Taranis Can’t Play Simulators – USB and Joystick Option

by Oscar

Are you having trouble connecting your radio to FPV simulators, where it’s not recognized as joystick on your computer? Here is the quick fix.

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This solution applies to all radios running the latest OpenTX firmware (newer than version 2.2), such as the Taranix X9D, QX7, Xlite, Horus X10, and Flysky Nirvana

Check USB Option

Go to “Model Setup“, scroll down to the option “USB Mode“, and select “Ask“.

It was probably on the wrong option (USB Storage), that’s why every time you plug in the USB, it’s showing a drive instead of joystick on your computer.

When it’s set to “Ask“, you will get a prompt like this:

What I normally do is, create a model profile just for simulators, set the USB option to USB Joystick (HID) and turn off RF Internal and External to save power.

Why Is This Suddenly a Problem?

If you used to have a really old OpenTX running on your radio, and only recently you updated the OpenTX firmware, you could have this issue. This is because the new “USB Mode” option was only introduced in OpenTX 2.2.

Before OpenTX 2.2, there wasn’t an option in the menu to choose between “mass storage” or “joystick”, you had to make the decision when flashing OpenTX firmware, “massstorage” was a build option.

It’s great to finally have this option in the menu, but that also confuses many people due to the large amount of outdated info out there. I hope this clears things up!

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17 comments

Aleksei Loginov 14th January 2020 - 9:59 pm

If you can’t roll back driver bacause your connecting radio first time, download drivers from taranis and manually install user input device. open-tx.org/2013/07/18/taranis-windows-usb-driver-for-manual-installation

Reply
Dave evans 9th November 2019 - 12:26 am

Had the same trouble while trying to use drone simulator. I found that rolling back the driver for my xlite made windows 10 recognise it.

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Antonio Avella 28th October 2019 - 8:42 am

Hey guys
I have had this issue and came across this. This didn´t work, here is the video that helped me fix the
driver of Windows. The mentioned steps above are not working with the new win update. It took me a couple of
hours to find out, finally found this:
youtube.com/watch?v=SDnRSL3rDwM

Reply
masaaki oyama 16th September 2019 - 3:17 am

you r my life saver
thank you

Reply
Wilorakm 13th September 2019 - 10:17 pm

Yesterday (9th September 2019) Microsoft released through windows update a libusb-win32 update – this has broken all joystick connectivity for FrSky and Jumper TX transmitters. This video is how you fix it and restore the old driver. If the roll back doesn’t work then our solution document on our portal shows how to fix this using update instead …

see here: youtube.com/watch?v=SDnRSL3rDwM

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Oscar 13th September 2019 - 10:38 pm

Thank you, someone just posted the same video on the forum too.

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Iker 13th September 2019 - 7:26 am

I’m having the same issue as Badr: a couple of days ago I was using my Taranis QX7S without issues, and now Windows does not even seem to recognize it. My radio settings were always ‘USB’, and I haven’t updated the tx or changed the settings.

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Badr 12th September 2019 - 10:56 pm

I have the very same problem as Mike!
And it just happened dew days ago !!
Last weekend I was flying with velocidrone no problems !!
Is it a windows update or something?

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Mike 10th September 2019 - 5:41 am

My tx is asking and I select Joystick.. I got a new computer, loaded Velocidrone on it and the first time I booted Velocidrone, it saw the joystick but then immediately quit working and I’ve been looking for a fix.

It saw the joystick in devices the first time I looked, but now it’s defaulting to an unspecified device and not longer recognizing it as a joystick.

Any ideas?

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Hans Samalvides 30th August 2019 - 1:24 am

Thanks so much Oscar,
I was trying to make it work and could not find the solution until i look at your post.
Thanks so much

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Clifton Hipsher 30th March 2019 - 10:56 am

If you want to fly sims with a Taranis, get a FrSky XSR Sim USB Dongle alofthobbies.com/frsky-xsr-sim.html

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Nothing FPV 26th March 2019 - 3:57 pm

There is a “Ask” option… I think…

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MKS 22nd March 2019 - 4:42 pm

@Sam: That’s also how I know it.
I just checked, the selection menu when connecting USB was introduced with OpenTX 2.2.1, which was released Dec-2017…

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Sam 22nd March 2019 - 8:11 am

I’m not sure if I tweaked anything, but it asks me whenever I plug in the USB cable

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Chris 21st November 2023 - 12:14 pm

You need to upgrade your radio firmware to 2.3.11 or later.
The windows USB issue got fixed in OpenTX firmware version 2.3.11 : –

“BETTER_USB_HS” DRIVER
A while ago, Microsoft / ST.com introduced though Windows update a change to the handling of their driver which affected OpenTX users trying to use their radio a USB joystick. Based on a suggestion from Joel Stewart here, we have applied for, and gained access to, a unique ‘usb id’, so starting with 2.3.11, OpenTX users won’t be affected by this issue anymore.

Reply