With a HOTAS set up that is...frankly next to impossible to do, you cant tie those things out of game since you need to make sure they work...well you can but it will make an already time consuming process monumentality longer when you add in all the load times.

I don't know about the memory limitation. The joystick panel is either going to launch or cause an out of memory error. A better theory would be the joystick control panel is accessing memory within Window 8 it shouldn't be accessing, or it's just more prone under Windows 8. But you did state the joystick does work on the Stratis map without any problems. Thing is, the joystick seems to work just fine here on Altis for sometimes up to 30 minutes before I notice any problems. More likely improperly initialized or improperly accessed variables within the C++ source code. The error with the joystick panel/module just quiting, is similar to a Segmentation Fault within Linux while accessing a bad memory location. It's likely though the excessive memory usage is simply provoking the issue.

@oukej - Can you PLEASE give us an update? This item has been on the list for a year now, that seems just bit unreasonable.

Has any one tried experimenting on a private network with others, to see if the issue of the joystick controller occurs in multiplay ? Some gamers on Steam also have issues with a controller playing Super Hexagon and Race The Sun. They claim it is a steam problem as they have experimented on a private network and the controllers worked in multiplay.

Fyrd Judge: That's inaccurate information. If you've read the previous past history of this issue; I think we're clearly indicating this disconnect problem occurs within both, the Editor and Multi-player.

Seeing the joystick input disconnect problem resolve when playing on a local server would somewhat surprise me, as cannot think how simple packets would cause a hardware failure, unless there's some really well defined global variables!

I'd suggest retesting. Once you have the first-hand proof/results then post that.

So is there any update that you can give us Oukej?

Played breaking point yesterday, joysticks weren't recognised. So no.

How could this happen? this game has been out for how long now?

September 12, 2013
ARMA 3, Initial release date

Windows 8.1. October 17, 2013, almost a year after the retail release of its predecessor.

this is a very poor reason to not have joysticks working in this game. this game is for pc.

So for 3 years there has been no updates to this game for vehicle controllers?

My guess is it will never happen!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I paid about $200.00 dollars on a controller and another $90.00 for this game A MINIMUM OF $290.00, and i cant fly a copter?

T E R R I B L E ! ! ! !

trackerir is on mine as well and i never use one nor did i even know what it was till this post. so maybe your right. i am going to try and delete my trackerir in game controls and lets see.

okay, small update from me, i needed to reinstall my entire system, and so far, it seems to have fixed the joystick error, though its not a viable solution, it worked for me, so far i have accessed it 10 times, without loosing it, and for some reason, i previously had a trackIR under controlers, even though i have never used one, so might be something with that, if anyone else has it.

just a thought.

Yeah, TrackIR is NEVER lost. Maybe that means something?

Thanks for the quick post and information!

I know some are going to be really disappointed, but at least they can be thankful and know this issue is a priority and that they're not left guessing whether joysticks within Windows 8 work or don't work within the next update.

(Also saved me from wasting time downloading, if I did get around to testing!)

I am really sorry to disappoint you, but the next stable patch won't contain a fix to this issue :/

I have the same issue.

Windows 8.1
TrackIR
TM HOTAS Warthog Throttle & Stick

Upon entering the controls screen from the pause menu the TM devices are being lost. TrackIR is however always present.

I also disabled "Turn off usb devices" from the energy profile, but it didnt make a difference.

I Never had this issue... until yesterday... during a public mission on some random server. I went to change a control... my x52 stopped working.

I went to options, controls and it was not there.!!

I went so far as to delete my profile file. and start from scratch. no dice

problem persists..

the controller is recognized when i enter public missions but after a crash and a respawn the controller dissipears ill get an rpt of it hosted asap

If you have faster Internet than I, then download and test this issue on the RC release. RC is the next patch due out.

(Ref: http://dev.arma3.com/post/sitrep-00095)

1. Open the game properties,
2. On the Betas/Updates menu, enter the code Arma3Update140RC
3. Automatic downloading of the 4-8GB will start within a short time.

I'm not sure if I'll get a chance to test this issue on my Windows 8 box, as I currently use Windows 7 and further testing this on Windows 8 requires downloading another 4-8 GB.

Hello, I bought Arma Alpha the first day of his release out on Windows 8.1 and I have never had the slightest problem with the x52 pro.

I reinstall Arma 3 After a break of a few months (4-5) And now I have the same problem as everybody

I beg you help us please.

Windows 8.1
x52 Pro
No track ir, no Controller 360 or G2X

This problem is back for me. I have a saitek x52pro.
Played for a few hours today, with no problems, then my joystick suddenly dc'd on me. I tried reinstalling drivers, to no avail. I can no longer play.

I boot arma, and the joystick is recognised, with all imputs showing up correctly. However the minute i boot up a mission or an editor preview, arma no longer sees the joystick, or the joystick inputs. It still sees its mouse emulation, though. The mouse scroll on the throttle still registers.

I am also on 8.1x64.

cant wait to fly again yay

Yep, it is borked for good, i can no longer fly in arma 3. If i load a mission, the controls dont work, and I get one chance to look at controller inputs, whether in game or at the menu. They are detected properly. Then, if i check again, controllers are no longer recognised, with the exception of track ir. Both the CH pedals and the x52 are gone.
I'll try reinstalling arma and reporting back.

Dammit, i really wanted to fly this week.

For whatever reason, I'm not able to reproduce this issue. The only change that I have made recently was to add a Logitch G13 to my lineup (TM Hotas X, Track IR, G13). I will try and confirm later.

I use a Logitech F310 in SP Editor and I find this an issue. I will be doing fine as long as never go back to the main menu. The moment I go back to the main menu I get disconnected for some weird reason.

naveenakshatra: If I'm not mistaken, the axis won't fail until you go into the configuration menu by some fluke or phase of the moon, but the buttons will fail long before. (I think I see the previous drama with the Saitek X52 Pro joystick.)

@oukej:

This is good news, we hope a fix soon!

What concretely misses you to fix this bug?

Uhh, I am sorry that I've forgotten to change the status.

You've provided us will all the feedback we needed and we're grateful for that!
Our programmers are trying to find a solution / workaround to why Win8 return nothing when asked about controllers under certain circumstances.

Rogerx: I understand your point.

To be clear, me mapping the PTT button was simply a troubleshooting step. I should have noted, very explicitly, that anytime I could get my PTT button to work was an indication that my controls were working correctly (which I did indeed verify).

I also noted MP in my write-up because that's the only way I've tested things, personally. I have not done any testing in SP.

Hajimoto: As oukej notes, there is a workaround so you can keep flying:
-Only modify your controller mapping from the main menu, right as you start ARMA 3. So long as you don't enter the controls menu after you've started a mission, you should be fine (Note I've only tested this in MP). It's mildly inconvenient, but I've been having good luck with it.

This has worked successfully for me for 3 days now, for a couple of hours a day. (Is my experience unique? Can someone confirm this workaround works regularly for them also?)

A troubleshooting note: To be very clear, I can get my controller to drop out 100% of the time by entering the controls menu while in a MP session.

oukej: Thanks oukej for the much needed update on this proven critical bug!

I think most of us understand the sometimes unique dynamics required for reproducing some tricky bugs, similar to the last post for reproducing this bug. Glad to hear this bug is known and is in the process of being fixed.

I can only imagine how many are suffering with this bug, with no fallback to Winodws 7 possible for many! And due to this possible popularity, I speculate or hope there might be a quick patch released sometime soon to address this bug. As for me, fortunately I have Windows 7 and able to avoid this bug.

Maybe we can get an update within the summary, stating that the only known work around is to fall back to Windows 7? (ie. WORK AROUND: Only known work around is to fall back to using Windows 7) Make sure to use caps, else people will easily over-look any possible work around.

oukej:
What concretely misses you to fix this bug?
Make us a list of items they need you (Video, Logs, ...)
This becomes long and annoying.

oukej:
Please remember that sometimes this will disappear mid game, including other controllers such as driving wheels and pedals. Initially we only discovered the guaranteed effect of accessing the controller menu afterwards when we went searching for the reason or tried to map controls.
This happened shortly after one of the updates in September (5 months ago), I assume you guys have gone back to those updates to see what functions were changed?

Fat_Lurch: The only problem with the above report, developers may falsely believe the mulitplayer or push to talk button to blame!

The repro actually helped to reproduce it more reliably :) (actually mapping a button in the process & using that mapped button) The repro steps may lead to some assumptions, but debugging the code is what really shows where the problem is. The most important is to have reliable steps to trigger the bug.

Please give an update

Currently we have some technical issues with debugging this on Win 8.1, but we still aim to fix this bugger asap.
For now I'd recommend just not entering the Controls mapping outside of the main menu. Because of that I also wanted to make sure the controls don't disappear in the middle of the game.

We're sorry about the inconvenience :/

Hi, I have some specific symptoms relating to this issue that I'd like to share:

Background: I've tried all the proposed fixes: regedit power setting fixes, USB 2 & USB 3 ports, power management tweaks, driver reinstallations, latest BIOS and latest Mobo drivers, etc. I've also tried enabling and disabling various USB features in my BIOS. These are "Legacy USB support", "Legacy USB 3.0 Support" and "EHCI hand-off".

None of these methods appeared to have any impact on the frequency or regularity of my joystick becoming un-recognized by ARMA. For reference, I'm using an ASUS P9X79 Pro mobo. The USB for my Saitek X55 stick and throttle are plugged into the mobo USB ports (again, I've tried USB 2 and USB 3 with no apparent impact).

I'm running Windows 8.1 with all the latest prescribed and optional Windows updates.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now for a *slight* bit of progress: I've noticed some specific behavior that I didn't see listed above. I apologize if people knew this and I missed it:

In order to troubleshoot this a bit, I mapped my radio PTT to a button on my joystick.

During all testing, I can go into my configuration>controller settings before starting a mission without issue. I can see the throttle and stick in the controller list, and I can assign keybinds to the buttons.

If I go to my MP server and push the PTT button, I see the text indication that I'm transmitting. The PTT button being functional correlated to my controls being correctly functional during each test.

This is true during loading screens where VON works, and once the session actually loads.

If I go to Configuration>Controller anytime after the mission starts, my joystick and throttle disappear from the controller list and become non-functional.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Here are the succinct steps to reproduce what I'm seeing:

1. Start ARMA 3
2. (Before starting a MP mission) Go to Configuration>Controllers and observe joystick/throttle listed in directory
3. In configuration, keybind something on the joystick to act as the VON PTT
4. Load a MP scenario (I've been loading into a dedicated server only. I have not tested this behavior in SP)
5. Press previously mapped PTT button (expected behavior based on what I've seen is correct function of VON PTT). This indicates controls are functioning correctly. You can fly an aircraft to verify. (The PTT check is just "quicker")
6. Go to configuration>controls. Expected behavior based on my experience is you will no longer see your joystick/throttle in the controller list.
7. After exiting configuration options, joystick is no longer responsive (PTT or otherwise).

Another note: Once I load into a MP scenario, I've let ARMA sit for about 30 minutes without seeing a loss in my noted PTT behavior above (IE my controller still seems to work). Note that I did not go to my configuration options nor get in a vehicle.

UPDATE: I just flew around in various helicopters for about an hour, crashed/died a few times and my controls worked fine until I went into configuration>controls. The moment I did, my joystick stopped functioning.

I hope this helps! Thank you BIS for helping un-futz this problem!

Fat_Lurch: The only problem with the above report, developers may falsely believe the mulitplayer or push to talk button to blame!

Probably re-edit and repost; just including the more normal joystick functions such as, just using an axis or common joystick button, omitting excessive details such as "using multiplayer" or PTT function. Nice write-up.

@oukej
Please give an update. Understand that this issue forces HOTAS users to completely abandon thier rather expensive equipment and remain a ground pounder. It also renders the Helicopters DLC useless as well. If your team is stalling for the release of Windows 10 or you feel it is a Microsoft issue, please state it so we can move on.

ph0enX: But if you say you're having no more problems with this bug and ARMA 3 within Windows 10, that would rationally resolve this bug to having something to do within Windows 8, or Windows 10 reverted to Windows 7 behavior, or Windows 8 is unique with it's handling of devices requiring software developers to temporarily adapt some code for proper handling.

Really need to diff some log files!

It seems that it has something to do with ARMA used on Win8/8.1

I upradet to Win 10 Technical Preview, and have no problems anymore.

Using it since a month

@oukej

Do you have news about solving this very annoying bug?

I've noticed another behavior which hasn't been noted anywhere above: after my joystick disappears, I can often make it re-appear by going into Configuration>Video and switching between fullscreen and windowed (or using Alt+Enter). I've also had it reappear coincidentally when I changed other settings (like cycling between Low and Ultra on the texture setting). It's not 100% reliable, but it looks like making the (rendering engine?) restart allows the game to successfully refresh the available devices.

In case it makes any difference: running Windows 8.1 and a MadCatz FLY 5. Mainboard is an Asrock Z77 Extreme 4, and I even got a discrete USB controller in the hopes of it helping the issue (Inateck USB3.0 w/ 2x USB3.0 and 1x 19-pin internal)

Edit: Is it not possible to continuously poll for new controllers? It sounds like that would at least help to mitigate this issue.

I think the reason why devices are not continually polled after execution of the program, the program likely configures key bindings only once while starting. If the device is then reconnected, bindings are still lost? But this is just guess work.

For verification, I've never seen a device randomly reappear after the program lost the device. And to make sure this bug didn't have something to do with connecting the joystick into a powered hub on a computer display/monitor, I connected the joystick to the main motherboard with the bug still appearing. (Granted, I forgot to recheck power management settings within the Device Manager. To much time wasted on a bug with no developer activity, and troubleshooting on Linux is much easier!)

Anyways, I hope you guys whom recently purchased a computer and got stuck with Windows 8 with no hopes of using or falling back to Windows 7 the best of luck with this bug! As I've already stated, this bug should likely be listed as critical.

I have exactly the same problem with my Logitech Extreme 3D PRO, you have everything you need to move forward on the subject?

Otherwise tell us what they are missing we can give you the information and this can be fixed!

Running Win 8.1.

T. Flight Hotas X, randomly disappears when opening controller config. Loses settings etc. all of the above

I can reproduce this issue pretty much consistently with my rudder pedals.

Running Win 8.1.

What do you need to troubleshoot this issue.

To answer the developer questions. Unplugging the joystick makes no difference, Arma3 has never picked up joysticks un/plugged in while running, currently or in the past, I double checked. Definitely makes the game unplayable. Zero issue in DCS wold or Elit Dangerous.

@armatech Ahh, sorry man. That's a bummer.

@rogerx Yeah sorry I am on 8.1, probably should have specified. I have also previously disabled all of that power stuff. Like most of the people here I have been scouring for months looking for answers to this so I had definitely already tried everything I could find lol. The "fix" I posted wasn't something I came up with. I just saw it was posted recently somewhere else and figured it wouldn't hurt to try. It's somehow *still* working for me after another few hours online... good luck with it.

kadams587: I can pretty much confirm with absolute confidence that the work-around you describe would be something for averting power management from occurring on the USB bus/devices. I tried the work-around only to find my joystick there completely configured within the ARMA 3 configure menus, and then almost immediately disconnected several seconds later. I also disabled TrackIR here temporarily to see if there was a conflict, but still got the joystick disconnect bug.

Seems some of the people here are;

1. Plagued by problems with power management or a lack of knowledge how to disable USB power management,
2. Others maybe plagued by inadvertent USB power management issues even with USB power management disabled,
3. And others like myself with a much more severe problem of their controllers inadvertently and completely being disconnected in game within seconds of joining while using Windows 8.1.

Along with disabling USB Power Management, make sure the powercfg.cpl is set to Extreme Performance with all power management options disabled or h/w set to maximum performance.

Looks like I'm definitely going to be using Windows 7 for awhile here!

Additional: I also just ruled-out switching to 3rd person view. The bug seems to be occurring quickly and without any specific pattern. I'll switch over to Windows 7 because I do not see this bug on Windows 7 at all.

kadams587: Your simple solution would seem to indicate you haven't disabled Power Management for each of your USB Root and USB joystick devices within the Device Manager, including disabling power management of USB devices within the advanced settings of the powercfg.cpl. No matter, I'll try your simple solution a little later on but suspect I'll still see an inadvertent silent joystick disconnect within Windows 8.1 here. Also, you indicate you're running Windows 8, and not Windows 8.1.

2015.01.12 14:10 UTC kadams587: Good to hear. But be aware I've seen some activity that looks extremely promising only to see the joystick later still disconnect for some odd reason. I'm wondering if installing a USB device later triggers it, reverting some power management settings for all USB root and USB devices. But still I again ensure USB power management by again activating/deactivating and the bug still persists. Will try your work-around myself a littler later on. I'd also suggest using ARMA 3's "windowed mode" with the joystick panel open alongside if the disconnect still continues to see if the Windows' joystick configuration panel also senses a joystick disconnect.

@kadams587 this workaround did not work for me

I just finished testing a "work-around" for the Windows 8 Arma 3 joystick drop. I found a post on another forum and I saw someone posted a really stupidly simple solution that worked for them. Seeing as this has been a problem for me for SO long I tried it out in desperation.

The "fix"- Control Panel> 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 while you play.

I know it seems really dumb.. but for whatever reason this actually worked for me. No joystick dropping, even in a multiplayer game and even after being killed and repeatedly opening the config menu to check the controller's state. I was in game for around 45 minutes without experiencing any issues what so ever.

I suggest all of you try this, seeing as it's so simple and I can verify it has worked for someone who has tried ALL the other "fixes".

I've been following this report closely as this is also a huge issue for me. I have a Logitech 3d Pro. The joystick, a wireless mouse and a usb powered headset are the only things in the usb ports (no second controller). Just an interesting discovery that I just made is that when I run the game in windows 7 compatability mode (from my native windows 8.1), the joystick disconnects immediately upon entering a multiplayer game. Whereas just running it on 8.1, I can play with it, but if I go into the "controls" menu a few times, it disappears. The only way to get it back is to restart Arma. I will try it in compatability for XP as well.

This bug reappeared on my ARMA 3 last night again after installing a USB to Serial connector. And even after going into the Device Manager > View Devices by Connection and ensuring Power Management was turned off for each USB device within the tree view including the Saitek joystick, this bug still is present.

I even went into the Registry (ie. regedit.exe) and found the appropriate "Device Parameters" entry for the Saitek joystick and disabled the EnhancedPowerManagementEnabled option. (I also noticed DeviceSelectiveSuspend was still enabled for the device, but this too was also still enabled within the MSDN blogs.msdn.com article write-up concerning a possible solution.)

Windows 8.1 here is almost completely unusable with this bug being present. I'd readily conclude that Windows O/S is disconnecting the joystick due to a power management policy, but the only way to be positive it is not ARMA causing the issue, ARMA needs to show debug output showing that Windows O/S is issuing the disconnect! SUCH A SIMPLE BUG, which would be extremely easily shown within a Linux based O/S within seconds by just grepping the /var/log/messages file! (What more can one say politely, other than somebody is asleep at the controls with this bug?) Easy bug, easy bug, way to easy of a bug to solve...

I also have to further check if running the Saitek Joystick Profiler software, keeps the USB joystick seen as active and from being disconnected during this possible Windows O/S aggressive power management problem.

2015.01.11 17:57 UTC I have an instance of ARMA 3 running with an aircraft on the runway. Checking the joystick every so often after an hour or so of the executable running shows the joystick has yet to be disconnected automatically. The only thing I've done differently from yesterday, re-ticked the powercfg.cpl option to disable power management for USB devices. This maybe starting to look more like the ARMA 3 executable might have a bug where multiple controllers are throwing the executable data it cannot handle properly, or the inclusion of having a TrackIR device also being connected. No Saitek Profiler is running aside from the usual Saitek Direct Input layer.

2015.01.11 21:38 UTC After having the aircraft sit on the runway without any loss of the joystick, decided to fly around with and without the TrackIR connected. The joystick did not seem or appear to lose connectivity until the last time I landed and then ejected out of the aircraft. On eject, checked the controls and noticed the joystick was gone. Also noticed the graphics slowing down, so open the resource monitor and noticed likely a GPU (Graphics Processor)run was now occurring! Is it possible the Saitek DirectInput could be causing this? This bug needs escalation for Windows 8.1!

2015.01.12 02:44 UTC Even with the Saitek Profiler running in the taskbar of Windows 8.1, everything will look fine with all controls working during flight, but after sometime while flying, going into the ARMA 3 Configure Controller settings you'll be pleasantly surprised to see no joystick settings are there and returning back into the game you're inevitably knowing to be presented with no flight control input from the joystick. You are then having to hopefully fly gracefully using keyboard controls only! Shrugs. About the only other thing I can do is fly with all debug settings set to on at this point.

2015.01.12 02:53 UTC Tried using debug settings with logging, and this bug became present before even starting the engine of the helicopter! Shrugs. This sounds like an ARMA 3 bug and not the O/S Power Management. Guess I'm going back to Windows 7.

I have the same problem here using Windows 8.1 (with TrackIR) and a Saitek X52 Pro. Sometime during the beginning of the game usually while flying a helicopter during the beginning of a flight, the Saitek joystick controller will disappear from Arma 3 while the controller is plainly visible by the operating system.

Checked and unchecked USB power savings within the Advanced Options of the powercfg.cpl (which seems to also automatically uncheck/disable power saving options from all USB root hubs within the device manager now) and the problem still persists! The controller that the joystick is connect to is a "Intel(R) 7 Series/C216 Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller - 1E26". Oddly even though all other devices had power savings disabled/unchecked, upon checking the "Saitek X52 Pro Flight Controller (USB)" device showed it itself had power savings enabled for some odd reason!

ADDITIONAL NOTE: Under Windows 8/8.1, joystick usage is basically inoperable currently, which should escalate this bug as being critical. Developers likely need to run this game within debug mode along with tracing Windows 8/8.1 debug output, to find out where their code is breaking or Windows is issuing a disconnect at sometime. Shouldn't be that hard to do, as I perform similar within Linux all the time -- of course all debug logs are readily at my finger tips within Linux or at stdout! (Thank God I still have Windows 7 installed, so I can easily dual boot into another O/S!)

FIXED HERE:

1. Disable Power Saving under Advanced Options within powercfg.cpl, which tends to automatically disable/uncheck power saving options for all USB Root Hubs under the Device Manager.

2. Open the Device Manager (or devmgmt.msc), and likely expand HID device types. Find your joystick and disable power management options within it's device properties.

I have been flying the helicopter with my flight controller or joystick without any problems of the device disconnecting for about 30 minutes.

The rational for this is Windows 8/8.1 likely has aggressive power saving options enabled by default, and only knows how to enable/disable power saving for root hubs.

Dev's I have to say I have been without my 2000+ hour game for quite sometime now and think this needs to be addressed and corrected. This has been OPEN without any update for far too long guys.

Same issue, only on altis map, X52 Pro appears and works after about 2-3 hours of gameplay.
This needs to be fixed as it's the most common controler of my gameplay.

X55 and T 1600m in windows 8, both drop out, when trying to open configure controls menu. Of note controls won't open after respawn and I have to return to game and try to access controls before the menu will open at which point the joystick is lost. At times at random but especially after respawn. Have disabled all power management options via control panel and registry.

Fixed my issue with Joystick - Logitech Extreme 3D in Windows 7 64 bit. All my joystick settings were wiped out from the recent ARMA3 update. I just added them again, and it's all good now. Hope this works for you as well.

A little Update on this one!

Yestarday I reinstalled the OS of my computer. Because of ARMA being installed on C:\ (instead of my standard STEAM folder on E:\) I also redownloaded ARMA.

I think it has something to do with ARMA on Windows 8/8.1, because the OS I installed was Windows 10 Technical Preview.

With Win10TP I had no problem for at least 2 hours on a french Wasteland Server.

From time to time I checked my "settings>Controllers" menu, and my Controllers, a Saitek X52 Pro, Saitek Rudder Pedals, Logitech G25 Wheel haven't disappeared.

Many of my friends who have Win7 installed have no problem, and many here in this thread report, that they have Win 8/8.1 installed I think it has something to do with that.

I dunno if you have read the thread, but it is not the problem, that there are the settings wiped. The problem is, that the Controllers disappear in the settings when you enter them in a Multiplayer game.

By the way, it also robs the Logitech G27 Wheel & Pedals, so have to revert to driving with keyboard.

in each dxdiag report there is directinput device from logitech (first have logitech headset, with has button, so its also controller).

Is there anyone running win8.x and not having this issue ? do you have logitech device ?

Do you have windows defender, EMET running.

For me happens also when NOT going to controllers menu at all, only menu (to hit respawn)

For what its worth.

While it will occasionally happen in Single player / editor mode restarting fixes this. (for me)

However When in a MP match This issue happens for me repeatedly in 2 places.

1. When ever the game is paused to bring up control settings
2. When I die.

Win 8.1 64bit, X-55 Stick and HOTAS and Rudder Pedals - All Saitek, TrackIR-5
I have power saving disabled on everything.

Also I will note that TrackIR never has this problem although sometimes its disabled initially when joining and I have to re-enable it.

The joystick remains in game constantly. It just disappears the moment I open controller config. Would also be more than happy to give remote access to my pc in order to help sort this out

Hi oukej thanks for replying, I am sorry I haven't been able to test this of late, so I am doing so now.
oukej:Let's sum up what we have so far (please correct me if I'm wrong)

• happens only in Win8/8.1

I only have this OS so can't confirm

• happens only when opening configure/controls from the ingame pause menu (has the controller loss happened to anyone when just playing?)

Has dropped out mid flight once to my knowledge, it also happens playing games where I might pilot a plane then jump into a helo

• happens only if the scenario is on Altis (strangest point - could it lead towards RAM available?)### Negative, I have a separate screen showing ram and cpu usage and none showed any spikes at this time.

Happened just now on Editor map Stratis, lone helo, 2 crew, but I did go into the menu just to check. Quit game, launched Editor map VR, lone helo, 2 crew, no controls. Unplugged controls, waited 10mins, reconnected. Did not reappear immediately, waited 10mins, still did not reappear. Restarted game entirely, Same VR map, flew, landed, checked controls which were still there. Tried again, whilst flying I checked controls which, again, were still present.

• disabling the Enhanced Power Management in Device Manager && in the registry for all affected devices does not help (does it at least reduce the probability?)

Not applied, previous message said that BIS would correct issue. Hope this helps

Not sure if it is relevant, but my TrackIR 5 never disappears. Only my TM Hotas X.

any news on this one? IE is it being worked on if you can't repo it ill give BIS remote desktop to my pc so you can look at the issue first hand

Unfortunately the same is happening with me as well, really glad you're still looking into it though.

Have the same problem as all here. Using X55 and Razer Nostromo + Deathadder.

Launching the game all controllers gets detected. Going into a game, and looking into controllers all are gone. This happens every time.

If I do nothing I can use the x55, but if i go into the controller menu during a game the x55 setup stops working (also all controllers are gone in the config menu).

This has happened every time I launch the game.

Win 8.1 64bit, Saitek X55, Razer Nostromo & Razer DeathAdder.
I have diabled powersaving on the X55 stuff, but it did not help.

Addendum: I just had a mission where the controllers were there. I check about 2 seconds after starting the mission. I died, respawned and check again. All my controllers were gone.

Note that many times I checked one or two seconds after starting the mission and they were already gone so it seems a little variable.

Here is my init section for the above mission:

23:20:34 DX11 - Initializing DX11 engine.
23:20:34 DX11 - Using DXGI adapter 0 (detected in config).
23:20:34 DX11 - Using DXGI adapter 0.
23:20:34 - adapter description : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780
23:20:34 - adapter vendor ID : 4318
23:20:34 - adapter device ID : 4100
23:20:34 - adapter subsys ID : 268701872
23:20:34 - adapter revision : 161
23:20:34 - dedicated video memory : 3106713600
23:20:34 - dedicated system memory : 0
23:20:34 - shared system memory : 1188188160
23:20:34 Error: JoystickDevices - CoInitilizeEx return 80010106
23:20:34 Detected Joystick: Saitek Pro Flight Rudder Pedals
23:20:34 0 ... Left Toe [1,30]
23:20:34 1 ... Right Toe [1,31]
23:20:34 5 ... Rudder [1,35]
23:20:34 Invalid Joystick Axis!
23:20:34 type=602 (6), dwOfs=24, name=Move Up/Down
23:20:34 GUID = a36d02f3, c9f3, 11cf, ...
23:20:34 wUsagePage = 5, wUsage = 26
23:20:34 Invalid Joystick Axis!
23:20:34 type=702 (7), dwOfs=28, name=Move Right/Left
23:20:34 GUID = a36d02f3, c9f3, 11cf, ...
23:20:34 wUsagePage = 5, wUsage = 24
23:20:34 Detected Joystick: Saitek Pro Flight X-55 Rhino Throttle
23:20:34 0 ... X Axis [1,30]
23:20:34 1 ... Y Axis [1,31]
23:20:34 2 ... Z Axis [1,32]
23:20:34 3 ... X Rotation [1,33]
23:20:34 4 ... Y Rotation [1,34]
23:20:34 5 ... Z Rotation [1,35]
23:20:34 Detected Joystick: Saitek Pro Flight X-55 Rhino Stick
23:20:34 0 ... X Axis [1,30]
23:20:34 1 ... Y Axis [1,31]
23:20:34 5 ... Z Rotation [1,35]

It happens whenever you open the configuration anytime there is a mission running, regardless if it is single or multiplayer. The only place it doesn't happen is in the editor or main menu. I haven't experienced a controller drop in MP or a SP mission unless I open the controls configuration.

Correct

SP

1. Load my game
2. Load editor
3. Put down a chopper
4. Fly with joystick
5. Check settings all there and working

MP

1. Load my game
2. Load an MP mission
3. Get in a chopper
4. Fly with joystick nothing happens
5. Check settings everything has vanished

Unplugging and replugging didn't help. I have 16gb of ram though Arma is a 32 bit game so can't use much of that anyway. I tried a 4gb mem fix but that didn't seem to help.

I tried it without the flags (no splash, empty world, HT, etc) and on several occasions either all my devices actually worked (I thought I might have been onto something) properly in game or a subset. EG: a couple of times my peddles were there though the throttle and stick were missing. But couldn't find a reproducible case.

I could have sworn I couldn't get it to work at all before but at the moment all my devices stay in game about 1 in 10 game reloads.

Hello oukej.

All summer up points are correct.

I also tried your last mentioned step. Unfortunately it didn't work. :(

@ armatech - so it disappears in MP just by launching it, even without going into configure/controls?

Let me assure you it wasn't abandoned and it's definitely been among the high prio issues we're on.

However, even with the same setups as you have we're unable to reproduce the issue in 100% cases. (With mentioned steps - Opening the controllers from main menu, launching an Altis scenario and opening the controllers from pause menu)

It may require a change in how the controllers are acquired by the engine (Every time you open game options the engine "re-checks" the available controllers. For some reason it can fail.)

Let's sum up what we have so far (please correct me if I'm wrong)

• happens only in Win8/8.1
• happens only when opening configure/controls from the ingame pause menu (has the controller loss happened to anyone when just playing?)
• happens only if the scenario is on Altis (strangest point - could it lead towards RAM available?)
• disabling the Enhanced Power Management in Device Manager && in the registry for all affected devices does not help (does it at least reduce the probability?)

One more thing I'd like to ask you to try is unplugging the device, plugging it in and opening the configuration/controls again to see if the devices re-appear even without restarting the game.

Thanks a lot for your help. I'm sorry that fixing this issue takes so long.

for me what is strange is i'm only affected in MP i can use my stick perfectly fine in SP in the editor it even shows up in the options and i can open close it as much as i wish but as soon as i go into MP my stick vanishes from any ingame menus and simple does not work.
I've tried all ove the above steps with the usb power management and so on with no luck at all.
if there is anything i can do to help you pin point the issue please let me know as i would really love to fly again in arma without using my mouse and keys

yer would like to see this fixed also its crap to have rotor lib and no joystick due to this bug

Yeah seems This issue has been abandoned

Oukej,

Can we have an update please? No reply since 30Sep14 is not reassuring

Same issue, Logitech Extreme 3D, Windows 8 64 Bit!!!

Same issue on Altis wasteland using Thrustmaster T-Flight HOTAS X. Similar workflow as others if not exactly the same flying a heli. Open and modify config and save. Controller no longer recognized in game.

Fresh install Win 8.1. Forgot to set up any configs prior to joining a multi-player game. Once in the game, the TM Hotax X was not listed. Back out, restart Arma 3, set some basic configs, then join MP game. Hotax X is now listed. Still can't change anything while in MP game or controller disappears, but I thought it was strange that it didn't show up at all if there were no configs assigned to it.

Same issue here with Logitech Extreme 3D.

Bought joystick yesterday, when to single player training and map controls, learned to fly and got hype. Went on Altis life and spent a bunch of in game currency to pull out a chopper and nothing happened. When I open the controls, there is no joystick detected.

Next time I logged in I opened controls and it was there, but I am afraid to spend Altis Life or KOTH money to take out a chopper and it doesn't work.

I can confirm that the bug affects my controllers in the Altis Map, but NOT the Stratis Map.

Happens in both singleplayer and multiplayer.

Checked and in both the System settings (Device manager) and BIOS the option is set to disable. Does not change anything. Thanks though

@Pesoen and JCae2798 could you please test if turning off the EnhancedPowerManagement of the USB device. Can help you?

@Cptkeys
We have currently to issues in the report,causing the same result of disapearing input devices.

1 EnhancedPowerManagement causing the issue on any map
2 Somekind of Altis loading issue killing the device detection of ArmA III

@LtStan cant do that right now, as it cannot start at the moment, due to an unknown error, from the latest update, but im trying everyday, in hopes that it works eventually.

but i know that the enhanced power management of the usb is set to disabled, since its a gaming computer, i dont want the usb to suddenly die on my.

Agreed, it happens on all official and unofficial maps. As long as a mission is running, going into the config causes the controller to disappear until the game is restarted...

@LtStan @Hajimoto
I looked through the thread before posting my fix i found, and no one had the same way of fixing. other posts were in the registry.
@LtStan it isnt just one map as stated by Pesoen and JCae2798

in my case, it happens on stratis, as im not quite familiar with altis yet, so i tend to make small scenarios on stratis to play around with, which is where it happens for me, but it also happens on altis, as i have played the premade scenarios for CAS and it still happens.

so in my case at least, it happens on any map.

This is still happening...

UPDATE: I have confirmed earlier reports of this issue only happening in missions on the the map ALTIS. This issue does not happen on missions on STRATIS.

As a test perimeter I used our community dedicated Arma3 Server and cued up Missions on both maps. Consistantly (100%) of the time the ALTIS missions cause the X-52 or any other HOTAS configuration to disappear.

Same issue here with the Logitech extreme 3d pro. When i go into config the joystick stops working and no longer recognized. restarting game restores. This is happening in SP missions also.

wins 8.1 x64 bit
no other controllers connected
stable build

Same issue here with Thrustmaster T-Flight HOTAS X. From the looks of the is ticket they aint to worried about it. Problem has been around for months and now no reply from Devo's since September. No fix soon and I will demand a refund for all purchases.

@cpt_keys - Your issue is not related to the issue that input devices disapear when running a Altis map, but when running Straitis all works flawless, please read the input of other users.

same issue here, with an old Cybord 3D II USB, though game currently not working for me, so no way to report it as an error.

@cpt_keys - Earlier there were posts that detail the exact same procedure. I went through all of the USB disable power management procedures and still have the issue.
The X-52 does not disappear right away, but after taking a Helicopter up for a few mins the X-52 disappeared from the the controller list. I quickly ALT-TABBED to Windows and checked to see if the joystick was detected and operational in Devices and Printers and it was working as expected. ALT-TAB back into ARMA3, controller still missing.
I am not saying anything new or in addition to my previous post, I just want you to know that the steps that you list did not work for me.

There are I think three controller issues raised in this thread. The USB power issue in Windows 8 and 8.1 addresses one of them. Note that you only applied half of the USB power fix. To fully disable it requires registry editing (there is a Microsoft tech note detailing the keys). And, while it fixed a sort of similar issue for me in Elite it didn't help ARMA.

The fact that it always works in the main menu but always disappears in game and that the problem doesn't appear if I use Stratis can't be attributed to USB power.

im now able to have my saitek x52, xbox controller and trackir all running at once now, before it was one or the other with the issue. i think its with arma polling the usb ports when you open controls which resets the connections. the reg edit didnt work for me. this did, so give it a go if you can and report back please?

I am also experiencing this. Same as the others, disappearing joystick and controls upon opening the configure menu in a multiplayer game. It does seem to work okay in the editor with the occasional disconnect, but if you don't mess with the configuration menu there seems to be no issue.

Something I noticed that no one else mentioned; this bug is not only disconnecting the joystick and resetting the keybindings, I'm positive it's also resetting the sound configuration levels. I would only assume it's temporarily resetting everything to defaults.

I'm not any kind of computer whiz, but maybe it's helpful for me to share.

Windows8.1 64

found a ""fix"".
Push Windows Key,
Type Device Manager.
Click View, Devices by type.
Expand Universal Serial Bus controllers > Right click EACH DEVICE > Open the Power Management tab (if there isnt one, go to the next device) > Untick "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power", click ok > move to next one.

Then do the same for "Human Interface Devices", "Keyboards" and "Mice and other pointing devices"

this has fixed this issue and more for me. my keyboard used to keep turning off when i plugged a usb drive into my hub. all fixed now cause of this.

BTW I am using Start8 for the windows 7 style menu, but still opens the same thing
Image Tutorial: First 2 are same thing, but second one is for people who dont have Start8 or other programs that add the windows 7 start menu back into windows 8/8.1
https://www.dropbox.com/s/9cinb5ayk7wq8lp/Pic1.png?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/rl04zm2bs4y1kdz/Pic1-1.png?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4osa67v2rttmcy0/Pic2.png?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/pt68ttxnuiju24b/Pic3.bmp?dl=0

same issue for me also works find in SP but when joining a direct ip server it stops working

Issue for me too, windows 8.1.

i have x52 saitek hotas and i lose all settings when ingame, on main menu its all fine.

i use track ir too.