Question regarding Saitek controls in FSX

Hi all,

 

I'm in the process of reinstall FSX (moving from boxed-FSX to FSX Steam), and wanted to take this opportunity to get a clear understanding of the drivers for the Saitek controls. I believe when I initially installed these drivers I made an error somewhere, so I'd appreciate some clarification.

 

1. Do I need to install FSUIPC for my Saitek controls to work?

2. When I go to the Saitek site and go to the downloads page, I enter in my product information and get two options - Download Software & Download Drivers. What is the difference?

2. I believe I have all the drivers downloaded, besides just running them, is there anything special I'd need to do?

 

Any other general advice or feedback that could be offered, would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much!

Difference between the software and the drivers is that the software is what you use to program the keys on the joystick (if you do this within FSX then you don't need this) and the drivers are so Windows can recognise and hopefully use the device.

 

Newer drivers and software can be found on their website, if that helps http://www.saitek.com/uk/down/drivers.php

1. Do I need to install FSUIPC for my Saitek controls to work?

2. When I go to the Saitek site and go to the downloads page, I enter in my product information and get two options - Download Software & Download Drivers. What is the difference?

2. I believe I have all the drivers downloaded, besides just running them, is there anything special I'd need to do?

 

'Drivers' will be to make Windows understand how to address your Saitek device. Windows already knows, so you don't need them. 'Software' will be Saitek's button-programming tools and such like. You don't need them either. You don't need FSUIPC.

 

In a nutshell, don't install anything from Saitek and everything will work fine. Once you're happy with that, think about what else you might want to do. If you want to do slightly advanced things like using the 'mode' switch on the yoke, then you will need the Saitek software or FSUIPC. There is a common view that the Saitek software introduces more problems than features (such as the 'phantom keypress' bug).

'Drivers' will be to make Windows understand how to address your Saitek device. Windows already knows, so you don't need them. 'Software' will be Saitek's button-programming tools and such like. You don't need them either. You don't need FSUIPC.

 

In a nutshell, don't install anything from Saitek and everything will work fine. Once you're happy with that, think about what else you might want to do. If you want to do slightly advanced things like using the 'mode' switch on the yoke, then you will need the Saitek software or FSUIPC. There is a common view that the Saitek software introduces more problems than features (such as the 'phantom keypress' bug).

 

Ok so down the road I can install FSUIPC in place of the Saitek drivers and key-mapping software? But for now I can just plug and play?

Ok so down the road I can install FSUIPC in place of the Saitek drivers and key-mapping software? But for now I can just plug and play?

 

Yup.

Yup.

 

Thank you!!

Ok so down the road I can install FSUIPC in place of the Saitek drivers and key-mapping software? But for now I can just plug and play?

 

Don't use Saitek Drivers, use FSUIPC4, you won't regret it.

I cant get my panels to work with FSX.SE but it works perfect with my boxed fsx de luxe ed with acc and sp1 + 2 and fsuipc ( regged version ) works there, but not in my fsx.se version, how can i get my saitek panels to work with it, thank you.

I cant get my panels to work with FSX.SE but it works perfect with my boxed fsx de luxe ed with acc and sp1 + 2 and fsuipc ( regged version ) works there, but not in my fsx.se version, how can i get my saitek panels to work with it, thank you.

 

I think the Saitek installation program makes an entry in exe.xml (and maybe dll.xml, or both). It seems likely that these are in a different place for the FSX Steam Edition. You will need to fix this manually, or you could run the Saitek panel program manually. (I can't be more specific as I don't have the Steam Edition.)

 

As a first experiment, does the Saitek panel test program work? If so, it is surely the exe.xml problem. You could also try using SPAD (fstools.weebly.com) instead of the Saitek program - again, you can run it manually to test whether it works.

Well, i have the lines in the exe.xml, but it wont run it, the test program for each panel works fine, manual launch works but freezes up after 5 mins of use. This however works very well with my fsx installation tho, but not my fsx.se, so i compared the lines on the two, its the same, and not working in fsx.se but its working in fsx, so i have tried everything. And yes i have registered fsuipc installed, on both, but still no go on fsx.se

Don't use Saitek Drivers, use FSUIPC4, you won't regret it.

 

Will FSUIPC4 also handle the Saitek panels (Radio Panel, Switch Panel, and Multi Panel)? The Radio and Multi panels did not come on when I started FSX without installing any drivers.

Will FSUIPC4 also handle the Saitek panels (Radio Panel, Switch Panel, and Multi Panel)? The Radio and Multi panels did not come on when I started FSX without installing any drivers.

 

No, you need a driver for the panels. It can be SPAD, though, not the Saitek one.

No, you need a driver for the panels. It can be SPAD, though, not the Saitek one.

 

I installed the SPAD drivers and double click the SPAD.exe before launching FSX. All of my panels light up, but do not come on when I start FSX. Is there something additional I need to do?

I installed the SPAD drivers and double click the SPAD.exe before launching FSX. All of my panels light up, but do not come on when I start FSX. Is there something additional I need to do?

 

No, if SPAD is running they should work.

No, if SPAD is running they should work.

 

I think I figured out the issue - I needed to manually install SimConnect after installing the Steam version. I was unaware of that.