strange data values gamecommander>AFPD Mac
09-22-2009, 04:23 PM
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strange data values gamecommander>AFPD Mac
Hi everybody,
I just noticed a little data problem from game commander to AF. First of all I'd like to point out that it joystick support is still not enabled so far but the problem described here is another.
I just received a brand new game commander and at first it seemed more sensible turning left than turning right; with further investigation I noticed, looking in the calibration window, that every stick works right in one direction (ie from center to left) and bad in the other one; basically the red stripe reaches the maximum position before the stick physically reaches it so, for instance, I have to move the gas stick more than 1/3 of its total range before anything happens or the rudder reaches full left deflection with the stick half way on the left.. I thought first it was a wrong potentiometer position offset but because I noticed it's happening on all four axis it sounded strange to me. So I tested it in windows an everything was right, thus seems to be a Mac OS system related problem.
I decided to measure values and I discovered a curious thing: before launching AFPD the game commander returns normal values in the 0-255 range. As soon as I run the software the range for every stick move to a very high offset thus reaching the maximum too early; moreover the 'Page:' values start to change like crazy and don't stop unless I unplug the USB cable and I plug it in again. Than everything is back to normal until I launch aerofly again. So basically the new game commander works fine on Mac with every software but Aerofly..
Here are two ext files with values detected with sticks in neutral position (gas all the way down) before and after launching AF.
Regards
Etto
I just noticed a little data problem from game commander to AF. First of all I'd like to point out that it joystick support is still not enabled so far but the problem described here is another.
I just received a brand new game commander and at first it seemed more sensible turning left than turning right; with further investigation I noticed, looking in the calibration window, that every stick works right in one direction (ie from center to left) and bad in the other one; basically the red stripe reaches the maximum position before the stick physically reaches it so, for instance, I have to move the gas stick more than 1/3 of its total range before anything happens or the rudder reaches full left deflection with the stick half way on the left.. I thought first it was a wrong potentiometer position offset but because I noticed it's happening on all four axis it sounded strange to me. So I tested it in windows an everything was right, thus seems to be a Mac OS system related problem.
I decided to measure values and I discovered a curious thing: before launching AFPD the game commander returns normal values in the 0-255 range. As soon as I run the software the range for every stick move to a very high offset thus reaching the maximum too early; moreover the 'Page:' values start to change like crazy and don't stop unless I unplug the USB cable and I plug it in again. Than everything is back to normal until I launch aerofly again. So basically the new game commander works fine on Mac with every software but Aerofly..
Here are two ext files with values detected with sticks in neutral position (gas all the way down) before and after launching AF.
Regards
Etto
09-22-2009, 11:31 PM
#2
RE: strange data values gamecommander>AFPD Mac
Hello etto, please post a photo of the game commander you have so that i can verify which version you have.
Please tell me how you did the calibration? You should perform the calibration within the AFPD calibration menu. The calibration procedure is given in Section 10 of your manual.
On the data range, it's normal for AFPD to switch the game commander into a different mode for higher precision, so this is OK.
Did you download and install patch 1.11.7.31 for Mac OS X? You can download the patch from here http://www.aerofly.com/downloads.html Patch installation: Simply unzip (double click) on the downloaded file and copy the extracted files to your AeroFly Professional Deluxe installation directory.
Let me know how this works.
Please tell me how you did the calibration? You should perform the calibration within the AFPD calibration menu. The calibration procedure is given in Section 10 of your manual.
On the data range, it's normal for AFPD to switch the game commander into a different mode for higher precision, so this is OK.
Did you download and install patch 1.11.7.31 for Mac OS X? You can download the patch from here http://www.aerofly.com/downloads.html Patch installation: Simply unzip (double click) on the downloaded file and copy the extracted files to your AeroFly Professional Deluxe installation directory.
Let me know how this works.
09-23-2009, 12:51 PM
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RE: strange data values gamecommander>AFPD Mac
Hi Mike,
I think I have the last version (the red one). As you read in my other post I owned the old type (the blue one) that has been replaced recently.
Anyway I'm sure is a software problem: tried it with Leopard, Snow Leopard and Windows XP on the same hardware (MacBook pro) and I run latest AF version. Calibration Is done within Aerofly and even if I move trims to change mechanical offset the result is always the same.
As I said the problem doesn't exist in windows XP nor in MacOSX unless I run aerofly.. In Leopard I can run other softwares like x-plane and use the game commander as control device without any problem. As soon as I launch AF everything get screwed and if I quit aerofly and run x-plane the problem persist until I unplug and plug again the game commander.
For data recording I used a free utility ( http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/22834 ) that just displays datas inputted from a gamepad, joystick and alike and if you could see my attach2 file in realtime you'd notice the 255 maximum value is reached very soon; it's not a resolution issue but rather a data offset issue.
So, I'm sure something is wrong with system>AF software connection but the only thing I'm not sure is if it's a Macbook issue or MacOSX issue.
Regards
Etto
09-23-2009, 06:08 PM
#4
RE: strange data values gamecommander>AFPD Mac
Hi Etto, thanks for the further information. Did you face similar issue with the older gamecommander? Was there any difference?
I will discuss this with the program developers to understand what is going on. I may need further information or data from you later. I will try to get back to you soonest possible.
I will discuss this with the program developers to understand what is going on. I may need further information or data from you later. I will try to get back to you soonest possible.
09-24-2009, 07:47 AM
#5
RE: strange data values gamecommander>AFPD Mac
Hi etto, the new GC has a slightly different potentiometer setting and I have requested the program developer to come up with a Max OSX patch for the new GC. In the meantime, the following should fix your problem:
- open the file config/main.mcf using a program like notepad
- go to the end of the file and change the lines with usb_gamecommander to
usb_gamecommander_min 3200
usb_gamecommander_max 25000
usb_gamecommander_mul 3
- save the file and restart aerofly
- now recalibrate.
- as a further improvement try NOT to leave the trims all in the same middle position. Instead you should offset each of the 4 trims slightly to the left or right, so that they do not have the same position.
Let me know how this works.
- open the file config/main.mcf using a program like notepad
- go to the end of the file and change the lines with usb_gamecommander to
usb_gamecommander_min 3200
usb_gamecommander_max 25000
usb_gamecommander_mul 3
- save the file and restart aerofly
- now recalibrate.
- as a further improvement try NOT to leave the trims all in the same middle position. Instead you should offset each of the 4 trims slightly to the left or right, so that they do not have the same position.
Let me know how this works.
09-24-2009, 12:20 PM
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RE: strange data values gamecommander>AFPD Mac
Hi Mike,
I changed the values as you suggested and I had a significant improvement on elevator only; but playing with trims and calibration now the problem is almost disappeared: I moved the stick on the problematic side (right in my case) and keeping it at maximum deflection I moved trim to the left until red bar started to move.Then a calibration ended the process. Obviously the trims are not centered but now I can use the full range.
In the next patch I hope joystick support is enabled in the same way as the windows version but we can wait 
In the meanwhile thank you for your effective support.
Etto
PS If this is a general Mac issue and you think it could be useful feel free to move this discussion in a sticky thread
09-25-2009, 03:15 AM
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RE: strange data values gamecommander>AFPD Mac
Hi Mike, this is my AF version: 1.11.07.31
And this is my hardware: MacBook Pro 2.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 3 GB ram and Snow Leopard (10.6.1). Tested also with last 10.5 version
cheers
09-26-2009, 12:47 PM
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RE: strange data values gamecommander>AFPD Mac
Nope, the only difference is that the going back to original config settings, trims are not enough anymore to make a correct calibration..
