1 ) Turn on auxiliary power strip (this powers on the two powered USB hubs that my heavy-draw peripherals are plugged into).
2 ) Boot up PC.
3 ) Verify that all flight sim peripherals are powered on; if not, reboot.
4 ) Open Windows Setup USB Game Controllers app; verify that the Saitek Pro Flight Yoke's X-axis is centered and steady. If not, unplug and replug Pro Flight Yoke.
5 ) Load LINDA; verify that all quadrant assignments read correctly.
6 ) Load flight sim; load default flight; verify that all FSUIPC-assigned axis are still correctly assigned.
7 ) Verify both LINDA and FSUIPC functionality (i.e. assure that when a hardware switch is toggled, both LINDA shows it being toggled and the flight sim does as well; assure that when the hardware axis is shifted, FSUIPC shifts the flight sim axis).
8 ) Verify audio settings, especially if headphones have recently been plugged in or unplugged.
Perhaps this seems, erm, complicated, but--and again, probably due to the idiosyncrasies of my flight sim setup--there are reasons behind this madness. To begin with, I've quite a lot of flight sim peripherals--all Saitek/Logitech--simultaneously plugged in: Pro Flight Yoke w/quadrant, Pro Flight Rudders, five additional throttle quadrants, X-52 H.O.T.A.S., Radio Panel, and Switch Panel. They're simultaneously plugged in because neither LINDA nor FSUIPC plays well with peripherals being unplugged and replugged, even when into the same port, so it's easier to just have them all plugged in at the same time. (And, I blush to admit, even when using the yoke, I've programmed buttons and axis on the X-52
)Because of the power draw of some of the peripherals, and because over half of the USB ports on my rig are USB 3.1--which Saitek flight sim equipment doesn't seem to like cooperating with--I use two externally-powered USB hubs. They are plugged into their own power strip, because I'm a bit anal about safety and don't like leaving them energized when the PC is off. I used to have their power strip plugged into an outlet of my UPS that was controlled by the PC's power state: when the PC went to sleep, or hibernated, or was shut down, those outlets were de-energized, and when the PC powered up, so did the outlets. For whatever reason, though, this played merry hob with LINDA. Even though the hardware was never unplugged from their respective USB ports, LINDA would randomly reassign them anyway. So instead of Quadrant 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, LINDA would, for example, read them as Quadrant 5, 3, 2, 6, and 4. This is not an easy fix!
However, by manually energizing the externally-powered USB hubs before booting up the PC, this has--so far, anyway--stopped occurring.For #3, for some reason, now and again the Saitek X-52 stick doesn't fully initialize; the LEDs cyclically blink and the stick controls do not register. The X-52 throttle initializes and works just fine.
For #4, and again for reasons known only to the Almighty, the Saitek Pro Flight Yoke's X-axis, and only the X-axis, refuses to stay calibrated. It regularly loses its center position and drifts to the right and oscillates there. I've tried all the tricks I could find on Google, but nothing sticks. However, a simple "unplug-and-replug" resets it every time.
I guess this is more of a pre-pre-flight inspection?
Chevalier
