Ok, I found a workaround to get the engine switches working (sort of). I assigned Magneto 1 start to button 5 and magneto 2 start to button 6. Buttons 5 and 6 are the two unnamed black buttons to either side of the engine mode selector knob. As I understand it, these two buttons don’t actually exist on a real airbus and are actually warning lights for engine fires. As such, using these buttons on the TCA quadrant won’t take away from any “real” buttons. I also changed button 2’s assignment to “set engine Norm Mode” so that I can hit that after turning the engine mode back to normal and get it to go back to normal in-sim without using the mouse.
These assignments allow you to proceed with engine startup as normal, but you’ll just need to tap button 5 or 6 after flipping the corresponding engine switch. If the mode selector is also in IGN/Start, then the engines will start up just fine.
When powering down, flip the engine switches off and quickly tap button 5 or 6 again, or you can hit buttons 5 and 6 again after the engines have completely started. This is because that function (Magneto1 start, Magneto 2 start) appears to be a toggle and not an ‘only when pressed’ function.
I tried to assign these Magneto functions to the switches as well, but the engine performance got weird - requiring the switch on to start the engine, then switch off once it starts spooling up, then switch back on once it needs fuel flow. That seemed ridiculous to me, so having the Magnetos on the separate buttons seemed to work better for my workflow.
I have included an image of my current Throttle assignments. You may also note that I deleted the assignments for speed brakes and flaps. Since the add-ons with those hardware controls haven’t been released yet, the assignments were causing those systems to activate without any hardware input. The other add on controls (rudder, landing gear, parking brake, etc) don’t seem to be activating without the hardware, so I left them as they are for now.
