U360 over-saturation in analog mode

[DrChek]

I'm having an issue with my U360. When it is in analog mode the joystick reports maximum deflection before reaching the physical limit of the stick. moving the stick further results in readings that start to move back toward the center. This happens in both the X and Y axis and is worse in the diagonals than the cardinal directions.

Any advice on what steps I need to take to fix this as this make analog control games almost unplayable?

[AndyWarne]

It sounds like a mechanical issue. There is a procedure on the installation page on our site which has a check for mechanical centering of the sensor. We can address this by email if necessary
andy@ultimarc.com

[DrChek]

Andy,

Just did a check by plugging the same stick into my Windows 7 machine and another computer running the same OS (a stripped down XP) as my MAME cabinet and the Ultramap software shows no over-saturation, yet when I plug the same stick into my MAME machine the problem returns.

Looks like a software issue that only affects the cabinet system.

[DrChek]

Think I figured it out. The two machines that worked had the restrictor set for 4/8 way in the Ultramap Software. I have no restrictor so my mame machine has it set to none. It seems that no ristrictor allows the joystick to move past its saturation point and start reporting numbers that move back towards center.

Playing with custom restrictor settings showed that 9 (the value used for 4/8 way and circular) makes the oversaturated movement go away. I'm not convinced that's how it should work, but at least the stick behaves fairly well in analog mode. The only problem is that it maxes out at about 80% full motion.

[jammin0]

Hmm, I just got two u360's that behave almost exactly the same.  I thought it was due to bent brackets and I straightened them out which seemed to fix the problem most of the way but maybe I need to play around with the restrictor settings.  When you say that the joystick only reaches 80% in analog mode do you mean that it wouldn't register a full push on an analog game?  Mario on Mario64 would walk instead of run?  (sorry, best example I could think of).

[DrChek]

When you say that the joystick only reaches 80% in analog mode do you mean that it wouldn't register a full push on an analog game?  Mario on Mario64 would walk instead of run?  (sorry, best example I could think of).

I mean that with the restrictor set to none Mario would run with the stick at 80% fully pushed, moving to 100% Mario would start to slow down again.

[jammin0]

That's exactly what mine does.

[DrChek]

I found that with the restrictor settings you can remove the reversal effect.

[jammin0]

I'll have to try that.  So far I'm not using the ultimarc software, just windows drivers.