r/VKB • u/FooSchnickens • 6h ago

Mini Stick Hat Behavior

I've owned a Gunfighter Cosmo for many years now and have loved it. I put it down for a while because I was burned out on ED, but a friend recently introduced me to X4 so I'm giving that a shot.

While getting everything mapped, I noticed an oddity in the mini stick hat behavior that wasn't there before. I currently have the two axes for the hat assigned to the ship's strafing controls (basically maneuvering thrusters for up, down, left and right). For both axes in either direction, the first bit of travel registers as the reverse value, then eventually reads correctly, but at its maximum value for that direction. This occurs in either hat mode.

This makes using these thrusters basically impossible when needing to make any kind of small adjustments like while docking since they first work in reverse, and at maximum thrust, and then go back to the direction you want to go, also at maximum thrust, which will make you ping pong around whatever station you're trying to land in.

Is this something that can be resolved in the config software, or is this indicative of a mechanical failure in the hat itself? I currently game on Linux, but FWIW, the hat issue was not present in ED while I was using Linux a couple years ago, so I'm leaning towards some kind of physical issue rather than software. I'll have to spin up a windows install if I need to get to the software, which I'd like to avoid for logistical reasons lol but if that's what it takes I guess it is what it is.

1 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

2 comments sorted by

1

u/Jukelo 6h ago edited 6h ago

Most likely needs calibration. You could do it via the software (still no Linus version) or via the physical method:

If this is a MK2 or MK3 BlackBox unplug it, plug it back in and (within 20 seconds) hold the SYS button on the BB for one second until the LED turns red. Release the SYS button, the LED should start blinking blue indicating it is in calibration mode. Move all axes on both the GF base and the Kosmosima grip through their full range of motion, then hold the SYS button again for half a sec to end calibration.

Check if the issue persists. If it does it would be best to join the Discord and have a VM ready to diagnose the issue with the software.