Problem with VKB-Sim Gladiator Mk II Joystick

1st Official Post

    I have been trying to set up a new Gladiator Mk ii joystick and am running into a problem. When I try to program any axis or button it immediately selects "Button 98". The "Button 98" indicator continuously flashes as if the button was being pressed intermittently. Of course, there is no button 98. Aerofly works fine with my Logitech Extreme 3D Pro and CH Pro Pedals. The Gladiator Mk ii works fine with XPlane, FSX, Flightsim World and everything else I've tried it with. Any idea what the problem might be or how to remedy it?

    • Official Post

    The Gladiator Mk ii should work out of the box. The blinking you describe, does it happen only if Aerofly is running or all the time?

    Our Gladiator does not blink, but if it does on your side, it is permanently toggling on/off which prevents a default assignment.

    Did you install any special drivers or did you change any Steam->Settings->Controller settings?

    It only happens when I try to change the joystick assignments in Aerofly. The joystick works fine otherwise. I can fly with it in Aerofly with no problem. It works fine in FSX-SE, Flightsim World and XPlane 11. I am able to change joystick assignments in FSX-SE, Flightsim World and XPlane. The problem only occurs when I try to change assignments in Aerofly. You are exactly right that Aerofly seems to think that a non-existent button (98, 101, etc.) is being constantly pressed which prevents any other assignment. I have installed no drivers and made no changes to Steam settings.

    This is not a new problem and it is not unique to me. The following exchange is from the VKB-Sim technical support forum dated June 20, 2017:

    "Andy L wrote:In Aerofly FS2 I am getting constant phantom button presses. The sim registers a press from button 98 several times per second, preventing me from binding other controls and axis. Sometimes it shows as button 100 or 101, I'm guessing from how I've set the mode button. Does the Gladiator even have a button 98? Has anyone else had this problem? I can't tell whether this is a problem with the stick or a problem with Aerofly.
    Reply:

    It is a minor compatibility issue with Aerofly, indeed. It is a known issue and we're on the way to solving it ("we" here stands up for Aerofly and VKB joining effort). Aerofly guys will receive our sample soon, and we're about to get Aerofly as well.

    However as Aerofly's flight sim is a new kid in town, it is likely to take some time before the problem gets solved. Please understand. We're on it, but pls be patient."

    That's all I've been able to find out so far. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

    This is interesting. I have the same problem when I attach the BU0836X button interface from Leo Bodnar. No problems with the BBi-32. In the settings interface it shows more than 100 buttons to be assigned, however there is not enough place in the AF2 to display all buttons (that is another problem). Intrestingly always the same buttons as mentioned above (98, 100, 101) flash when I check eg. button 3 in the interface. Sometimes it helps when I press very quickly the button or toggle switch, quickly before button 98 starts flashing (sometimes button 100 or 101) in AF2 setting interface.

    http://www.leobodnar.com/shop/index.php…=index&cPath=94

    These boards are very interesting for use in AF2 as they are recognised as joysticks an no drivers are needed.

    Regards,

    Thomas

    Regards,

    Thomas

    i7-14700KF @ 5.6 GHz, Geforce RTX 4090, 32MB RAM, 1TB SSD M.2, 1TB SSD M.2, 2TB SSD M.2, 32" Monitor 4K, Pimax Crystal

    Edited once, last by TomB (December 7, 2017 at 11:18 AM).

    Solved! One of the IPACS guys on the Aerofly FS2 forum on Steam suggested running VKBDevCfg to see how many buttons were reported. I did that and it reported 132 buttons. I set the number of buttons to 33 and that solved the problem.

    Score one for IPACS tech support!

    • Official Post
    Quote from malong

    Solved! One of the IPACS guys on the Aerofly FS2 forum on Steam suggested running VKBDevCfg to see how many buttons were reported. I did that and it reported 132 buttons. I set the number of buttons to 33 and that solved the problem.

    Score one for IPACS tech support!

    This wasn't 'tech support' we are actually a small team and all the same people. Torsten Hans, the head of IPACS fixed your problem :)

    IPACS Development Team Member

    I'm just a cook, I don't own the restaurant.
    On behalf of Torsten, Marc, and the rest of the IPACS team, we would all like to thank you for your continued support.

    Regards,

    Jeff

    Where

    Quote from malong

    Solved! One of the IPACS guys on the Aerofly FS2 forum on Steam suggested running VKBDevCfg to see how many buttons were reported. I did that and it reported 132 buttons. I set the number of buttons to 33 and that solved the problem.

    Score one for IPACS tech support!

    Where do you set the numbers of buttons to 33? Is this a joystick setting?

    Because this is also a problem with the Leo Bodnar module which shows 132 buttons as outlined above.

    Regards,

    Thomas

    Regards,

    Thomas

    i7-14700KF @ 5.6 GHz, Geforce RTX 4090, 32MB RAM, 1TB SSD M.2, 1TB SSD M.2, 2TB SSD M.2, 32" Monitor 4K, Pimax Crystal

    • Official Post

    Thomas, the issue described here is solely related to the VKB Gladiator Joystick.

    Aerofly can handle many buttons, even though they don't show properly in the controls menu, so it might be a 'flashing' channel as well, but please open a new thread for this in case other users have a solution for this. Do not post here.