auto&config option no offered by VKBDevCfg

[George Holbert]

Tried to configure my F-14 NXT EVO by following the instructions in the online startup guide, but at the point where you press the Default button, you are supposed to be offered the option of selecting auto&config, but it doesn't appear...? Using Windows 11 Pro 64-bit and plan on using my NXT EVO with MSFS.

[fallout9]

If you have a newer firmware version, then pressing Yes to the configure popup that shows up immediately after resetting to Default it's the same as navigating to the Find&AutoCofig button and clicking it.

[George Holbert]

After deleting VKBDevbCfg and installing it again, I somehow got the Find&AutoConfig to appear and pressed it. Had to repeat this action several times but eventually I got the test screen to appear and was able to Start Configuring. Then I ran into additional problems. The joystick worked easily for both the X and Y axes, but I find it impossible to twist the joystick for the Z-Axis except for a tiny bit of movement. The center slider on the base also worked easily, but the 4-directional hat switch at the top of the joystick hardly caused any deflection on the display although the button itself moves easily in all 4 directions. So I assume that I am not configured properly for any action that involves twisting the joystick or using the hat switch. Watching the online startup guide, the hat switch and twist actions showed full deflection on the display screen, but were obviously unsuccessful when I tried it. Thank you for your prompt response. I am very frustrated as I tried to use Discord to obtain support, but was unable to figure out how to use it even after watching several YouTube videos...

[fallout9]

No worries about Discord then, we'll fix it here.
Run VKBDevCfg, select the joystick at the top, click the Global tab at the bottom, followed by the External tab, on the mid left of the screen. Take a screenshot of that panel and post it here.

[George Holbert]

Looks like I got the screen capture correct, anyway...

[fallout9]

Everything looks fine, what are the remaining issues?

[George Holbert]

Still unable to "twist" the joystick and the 4-way hat barely causes any deflection when configuring.

[George Holbert]

Tried using my Gladiator NXT EVO F-14 Combat Edition configured without the twist or 4 way hat working and Microsoft Flight Simulator did not display any mappings in the Controller Options. It was as though MSFS does not recognize that conntroller and provide any defaults for the controller actions or buttons. Any idea where I can find information on how to set up my controller for MSFS? Thank you for your continued support...

--George

[fallout9]

You'll find 2 test charts in VKBDevCfg under the Test tab - one for buttons and another one for axes. Try twisting the grip while in Text/Axes panel, do you see the slider moving on the screen? Same with the hat - do you see the buttons flashing on the Test/Buttons panel when actuating the hat?
MSFS won't present any binds for the joystick, you'll have to manually bind your joystick based on the plane and of course, your preferences. There are many tutorials on YouTube covering this.

[George Holbert]

Thank you very much for your continuing assistance. You cleared up my confusion about the 4-way hat at the top of the joystick. On the test page for buttons, the default button is shown as button 13, and pressing the 4-way hat in 4 different directions causes
buttons 9, 10, 11 & 12 to flash during actuation. The F-14 grip twist action is working a little better today, I can get Rot X to go all the way to 0 with some difficulty (twist left) but I can only get Rot Z to to about half way (twist right). So I still have that issue. Can you briefly explain to me what the calibration phase is doing? I am not being asked to locate some newly created file and input it into MSFS. So does the controller have some kind of non-volatile memory that survives when the USB cable is disconnected? I don't have to recalibrate the controller every time I disconnect from the PC, do I?

I will jump out onto YouTube now and try to find one of these tutorials on establishing MSFS mappings for my controller and yes, I do realize that they are going to vary with each different plane that I choose within MSFS, but I thought I saw that you can grab whatever settings you have already created and modify them for each new plane, which should save considerable time when trying out a new aircraft. I am not a pilot, but I have worked for many years with pilots creating avionics software for new aircraft, so I speak some of the lingo and understand some things about avionics and flight...

Again, thank you very much for your expertise...

[fallout9]

The twist axis has only 1 axis, not sure why RotX slider is moving, but only RotZ slider should move left and right as you twist the grip. I suggest to start from a clean default state, just to make sure everything is proper before starting to bind the joystick in game. Please do the following steps:
- run VKBDevCfg as Admin and select the device at the top, in the blueish window;
- click on the Tools tab, then on the large, square Default button;
- after the joystick restarts you'll get a popup window asking to configure the joystick - click Yes to that;
- the joystick will restart again and a new popup will show up, asking to calibrate - click OK;
- navigate to the Test/Axes tab, then click the large, square Start Calibr button, then move the joystick along the whole range of all axes a few times back and forth, without forcing the grip against the edges - pitch and roll, twist it left and right, push and pull the thumb wheel, as well as the mini-throttle on the base;
- when done, click the End Calibr button (NOT the Cancel Calibr! button) and you're ready for the phase 2, binding in game.

You don't need to save or transfer any files; the joystick has internal memory and will store the calibration settings if unplugged.

[George Holbert]

I followed the steps you specified very carefully and had no problems with pitch and roll, the push and pull of the thumb wheel and the mini-throttle on the base. But twisting it left and right is very difficult still and I was only able to obtain partial deflection for the Rot Z slider. I was able to move the Rot Z slider only somewhere between a quarter and a third of the way.

Thank you for the info about the internal memory of the joystick. That explains how calibration works.

I did a fair amount of looking on the internet and you tube for how to bind the Gladiator NXT EVO F-14 Combat Controller to MSFS. I found some useful videos on how to bind any controller and one on a similar Gladiator NXT model which gave me some ideas on which buttons to bind to various essential functions, so I guess that will have to do for the present...

But, the problem remains: How to get the joystick to twist left and right easily enough to actually fly an aircraft...?

Thank you again for your continuing support and expertise...

--George

[George Holbert]

Well, stupid me...!

With the F-14 Combat Version grip, I was supplied a single tiny screw and a couple of washers that obviously "fit" on the base of the grip. Thinking this simple step had been inadvertently omitted from the videos I watched on assembly, I inserted the screw, tightened it snugly and forgot about it. I just now removed it and the grip twists easily left and right! I guess this screw is required if you want to convert the grip to a throttle, but in the absence of that knowledge, I installed it anyway... I am sorry to take so much of your time as a result of my screwup. I am going to recalibrate right now and I expect that everything will work...!

[fallout9]

Glad to hear you've found the issue The twist is meant to be locked in case one would use rudder pedals.