Think my Cougar's finally circling the drain...

but after ~9 years of use, I'm going to try everything necessary to keep it alive...

So here's what's going on...

a couple of months ago I got the error saying the cougar wasn't connected once the computer booted... which was odd, but OK... replugged the USB and it was detected but it said there was no firmware detected. (this was after many previous months of normal use with no changes to hardware/software prior to the problems)

so I flashed the firmware and everything was pretty much fine... everything functioned as it should... but subsequently every time I booted or rebooted the computer, the same thing would happen... "Device not connected" followed by "no firmware detected"

Thinking corrupted firmware may be the issue, I went through the HOTAS cleanse in Foxy and did full uninstalls/reinstalls of everything but the problem persisted.

so I set the coug aside for a month or two because, despite this new inconvenience, it still worked fine in the end.

but last night I tried to get it up and running again with the same firmware issues apparently lingering, but with the added PITA of none of the buttons on the stick working... all axes and throttle buttons work fine, but the stick buttons won't respond at all

so i went though the same crap all over again, erasing firmware, full uninstall/reinstalls... after that I resorted to my favorite passtime, tearing the cougar apart... after fiddling with it a bit I found that when I detach the stick handle from the base and touch the protruding contacts from the J4 PCB plug underneath the stick base's circuit board, all the stick buttons in the viewer light up (save the main hat) sometimes the same thing happened when not touching anything but moving the gimbal base around. When I attach the stick handle and touch the contacts, nothing happens except when I pull the trigger, at which point all buttons light up like they did with the handle detached.

So I worked that angle for a while, trying to find a combination of fiddling that would yield proper function so I could isolate the problem... but I couldn't get anywhere. I've visually and physically inspected all wiring and plugs in the stick base and the stick handle with nothing apparently out of place... which disappointed me because that'd been an easy fix.

Would've been good to cry to Cougar World about this but I dunno if they set up shop anywhere else... but if anyone here has any input, it'd be greatly appreciated.

The existing issues are
- non-detection on boot/ occasionally after flashing firmware
- firmware not detected on nearly every boot
- stick buttons completely non-functional (while all axes and throttle buttons work fine)

Cheers,

You proberly get some answer here otherwise you can try at http://frugalsrefugees.yuku.com/ Thera are the "Old guys" hanging out! IJ, Cubpilot mm

http://cougar.flyfoxy.com/

If none of the suggested sites help you you could consider a "Brain transplant" by using a BU0836a you will lose the programmability but at least you will still have a good working HOTAS system.

At least you can put in a link in your post so we know what you mean!

http://www.leobodnar.com/products/BU0836A/

Thanks for the input guys...

I was over at cougar world but everything there was pretty outdated so I left it behind...

didn't know about frugals refugees though... will try there when I get the chance...

cheers,