MCG Ultimate hats occasionally stop working until restart

[frenzon]

I have an MCG Ultimate Rev A + Gunfighter Mk I (they are amazing - thank you so much for supporting original buyers!) and have swapped on both optional hat modules, but recently I've noticed that about once a day, sometimes most of the hats (all but the bottom-left CMS hat) will stop regsitering any presses. They don't show up in VKBCfg, though the other buttons and axes work fine.

This persists until I restart the gunfighter through VKBCfg or by hotplugging either the blackbox or the Gunfighter base - sometimes if I hotplug the blackbox too quickly, the issue persists, so I try to leave 3+ seconds between unplugging and replugging. I don't recall this happening for the first couple of weeks of owning the MCG Ultimate, and it did not occur with my MCG Pro.

I have flashed the "_BlackBox_GF_MCG_Ultimate_Twist_v2_02_0" firmware. I am also using the original 200mm extension, and have tried two different USB hubs, as well as swapped between USB ports on my motherboard and a PCIe USB card. Happy to dismantle or re-do anything!

[fallout9]

Try the latest beta firmware 2.03.3 and software 0.91.80.
Don't forget to reset to default after flashing and just before calibrating.

[frenzon]

After a week of testing with newer firmware, the problem seems to no-longer exist; thanks! (if it helps, it seems like I actually only needed 2_02_5 to fix it as I flashed that almost immediately after my post - I haven't flashed 2_03)

[frenzon]

This problem seems to have returned, tested with v2_02_5(2) and v2_03_7(3) XT - the hats work OK, then some days, after a few minutes of playing DCS they stop responding.

If I unplug the stick from the Gunfighter and reattach it, the hats/buttons work again.

[fallout9]

Is this happening in game only or did you had the chance to see the same hats not working in VKBDevCfg tester? Could you please try it next time when it happens?
Also, try to clean up the contact pads on the bottom of the grip with a qtip and some alcohol. Are the pins on the base all looking good, at the same level?

[frenzon]

This happens in VKBCfg, the game, and Windows Game Controllers - before the last game I tested the hats in Windows Game Controllers config, they worked, then after a few minutes of the game they stopped (in all three) until I unplugged the stick (from the top of the 200m extension) and restarted. To get it working again, I can replug from the blackbox, the gunfighter base, the bottom of the extension, or the top of the extension.

I will swab all the contacts at all points with IPA and report back.

[frenzon]

This is still happening, and in contrast to earlier - today I had to unplug at the blackbox (after unsuccessfully trying at the gunfighter base) to get the buttons working again

Happy to do anything to try to help debug

[fallout9]

Please fill up a service ticket.