T-Rudder Mk.IV causes Gladiator Pro to disconnect

[Guthwine]

My 7-year old T-Rudder and Gladiator Pro setup seems to have developed a communication problem between the pedals and the stick. When they are connected via a standard ethernet cable (the cable that came with the pedals is now testing bad with my ethernet tester), the stick and rudder disconnects (USB error). If I disconnect the pedals from the stick, the stick works fine (all buttons and axes are recognized). I tried connecting the pedals to the stick with another known good ethernet cable, but get the same result (disconnect/usb error). Does this sound like a board issue in the pedals? Or a board issue with the stick?

[Ron61]

There is such a paragraph on the last page of the manual.

Add the highlighted one and with the pedals connected, in the Test -Misc tab, click the green triangle in the upper right corner.
If there is a connection with the D-Mars sensor in the pedals, then the green square opposite the axis will light up and show the digital value of the errors (0).
Otherwise, it will be red and 250.
Show a screenshot of this tab and Profile-Axes.

[Guthwine]

Here are the screenshots I got with the rudder pedals connected using the original cable:

While trying to get these screenshots, the stick kept rapidly disconnecting and reconnecting a few times and then stayed connected. I noticed the red mode LED on the stick was flickering while it was doing that. The screenshots were taken after it finally stayed connected.

By the way, is the cable that connects the pedals to the stick a normal ethernet patch cable?

[Ron61]

You can use any patch cord, but it must be straight (not reverse), full (8-pin).
Does the problem go away without pedals?
I advise you to update the firmware and configurator, they are very old. A lot has changed during this time, I can't even remember how the windows in the configurator were located.

[Guthwine]

I downloaded the latest firmware and vkb config from the support web page. Since I have a Gladiator Pro Mk II, I chose the firmware file "_Gladiator-MK2_KG12_v2_18_9.vkb" is that correct? Or should I have used "_Gladiator-K_KG12_Pro_v2_18_9.vkb"?

So far, no random disconnects/reconnects however, when I calibrate in VKB Config I can only get maximum range of motion on the roll Axis X if the stick is at the upper left or lower right corner (x=0, y=0) and (x=65535, y=65535). At the upper right corner the values are about (x=57423, y=0) and the lower left corner (x=5856, y=65535). I've only used Windows "Set up USB Game Controller" to calibrate the stick all these years and since it doesn't give values I don't know if it always behaved this way.

[Ron61]

It is highly undesirable to use the Windows applet to calibrate any VKB device.
But if this happens, the configurator has a tool to correct the situation called "Make Reg File" in the Tools tab.
After clicking it, a file will be created in the configurator folder. You should run it and the calibration data will be deleted by the applet.
You need to reset the joystick settings to default (using the corresponding button in the configurator) and recalibrate.

[Guthwine]

I used the "Make Reg File" tool and ran the resulting file, then re-calibrated using the VKB Config app. I don't have full range on the Z-Axis (throttle) and X-Axis. For the throttle my minimum value is 6400, maximum is 63715. For X-Axis, I still get the same behavior where I only get full values in the upper left and lower right corners.

My Gladiator PRO definitely has metal gimbals and the KG12 can be exchanged - it is attached with a set screw. Did I use the wrong firmware?

[Ron61]

Show the Global-External and Profile-Axes tabs.
The firmware is correct.

[Guthwine]

Here are the screenshots:

[Ron61]

The throttle and pedal axis are not calibrated at all - the numbers 255, 255 indicate this.
Try changing the MPL value from 8 to 9, save it with the Set button and calibrate again.
For the X axis, on the contrary, lower the MPL from 10 to 9.
Extra, non-existent axes can be disabled by unchecking the En, Vs (3,6,8) boxes.

[Guthwine]

I can get full range on all axes now, thank you very much for your assistance!

[Ron61]

That's great.

[Guthwine]

Unfortunately, everything worked well for one evening, and today the original problem returned and got worse. Now as long as the pedals are connected, the stick does not even connect (no lights on) and does not appear in the VKB Device Config program. I tried different combinations of connecting the pedals to the stick; with the computer powered on or off; and trying different usb ports but can not get the stick to appear in VKB Device Config as long as the pedals are connected. If I disconnect the pedals from the stick, the stick lights up and connects to the pc. As soon as I try to connect the pedals back to the stick, the stick lights turn off and it is no longer recognized as a device.

[Ron61]

So the problem is in the physical connection of the pedals.
If the controller receives a short circuit (short circuit in the sensor) at one of the inputs, then to maintain its integrity, it switches off and disappears in the configurator.
Therefore, you need to check the sensor itself in the pedals and the Pedals connector in the base.
You can show a photo of these places, maybe we will see a discrepancy.
This is what the sensor looks like, you can disconnect this cable and see the reaction.

If the controller turns on, then the problem is in the sensor itself, the cable and the output board in the pedals are working.
If it does not turn on (with a connected patch cord, but without a sensor), you need to look at the connector in the base itself.

[Guthwine]

I searched around to see how to disassamble the pedals, but could only find instructions on replacing the cam. Do you remove the small plastic cover under the pedals (with the serial number sticker) to see those connectors?