Gladiator NXT goes to sleep

[tomhighway]

Howdy,

I received a Gladiator NXT premium R for Christmas. Occasionally, when I pause my flight sim for a minute or two, when I come back it's as if the joystick went to sleep. None of the axes or buttons will respond at all. The keyboard still works, the mouse still works, the throttle assembly axes and buttons work, and the rudder pedals work. But the NXT is dead. Have you heard of this issue with anyone else? If so, was there a solution found?

Gladiator NXT Premium R joystick
Thustmaster TWCS throttle assembly
Thrustmaster TFRP rudder pedals
Linux Mint 19.2 Xfce operating system
Playing IL-2 1946

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[fallout9]

There's not a lot of testing done in Linux; it's usually working, but mishaps like this could happen. Try changing the USB port for starters.

[tomhighway]

Thanks for the timely response, fallout9.

Changing the USB ports doesn't seem to have any effect on the situation. The only thing that works is to "escape" out of the game, and then reboot the game. It comes back online when I do that. If it wasn't for the fact that I lose anything I've done in the particular "mission" that I'm flying, I wouldn't mind so much.

The main thing I'm trying to determine is whether or not it's a problem with the stick itself, or something else. If it's the stick that's causing it, then I need to get it repaired/replaced while it's still in warranty. The stick was purchased for me by my wife from VKB North America, order #214996.

If it's something else, then I'll deal with the problem through the appropriate vendor.

[fallout9]

Is there a Windows computer around to try the joystick on? Or maybe to run Windows in a virtual machine and see if the joystick acts similar?

[tomhighway]

My wife's laptop is running Win 10. I can try it on that I suppose. Before I do that, I thought I might try unplugging the throttle and the rudder pedals and see if it does it on my Linux box with just the stick running. I'll give that a try and see what happens.

[mattcaron]

I'd also try it without the game running, and just something like jstest-gtk.

FWIW, I leave mine plugged in for days without using them and never noticed anything like this. Xubuntu 20.04.

[tomhighway]

When it happens, the joystick testers outside the game recognize the stick, (I have one from VKB and one from Thrustmaster, and I can use them while the game is running), and all the functions work properly within the testers. It's just inside the game where it doesn't work. There is a joystick "input" section in IL-2 1946 for setting "curves" in the axes, and it doesn't respond to the joystick while it's acting up. That feature within the game doesn't "see" it either when it's having it's little problem.

I also leave my HOTAS plugged in for days at a time while I'm using my computer for everyday things. I only see this issue when I pause the game while flying a mission. And it doesn't do it every time.

I just spent a couple of hours testing it on my LInux box with the Joystick alone, and so far it hasn't had the issue. I'll give it some more testing time, and then I'll plug the throttle in for a while, and if that goes well, then the rudder pedals. I'll try to isolate which component is causing the problem.

[fallout9]

If the joystick is acting up only when a certain game is running it's 100% an issue with the game. But nevertheless, please update this thread if you'll find a solution, maybe someone else will face the same issue at some point.

[mattcaron]

Either the game or the Proton / Wine interpretation layer.

[tomhighway]

Howdy,

I only play one game that uses flight gear, and that is IL-2 1946. I only play one other game at all, and it is not related to flight sims. It's a D&D based game.

After many hours of testing in IL-2 1946 I don't have a definitive answer to the problem. But I have made some discoveries that I will share here.

I have several "versions" of IL-2 1946 installed on my computer, and only two of those are "modded" versions. One is YPack version 1.2.3. The other is the last version of VP Modpack. Although I've had the issue in the unmodded versions of the game, not nearly as often as in the modded versions, and YPack seems to have it the most often.

The issue does not happen with just the Gladiator NXT being used, nor does it happen with the combination of the NXT and the Thrustmaster TWCS throttle hooked up. It only occurs when the Thrustmaster TFRP rudder pedals are connected with the other two. However, I can't say for sure whether it's a problem with the rudder pedals, or a combination of things that cause it. Maybe it's just a communication problem with all three of those items and Linux. I don't know. One thing I do know is that there's an easy "work around" for it that doesn't require shutting down the game and rebooting it.

In Linux you can have up to four "desktops" to use at any given time. Typically, you switch between the desktops by left clicking an icon on the taskbar, with the mouse. If you are using a program, like IL-2 1946, that uses the "fullscreen" feature and you can't access the taskbar, then you can switch between the desktops by hitting "Ctrl" + F1, F2, F3, or F4, and it will switch to the corresponding desktop. When the problem occurs, all I have to do is switch to a different desktop, and then back to the one with IL-2 1946, and the joystick is "awake" again and responding normally.

One other thing I've observed: If I've paused the game and I'm sitting at the controls when the problem actually occurs, the red light at the top of the NXT flashes on for an instant. If I see that happen while the game is paused, then I know for sure the NXT has gone to sleep. I switch desktops for a second and it wakes up.

Hopefully this may be useful info for anyone running a Linux operating system and experiencing the same or similar issue.

Have a good one.

[mattcaron]

That is really strange.

I assume you mean virtual X desktops and not vtys (because those would be Ctrl + Alt + F1). Proceeding on that assumption, you're not flipping out of the X session so none of the human interface layer should be affected by that at all.

I'm not saying you're wrong - it's obviously working. I'm just curious as to why this works.