X3TC w Saitek-X52 Pro won't start & no Ctrl-Alt-Del - Probable fix, stuck control.

[bschor]

I recently installed X3:TC on a Windows 7 PC. I also have a Saitek-X52 Pro that I wanted to use as a controller for this game.

Reading the X3 and Saitek forums, I finally figured out "how to" program the thing properly (I hope to write it up and submit it here). For about two weeks, I've been playing the Terran Defender mission, and had just saved up enough to buy my first Transport Ship and begin trading.

Yesterday morning, I made my first "sale", then quit the game. When I came back that afternoon to resume play, I could not get X3 to start! I'd double-click the icon on the desktop, see the Win-7 "Wait" symbol for a few seconds, then just see my desktop. I also found I could not run anything else at that time -- even Ctrl-Alt-Del did nothing, forcing me to power off my PC and try again.

I'm pretty sure I'd not done anything significant to my PC (other than reboot it) between morning and afternoon. I did some tests, and found the following:

If I start with the Saitek-X52 not connected, the program starts up just fine, taking just a few seconds to show me the opening screens. Of course, I don't have access to my controller.

If I plug in the Saitek and activate my profile, I "hang", as above, and need to power off/power on to get my computer back.

Previously (like yesterday morning) when I started playing X3, I'd load the Saitek Profiler to load my X3-TC profile that I wrote, and leave the Profiler running when I played X3. This hangs the PC. I also tried loading the Profile and turning off the Profiler, but this also hangs the PC. I think (but am not 100% certain) that I also tried simply plugging in the Saitek, without a Profile (i.e. not running the Profiler), and got a hang.

Any ideas? As I said, I'm unaware of any changes made to my PC between yesterday morning, when I successfully played X3, and later that afternoon when I tried to play again (the machine was largely idle between these two times -- I certainly didn't do anything major like load a new driver or install major updates).

BS

[Alan Phipps]

Check for a 'stuck button' permanent/intermittent input condition having developed on the stick. FAQ.

[andik]

Is it a Steam copy? if so right-click on game & choose properties then Choose Local Files then Verify Integrity of Game Cache this can sort out an problem you may have starting the Game.

[Alan Phipps]

@ andik: The OP wrote "If I start with the Saitek-X52 not connected, the program starts up just fine", so it is unlikely to be a game installation issue. A Steam gamefiles cache verify will never hurt in the case of a vanilla Steam game though.

[bschor]

Wow, a Solution! Alan was right -- I'd programmed one of the rotary controls to be "banded", so it would give me a number from 1 to 4 (to select Weapon Group). When I put the stick away yesterday morning, I'd left the rotary right in the middle, so it was sending 2, 3, 2, 3, etc. I haven't yet tried to play, but I'm confident that it will now work (don't worry, I'll be back if I'm wrong).

Incidently, this is a "DVD", not Steam, installation (I actually own two copies, because I bought a second recently, not realizing I already had one ...).

Thanks for the speedy replies.

BS