XBox 360 plugin update

[eabrust]

I Wonder if something has held onto your xbox controller since you installed the plugin. Have you done any reboot/restart since you installed it all? Any other app you use that may have it in use?

Does your xbox control show up under device manager?

Not quite sure what to suggest otherwise, I've used both actual MS Xbox controllers, and also some real cheapo knockoffs off Amazon, and none I've tried have not worked.


regards,
Eric

[eabrust]

And one last question that hit me, which of the four quadrant LEDs on the controller is lit? Just wondering if your controller is stuck as controller 2 or 3, etc, and the plugin is pretty much fixed to find controller 1 currently.

regards,

[andrewsmith]

And one last question that hit me, which of the four quadrant LEDs on the controller is lit? Just wondering if your controller is stuck as controller 2 or 3, etc, and the plugin is pretty much fixed to find controller 1 currently.

regards,

top left #1

And yes it shows in device manager. I've restarted a couple of times.

Andrew

[eabrust]

Andrew,

I noted from your screen shot that there are no numbers next to the axis indicators in the left side of the plugin. That means the update loop of the plugin is not working even long enough to populate these with '0.000'. Even without the controller plugged in, this should update to show '0.000'.

ASmithXB.JPG (20.77 KiB) Viewed 16191 times

How are you starting the plugin? Do you have it load when UCCNC loads, or are you going into the plugins config form and then doing 'show plugin' after UCCNC is started? I always have the plugin load fully at UCCNC start, and have the xbox control pluged in at same time. As a test, I killed the plugin and did the 'show plugin' from config form, and got the same thing with the plugin being halted in the back ground (loop not running).

As a side note, I'm working on a test version of the plugin for you where I add a status indicator showing connection state and some other error checks, i'll post it for you to try in a while.

regards,
Eric

[andrewsmith]

Eric

Tried loading at startup of UCCNC. we have numbers that change when I move the sticks and push buttons. Can't say if my machine will move too as I am away from it, just doing the demo part.

Andrew

[eabrust]

Hi Andrew,

You should be all set then, if you see the plugin change state on stick values when moving sticks, and buttons presses going from false to true, it is fully working. Have fun with it.

I believe that confirms the only way this plugin will work correctly is when loading at the same time UCCNC loads, and it cannot be loaded from the 'config plugin' after UCCNC starts.


regards
Eric

[eabrust]

Hi All,

I put out a small update to the XBox plugin (v 2.0010) here: http://www.craftycnc.com/download/511/

Changes made:
V2.0010:
1/12/2020
Added Status bar showing controller connection status, and status of plugin loop running, mainly for assisting with troubleshooting.
Added ability to customize the DPad and shoulder buttons. If you customize and you want to set each button to jog an axis, you NEED to set both the axis-on button with the down-press, and you need to set the axis-stop button with the release, or you will get a run away jog. In addition, custom axes set on Dpad or shoulders will do either continuous or step, depending on what mode of jogging is set in UCCNC (ie, not locked into JUST step only). Unchecking the 'customize' checkbox reverts everything to the way it always was (step only for x/y/z axes)

regards,
Eric

[eabrust]

Another Bug fix update, (thanks Trendsetter for some suggestions and finding issues).

This update addresses the following:
Made max velocity limits separate for each axis of each stick (was one velocity limit per stick).
Made sure velocity limit input boxes are not limiting max value
Made max velocity limits optional, unchecking box reverts axis to be 0-100 % of axis velocity. checking box makes axis 0 to max velocity set.
Added error checking to ensure that an axis is never commanded at > 100% of its velocity
Made each stick independently able to do 'mixed' axis jogging (instead of both sticks bound to selection)
Some cleanup of step jog buttons to ensure that plugin always sets stepjog or continuousjog mode back to what it was prior to firing a step jog event.


Located at same link location as usual, this will download version 2.020: http://www.craftycnc.com/download/511/

regards,
Eric

[eabrust]

Just some installation lessons learned to share today, no actual plugin update. While setting up a new fanless mini-computer running Win10 x64, I became one of the frustrated individuals unable to get the XBox plugin working straight away.... I figured it out though....

If you start the plugin and let it load with UCCNC, and you still see 'Loop Fault' in the status bar of the plugin... the following likely applies to you.


Installing the plugin file and the SlimDX.dll appropriate for your processor per the readme file will get the plugin to run, however it MAY NOT connect to the XBox controller properly. To remedy that, install the SlimDX SDK which I just made available on my website (since SlimDX.org ceases to exist).

I must now (again) recommend if you are installing the XBox Plugin for the first time, install the SlimDX SDK too....
Link to SlimDX 2012 SDK: http://www.craftycnc.com/download/585/

I thought I had gotten smart about packaging the plugin with only the SlimDX.dll files so as to avoid requiring the user to download the SlimDX runtime or SDK, however I believe what is also missing in Windows 10 is the appropriate versions of the DirectX library (xinput in particular).

Unfortunately, I didn't realize this till starting with a fresh new Win10 PC, as all my other computers I test with had at some point in their use had the proper DirectX or SlimDX SDK installed while I was developing the plugin over the last few years... I also found that uninstalling the SlimDX SDK afterwards does not prevent the plugin from working, as the uninstall must not remove the required DirectX files from the computer.


Sorry to anyone that gave the XBox plugin a try and got frustrated trying to make it work! I wasted a few hours today myself....

regards,
Eric

[robertk925]

Thanks for the update Eric, and for continuing to support this plugin! It is one my favorite/most used plug-ins for UCCNC.

-robertk925