I have what seems to be a dead Cougar HOTAS.

When I plug in the Hotas Flight Stick, Vista 64 actaully sees the Cougar device and "re-installs" the drivers or loads them and indicates a good USB connection with the audible feedback beep and loads it up in Device Manager. The Cougar shows up in the device manager as connected. However, when try to access properties and it send me to the Foxy Utility OR I go to Foxy to try to reflash or anything else there for that matter, I get the Thrustmaster device detection error: "The device is not connected, unrecognized or not installed properly.

This all seemed to happen as a result of a failed midway in-process re-Flash. Any ideas or solutions?. I've tried all the Foxy programs and it just does not recognize the device at all. If nobody has a fix, then maybe someone please recommend where I should best send it off for repair or a contact for someone to offer a basic fix. I need to have all the pots redone anyway.

Love this stick and throttle even though it's a real pain in the ass for some reason almost everytime I use it. Once I get it running it's a blast to use and has served me well foir a long time. Hate to see it go in the trash if there is a way to reair or replace the guts.

I'm not sure if this will help, but you might try downloading the T.A.R.G.E.T. software and see if that helps - it's the current config software from Thrustmaster for it:

http://ts.thrustmaster.com/eng/index.php?pg=view_files&gid=1&fid=3&pid=50&cid=5

Thanks - Tried that early on. Target does not see the Cougar device either. I think it's something in the Cougar that got zapped in the aborted Flash process. Windows sees it as a Game device, but the Thrustmaster drivers (old and new and Foxy and Target) can not interpret the device ID or it is now missing.

I'm pretty sure I've had a couple times that the Cougar wouldn't be recognized at all and I couldn't reflash it out of the blue.

The solution was simply to plug it into a different USB port, then reflash it, and then move it back to the original port used if desired. I don't know why this allowed the flashing utility to work, but it did.

And you have the right files for 64 bit?
Do a complete uninstall and try this guide: http://www.cubpilotshangar.net/page105.html

Will tey it tonight

Yep, nothing has changed since it last worked, so still using the same software/updated drivers as Thrustmaster/Cougar World suggests.

Pretty sure its a tech glitch, either in the way the port is handing the program call as Nameless suggests (and again thanks Nameless - I'll try this for sure tonight) OR the dang thing is just toast and needs a rebuild from the PCB up if there is such a thing.

Any luck with getting your Cougar working again?

Nope. Still dead. Hoping someone would (or could) recommend one of the few remaining Cougar HOTAS refitters I should contact. Thanks for the followup.

Well, isn't this just troublesome?

Since you also happen to live in the same state, maybe we could meet up and figure things out with the help of my own Cougar, which still works.

...I can't believe I forgot to ask this. Do you see any unknown or driverless devices in the Device Manager? I saw some unknowns when my Cougar had an episode of acting up and thought to use a different USB port that way.

Gee thanks for the offer. May just take you up on it. I live in Marietta.

However, I am not sure at all if that would help though. There are no "unknown" drivers nor other Windows "device type" errors apparent. As a matter of fact, WIndows actually sees the Cougar device and just sends me to the Foxy Device Manager program when I click on "properties" just like its supposed to. So...it looks more like a part of the core Cougar firmware is not working properly. Since this issue happened mid-flash when my home power browned-out or failed, this makes me suspicious that something got trashed on the main Cougar PCB or some piece of data is damaged or corrupted in the OS of the Cougar joystick itself. Maybe the USB subroutines got trashed when my power went out. Who knows...

I have sent requests to Thrustmaster and to whoever is left at Cougarworld asking for help. The Thrustmaster guy started me at the beginning and asked me to reinstall everything and reconnect pr the manual. Did all that and got the same result. He has not answered my last three followup mails reporting my results. I figure he doesn't know anything either.

I was hoping that some great idea I hadn't thought of would quickly pop up in the Sim forums. So far, no bananas. Figure I now just need to send it off for repair. Will possibly do the latest Block 50 pressure sensitive stick update (eliminates all the springs in the handle and makes the stick just like the real F-16 cockpit stick) and redo all the pots in hte stick and the throttle. I think that's maybe $500 plus shipping. Still cheaper than the new Warthog stick. Know anyone who has one and likes it? Looks cool.

Marietta? That's actually pretty close, and my university's located there. I live in Dallas (no, not that one), but it's a short drive to Marietta.

Well, this is a bit of weirdness...then again, I've had similar weirdness before and managed to fix it just by using one of the front-panel USB ports to reflash. What gives? It helps if I have the hardware hands-on to tinker and experiment with, that's for sure.

Oh, and if you're looking for an F-16-style force-sensing stick mod, I'm selling my FCC-1. It's a good mod, most excellent for Falcon 4.0 and space "sims", but money's short right now. (But first, we'll have to figure out how to resuscitate your Cougar...)

I had the same issues with 3 brand new Cougars last June/July. I tried to install them on XP, Vista and Windows 7, tried to installed them on 5 different computers and nothing worked. I just bought a modded FCC2 Cougar off of a guy and I hope it works. It should be here on Nov 2nd.

Mine done it once, just wiped the fw (keep trigger oressed when you plug it) and software automatically reinstalled the fw on it. But uou have to in stall the cougar software in the correct way, google cougar w7 64 bit ( sorry i dont remember the correct addrees with the instructions). If still does not work yu coud gut the unit and put a leo bodnar's interface in place of the original elecronics.

Try to clear any residual Cougar programming/logical flags if any.

In Foxy, go to Cougar and in the drop down list try "HOTAS Cleanse" and then "Reset".

See if that gets you past the detection error.

plug_nickel