Unsolved Forcing Launcher to use an axis input
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I’m building some panels and connecting them via a PoKeys57U or an older 56U board. I’m using this 10K pot for the HMCS dial but moving the dial and the Launcher does not recognise it. Going into the 2D UI screen and manually selecting the correct axis, I can see that the dial works. Is there a way to force the launcher to use that axis?
Thanks!
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@Atlas interesting … there may be a weird corner case here, for a HID device with analog axes but no buttons.
does it have a line in DeviceSorting.txt?
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@airtex2019 do I need buttons for it? It comes up as
{10011DC3-0000-0000-0000-504944564944} "Virtual Joystick"
This is the board I’m using. I may end up with at least 2 of these plugged in for now, so may come up as 2 virtual devices. Interestingly, the buttons/switches mapped via PoKeys are also not seen by the Launcher although going into the 2D UI Setup -> Controllers screen shows that these buttons/switches are working.
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@Atlas I can’t think of why it wouldn’t work.
People have rudder pedals… as a more common example of a device with axis but no buttons.
Does AL create any XML file, for that device?
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@airtex2019 Yes, there is an XML file.
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@Atlas anything meaningful in it?
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@airtex2019 not that I can see, no. Anything in particular I should search for?
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@Atlas no idea… hard to troubleshoot without having that device. I can’t think of any technical reason it would be recognized by BMS but not AL
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@airtex2019 It is odd, but just as the 2D UI recognises key up/key down callbacks but the Launcher doesn’t… That’s why I’m asking is there any way to force the Launcher to use an axis input? Does the Launcher “save” it’s settings somewhere that can be edited?
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@Atlas yeah the XML files
but (a) I have no idea if you hand modify those, will AL override it, if there’s something about that device it doesn’t like.
and (b) this is deep “swim at your own risk” unsupported, unchartered water… so I don’t advise that
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@airtex2019 The Launcher overrides stuff… it must “remember” these settings from somewhere. If I can tell this “somewhere” to use Axis X on the Virtual Device, I think that would be the fix.
Or just stop using the Launcher and then re-map everything per the old method.
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@Atlas yes I’m saying it remembers by storing those mappings in XML files in your Config folder
If you’re up to it, you could make a backup, assign some other axis… do a diff vs the backup, try cutting and pasting the axis mapping…
But I have no idea if that would actually work, and if it did, I’m not sure why / where the actual bug lies in AL code
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@airtex2019 oh, so those XML files are the “somewhere”… okay, I’ll take a look.
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@Atlas XML can be ugly and finicky but the AL stuff is pretty clear and straighforward… keep an eye out for a block which looks like this
<AxAssgn> <AxisName>HMS_Brightness</AxisName> <AssgnDate>2023-03-17T09:48:24.0255629-07:00</AssgnDate> <Invert>false</Invert> <Saturation>None</Saturation> <Deadzone>None</Deadzone> </AxAssgn>
(but remember as soon as one begins hacking around in the XML files, in you’re in swim-at-your-own-risk territory… make a backup of everything, first, and make no expectation that AL will continue to work reliably, if at all)
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in parallel… I recommend taking a look with some diagnostic tool like VKB JoyTester to make sure the device is showing up and responding the way you expect. and it would be interesting to know the range and resolution of the HID axis. maybe there’s something weird about it that AL doesn’t like… but I truly have no idea what that might be
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@airtex2019 It’s definitely working in 2D UI and when set, it works in the cockpit too. Obviously, setting it this way means I’ll have to reset it every time I start up BMS due to the Launcher overwriting the settings.