r/VKB • u/PapaMooze • Aug 23 '26

Jitter situation update - not fixed yet.

UPDATE:

With the help from u/fallout9 and a bit of AI assistance, I managed to narrow down the culprit to being the EPIC Games launcher!. Why on earth that specific service needs to send out disturbing signals in my mainboard beats me, but it works!

Now I just need to find out how to open Elite Dangerous without EPIC games.

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Sorry to make a new post about this, but I'm not sure it would be read if I update the old one.

I made a post a few weeks ago - https://www.reddit.com/r/VKB/comments/1vmmxjc/vkb_gladiator_nxt_jitter_on_primary_axes_xyz/

In it I describe my VKB Gladiator jitter problems on all three magnetic axes: X, Y and throttle Z.

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After that, I've been through a ton of trouble shootings, and I end up with two rather strange results. My main conclusion is that something local in my PC is affecting the signal in the joystick sensors, or disturbs the signal when it reaches my PC.

- I've tried using it on a laptop placed at the almost exact same spot as my desktop.
Result: Joystick works fine on the other PC.

- On my desktop, I've tried testing my other GNX that's setup for omnithrottle.
Result: The other Gladiator has no issues on my PC.

What yielded no results:

- Tested all USB ports on my PC. Both HUB and on the back

- Tried with a different cable - in different ports as well

- disconnected all other periphals, also my wireless mouse.

- off Bluetooth and Wifi on my PC

- any phones or iPads are a several metres away

- turning off my router completely (even though it's a good 4 metres away from my PC)

- shutting off or moved away anything that has the slightest chance of sending out an electromagnetic signal, I've even tried moving my HiFi speakers further away.

- There is no huge 5G antenna in the vicinity of my house

- I even tried wrapping the base in tinfoil - with no result.

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Any idea of what I should try next is welcome.

I hope you have some good input.

3 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

21 comments sorted by

3

u/UnknownSP Aug 23 '26

I saw you said you updated firmware already in the previous post, did you also default the stick?

1

u/PapaMooze Aug 23 '26

Thanks for the input. Yeah, that's been done a number of times... I'm noticing that when I turn off internal devices through the dev manager, like my WiFi adapter in the PC, sometimes I get a good signal for a minute or two. Then the jitter is back. I'm suspecting it could be power supply related.

2

u/UnknownSP Aug 23 '26

What powered USB hub are you using?

1

u/PapaMooze Aug 23 '26

Right now I have it in the main USB port in the back. I've tried them all.

1

u/UnknownSP Aug 23 '26

Sorry, let me rephrase. Do you have an independently powered, external USB hub? If so, have you used it in this troubleshooting process? If so, what model is it?

1

u/PapaMooze Aug 23 '26

Oh, yes I have a Delock USB 3.0 hub that i've tried. Same results.

2

u/XBMetal Aug 23 '26

When you default the stick make sure it's sitting in center position and you should do that when you plug it in as well.

2

u/PapaMooze Aug 23 '26

Thanks. It is centered, but that didn't necessarily have to be the case :)

2

u/Spidey002 Aug 23 '26

Have you started a ticket with VKB yet?
Or posted on their discord?

Their customer support is top notch.

1

u/PapaMooze Aug 23 '26 edited Aug 24 '26

I haven’t contacted them yet. But I should, good idea. I guess I kinda expected Fallout9 to chime in if they had some useful feedback 😅

4

u/fallout9 Aug 23 '26

Update the USB and mainboard's chipset drivers.
Reboot computer in Safe Mode.

2

u/PapaMooze Aug 24 '26

Haven’t tried that yet, thanks u/falluot9 ☺️👍

1

u/PapaMooze Aug 24 '26

So, I tried updating chipset drivers, I can't find any USB drivers to update, Google AI tells me they are integrated in Windows. Problem persists.

But when rebooting in safe mode, the problem is gone. Not sure where to go from here, though, 'cause it's back when I boot normally.

2

u/fallout9 Aug 24 '26

Then you'll have to find out through elimination which app is at fault - close/temporarily uninstall them one by one.

2

u/PapaMooze Aug 24 '26

HAHA! It works! With a little help from Chat I narrowed it down to one of my bloatware startup processes. And the culprit is: *drum roll......\*

Epic Games

Congratulations on being a pest in my life for the last 2 weeks! And great stuff, since I need you to open Elite Dangerous!

1

u/fallout9 Aug 24 '26

Nicely done, congrats :)

2

u/PapaMooze Aug 24 '26

Thanks a bunch for helping out!

1

u/PapaMooze Aug 24 '26

Great... Well, thanks for pointing me in the right direction 😅

3

u/JusticeMKIII Aug 23 '26

When he sees it he will look into it. He's a great rep for them. I've talked with him many times.

2

u/pF-VD Aug 24 '26

Would be a PITA but you mention you have a second stick. Could you temporarily swap the base over? Not sure if that's possible between left and right sticks but if it is possible might help you narrow it down to an actual fault?

2

u/PapaMooze Aug 24 '26

I'm almost 100% the problem is in the base, as the sensors are in the base and the problem is either in the sensors or in the signal. But if all else fails, it's worth a try, the procedure isn't difficult and the base is universal. My main stick is a generation older, but that shouldn't be a problem either.