Gladiator MkII w/ upgrade kit and SCG R Premium

[CraigStu]

I have spent 8+ hours today and am beyond frustrated. I installed it all and then started downloading all the tools. Jeez, do we really need to download all this stuff? It can't be combined? Nothing works. red light on the base flashes fast. Wait, sorry, pitch and roll work. Twist rudder does not. Have read through skillions of posts here and came across the fact that a solid red bar in the 'external devices' means no connection between the base and the stick. Gee that simple fact would be nice to be more obvious vs hidden under multiple layers and 'external devices'. Why would I click 'external devices' anyway while trying to do this install. The stick I am trying to install is an 'external device' ? Read a lot about cleaning the contacts etc. tried that = nothing. Remembered I had mistakenly ordered two of the upgrade light kits so after reading about a possible broken wire in the piece the grip attaches to, back apart and another New piece installed. Same thing. BTW the boot loader does not shut down the configurator. So have to do that myself, not a big deal but.... Fire up the bootloader and it says device not ready and rolls endless lists of stuff up the screen. And it can't be shut down w/o using task manager. Jeez. There must be something in this whole mess that works. I haven't found it though. Help please.

[fallout9]

Hi Craig,
I understand your frustration, but I'm sure in the end you'll figure it out. The fact that only the pitch and roll axes work tells that the base is fine, as those controllers are in the base. The twist controller is in the grip and if there's no contact between base and grip, as you correctly stated, it won't work, same as the buttons on the grip. It could also mean that your device haven't been properly flashed yet.
But first things first: have you watched this video: https://youtu.be/x_LXh5LTJL4? If not, compare the way you made the connections with what shows in the video and make sure the 3 wires are in the same order (at this timecode: https://youtu.be/x_LXh5LTJL4?t=741). If you did watched it, check again. Second after that, follow the instructions in the video about properly installing the software and afterwards flashing the device and calibrating it. If you still have problems after setting all the needed files in their own folder, try to kill some of the software running in the background on your computer - Razor and Aorus utilities have been previously reported that sometimes are messing up with VKB software.

[CraigStu]

Thankyou, that is the video I used to do the install. I will triple check the three wire plug and then move on to the software and flashing etc. In the past w/ lots of other downloads I let the program chose it's own destination. That doesn't seem to work here. Then I came across the idea that they all need to be in the same folder so I created a new folder and moved two files there. See the VKB folder here. Does this look correct?
VKB files by craig stuard, on Flickr

[CraigStu]

Another 3 hours and still not working. As best I can tell the controller isn't being recognized by the software.
Bootloader by craig stuard, on Flickr
Checking in control panel it does appear there in 'devices and printers'. In the manual for the Configurator they show a manual technique for booting but there are no such pins on my circuit boards.
boot jumper by craig stuard, on Flickr
I have been through configurator and bootloader 8 times this AM and have accomplished nothing. I even fired up DCS and went on a short free flight. I have roll and pitch control and nothing else on the Gladiator works. The TM Warthog throttle works although I didn't test all the buttons and switches. I am about ready to take the thing apart again and put it back to plain Gladiator MkII. This SCG looks like it might be a fantastic stick but it doesn't work. BTW, I checked the 3 wire connector both against the video and against the wire from the original stick and it is assembled correctly. Can I ship this thing to VKB US so they can fix it?

[fallout9]

That doesn't look right, the VKBDevCfg has to be in the same folder with the Bootloader. I suggest to delete all the existing files and follow this guide step by step: https://youtu.be/8Ht8yMsdlCQ. Make sure you're flashing the Gladiator SCG firmware and not the one for Gladiator MKII or Gladiator Pro. And do not press any other buttons until you'll get properly flashed. Also don't try to calibrate it in Windows.
Waiting for an update from you.

[CraigStu]

OK, I will try it following this new link. I am a bit worried that the configurator does not work correctly to shut itself down when I hit the bootloader. Seems to me that even if I don't have the files in the correct place that should work. Also seems I shouldn't need to use task manager to shut down bootloader. But will try again. Thanks for your continued help.

[fallout9]

Having all the files in the same folder, as presented in the video, would help with the problem. If you already checked the connections and they're right, I'm sure that as soon as you'll put the files in order you'll manage to flash and calibrate and your device will work properly.

[CraigStu]

Getting closer now. Configurator now shuts down and opens bootloader as it should. But bootloader says 'device not ready'. Bootloader will close normally now w/o task manager.
closer by craig stuard, on Flickr
And all the data on the left side is scrolling upward. When it said 'device not ready' I looked at the Gladiator and noticed the red light, which is usually flashing, was out completely. So I closed the bootloader and opened the configurator. While still in the 'actions' page I hit the restart button and that got the red light flashing. Then I went to tools, hit bootloader, but unfortunately it still says 'not ready'.

[fallout9]

Could you please post 2 pictures? One with the grip sitting on the base (get as close as you can to the locking ring) and second one with the internals exposed (take the base plate off).

[CraigStu]

Sure can;
20200304_145105 by craig stuard, on Flickr
and
20200304_145041 by craig stuard, on Flickr

[fallout9]

Board connector looks fine so let's check the grip and base connectors now. Could you take the grip off the base and gently check with a pen if the 3 contact pins inside the bottom of the grip are all still spring activated? Afterwards, I know you already did it, but clean up again the 3 contact pads on the base with a bit of cotton and alcohol.

[CraigStu]

Grip is good. Contacts springy and cleaned w/ alcohol and Q-tip, Base contacts cleaned also. Again tried w/ red light off and flashing same results both ways, 'device is not ready'. I noticed the name changed at the top depending on the light. Don't know if there is any significance or not.
20200304_170539 by craig stuard, on Flickr

20200304_170724 by craig stuard, on Flickr

[fallout9]

One more push: restart you computer in Safe mode. Follow this guide to get into bootloader: http://alex-oz.strana.de/boot_ru.htm from point 1.3 Try flashing again.

Connect the Gladiator directly to the computer, not to powered USB or extension.

[CraigStu]

I can't start in safe mode. It asks for a 'bitlocker recovery key'. I have no idea but google says it is a 48 character something and some long process to get it. Not. I looked at the link you sent and it's in Russian? But the pics did show me where the jumper is on my board. So I went to the configurator instructions and followed that procedure using a tiny wire as a jumper. No good. 'device is not ready' still and data scrolling up the side of the bootloader screen. I really appreciate your help but about $170 and 2 days of work and it still doesn't recognize the twist or any buttons on the stick. Nothing has changed since the first 2 hours I did the install. The stick as a Gladiator MkII functioned 100%. I have used two of the 'upgrade kit lite' so I don't think that is the problem. That leaves the stick itself. Can I ship this whole thing thing to you?

[Ron61]

Judging by your screenshots, the firmware process is blocked by some application or software. It is not easy to find out more accurately on a particular machine.
Alternatively, try running the configurator on another computer, laptop. In the folder with the configurator should be the flasher (zbootloader) and firmware.
Do not try to press the button "Flash It!" with the line "Device not ready" and a burning red light. Need a line of "detect Ok" and a green light.