Help with Multiple Controllers with same Name (BU0836)

[Warty]

Hi All. I'm trying to get back into AH after being off for a couple years. I like to muck with old flight sim hardware, and upgrade it with new controllers, add switches, make switch boxes, that kind of thing. I just finished refurbishing a Suncom Split Throttle, using a Bodnar BU0836 controller. It works great (after getting rid of all the original suncom wires, anyway). BUT... I have three BU0836s now. One controls my stick and a button box and a trim box. One controls the Suncom throttle. One controls an old Thrustmaster Mark I flight control system stick that my kids prefer. The problem is that while windows can treat them separately, AH seems to get confused, so if I unplug one, and plug it back in, the maps get all wonkied around.

I tried to change the name of them in RegEdit, but all that accomplished was changing the overall name of them. So instead of having 3 "Bodnar 0836"s, or whatever the original name was, now I have 3 "BU0836 in FCS" instead. With same problem in AH.

I tried to go into regedit and actually edit the name of each individual one, or I think it was actually to add a field or whatever, but I don't seem to have the privs to do that. (run as admin, etc.). Windows 7 home premium. Some forum posts that discuss the registry and BU0836s:
http://forum.simflight.com/topic/61781-corruption-of-joystick-names/
http://prosim737.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=3209

Anybody have any ideas that might work?

I thought of maybe using vJoy to make a virtual stick, but I have a LOT more than 32 buttons. I don't have an experience with it, so maybe that can actually be made to work?

Links about the hardware mentioned:
http://www.leobodnar.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=204
http://thrustmaster.vanree.net/fcs.html
http://calltheball.enjin.com/forums/m/313473/viewthread/143169-suncom-f15e-talon-sfs-throttle

[Zerstorer]

I thought I read somewhere that having more than one Bodnar board would cause problems unless it was programmed with a unique name in the firmware by Leo.  I beleive he used to offer this free for anyone but now I think you have to order like 10 or more. 

I may be wrong on all this as its been a while since I worked with his hardware.  I still own a BU0836A but don't currently use it as I replaced it with a U-HID controller board, which is more flexible IMHO than the Bodnar boards.

Other than contacting Bodnar directly (and he can be a bit slow to get back to you), I'd recommend posting for help on SimHQ in their Hardware / Controller section as many there use Bodnar boards.  Also some on the iRacing forums may be of help as well. 

Sorry I can't be of more help than that.  Good luck! 

[Warty]

Thanks Zerstorer. I posted over at SimHQ, we'll see if anything turns up.
http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/forums/243/1/Flight_Sim_Controllers

I've had good luck with Bodnar, but I do have the feeling he's more interesting in what he's making, than in providing a lot of customer support. Which I'm fine with, but you do hear some stories...

I'll check out the U_HID for my next project. I wish I had known about it for this Suncom throttle project, there are 4 LEDs on the base that I could have got working with the U-HID (It looks like that to me on first glance anyway).

[Zerstorer]

Thanks Zerstorer. I posted over at SimHQ, we'll see if anything turns up.
http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/forums/243/1/Flight_Sim_Controllers

I've had good luck with Bodnar, but I do have the feeling he's more interesting in what he's making, than in providing a lot of customer support. Which I'm fine with, but you do hear some stories...

I'll check out the U_HID for my next project. I wish I had known about it for this Suncom throttle project, there are 4 LEDs on the base that I could have got working with the U-HID (It looks like that to me on first glance anyway).

Yeah, that's one of the reasons I went for it...the programming API isn't horrible either so there is the possibility of making any LEDs I connect to it program controlled (e.g. landing gear, etc.) for those games that support that sorta thing.

[FLS]

The problem is that while windows can treat them separately, AH seems to get confused, so if I unplug one, and plug it back in, the maps get all wonkied around.

Anybody have any ideas that might work?

What if you unplug all 3 when you need to unplug 1 and then you plug all 3 back in in the same order each time?

[Skuzzy]

If the USB ID of the device changes, which can happen when you unplug a device and plug it back in, then Aces High is going to treat that as a new device.  We use the bus ID of the device, instead of the name, so we can support multiple instances of the same sticks.

Now, here is the issue you are running into.  When a new device ID is required for a device which has multiple instances of the same name, Windows is going to reset all the devices with new ID's.  It is the only way for Windows to be sure the single device gets assigned a good ID.

It is a limitation of the USB bus as there are no hardware ID's in the USB spec.  The ID's are all software assigned.

[Warty]

Hi Skuzzy,

Thanks for the reply. Just so I understand, that bus ID, is that a 1, 2, 3 type thing? Or some kind of long unique number? Would FLS's suggestion work? If I need to unplug one to work on it, etc., unplug all of them, and then plug them all back in, in the original order? Or does windows give it some unique number that everytime looks like a new device to AH?

I noticed that AH makes new joystick settings files, with the first device getting the device name, and the second getting the name plus "1". eg, "myjoystick.jsm" and "myjoystick1.jsm". I'm keeping a copy of them on the desktop, maybe I can just copy them back in the next time all the settings are zapped by having unplugged/plugged something.

[Skuzzy]

The number you see in the name is the device ID Windows give us for that device.

You might as well as unplug all the devices as Windows is going to reset all of them anyway, when one needs to be reset.  I am not sure what you would gain, as the device ID's are not guaranteed to be the same after a reassignment as Windows has no idea what ID went with what device, when all the names are identical.

[FLS]

Wouldn't the IDs be reassigned sequentially if the controllers are plugged in one at a time in the same order?

[Skuzzy]

Wouldn't the IDs be reassigned sequentially if the controllers are plugged in one at a time in the same order?

Not necessarily.  Windows caches the USB ID's.  The first controller, with the same name is going to get one of the ID's.  It might be the last ID released, or the first ID released.  It is pretty random.  It is pure luck if multiple controllers, with the same name, end up with the same ID, from reset to reset.