IL-2 Korea freezes in menus with WINWING devices connected

[chihirobelmo]

System

• Windows 11

• NVIDIA RTX 3080 Ti

• Steam version of IL-2 Korea

• WINWING HOTAS (multiple WINWING USB devices connected)

• Xbox Controller (used for comparison)

Description

The game consistently freezes and becomes "Not Responding" when navigating the menus while my WINWING devices are connected.

On the main menu, the notification icon and the camera-like icon in the top-right corner repeatedly flash and produce a constant clicking sound.

Whenever I click menu items such as MUSEUM or FLY NOW, the game freezes almost immediately and Windows reports it as Not Responding.

What I tested

With all WINWING devices connected

• The top-right icons continuously flash. 

• Clicking almost any menu item causes the game to freeze.

  • The issue is reproducible almost every time.

With all WINWING devices disconnected

• The menu works normally.

• I can enter the Museum and even start a flight using only an Xbox controller.

• However, pressing Alt+Tab still causes the game to freeze and become Not Responding.

Troubleshooting already attempted

• Disabled NVIDIA ShadowPlay / In-Game Overlay.

• Uninstalled vJoy.

• Restarted the game and PC many times.

After dozens of launches, I managed to enter a flight only once while the WINWING devices were connected.

Possible observations

It appears there may be two separate issues:

1. A compatibility issue with WINWING devices that causes menu freezes.

2. A separate Alt+Tab freeze that occurs even without WINWING hardware connected.

[Dash,Polder]

https://usbdeview.com/

Try eliminating all the none green entries, that way you can be sure it's not a USB issue causing it.

[IAmNotARobot]

Hi! Sorry to hear that you have such a trouble(( Can you tell please, are you using USB hub to connect your WINWING devices, or they are plugged in directly to your PC? And can you please try to connect only one WINWING device at a time without gamepad and other joysticks directly to USB connector at your motherboard (on the backside of the PC)?

[chihirobelmo]

My WINWING devices are connected directly to the PC, not through a USB hub.

I also tested the devices individually as you suggested. Unfortunately, the issue still occurs even when I connect only one WINWING device at a time — for example, with only the joystick connected, or only the throttle connected. Other gamepads and joysticks were disconnected during the test.

I did find one reliable workaround:

If I start the game with the control mode set to Mouse Control, the menus work normally. Once I am actually in the game, I can switch the control mode to Joystick Control, and the WINWING devices then work normally.

So the WINWING hardware itself seems to work correctly once I am in the cockpit. The freeze appears to be specifically related to having Joystick Control selected while navigating the menus.

With Joystick Control selected, interacting with the menus causes the UI to flicker/click repeatedly and the game eventually becomes Not Responding.

Hopefully this helps narrow down where the issue is occurring. I can do more specific tests if needed.

[IAmNotARobot]

Wow, nice addition to the bug report, thanks! That will save so much time digging into the code to fix a problem (at least I hope so...))

[chihirobelmo]

It looks like the game is interpreting input from the WINWING joystick/throttle/rudder padal axes as menu input.

When I use the keyboard, the menu selection becomes stable and behaves normally.

However, when I enter map screen when starting a campaign. The WINWING joystick appears to control the cursor on the map.
It also happens when I assign axes at input devices. when I assign yaw control to my pedal z zxis, the pedal x/y axis(toe brakes) take over menu control to keep selecting menus.

 

[Regingrave]

Hi! What devices exactly do you use, are there two joysticks among them?