I have a very annoying problem that is bugging my system as of late
Back in March I bought a TCA Yoke (without the TQ) to replace my aging and bad Saitek yoke. Up until recently I enjoyed that upgrade massively, however I seem to have a problem with it that is getting progressively worse.
Some of my buttons do not seem to be responding. Most of the buttons on the yoke are not registering any input. I checked the Game USB device interface and I notice that the pc does not recognize any inputs from those buttons at all. It is not a driver or software related issue.
The strangest thing of all is that it seems to be intermittent. At times the buttons do workl, but at times they also don’t work. I don’t know what is causing the loss of function and gain of function. It seems to be completely random.
I have taken some steps to mitigate the issue:
un and replugging the cable,
replacing the cable,
plugging in another USB socket (in another USB hub but also directly into the pc
removing and reinstalling drivers from thrustmaster
Nothing helps
I mostly fly msfs with the PMDG 737. I also run quite a lot of peripherals (overhead panels, two saitek throttles, cdu panel).
I notice that the problem mostly occurs on taxi out and during the take off (when I need those buttons the hardest for trimming and what not). Like stated before, the problem seems to be progressive. At first, it only hit 1 out of 5 flights and as of this week, it seems to be affecting all of my flights multiple times, even during approach)
either something is interfering with the yoke ( I don’t see how) or something internally in the yoke like control card or wiring might be bad.
I am interested to see in what suggestions you might have to mitigate the issue. I also submitted a ticket with thrustmaster to see if they can offer any support.
Thanks for your input. I am looking forward to reading your suggestions.
My theory is that it might not be getting enough power delivery to the yoke, due to you connecting a lot of those peripherals and they’re taking all the power.
Generally, depending on the USB standard, there’s a specific amount of power to be delivered to a single USB header. This header can be split into multiple plugs. So if you have multiple peripherals connected to the plugs that share the same header, the power delivery will be split among them. You connect too much peripherals to the same header, the power delivery will be spread out too thin and one or more devices won’t be getting enough power to operate properly.
Usually this can be mitigated by having a powered USB hub with a separate connection to the power socket. What this does is basically giving individual plugs their own power, delivered from the wall socket. So all of your peripherals will get all the power they need to operate, and all the input is sent properly into your computer.
Thanks for replying. Your suggestion crossed my mind. I have two separate usb hubs but both are powered with an adapter that goes into an outlet. Additionally, I also tried to plug the yoke directly into the pc. In every circumstance I am able to reproduce the problem unfortunately.
No, I didn’t. I was offered to return the unit the tech-department for inspection and repair so it is away now. Interested to see what they’ll find.
So I just encountered this same issue and I think I have resolved the problem.
(Assuming you are using some form of rudder pedals), If you also have the TCA Quadrant plugged in, make sure to unbind the “rudder axis” control input, found in the default settings of the TCA Quadrant. I’m not too sure what it is even connected to, but as soon as it was unbound, my problems with Yoke axes being intermittent went away. Hope this helps!
My yoke was sent back to tech support and though they were unable to find any issues with it, they managed to fix the issue. Ever since it has been returned, this has not come back, thankfully.
I am having the same issue and it is quite frustrating. The buttons on my yoke stopped working. Oddly enough, all the axes work including the right thumb joystick. but the left directional thumbstick nor any of the buttons on the handle works. The left xbox button and the right landing gear toggle work. All axes work. Painstakingly disassembled the the stick portion and found no shorts with my DMM. Actually very impressive and clean build quality. However, can’t figure out if maybe it is a driver issue. I haven’t decided on a dedicated throttle quadrant so I am just using the yoke and also the thrustmaster pendular rudder pedals. I think I’m going to try and remove all drivers and remnants of the yoke from my system and start over. It worked fine on first hookup.
Same problem here but I actually lose my axis. It started when i was coming in for a landing and demanded almost full aft stick and then all of a sudden my camera started going in circles and my plane spiraled to the ground. I went as far as removing all the bindings besides for the axis and trim buttons with no luck. I’m also going to a powered usb hub and have tried direct to my pc as well. It’s an intermittent problem but I do have to cycle the power or disconnect it to fix the issue. I’ve tried driver reinstalls as well. I’m not crazy about the yoke anyway, I forgot how much I dislike spring tension… I’m spoiled with my cammed Virpil and vkb equipment……I think I’m just going to return it. I maybe have 6 hours flight time.
I also have this problem. What I noticed is that the gear lever and X-box buttons on the pedestal still work. So, I deduced it could be an issue in the actual control column itself.
This morning, the problem occurred, and while I was trying to bring the buttons back to life, I tapped on the back side of the control column (where wiring presumably is running) and the buttons started working immediately. Coincidence? I don’t know. Will try this again next time.
I’ve recently been considering getting a TM TCA Boeing yoke and quadrant, but find this thread a little concerning.
It sounds to me like a physical hardware issue, probably to do with the cabling inside the yoke, possibly succumbing to the repeated movement of the yoke itself.
I think I’ll probably wait a while and see how this develops, but if anyone has a link to a teardown video, that might be interesting to see?
Yeah I can appreciate that, but I love it when it works. And I must share that it’s very rare that I get this issue. Did quite a few flights this morning after I posted the message above, and did not have an issue.
Exact same issue. My scenario : Axes work fine. Buttons X, Y and POV (left side) thumbstick are totally intermittment while running MSFS and PMDG 73x. When checking the buttons in windows joystick control panel, the buttons work fine (no FS running). this just started ; its been working fine up until a couple of days ago. It doesnt seem like a HW failure - it works fine as described above and in the other sim. Still trying to debug this problem !
As PMDG have recently applied an update, it is possible that additional/changed control bindings might have been applied to the 737 series aircraft.
I’d check that no unknown and conflicting bindings have been set for the commands you are having issues with the associated physical buttons for. Check each and every one of your controllers, including any xbox controllers, you might have connected.
…and MSFS control bindings, when set for one aircraft, have the ability to affect more than one aircraft, depending upon the commands that have been mapped to your controls.
I have cleared all joystick definitions, and disabled 3rd party joy interfces (Axisand Ohs, and FSUIPC). I selected the TBM930 for a test. Re-defined each config - Boeing TCA Yoke, Pendular pedals, TPM (Saitek) throttle quadrant - from scratch, using MSFS native config. The buttons on the left side of the BOEING TCA YOKE (X, Y and POV button) NOW WORK as intended. However, I am still seeing the problem with the PMDG. For those that suspect a hardware problem, please exit FS, then from desktop hit Win+R, and type joy.cpl to bring up the controllers windows. then select your TCA YOKE BOEING, click “Properties”, and test your POV and other buttons. You should responses as you click each button. Mine works fine, until I reach cruise alt in the PMDG 738. Then they are intermittment / non responsive. I am continuing testing today.
so, I had to send it back to Thrustmaster for service, they repaired it in about 2 week time, now it just works. Don’t know what the fix was, but I noticed that I received a new cable after repair.
