ArmA 3 stops recognizing joystick as controller

[Mindwalker 0]

I started getting this issue/problem about a week ago.

[sjaba 19]

Still having massive issues with Thrustmaster Hotas with arma 3.

If i run the setup without any emulators such as target, the official Thrustmaster software i can bind everything just fine. However that prevents me from for instance making TASK FORCERADIO or ACRE key combos to work since they are not able to be mapped directly to the stick.

If i run target, arma3 does not recognise and HOTAS imputs from the throttle buttons. I Can make a workaround mapping all essential arma features to buttons not in use IE Enigne to be E and then emulate E on a HOTAS button.

However my throttle axes still are not recognised ingame, so i can only set throttle up...not down, which in my case means instant take off when switching engines on...

All this happend prettty much over night without any client changes to my TARGET setup or controllers, so what have happend ???

Please DEVS comment on this.

[Daisai 10]

I also have this issue with testing 2 different joysticks, it seems to only happen when you acces the menu while already playing and not in the main menu.

[sjaba 19]

I just come across a "weird" thing last night..I was trying to get my HOTAS working together with some other players with the same setup, who has the same challenge i had with one exception.

I for some reason had a un calibrated joystick in arma3..note this was NOT the case in other games and even after recalibrating the stick it was still off in A3. ( i had to pull hard back on the stick to avoid tumbling forward when increasing collective)

So for no apparent reason i started A3 vanilla ( no mods at all) an just did a test in the editor. Guess what, suddenly the stick no longer was off and it worked fine.

So i quickly retried with my normal preset, and tried again..and the problem was in fact gone..So even though the A3 version was the same, it for some unknown reason helped running A3 vanilla once ??

Unfortunatly this still did not solve the issue with my throttles not responding when TARGET is running...This is however a case that i seem to be alone with, as that part worked for the others with the same system.

But its safe to say that running target and A3 is not very healthy ATM.

[LonoB 10]

I've had ARMA 3 since early release on Steam but never really put much time into until recently. With my new found addiction I wanted to add more precision to my flying.

With a large sense of excitement my new flight stick was delivered today. After plugging it in and making sure everything was working properly, that it was calibrated, and I was familiar with how it all worked I loaded up ARMA. Game loads, I quickly hit escape and went to the configure tab and sure enough there is my controller showing up in game. I race to the helo in excitement, climb in and jam on the throttle.... Nothing. Ok, maybe I need to tweak some settings. ... Where did the controller go?

After an hour of trying to plug it back in, checking my usb power checks, windows says it's working properly, all buttons and functions of the flight stick work properly in the controllers property test, and seen the controller in game options every time I loaded the game only for it to disappear seconds later.

Now I'm trolling (not to be confused with the monsters under bridges or "trolls" of the interwebs) through the forums looking for a solution. This thread was started a long time ago (in today's world at least) and hasn't been addressed in any way.

My hopes and wallet have taken a punch to the stomach...

[bheo 10]

I'm using Windows 8.1 and a Saitek X45. I had an issue where the joystick would show in the controllers list while at the main menu but once I get into the game, the joystick disappears from the controllers list.

I am able to get the joystick to show up in the controllers list during gameplay and work by leaving the Windows game controllers window open. Go to Devices and Printers > Right-Click your joystick > Select "Game controller settings". A list of controllers connected to your computer should show up. Leave this("Game controller settings") window open.

Let me know if this worked for anyone else.

[napalm00 10]

I'm using Windows 8.1 and a Saitek X45. I had an issue where the joystick would show in the controllers list while at the main menu but once I get into the game, the joystick disappears from the controllers list.

I am able to get the joystick to show up in the controllers list during gameplay and work by leaving the Windows game controllers window open. Go to Devices and Printers > Right-Click your joystick > Select "Game controller settings". A list of controllers connected to your computer should show up. Leave this("Game controller settings") window open.

Let me know if this worked for anyone else.

Windows 8.1 and a T.Flight Hotas X here, this fixed it for me! Thank you good sir/madam!

[goats 10]

I am having kinda the same issue. After a while, it just stops recognizing the y as. I have to restart Arma again. Extremely annoying since it's hard to get a pilot slot.

[TeTeT 1523]

For me only the planes stopped working, the helicopters continue to work fine with the Joystick.

[p996t2 10]

Hi,

Having similar issue since Yesterday.

I've W8.1, and an Xbox 360 controller working perfectly on any other game.

When launching game and without going in game, controller is there in the available controller.

When playing in the editor Ive no issue

When starting multiplayer game, controller is present at the beginning, but disappear after a while.

Ive deleted ARMA and ADDON/MOD and reinstall -> same issue

Ive reconfigured all the key starting from 0 -> same issue

Ive Throw the gamepad through the windows -> broke the gamepad...

Bought an XBOX one controller and redo the same -> same issue

Help will be greatly appreciated :)

[Roadblock103 10]

I have the Saitek x45 (well, recently upgraded to new hotas which I have yet to use)

About 95% of the time, if I am in a game, and enter controls config for anything, the stick disappears. Reboot of arma required for rediscovery. If I access the control config from the title menu screen, it works fine.

Bruce

[ionica 12]

same problem. g940 here, win 8.1.

[Meiestrix 25]

Same problem here with a Thrustmaster T.16000m and Windows 8.1 64bit.

Controller works until you open the control options.

[predaiien 10]

Having the same problem with the XBOX360 wired Controller and with my Saitek (Mad Catz) F.L.Y. 5 Joystick. I'am using Win 8.1 64bit.

After starting ArmA3 i see both in the configuration at the main menu. When I join Multiplayer both disappear after a while. I don't have the problems in the editor.

I think i have this problem since a few weeks or months. Can't say the exact date, I was playing other games for a while. It works well before.

best regards,

predaiien

(sry for my bad english :) )

Edited February 3, 2015 by predaiien

[Skyobz 10]

I have a Saitek X-52 with a TrackIR 4 Pro and i had the same annoying problem. Whenever i was playing single or in multiplayer my controllers, especially my Saitek X-52, were disappearing from ArmA 3. I had to exit the game and re-enter so the controllers could be detected again.

I spent several hours trying to understand and fix the problem. I tried the "Power management" untick in the power management of the usb port, i bought a pci-e usb usb. No joy...

I did a fresh install of my Windows 8.1 without any luck. I was really pissed at that time. My last test was to see if Microsoft was the problem so, i went to pick the Windows 10 preview iso and installed it.

I spent two hours flying a chopper in the Sling Showcase mission with the Huron and in a multiplayer Domination mode and never my Saitek disappeared from the controller menu. I went in the controller menu when i was flying to see if i could make it crash again and, no, it was still there.

The only test i have to do is to reinstall my TrackIR 4 Pro and combine it with Saitek to see if the two together can continue to work properly. I think that we're getting close to say that the problem is not ArmA 3 but Microsoft with an unfinished OS....again....

I will keep you posted to let you know if it worked.

Sorry for the faults in my writting. I'm a french canadian who love english.

Edited February 6, 2015 by Skyobz
test update

[Skyobz 10]

I can confirm that even with my TrackIR, the Saitek X-52 is still working properly.

My problem is now solved :-)

[infiltrator_2k 29]

I'm running Windows 8.1 64bit. I've unchecked the USB power save function but still both my Saitek wireless Cyborg and Saitek flight pedals disappear. Sometimes this happens mid-flight when flying a jet etc. Restarting the game doesn't always fix the issue, neither does a cold reboot. The USB controllers seem to have a mind of their own on whether they'll show up or not. It's very frustrating.

[infiltrator_2k 29]

I recently purchased the DLC but still no change with the controller disappearing issue. I have however noticed that leaving the Window's game controllers window open often prevents the issue from reoccurring. But if I'm in-game and I decide to enter the game's USB controller configuration menu it causes the controllers to disappear.

[ionica 12]

i upgrade to free win 10 tech preview and everything is fine now. no need to reinstall anything, all the games, aps working just fine with a simple windows update :) i had win 8.1 before.

[infiltrator_2k 29]

If nailed my problem down to pausing the game and entering the control's configuration. As soon as I do that the controller disappears every time.

[domingomontoya 10]

I've had this problem since I can remember. I have had two different sticks; A logitech and a thrustmaster. Windows 8, Windows 8.1, USB3 or 2, with and without TrackIR.

This happens only when accessing controller settings. It never happens out of the blue, or when accessing other game settings such as video, game, audio.

It's worse for me when I'm in multiplayer, especially when the only apparent fix is to exit and reload the game.

[infiltrator_2k 29]

I've had this problem since I can remember. I have had two different sticks; A logitech and a thrustmaster. Windows 8, Windows 8.1, USB3 or 2, with and without TrackIR.

This happens only when accessing controller settings. It never happens out of the blue, or when accessing other game settings such as video, game, audio.

It's worse for me when I'm in multiplayer, especially when the only apparent fix is to exit and reload the game.

I played last night for several hours without a single disconnect. My workaround is simply not to go into the configuration settings. If I do it's guaranteed the controllers will disappear. If I need to reconfigure my settings I do it then totally reboot the PC. I've noticed even after I've done this the joystick still plays up by pulling to one side for short period of time before centering itself all on its own.

So, just to reiterate: if you want to avoid these annoying disconnects stay out of the control's config settings, and if you do have to reconfigure reboot you machine before loading Arma back up.

[lordprimate 159]

I never had this problem until yesterday.. I dont know what happened but its its a giant pain in the ***.

Does anyone have a solid fix for this?

I had been flying and crashing in SP and MP and never had a problem with my x52 and now all of a sudden i am having this same issue.

[ElCoyote 10]

Hello everyone!

I see i am not the only one who have that problem! This problem occurs when i am playing online game with friends, when i run the game for the first time i can see my joystick into CONFIGURE/CONTROLLER menu i can edit everything before joining a game, once i am logged inside a game my joystick still works... BUT, if i take one helicopter and i die with it (Crash or anything else) once i respawn my joystick is not working anymore, if i go back to the settings menu (Configure/Controller) the list is empty! My joystick just disapeared from it for an unknow reason.

Things that i have done:

- Plugged joystick into another USB port.

- Stopped WINDOWS from closing usb ports for energy saving.

- Unplugged other joystick like XBOX wireless controller for PC.

- Unplugged audio headset.

- Unplugged all other USB devices except MOUSE and KEYBOARD.

- Checked integrity of game with STEAM.

No change at all! Everytime i die, i respawn with my de-activated joystick... Closing the game and restarting it will fix that, but that is so much pain.

I have noticed that i got that problem since i have purchased and installed the Arma 3 Helicopters DLC package, im playing Arma since a long time and my 15 year old joystick always did the job without failure before, so i have de-activated that DLC and since that the problem has been SOLVED!

FIX: Go in your STEAM library (if you are using STEAM) click on ARMA 3 and remove the checkbox ARMA 3 HELICOPTERS DLC. This will fix your joystick disapearance but you will not be able to use new helicopters and all features from that DLC.

[Nicholas 5]

I've started noticing this same exact problem. It only seems to happen when I'm accessing the settings as Lordprimate said. I have a Logitech G940 with Windows 8.1 as my OS.

It's only happened twice to me.

Edited February 20, 2015 by Nicholas