i plug in my tx and the controls are fluttering all over the place. cannot cal. or do anything. i used to work then on day i tryed it and now nothing

Are you using the interface version or game commander version? Which radio are you using? Did you install addon1 or Starflight addon?

I have the exact same problem with my Futaba 9C radio. It used to work but now everytime I connect it all the channels go wild. It doesn't do it with the other controler (a cheap futaba that came packaged with a trainer). The weird thing that I just realized is that it does it only when you touch the top of the radio (just touching the bottom and sticks is ok but there's no way you can practice like that). I also tried it with a brand new 9c super and it does the same thing. I have APFD which I upgraded to 18025. Any solutions?

rcgood, does your usb interface cable have the heat shrink or plastic casing? Do you have any addons installed?

It has the plastic casing. What does that mean? Do you mean new add-on software or discs from Ikarus or just downloaded airplanes? I know I downloaded a bunch of extra planes but I don't know about anything else.

rcgood, some Tx/PC combinations seem to show more grounding problems. What I can suggest to you is to prepare a simple cable of suitable length with a crocodile clip on each end. Clip one end to the strap hook of the Tx, and clip the other end to the metal casing of the PC. This should resolve your issue.

What do I do since this is a laptop and doesn't have metal casing?

rcgood, sorry for the delay in reply. I had to recharge my digicam batteries. Here's a pic of how you can connect to the laptop ground. Any metal tabs are usually grounded.

Thx for the replys. The problem now is that I can't even start it anymore. I can open it choose airplanes, calibrate, etc...and when I press "Fly" it locks up and gives me that error message that asks if I want to send it to Microsoft. My sound accelerator is at "None". I uninstalled/reinstalled it many times and it works once or twice after a reinstall and then same problem.

P.S. Another weird thing now is that my Real Flight 2 used to work flawlessly and now all of a sudden I get errors on it as well and I can't use it.

Can you tell me the specs of your laptop and the video card you're using? Also if you're using on-board sound, you'll have to set the hardware acceleration to zero. Your video card acceleration should be at max.