Had this problem with button 6. “It’s a feature not a bug” as they say. To fix this you need the Logitech programming tool installed from the Logitech dowload page: https://support.logi.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360024838173--Downloads-X52-Professional-Space-Flight-H-O-T-A-S-
Open up the programming software by double clicking the the icon in the system tray (looks like a little joystick). Then click the big blue “PROGRAMMING” button at the top right.
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Create a new profile by clicking the first icon on the menu bar. Then click the ‘Views’ item on the menu bar to switch to grid view.
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You’ll get a series of columns, starting with ‘Mode 1’, ‘Mode 2’ and ‘Mode 3’. You need to get rid of all the columns to the right of ‘Mode 3’, i.e. ‘Mode 1 Pinkie’, ‘Mode 2 Pinkie’, etc. Just click the little cross icon at the top of each of the unwanted columns.
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Note that if you don’t remove the extra columns then the Pinkie button will never be seen as Button 6 by any application since the driver reserves it to enter the shift states for those columns.
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Now scroll down the list of buttons to find the ‘Pinkie’ row. Hover the mouse over the ‘Pinkie’ box in the ‘Mode 3’ column and a little right-pointing arrow will appear in the top right corner which opens a context menu when you click it. If the only option you see on the menu is ‘Latched’ then you haven’t deleted all the shift-state columns as required above.
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You need to select ‘Fall Back’ in the ‘Mode 3’ ‘Pinkie’ box, and also ‘Fall Back’ in the ‘Mode 2’ ‘Pinkie’ box. This means that when you are in mode three (using the dial at top right of the stick to select the blue mode LED), pressing the pinkie button will do whatever is programmed for mode 2. Similarly selecting mode 2 (purple LED) will do whatever is programmed for Mode 1.
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Now in the ‘Mode 1’ ‘Pinkie’ box, select ‘Unprogrammed’ from the context menu (NOT ‘Button’ as you might think!)
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Finally use the save icon to save your profile to a sensible filename, e.g. ‘MSFS’. Note that this is not the X52 profile within the Filght Simulator controls screens, it is a separate driver profile external to Flight Simulator - you still need to load or program your X52 inside MSFS as well.
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Whenever you are using Flight Simulator, just go to the system tray icon, right click and choose the MSFS profile. MSFS should be displayed on the third text line of the LED display on the throttle.
Button 6 will now be available and function as the brakes in the simulator.
Whilst I am here I’ll also cover off ‘Button 31’, i.e. the button marked ‘i’ on the bottom right of the throttle grip. This is the ‘Clutch’ button and also needs a few steps to be usable as a normal button.
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With the ‘MSFS’ profile you previously created loaded in the programming software, firstly you need to do the same as for the Pinkie button in the Logitech programming software. Set the ‘Clutch Button’ entry under the ‘Mode 3’ and ‘Mode 2’ columns to ‘Fall Back’.
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Then set the ‘Clutch Button’ entry under the ‘Mode 1’ column to ‘Unprogrammed’.
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Save the profile again to keep your changes.
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There is an additional step necessary for this button though. Open the Windows Control Panel and switch it to ‘Small Icons’ or ‘Large Icons’ mode and open the ‘Devices and Printers category’.
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Right click the ‘X52 Professional Space/Filght H.O.T.A.S’ device and choose ‘Game controller settings’ from the context menu.
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In the ‘Game Controllers’ dialog, click the ‘X52 Professional H.O.T.A.S.’ entry in the list and then click the ‘Properties’ button.
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In the ‘Properties’ dialog, click the ‘MFD’ tab, then un-check ‘Enable Clutch Mode’ at the bottom right. Click ‘Apply’ and then close down the dialogs and control panel.
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Button 31 will now be usable as a normal button in the Flight Simulator X52 configuration page.
Note that by changing these buttons to be used as normal buttons you are potentially losing functionality that might be useful in aircraft with lots of extra controls:
a) The Pinkie button can be used as a ‘Shift’ key in the Logitech programming software, by assigning keystrokes or whatever in the ‘Mode n’ ‘Pinkie’ shift state columns that we deleted above. So potentially every other button can be used for two different purposes (one without Pinkie pressed and one with), multiplied by the three different mode selections.
b) The Clutch button allows you to change profiles in the programming software on the fly using the HOTAS. You can make and save multiple profiles in the Logitech programming software (either for a complex aircraft requiring multiple control configurations, or a profile per aircraft or indeed both).
Press and hold the clutch button and the Hat Switch LED (top of the stick) will begin to flash. Use the Up and Down directions of the hat to scroll through each profile you have created; the name will change on the throttle MFD as you do. The hat Right direction will activate the profile displayed on the MFD. The hat Left direction will unload the currently loaded profile and make the X52 behave as default. Thus you can change profiles and control settings on the fly.
Probably the best way to use these extra settings (in modes, shift-state or by loading different profiles) is to program buttons in the Logitech programming software to send whatever keyboard presses the given Flight Simulator command is assigned to in the MSFS controls screen. You’d just select any mode and shift state (if applicable) box in the programming grid and choose the ‘New Key Presses…’ item from the context menu.
You can also use macros, advanced commands, mouse clicks and so on to automate more complex sequences of actions. For any buttons that you don’t want to change behaviour between Modes and/or Shift States, you just choose ‘Fall Back’ in all the columns except ‘Mode 1’ and then set the behaviour you want (or leave as default) in the ‘Mode 1’ column.
I don’t believe you can use the mouse axis stick as anything other than a mirror for the normal mouse. You can reprogram the mouse button, mouse wheel button and mouse wheel up/down behaviours using the programming software as you can for the other controls.
The only thing I’d say is that it was an incredibly poor choice to map Button 6 to something important like Brakes given it is needed early on in flight school and you have to jump through hoops to actually get it to work out of the box.