Falcon BMS Alternative Launcher (Easy Setup, Keep Joystick Assignments)
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@jc1 Video is private
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@jc1 said in Falcon BMS Alternative Launcher (Easy Setup, Keep Joystick Assignments):
I got 3 problems with Alternative Launcher.
One, the names on the Axis Assignment page are not correct for the devices . I have TM Warthog Joystick and Throttle and CH Pedals. Even though the names are not correct the devices function as they should in game.
Two, if I set AB any lower, like at 75%, than shown in this image
the AB will kick in about 1/2 way before I reach the physical detent on the throttle.
Three, I cannot taxi unless I go to afterburner.
Due to the problems I got with AL, I wonder if the incorrect names indicate a more serious problem within the AL code.I see a few possible issues in your image of AL Axis Assignments.
One - why do you have anything assigned to “Throttle Right”? Clear it.
Two - your AB should activate (where the Warthog Detent is) about 75% of travel. You cant set it that way in the “Assign” window?
Three - It appears your toe brakes are fully engaged, you need to invert those axis’s if that is true. Could be why your jet isn’t moving?Here is what mine (functions perfectly) looks like. Throttle is pushed forward to the AB detent, toe brakes relaxed (off):
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@CriticalMass Sorry for that. I just made it public.
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@Icer Your advice about the toe brakes is correct. Thanks for that. chihirobelmo and Sile (Falcon Lounge) also informed me.
Regarding the throttle, I tried Throttle at 75% (omitting Throttle Right) which I mentioned as the second problem in my 11:51 am post yesterday, and as you suggested but I still have the issue where the AB will kick in about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way before I reach the physical detent on the throttle. I’m hoping that after chihirobelmo sees the video he asked me to make, which I posted today at 2:02 am, he could come up with something to make the AB kick in after I go past the physical detent.
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Sincere apologies if this has been asked but I’m not able to pull up this specific issue:
Under KeyMapping I always see the Auto key file loaded, but in-sim, the Full key file loaded.
If I make changes in the Alt Launcher they’re not reflected in-sim because the Full file is loaded.
Is Alt Launcher creating this Auto file? Is there a way to stop it?
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@Crassus older versions of AL used to update (overwrite) the BMS-Full.key file.
Later versions of AL generate the BMS-Auto.key file.
And should also update your {callsign}.pop file (eg. Viper.pop), to point to the generated ‘BMS-Auto.key’ file, upon launch
So, something about that is not working right. Not sure how to trace it further… what callsign are you flying as – do you observe the timestamp on the .pop file being updated by AL?
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@jc1 said in Falcon BMS Alternative Launcher (Easy Setup, Keep Joystick Assignments):
@Icer Your advice about the toe brakes is correct. Thanks for that. chihirobelmo and Sile (Falcon Lounge) also informed me.
Regarding the throttle, I tried Throttle at 75% (omitting Throttle Right) which I mentioned as the second problem in my 11:51 am post yesterday, and as you suggested but I still have the issue where the AB will kick in about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way before I reach the physical detent on the throttle. I’m hoping that after chihirobelmo sees the video he asked me to make, which I posted today at 2:02 am, he could come up with something to make the AB kick in after I go past the physical detent.
@jc1 - Strange how your equipment is being identified incorrectly but it seems to work normally, except for the throttle. When you show the travel it starts at “0” and goes forward so I assume you are not lifting up/back into the “Idle” area, correct? Without the mouse showing it’s hard to see but it looks like you are clicking “Idle Detent” when back at 0. IF that’s the case do not assign an Idle Detent as it’s apparently not working, just hit the “AB Detent” button when you are AT the Throttle’s physical detent and then “Save”. For RAMP starts simply use “ALT-I” for now to go to Idle. I’m guessing, but as the Throttle is not being identified correctly it’s just treating it as a slider axis and there is no way to set “Idle Detent” until @chihirobelmo figures out the issue… I can’t show how a stock Warthog throttle works as I “tricked” the TM Calibration app into thinking my full travel starts at the “Idle Detent” end (for use in prop sims) … If yours worked properly you would set the Idle detent at the rear stop, the AB Detent at the front AB stop, and have 3 different color bars in the window when done (3rd bar will show when you enter Idle area).
In your taxi video, I can’t see the warning panel but have you put the Brakes into Anti-Skid? It “looks” like you have the Parking Brake on and it will “pop” off with a lot of throttle…
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@Icer said in Falcon BMS Alternative Launcher (Easy Setup, Keep Joystick Assignments):
I f yours worked properly you would set the Idle detent at the rear stop, the AB Detent at the front AB stop, and have 3 different color bars in the window when done (3rd bar will show when you enter Idle area).
Mine doesn’t work properly. I’m glad you’re trying to help me out but I’m going to wait for @chihirobelmo to finish his work on this.
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@jc1 said in Falcon BMS Alternative Launcher (Easy Setup, Keep Joystick Assignments):
@Icer said in Falcon BMS Alternative Launcher (Easy Setup, Keep Joystick Assignments):
I f yours worked properly you would set the Idle detent at the rear stop, the AB Detent at the front AB stop, and have 3 different color bars in the window when done (3rd bar will show when you enter Idle area).
Mine doesn’t work properly. I’m glad you’re trying to help me out but I’m going to wait for @chihirobelmo to finish his work on this.
Good idea, as you have hardware ID issues and until that is rectified everything else is a band-aid…
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I’m probably missing something basic, but I’m having a problem with the latest version of the Alternative Launcher and I don’t know why it’s happening.
I had been using the version before 2.1.0 with BMS 4.36. Each time I started the Alternative Launcher, I saw a popup message inviting me to update the AL.
I didn’t do this for a while, I just put it off. Today I clicked "Update’, and the Alternative Launcher was updated.
Here’s the problem I’ve encountered: When I start the AL, and launch the sim, a lot of my axis assignments and keybinds don’t work in the sim. My throttle, for example, wasn’t recognized by the sim. Same for some of the key bindings.
Everything looks fine within the AL itself. In AL, all of my axis assignments and key bindings appear to have been retained from the previous verison of the AL. But BMS 4.36 doesn’t seem to be using a lot of the axis assignments and key bindings from the AL.
I’m probably missing some basic thing that will cause BMS 4.36 to “obey” the AL after updating the AL. I looked at Chihirobelmo’s Github site, but if the basic thing is listed there, I wasn’t smart enough to spot it. Same for this thread here on the BMS forum, but again, maybe I missed something.
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@Mylonite470 Look at the last-modified timestamps in your ‘\Falcon BMS 4.36\User\Config’ directory.
Is AL successfully updating things there? (viz. not just the xml file but ‘BMS-Auto.key’ and ‘axismapping.dat’ and several others)
Lately I worry what happens when people launch BMS as administrator … but launch other tools un-elevated.
Or run AL once elevated, but then again later un-elevated… etc. (ie. Is there something people are doing resulting in files being created that can’t later be modified? I dunno. just random thought of the day)
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Thanks for those suggestions, @airtex2019.
Looking in the 4.36 user/config folder, it looks like the AL is updating most (or possibly all) of the relevant files. In this screenshot, the time/date stamp of 6/4/2022, 5:36 - 5:37 pm is my most recent attempt to launch the sim with the AL:
https://i.imgur.com/4MThXn3.jpg
Interestingly, I don’t seem to be able to run the AL as an administrator. When I right-click on the AL’s desktop icon, the resulting menu doesn’t have an option to “Run As Administrator”.
Here’s another thing I noticed when I right-click on the AL’s desktop icon: If I click “Properties”, and look at the “Shortcut” tab, and click “Advanced”, the option to run the shortcut as an administrator is greyed out.
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@Mylonite470 I think that looks ok…
Do you still have 4.35 installed … sure you’re not launching that?
Not sure what else to look at. Maybe screenshot your ‘Setup / Controllers’ page for us?
Does it show “Glacier” as your selected pilot callsign, or does it show “Viper” or something else…
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Good suggestions for things to check, @airtex2019 .
The AL is indeed launching 4.36, rather than 4.35.
Within the sim, my logbook does show my usual callsign (“Glacier”).
I’ve figured out that the problem seems to be related to my Winwing throttle. I have the Orion 2 base + the F-16 grip.
Within the AL, everything looks fine, when it comes to the base and the grip. The throttle axis works as usual, including the AB zone and the idle cutoff. All the key mappings on the throttle and the base look good, within the AL.
But in the sim, the sim doesn’t “obey” the AL when it comes to the Winwing throttle base and throttle grip. The sim does “obey” the AL regarding my other peripherals, though. My Realsimulator FSSB stick base, my Warthog stick, my TM MFDs, my Vipergear ICP, and my Slaw Device pedals all work fine.
But for some reason, the sim doesn’t want to recognize the Winwing throttle, nor the buttons on the throttle grip, nor the buttons/switches/etc on the throttle base. Even though the AL does see all those controls and has retained my axis assignments and key mappings for them. It’s as though the AL has lost the “authority” to tell the sim how to make use of the throttle.
The previous version of the AL didn’t have this problem. It made the sim “obey” it, regarding the throttle, just fine. It’s as though updating the AL caused some subtle problem that borks the throttle in the sim, even though it looks fine in the AL. There’s probably some little fix that will solve this, I’m just not sure what it is yet.
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@Mylonite470 yeah there’s a lot going on here. AL 2.1 supports the 128-buttons-per-device config.
I really have no idea what happens if you have an existing AL <= 2.0 setup, with key files etc based on 32-buttons-per-device … and then in-place upgrade to AL 2.1.
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Thanks for mentioning the 32-buttons-per-device thing, @airtex2019. This has allowed me to restore some of the functionality of my throttle in the sim, but not most of the switches on the throttle base. But it’s progress!
The control software for the Winwing throttle, which is called SimAppPro, has a thing called “4x32 mode”. I had been using that mode, along with the pre-2.1.0 version of the AL, and everything worked fine.
I turned off the 4x32 mode in SimAppPro, and I got back the functionality of my throttle axis and the switches on the throttle grip. But not most of the switches on the throttle base.
I don’t know what version of the AL I was using before the update, it might have been 2.0.0. I may try uninstalling the AL, and reinstalling 2.0.0. Plus go back to the old 4x32 mode on the Winwing. I’m going to hold off a bit, since I might have to remap all my axes and keys from the (throttle + throttle base), though.
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I reverted to version 2.0.0 of the Alternative Launcher, and everything works fine.
And I didn’t have to re-do my axis assignments or key bindings in the AL! (With one tiny exception: DF self-cancel.) Everything was as it had been, before I updated to 2.1.0. That saved me a lot of work
To uninstall 2.1.0, I followed the recommended procedure: I downloaded the 2.1.0 installer from @chihirobelmo 's Github site, and used the installer’s “Remove 2.1.0” function to remove it.
Then I downloaded the 2.0.0 installer, and installed that version.
Very nearly all of my axis assignments and key bindings (for the Winwing throttle axis, throttle handle, and the throttle base) were just like they were, before the upgrade to 2.1.0.
The only thing I’ve found so far, that I needed to re-do, was to re-bind the Dogfight Mode self-cancel to the Center position of the DF switch (DX 14 on that particular Winwing device. I’m back in Winwing’s “4x32” mode.)
Thanks for saving me the work of re-binding things, @chihirobelmo ! I really appreciate it I’m guessing that an upcoming version of the AL will be able to make the sim “obey” the AL (with a Winwing throttle) the way 2.0.0 does. For now, 2.0.0 works fine for me.
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@jc1 said in Falcon BMS Alternative Launcher (Easy Setup, Keep Joystick Assignments):
@chihirobelmo I made the video for you that you asked. It’s six minutes long, but I’ll say it’s 3 parts.
1. 00:00 to 01:21 has the stick and throttle assignments you wanted to see.
2. 01:22 to 05:39 has rudder assignments and taxiing. Like you said I inverted and that fixed the taxiing issue. But don’t look because it looks like I was driving drunk because I wasn’t sure exactly what got inverted. Anyway, later I got the inverts right and taxiing is not an issue. Thanks.
3. 05:40 to 6:00 shows some afterburner lighting up. The reason I wanted to show this was because all that AB lighting up occurred about 80% to 100% of the travel leading up to my physical detent. When I reach the physical detent I’m at full AB. I think the AB should light up after I reach the physical detent.you seem assigning a pedal to In-Game Throttle?
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@chihirobelmo I don’t assign device. AL seems to do that when I start up AL. This is my DeviceSorting.txt
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@jc1 said in Falcon BMS Alternative Launcher (Easy Setup, Keep Joystick Assignments):
@chihirobelmo I don’t assign device. AL seems to do that when I start up AL. This is my DeviceSorting.txt
Try “CLEAR” those CH pedal assigns for “Throttle” and “Throttle Right”, then assign Warthog throttle axis to “Throttle”.