Help Verifying New X52pro Operation

[interested]

Hello, I just received my brand new X52pro in the mail two days ago, (after waiting 2 weeks for delivery) and I am having difficulties verifying if the controller is fully functional and working properly.

The main reason I am having difficulties, is due to the total lack of a decent manual. Only a simple little piece of paper was provided that just said to basically install the drivers, there was no pictures showing the controller and listing the buttons and how they correspond to the control panel buttons.

Now my main problems are:
A) I do not see all the buttons lighting up in the control panel for numbers 19, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, as they do not appear to have any physical buttons on the controller.

B) The right button/wheel on my throttle under the MFD, labeled "MFD Select" Does not appear to do anything either in the MFD or in the windows control panel when I scroll the wheel or when I click the button. The left wheel when scrolled does not appear to do anything in MFD or in control panel, however when clicked it lights up number 32 in the control panel.

C) When I click on the "i" physical button on the throttle the light in the centre of the POV1 will sometimes start flashing or turn on/off. And I have no idea what this is supposed to mean, or if it’s normal?

I have read everything on this website, all the manuals and searched through the forums and nothing helps me figure out what physical button corresponds to what control panel buttons, and why there appears to be missing physical buttons for all the buttons shown in the control panel. So I don’t know if my brand new controller is defective or not?

I have put together some images (which I made) of the throttle and joystick and the control panel, showing what is missing. They are attached to this post. The green checks in the control panel mean they have been tested and i have corresponding physical buttons on either throttle or joystick. In the throttle and joystick images the letters in brackets () represent what is printed on the physical button.

I am using the following system:
Windows Xp Pro SP2, all updates installed
Saitek X52pro drivers downloaded from website Driver Version 5.7.0.22, Software version 4.3.4.17
Plugged into USB 2.0 Port

I would greatly appreciate a quick response from someone in regards to my questions.

Warmest Regards.

[BUFF]

isn't there a manual on the CD?

[interested]

isn't there a manual on the CD?

Yes. And it is the same as the one that I downloaded here on the Saitek website.

The manual is garbage. There are no images and no information in relation to the questions I am asking, there is a total lack of a proper modern manual with this flight controller.:(

[BUFF]

The manual is garbage. There are no images and no information in relation to the questions I am asking, there is a total lack of a proper modern manual with this flight controller.:(
You aren't going to get better from any other manufacturer afaik, it's a lot better than most.

[interested]

You aren't going to get better from any other manufacturer afaik, it's a lot better than most.


Well I guess I just a little biased in expecting a high degree of quality within documentation, given that part of my job requires writing manuals for hardware that we design in our lab. I know first hand all the work involved in such a process, with countless revisions and corrections, meetings between engineering and marketing etc.. None of this is apparent in the documents I have read that are provided with this controller, (in relation to the issues I mentioned in my post), to me it looks like it was just thrown together lacking the basics such as well labeled drawings ( its not like I expect multi tiered segmented CAD drawings with BOM's ) but at least the basics, this is a physical object that they are selling afterall.

And to say that its better then most would be wrong, as there are many fine examples of nice documentation provided with Logitech and Microsoft peripherals as those have been the two main companies I normally buy my keyboards, mice, joysticks, wheels etc..

And there is no way you can say with a straight face that Saitek is anywhere near as good to documenting their product, as MS and Logitech.

Even without proper documentation, be it printed form or PDF... The websites of the other two mentioned companies far exceed in terms of conveying pertinent information in a much clearer and intuitive manner.

These are just my own personal opinions thus far on my first few days using this product, and I can tell you that not everyone would bother to come here, create an account to be able to post or even see the various sections on this forum and take their time to create basic labeled images highlighting these issues. Also users with problems can’t even read all the sections within this forum, as without registering there is no indication that there are more then two sections (common fixes, and announcements), this is very unusual as most forums only make you register to post, but are open for viewing thus allowing people to get the information they need to fix their problems quickly. In my opinion information relating to the above should be clearly posted in their FAQ section for this product, as not everyone will find it here in these forums.

Many others would just give up and return their products thinking they are defective. So its in Saiteks best interest to improve their documentation, and website interactivity.

[BUFF]

And to say that its better then most would be wrong, as there are many fine examples of nice documentation provided with Logitech and Microsoft peripherals as those have been the two main companies I normally buy my keyboards, mice, joysticks, wheels etc..

And there is no way you can say with a straight face that Saitek is anywhere near as good to documenting their product, as MS and Logitech.
Comparing apples to apples MS don't make joysticks & Logi's a) are far simpler than an X52 Pro & b) in my experience fail within ~3 months.
Nor do Logitech manuals appear to be downloadable from their website (you have to go to their forum but there is no link for that on the main Logitech site, you have to to a web search to find it).
This (http://logitech-en-amr.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/logitech_en_amr.cfg/php/enduser/fattach_get.php?p_sid=rWgXnfEi&p_accessibility=0&p_tbl=9&p_id=2851&p_created=1145479983&p_olh=0) is the linked manual for their Extreme 3D Pro joystick, what do you think of it?


Even without proper documentation, be it printed form or PDF... The websites of the other two mentioned companies far exceed in terms of conveying pertinent information in a much clearer and intuitive manner.
You are comparing companies that are several orders of magnitude larger than Saitek - lord knows what MS is valued at these days, Logitech is about $4.8 billion & Saitek is probably about $60 million.
However, & it's subjective, but I find the Saitek site certainly as good as the Logitech site in terms of finding what I consider pertinent & indeed faster to navigate. Not to mention obvious links to both manuals & the forum.