VKB-SIM

My older Gladiator stick is a VKB Gladiator-K, which was a transitional design between the older Gladiator and the NXT.

The base unit is different than the NXT as it has 9 buttons on the base facing the user and 3 + an analog axis on the left side and 2 buttons on the right side. The grip I believe is the same as the current NXT SCG premium.

I used to have T-rudders plugged into the ethernet style port in the front of the unit but is stopped working several months ago. No problem, I used the black box the T-rudder came with and plugged it in as a separate unit.

Now the VKB Gladiator K has stopped being recognized by Windows. The unit still has power as the LED lights are lit, and I can cycle the mini stick between its HAT or analog axis states.

It is possible that my office chair ran over the USB cable connecting the stick to my PC but before I tear the thing apart to attempt to replace the cable is there a way, I can push several buttons at the same time and reset the unit and attempt to reconnect to my PC and see if it still active?

Or is it more likely the USB board inside is defective since the T-rudder port died and now so has the stick itself?

Show the Global-External tab from the configurator with the joystick connected.
You can test the cable for integrity by disconnecting the USB connector on the board.

Pin 5 of the USB to mainboard connection looks suspiciously kinked over to me. I will have to get my multimeter out and check continuity from it to pin 4(?) of the USB connector.

Well, if you have a device, you can check the voltage at these points.

I rang out the USB cord from the USB connector to the PC board header connector.

The kinked wire was the ground wire that connects to the USB shell/shield. It rang good and even if it was bad I don't think it would cause my issue.

pin 1(red) power is good
pin 2 (green) Data + is good
pin 3 (white) Data - is good
pin 4 (black) power ground is good
pin 5 (also black) shield ground is good to the shell of the USB plug

So, I probably have a defective main board in the base unit.

Well, this brings up an opportunity.

Can I buy an NXT base by itself without the SCG grip?

I have a perfectly fine SCG already, but a base with a plastic gimbal. Ideally I would rather upgrade my base than replace just the main usb adapter board.

I would miss the large array of buttons the Gladiator base has since the NXT replaced most of them with two encoders.

You can get the Gladiator NXT EVO base only, but you'll also need a twist adapter (make sure you order the correct one, as left and hand versions are not interchangeable).

Excellent.

I think I will replace my base with the more modern NXT and with any luck I can resolve my issue and move on,

Still going to miss some of the buttons on the base but I have an FSM module for my WWII throttle I need to install that should ameliorate that.

So why didn't you take several voltage measurements at the indicated points?
It's simple and could have led to the right path to correction even at home. Please do this.

OK, voltages measured at the indicated points.

First I established that the USB cord was providing power to the base from the PC.
Positive lead to pin 1 of the 5-pin PC board connection and the negative lead to pin 4 (DC ground).

4.7 Volts DC

I leave the negative lead at pin 4 and measure the 4 points in order as indicated in the edited photo.

1 = 4.7VDC
2 = 4.6VDC
3 = 3.3VDC
4 = 3.3VDC

I can conclude that the main board is getting power as it should. The LED lights on the KOSMOSIMA Space Combat Grip go through its boot sequence and the mini-joystick cycles modes and indication as it should. However, Windows 10 does not recognize the unit as connected and neither "Game controllers" in Windows or VKB's "VKBDevCfg-C" software recognize the presence of the stick.

Curiously, Windows no longer pops up with a "device not recognized" alert when I plug it in. It no longer reacts at all.

fallout9 wrote:You can get the Gladiator NXT EVO base only, but you'll also need a twist adapter (make sure you order the correct one, as left and hand versions are not interchangeable).

What should I get if I want to mount an SCG on an NXT base, but I do NOT want a twist axis? I have T-rudders, so I always lock out the twist function.

What if I try to connect it on another machine, a laptop?

When connecting to another machine it powers on but I get the same windows "device not recognized" error.

frans42000 wrote:What should I get if I want to mount an SCG on an NXT base, but I do NOT want a twist axis? I have T-rudders, so I always lock out the twist function.

There's no other version than that for the SCG/F-14 grips.

And try to enter the bootloader - you need to short-circuit 2 unsoldered holes next to the USB connector (with tweezers, a bent paperclip) and only then connect the USB cable to the computer port, remove the jumper and show a screenshot from the configurator.