on the last one.

(On my home machine with xHCI, the firmware updater bombs out at the first stage, doesnt work, rubbish, useless, thx thrustmaster)

On my machine I do not get past the 1st green one.

So after seeing 2 green ticks I knew I was progressing. and stripped the stick again to the point where I could with my fingers join the connector from the base to the stick itself.

Then I ran the firmware updater again and 3 perfect green ticks. :thumbup:

I shutdown and left it there.

Then I came home and the blasted stick still shows [boot] loading with 0 firmware.

Im not giving up just yet. But this is crazy hehe

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So in short I managed to run the firmware update on the old machine, but when I got home and plugged it into my main desktop machine it still showed the controller with 0 firmware and [boot] status?

I will try again next week, but i did look after getting 3 green ticks that the controller was correctly identified in the device manager of the machine and it showed in the usb game controller menu.

I never went into the usb game controller menu to manually check but it was listed.

On my home machine it is not listed there at all, but is seen in the device manager.

Since now it apparently works in another PC (have you tested it with joy.cpl on the work PC?), try removing it from the Device Manager or from Settings - Devices (on your PC, from home) then reconnect it so it's re-detected. Maybe that will sort it out. I'm just guessing here.