Solved Rudder control setup
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Rudder not recognized.
I’m using a generic control stick with 3 axis movement. In BMS I have been in the “setup” section and all of my controls are recognized & work except the rudder. I’m at a loss as to why I’m not able to activate my rudder control while everything else is set and active. My control stick allows me to rotate it clockwise and counterclockwise to manipulate the rudder but this is not working.
I have gone over the docs as well as online videos for configuration but nothing seems to help. I suspect I’m overlooking something very obvious but I have no idea what that may be.
If anybody can toss out a suggestion I would appreciate hearing from you.
Thanks.
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Start / Run / Joy.cpl
What is the name of your twist-axis? Some sticks, it’s “Z” and others it’s “RZ”… aka “Z Rotation” in my screenshot below
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Hi airtex
Yes, I’ve tried all the options available in that menu and none of them work. This is why I’m lost as to why everything else is working except this option. -
@persius I have no idea what could be wrong then…
Does it appear to work in the 2D setup screen (the little blue bar-graph should animate)?
Does it work in Joy.cpl (the Windows calibration screen)?
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@airtex2019
Hi.
In the Win calibration screen it does work (z rotation). All my control features work the way they should except when in BMS setup.
The blue bar IS visible but it does not react when I rotate the controller.I’m still working on it but I really can’t do more than I have already done.
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@persius
I noticed this in my setup. My trigger is linked to the rudder. Do you know how I can change this setting?The “input” button 1 = trigger on my control stick.
In the menu I would like to change the , & . to recognize my stick rotation. Any idea how to do this?As a final note, the two keys , & . do NOTHING when I press them. No rudder movement.
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@persius I don’t think the key bindings have any effect, when rudder is assigned to an axis. (Neither, do they cause any harm.) Same as the default key binds for adjusting throttle up/down, etc.
This is quite a mystery. What make/model is your joystick? (Are you running thrustmaster control software, or joystick-gremlin, or anything special like that?)
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@airtex2019
I’m just using a generic controller that worked flawlessly the last time I had BMS running. -
@persius Not sure what else to try. I guess the next think I’d try, is deleting the axismapping and joystick.cal files (make a backup copy somewhere first, just in case). Then launch BMS and reconfigure all the various axes (deadzones, and afterburner-detent position etc).
Or, you could try Alternative Launcher and see if that somehow straightens things out?
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Hi.
Before I start fiddling with “Alternative Launcher”, can you please brief me on what it does? Also, where do I find it? -
@persius
https://github.com/chihirobelmo/FalconBMS-Alternative-Launcher/releases
https://github.com/chihirobelmo/FalconBMS-Alternative-Launcher/releases/tag/v2.0.0It is probably the #1 most popular add-on for BMS … it’s a modern, alternative UI for modifying your key bindings and joystick/hotas bindings… and other config settings.
It’s not perfect (nothing ever is) but it definitely has fewer bugs and quirks than Falcon 4’s ancient 2D setup screens.
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@persius said in Rudder control setup:
Rudder not recognized.
I’m using a generic control stick with 3 axis movement.
If BMS cannot see your controller, AL may have the same problem - I would troubleshoot the base issue before using AL as an attempted workaround, IMHO.
What brand/model stick is this? Does it have drivers which need to installed? Does it appear under the Windows “Control Panel\Hardware and Sound\Devices and Printers”? If not, and if it has drivers, you could try to uninstall and reinstall them. If the device has any control software, you might check that out as well to be sure it is properly configure - I don’t want to assume anything here.
Check your “(programs)\Falcon BMS 4.35\User\Config\DeviceSorting.txt” is not set to “Read Only” … right click the file and select properties - ensure this box is not checked, if it is, uncheck it and re-launch BMS and try to get your controller recognized and set.
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Hi.
The controller I’m using is:
Sector 7 3 axis controller with 12 buttons and a slider.My controller does appear in the Windows and ALL features work as they should. The ONLY feature that does not work in BMS setup is the rudder control (rotating my controller left & right).
All drivers are installed for the controller.
I did check the BMS config dir. for “DeviceSorting” and the “read only” is NOT set to on.
I have noticed something but I doubt it could be a problem and that is, I have BMS 4.35 installed over top of 4.33. Would that be an issue?
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@airtex2019
I’m going to try the AL shortly. I hope this fixes the problemThanks again.
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@persius said in Rudder control setup:
@semlerpdx
I have noticed something but I doubt it could be a problem and that is, I have BMS 4.35 installed over top of 4.33. Would that be an issue?No issue with that at all! Totally fine, and 4.35 is not “on top” of your 4.33 installation, but in a completely separate operating folder, config files, and all that. They do not matter to each other, and don’t cause any conflicts in whichever BMS version you choose to run at the time.
To confirm what airtex2019 mentioned, key bindings do not interfere with DX controller assignments lower down in the same keybinds file - yet these are axes you are dealing with and not where you set them. airtex2019 showed the screen where you set axes in BMS, and there should be a “z axis rotation” for your Sector 7 controller which you can set to Rudder axis. I’m thinking that BMS does not know about this device has a z-axis for rotation. This is why I was assuming that the AL may also run into this issue and that the root cause should be eliminated first.
I think you should be attempting to add this manually. First, open the file
“(programs)\Falcon BMS 4.35\User\Config\DeviceSorting.txt”
and copy the GUID of your Sector 7 controller to clipboard.Next, open the file
“(programs)\Falcon BMS 4.35\User\Config\DeviceDefaults.txt”
and make a new entry between existing controller entries:# Saitek X52 Flight Controller GUID = {075C06A3-0000-0000-0000-504944564944} AXIS_PITCH = Y AXIS_ROLL = X AXIS_THROTTLE = Z AXIS_ANT_ELEV = RX AXIS_RANGE_KNOB = RY AXIS_YAW = RZ #EXAMPLE - Sector 7 3-axis controller GUID = {paste the GUID from your clipboard here} AXIS_PITCH = Y AXIS_ROLL = X AXIS_THROTTLE = Z AXIS_YAW = RZ # Saitek X52 Pro Flight Controller GUID = {076206A3-0000-0000-0000-504944564944} AXIS_PITCH = Y AXIS_ROLL = X AXIS_THROTTLE = Z AXIS_ANT_ELEV = RX AXIS_RANGE_KNOB = RY AXIS_YAW = RZ
NOTE: if your stick does not have a throttle axis, and truly only 3 (x/y/z) then delete the ‘throttle’ entry in the above example and change the “RZ” to simply “Z” for YAW.
Save this file and then launch BMS, return to the screen shown by airtext2019 above and see if you can now set your rotation axis “Z” as your YAW for rudder.
FTR - I’ve never had to manually do this before, and I am assuming this is the correct method - if I’m mistaken, would love if someone else can help with a proper SOP. Again, best wishes and good luck!
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@semlerpdx
I really appreciate your help and time. I don’t want to start changing the codes simply because that can just create more problems from my end and in no way am I suggesting you are wrong. I’m going to uninstall BMS and reinstall it all over again.Before I take that step I simply want to ask if installing 4.35 is all I need or do I also need to install 4. 33 as well?
It should be noted that I purchased my new PC about 2 months ago with Win 10 on it. The previous one had Win 8.1 and the controller worked flawlessly with it. I have no idea what happened.
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@persius said in Rudder control setup:
all I need or do I also need to install 4. 33 as well?
You don’t need anything except original Falcon 4 (from Steam or GoG) and BMS 4.35.
(And Alternative Launcher srsly give it a try before any major re-installs.)
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I gave AL a try and sadly it did nothing. Actually, that isn’t quite correct. Under setup in BMS, my throttle was linked to my control slider (which worked). With AL, the throttle was suddenly linked to what should be my rudder control. When I twisted my control stick the throttle responded the way the rudder should. As for the rudder itself, it remains inoperative.
I’m uninstalling everything tomorrow and trying again.
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No worries, and hope you have success.
The suggestion above from me can be undone as easily as it is done, won’t hurt anything to try. It’s just a text file that is read when BMS launches. When you exit BMS, if you change it back, BMS would be exactly the same as before you tried the suggestion. You could even make a copy of the file first to have a backup of the original, but this is pretty basic stuff. Totally harmless.
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Good news. I removed everything related to Falcon and reinstalled. The problem has been fixed. Rudder is working. I didn’t need to configure the control stick under setup. BMS just recognized it and responded.
Thanks for your help.
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