Saitek X52 Drivers Question

[Max]

Am I best off using the Saitek drivers which come with the X52 installation CD, or just leaving it as a plug & play device with WindozeXP? I've programmed the gear via AH joystick set-up for the time being. Bottom line...do the Saitek drivers REALLY matter?


Max

[CHECKERS]

Max....
 I have the put my X52 (sitting in box in closet ) away. (but I will have to start using it soon) .
 I tried useing it and soon grew tired of all the watermelon that is required to keep it working correctly .... found it to be constantly needing something adjusted .
 Finally got pissed at all the BS & time wasted fooling with it, instead of play in game....  


Like you,  I have beat the webboards to death searching for answers about drivers and profiles.
 Everybody has a different answer , for every side of the driver/profiling issues, pro & con,  someone profess's to have the absolute 100 % perfect solution ....

   Finally just went back to SideWinder Precision 2 USB ( and all it's slop ), untill I can figuer out if I will keep the X52 , or try the TM Cougar, or just what  I'm going to use  .....
 I need something more,  that just a twisty,  for Falcon4 and IL2 ,.....
 
  My problem is, rudder peddels .....
 I can not sit still ! and keep my feet planted on the peddels for more than a few minutes .....
 I have a Saitek EVO also, that I have used off and on, but it is a pain in butt to keep in calibration.....
 As for saitek drivers .... ? with the evo, I seems to hold settings better , I use just the drivers , not the saitek programing software ....
 Also I find it interesting that one of the Saitek winning combat team members used a saitek evo (twisty ) and a saitek throttle hybread configuration of some sort in The LowLand Tiger Meet this year ..... I would sure like to find out all about that setup !

 Seems like ... The more I learn ( about the X52 ), The less I know ....
 The search continues ......
 
 

[Eagler]

I use the profile software

I think you get more programming options with it though my profiles do not use them all...

if the ah key mapping gives you what you need, thats good enough isn't it?

[Max]

Originally posted by CHECKERS
Max....
 I have the put my X52 (sitting in box in closet ) away. (but I will have to start using it soon) .
 I tried useing it and soon grew tired of all the watermelon that is required to keep it working correctly .... found it to be constantly needing something adjusted .
 Finally got pissed at all the BS & time wasted fooling with it, instead of play in game....  

Like you, I tried peds for a year before giving up on them. I've always been a twisty kinda guy. Best stick Saitek EVER made was the Cyborg Gold USA...had 2 of em...then went thru 3 Evos...all on replacement policy. None of them would hold calibration ofter a month or two

The X52 I originally bought would function in Mode 2, which didn't seem to affect the stick. My 2nd X52 (replaced free) arrived yesterday. The stick tensions seems a bit looser but all in all I really like the smooth response from the X52. I tried using the rig with and without the Saitek drivers...doesn't seem to make a difference...maybe it doesn't if you don't use the SST software, which I don't and won't unless someone puts a gun to my head.

Stay away from the Cougar...unless you lift weights daily the stick torque is considerable and you'll be forced back to ped...it aint a twisty.


Max

[Max]

Originally posted by Eagler
I use the profile software

I think you get more programming options with it though my profiles do not use them all...

if the ah key mapping gives you what you need, thats good enough isn't it?

I'm fine with the stick map I set-up in AH though I'd like to add trim control to my throttle. Back to the original question: do I need the Saitek drivers if I'm not running SST software?

max

[Eagler]

you should be able to assign trim to any X52 axis/rotor inside AH without the sst software going...
sry do not know the driver question answer as I use both

[LePaul]

I just bought one of these last night.

I'm getting a Windows XP hardware error every bootup for some "Saitek keyboard"...I only had this crop up after I let it install the profiler software, i think.

Any suggestions?

Also...ha...I am a mess flying this thing!  Its nice to fly precisely again!  But in stick mapping, with my X45, I had the mouse up, down, letft, etc all mappable.  For some reason, most of these buttons are not showing on the graphic as mappable in aces high.

Help!

[Eagler]

did you install the saitek sotware first THEN plug in the X52?

sounds like the sst software did not go in correctly

[Elyeh]

Le paul

Some of the buttons on the X52 have to be programed using the SST software.

I also did not have a clue on how the SST  worked but after DTango showed me the in and outs of it I dont know how I managed without it.

It really sets the X52 into a class by itself

[LePaul]

1) Yes, installed software first then plugged in stick when it said to.  Seems to only be an SST issue

2) Ok, Im wondering what profiles are out there for this stick.  I mean I went from an X-45 that was really loosing it.  To fly aces high, I had to fly the plane, fight the stick...and if I had time, fire the guns  

[Max]

LPaul, Eagler has a profile link in his sig.

I wish one of you SST guys could write up a short synopsis of creating a profile...at least as far as the throttle inputs are concerned.

Max
The Flying Circus

[Eagler]

max
what do you mean by "throttle inputs"?

[Elyeh]

Not sure how to add a profile on the board here.

PM me if you want my X52 profile.

PM Dtango for a short film on setting bands on the X52.

I had it but lost it. Was a big help

[Elyeh]

Found the vid.. PM me if you want it

[Max]

By throttle inputs I meant the rotaries, slider, mini-mouse and mini-mouse button.

What I have programmed via AH right now on my trottle are:
HAT on back of handle - flaps up. flaps, down, Mic vox, Mic range
Blue "E" button - WEP
middle blue button - clipboard

Everything else on the throttle is unused except for the throttle itself.

The mapping on the joystick =
Primary trigger - fire both
UL HAT - move up, down, left, right
Middle HAT - standard views with LOOK-UP mapped to pinkie  switch
C - gun view zoom
B - fire secondary
A - fire primary  
T1 + T2 - elevator trim up/down
T3 + T4 - Auto speed and auto climb
T5 + T6 - Toggle Combat Trim and toggle gear.

I'd like t use the throttle rotaries for pitch and aileron trim...makes more sense, no?