DCS & MSFS - Sim Tips for HOTAS, Joystick, VR, need this for performance

[@lincellusion7385]

I really never realised this. I have built all my pc's and even my current sim rig was using about 6 usb's on 2 different unpowered usb hubs.. I NEVER even thought about it yet its so obvious and I feel like and idiot now haha. Thumbs up for you!

[@plazma1945]

No way its all about the little things powered hubs didn't come to me right away either

[@Scarn834]

This is such a thoughtful video. I was using the unpowered USB hub for smaller items, mouse, keyboard and maybe my HOTAS. I've upgraded to a powered one based on your recommendation, just to be safe. Thanks!

[@plazma1945]

Safe and more stable! Glad you liked it I've got a few other techie videos in the playlist! 👍

[@vagabondjay7281]

I was just thinking about this these past 2 days and was looking at powered USB 3.1 hubs LOL. Thanks for confirming what I was suspecting.

[@plazma1945]

Great minds think alike

[@BFMwithStackhouse]

Video needs to cover windows specific USB resource allocation considerations. An unpowered USB hub can cause havoc on a PC if now aware of USB endpoint limitations. For someone like me with multiple pits (both racing and flight) it's a huge consideration.

[@plazma1945]

Ahh good call Stackhouse let's chat about it having multipit is something I don't have but we can do a little interview and chat about that and you can share your tips. We can do a daul post for your channel too!

[@dampsok]

I saw your russian version of this first, and as a non-russian speaker, I can say that I could *almost* follow along! :D

[@plazma1945]

Lol. It working the plan is working!!!

[@mariuszkrysiak3556]

Very good advise. Thank you

[@plazma1945]

Small idea, but may help! Cheers Mariusz!

[@Fox3-Luck]

excellent info Plazma!

[@plazma1945]

Little things to help and remind the community

[@Stubbies2003]

While your advise at the end is good it takes awhile to get there. I would also be more firm in that if you can afford a VR headset and you can afford a quality HOTAS to fly around with you can spare the measly 30 bucks for a good powered USB hub and save yourself the hassle of lack of USB power or damaging your system.

[@Archenuh]

So, naturally one of the most important questions would be.. is there an objective way of finding out if you're using too much power from one port? I presume there might be software out there that measures the specific USB port power draw that could tell us when we're overusing it. Another more primitive way would be finding out how much mAh of power each peripheral draws and use that to math out the necessary way of splitting your devices. Would've been nice if you hit those spots in your presentation but it definitely peaked my interest and will search more on this. Cheers!

[@plazma1945]

Absolutely you can read the individual device draw from label on bottom of each device. I'm not sure if there is a software way to measure draw you would need a hardware dongle between your port and the devices to measure total load.

[@DerekWilsonProgrammer]

They make these USB power monitors, you could probably buy one for about $15, they can log to microsd, and they'll give you a readout on how much power is being used. The sampling rate is kind of low, like 10x / sec - so it won't get the quick transient spikes, but generally the controllers and devices you use will not have those unless there's some force feedback or flashing lights on them.

[@Stubbies2003]

I wouldn't bother spending 15 bucks on a monitor when you can spend twice that for a good powered USB hub and it doesn't matter then. The main limiting factor is going to be not hooking up multiple devices on a single USB port via unpowered hubs. As long as it is one device per those devices already know the limitations of what they can draw. Where people get into trouble is trying to cheap out on the USB hub and you have multiple devices trying to draw from the one power source when they weren't designed to share that power. As I posted above if you can afford a quality VR or TrackIR setup and you can afford a quality HOTAS you can definitely afford a quality powered USB hub.

[@dev1360]

+The X56 HOTAS famously has "ghost input" issues with ANY USB hub, including powered ones.

[@plazma1945]

Interesting. Was it a hotas glitch or is. This common to. X56 in general

[@dev1360]

@@plazma1945 common for them in general. Especially with the throttle. It's quite annoying, but I have not tried another brand of powered USB port, yet.

[@shaneduc]

This is something I find a lot if folks don't know or understand.

[@plazma1945]

Here to help!

[@shaneduc]

@@plazma1945 I also passed your video along to my friends that don't beleave me.

[@plazma1945]

@@shaneduc when we had a keyboard or mouse it's fine once we got fancy light up hotas

[@Yankee94]

I actually just invested in one. My X56 are ghosting random inputs. They have been working great since the upgrade

[@TheRVSN]

Everyone understands it, but manufacturer does not provide power consumption data so people cannot calculate and do not care.

[@JohnVanderbeck]

Was that a combination dual MFD and UFC you showed in the intro?! Is that a real product?

[@plazma1945]

Winwing!

[@WeeShug]

I have purchased a powered USB hub, however, when I try to plug my devices into the hub, SimApp Pro (WinWing) doesn’t see the device. How can I clear the existing device settings so it sees them as new installations?

[@plazma1945]

I dont know the SimApp but it should be able to see a usb device, the HUB is usually just a transparent "splitter" ... try moving the HUB wholy to a different port on your pc.. make sure the powered hub is getting power. .. and that windows sees it. try plugging something else into that USB hub, like your mouse, if its moving that means its working. sometimes ONE port on a HUB can be defective... so if a port works with mouse, plug your Winwing there. check out also: www.drivers.com/update/pc-fix-tips/solution-for-usb-port-not-working-in-windows-7/ it shows the DEVICE manager, if you have the device manager Window open and you UNPLUG a USB device, the list will change so you will see if windows sees it or not. Fingers crossed!

[@PFpants]

Are there any drawbacks to plugging multiple devices into the same powered hub? Input conflicts, lag, incompatible devices? Or do they always work. How many "channels" of data can a single usb carry?

[@plazma1945]

Really good question in theory a single USB root controller can carry 128 devices so realistically I would say if you plug up to 16 devices per Port you should be okay I tried to keep it at maximum of about 6 or 8 devices maximum per port and that is with the power to USB hub there's a whole bunch of Standards out there just to look for maximum devices on USB controller and I think you were USB 3 standards May lower the number of devices in favor of higher speeds and so forth but realistically as long as it's like less than 20 your fine

[@Stubbies2003]

I have a powered USB hub with five devices attached to it which would be my left MFD, Warthog throttle, Rudder and whatever the last two are and the rest is connected directly to the computer. No issues at all doing this. This is even more so if I decide to fly with my laptop and they have much less in the way of USB ports so even more goes onto the hub. No problems there either. My powered USB hub has 16 ports.

[@JapaneseGigolo]

do these work well? say i had my keyboard, mouse, headphones etc running through a powered hub it would run smooth? cheers.

[@plazma1945]

Yup I just got a seven port powered USB 3.0 hub works great, replaced my old USB 2.0hub, just so I can plug in also my phone and transfer files a lil faster... But yeah works great 👌

[@trevorbelmont4633]

what about USB hub with MicroB USB?

[@Stubbies2003]

The vast majority of flight components are using USB A and a very few on C.

[@plazma1945]

It doesn't really matter if it's a usb-c USB a or some other Port the main thing is that is that the external Hub with power will provide Power extra for all those ports to use that's kind of the key. On the other hand usually micro USB ports are used for low-powered devices so it shouldn't matter but in general most up will be USB a as mentioned by stubbies

[@trevorbelmont4633]

​@@Stubbies2003 no i mean for power.. there are7-port hubs using a microB the one that is double the width than the micro so i was thinking it it has more power so you dont need to get the adapter

[@trevorbelmont4633]

@@plazma1945 thanks.. ah man, my hub didnt not come with the power adapter what a bummer

[@plazma1945]

@@trevorbelmont4633 get it for the next one.. Again if u you dnt have too much high draw stuff all in the hub Ur ok. Distribute stuff around

[@adr1uno638]

Talking sim racing here, but watch you hardware I have LeoXF1 steering wheel that only accept 5v and most usb Hub with power supply are 12v, so watch your hardware spec before plug it in

[@plazma1945]

Hmm. Now. Wouldn't the hub convert 12v into 5v for devices. 12v should.be input only right?

[@Stubbies2003]

@@plazma1945 Yeah powered USB hubs aren't going to blast connected devices killing them. I think the OP just isn't taking into consideration that powered hubs have to supply power for multiple devices thus it needs more power in than it is kicking out to meet the demand if you plug all open slots in on the hub. Just because you might be inputting 12 volts to the hub doesn't mean you are kicking that same 12 volts to each port and frying things adr.

[@Swatmat]

i have a 10 slot powered usb hub and my hosas and throttle is run off a 4 slot usb 3 hub which runs off the 10 slot hub

[@plazma1945]

, that is a lot of slots and a lot of hubs hopefully they're all powered and everything is working well for you let me know how it works

[@Swatmat]

@@plazma1945 10 slot powered USB hub no issues, and the 4 slot that runs off one of them is for my two sticks, and throttle and mouse which are mounted to the chair

[@anonymoushunter9808]

Do the hubs connect to the pc?

[@plazma1945]

Yes hubs connect to one USB port on pc and give you multiple check. Video descriptions for a few links

[@plazma1945]

Do u have a Hub or is everything plugged into your pc??

[@Scoop1_1]

Fair point on the power and do have a powered Hub initially as I noticed that some peripherals didn’t work reliable with an one meter USB cable (power drop?). However, the USB sockets are not hardwired together I believe, but sampled (multiplex). Doesn’t that introduce lag of controls as well?

[@DerekWilsonProgrammer]

@@Scoop1_1 Lag would be on the order of picoseconds, except for the cheapest hubs. Nothing you would ever notice.

[@Scoop1_1]

@@DerekWilsonProgrammer. Makes sense. Thanks

[@Stubbies2003]

To the OP if you have a full flight setup you will have too many devices to plug in to the motherboard. Two MFDs, two for the HOTAS, one for the VR or two if using TrackIR, one for the rudder. Add in the standard two for keyboard/mouse and you are up to 8 or 9 USB connections needed at a minimum. 6 or 7 if you forego the MFDs but also more if you add in other bits like xbox controllers or some other more specific flight panels. To Scoop I'm guessing you just didn't get a good powered USB hub as mine doesn't kick out any issues at all. The chain is only as strong as the weakest link. No to control input lag or as derek said if yes at such low levels you don't see it.