Focus on Pop-Out Window disables Aircraft controls

Bug Reporting Hub Hardware & Peripherals
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1

Do you have any add-ons in your Community folder? If yes, please remove and retest before posting.

no

Are you using Developer Mode or made changes in it?

no

Brief description of the issue:

Whenever a popout window receives focus the peripherals like yoke, pedals, TQ will not control the Aircraft anymore. I used to use the GTN 750 from F1 with an iPad as the touchscreen (via duet) in P3d. Worked a treat. In MSFS2020 however as soon as the application loses focus to a popout the controls are not passed to the sim anymore, making it impossible to use the great GTN 750 mod out there.

Provide Screenshot(s)/video(s) of the issue encountered:

none provided

Detail steps to reproduce the issue encountered:

pop out a window (vfr, atc, gps, does not matter), click on it for it to gain focus, lose peripheral control

PC specs for those who want to assist (if not entered in your profile)

Build Version # when you first started experiencing this issue:

since release

Are you on the Steam or Microsoft Store version?

store

Did you submit this to Zendesk? If so, what is your ticket #?

not yet

2

Also simple clicks (or taps) in this case onto the popout are sadly not recognized. I always have to click and drag (presumably to get focus) on trying to use the popout window controls… was way smoother in the old ESP/ FSX world.

3

You have to click back on the main screen to go back to controlling the game.

4

Yeah thanks, but this will not help if you need to tap something in a turn for example…

5

I don’t think it’s a bug, just part of PC gaming, some games wont even let you mess about on another screen.

If I open a browser window or media player on another screen I have to regain game focus to interact.

6

Well FSX and P3D manage it and iirc X-Plane as well. This also makes using map applications while flying unneccissarily hard. If it is by design, so be it. I will leave the report up for now as it is a major detriment to the sim for me.

And even if it is not a bug, maybe it could be a feature… :wink:

2 Likes
7

I will grant you MSFS is way behind in multi monitor support :confused: still trying to work out how popping out the ATC window cost 5fps

8

Is there any news on this? This is still very irritating. I wonder how noone else is bothered by this.

4 Likes
9
  1. So I dock out a window. (VFR Map, GTN 750, touch interface of the B350i, does not matter)
  2. I move it to my secondary screen/ touch screen
  3. I move my mouse over that docked out window
  4. My controls (Alpha Yoke, Bravo Throttle, Pedals) become unresponsive until the mouse arrow is above the main window again

I can manipulate other windows (browser, netflix app, what ever) just fine. Only if it is other MSFS windows hovered above this happens.
I even posted a bug report a year ago (Focus on Pop-Out Window disables Aircraft controls). Only 5 people voted for it. It does not seem it has been even acknowledged. So maybe I am doing something wrong. This is a dealbreaker for me and bugging me since over a year now. :frowning:
Any help on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Edit: on a side note touching the “touch controls” on docked out windows does nothing. So I cannot manipulate the GTN 750 or the King Airs touch elements with the touch screen. The same setup works flawlessly with P3D.

1 Like
10

I don’t have the problem because I never drag anything out of the main window, but Windows has a feature that put input focus on windows when hovering over them, i.e., without clicking on them.

image
image750Ă—464 15 KB

Probably not relevant, but maybe worth checking.

12

Trying out MSFS after using X-plane. This is a MAJOR disadvantage of MSFS. Can we get a fix for it? X-plane can take control inputs even when the focus is on some other app. MSFS should be able to do it as well.

1 Like
13

I think there is a fix for this, i’m just at this stage now so don’t know much at all yet but there is an app on flightsim.to called MSFS popout panel manager that fixes this issue along with many other wonderful tricks.

I’ll be trying it out very shortly as this mouse focus thing is a major pain but pretty much just how windows works i think

14

Reported the issue at MSFS zendesk under bug number 207457.

See https://youtu.be/i1fBdhTaTyI how you can reproduce it with MSFS in safe mode.

Microsoft Flight Simulator Build version
1.36.2.0

Steps to reproduce

  1. Start MSFS in safe mode to avoid conflicts with community content
  2. Assign elevator and ailerons to a joystick within MSFS
  3. Load any stock aircraft with glass cockpit element (TBM 930 for instance) and ensure the assigned controlls work well
  4. Undock a glasscockpit gauge
  5. Start moving around your joystick continously so that you see the inputs on your VC
  6. Start moving the mouse cursor over the undocked panel while continuing to move the joystick around
  7. As soon as the mouse is over the undocked panel the control inputs are not received/accepted by the MSFS main window. The controls “freeze” on the position they’ve been when the mouse entered the area of the undocked gauge.
  8. Move the mouse cursor away from the undocked gauge while still moving the joystick will lead to MSFS catching up the movements and applying it to the in-sim aircraft.

Expected result
The assigned controls in MSFS work as long as the sim is running, no matter where the mouse hovers or which application is the active window. Like in P3D, XPlane, FSUIPC, AxisAndOhs, SpadNext, Mobiflight and all the other applications.

Actual result
Controls assigned in MSFS stop working when the mouse hovers over an undocked glass cockpit gauge or other undocked window. E. g vfr map, ATC, camera or weather window.

Repro Rate
Every time (100%)

Hope that helps, and we get it fixed soon.

15

I’m using Popout Panel Manager and I’m aware of the function to “refocus” the MSFS-Window. The bad thing is, that it moves the mouse to a different location as well.
so using a touch-controller like with the G3X or G3000 GTC on a different screen with the mouse gets a complete nightmare.

So even though it looks like a work around (not a solution of course!) it is quite limited on the use cases. And the issue itself needs to be fixed in sim. I don’t see any chances to fix the root cause externally.

But thanks for pointing out Dave.

1 Like
17

It’s really sad, the even months after reporting this issue, it still seems not to be confirmed as a bug…

Quote: * Tag Feedback-logged

  • A Community Feedback is logged in our database to verify the bug.
    • Note: If the feedback is verified as a bug, the thread’s tag will be changed to “Bug logged”

And I tried it also with this option off even though I always had it set while running P3D.

18

As the bug report was marked as “solved” I opened an follow up:

Request #217781 Re: Controls assigned in MSFS stop working when the mouse hovers over an undocked glass cockpit gauge.

This issue and the pincushion distortion are the two most annoying issues for me with MSFS 2020.

My trust that those two will be fixed latest in MSFS 2024 has been lowered a lot with my experience based on this bug report.

Just set to solved. No explanation, no question whether I can confirm it. Just closed… :disappointed:

23

I use MSF 2020 and have 3 monitors. I have the same problem in 2024 that you had 3 years ago. If I open a secondary or tertiary window, usually the map and the ATC, I lose control of the A/C if the mouse pointer is on any of the other 2 screens. If I fly a bush trip which has a map and route instruction I don’t seem to have that problem.

1 Like
24

That issue ist still Open and makes flying with undocked gauges a Nightmare.
No Progress. Neither in Zendesk nor here.

Did anyone have the chance to check the issue in 2024 yet?

25

Same issue happens in 2024, likely need to make a new report for that and then link back to this one as well.

2 Likes
26

I was able to make some more tests. It is fact that it’s disabling all controls when the cursor is hovering above any kind of undocked window. So also with VFR map, ATC window, GSX main window etc.

And the focus is irrelevant.
Simple hovering is already causing this f…ing issue.

See All controlls disabled while mouse hovers over undocked gauges/panels