Welcome to the "Flight Control Hardware" Forum

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This forum is for discussion of joysticks, Console Game Controllers, Mouse Pointers, programmable keyboards, "cockpits", and other hardware used for Linux Air Combat flight control.

You'll find that LAC has provisions for EXTENSIVE flexibility and customization of flight controls. You can get LAC working nicely with almost ANY joystick or console game controller (and if you have neither, LAC will let you fly with just your keyboard and mouse).

By default, LAC comes configured for use with a standard keyboard, a standard numeric keypad, and with the popular, low-cost "Logitech Extreme 3d Pro" joystick. If that describes your hardware, you won't need to take any extra steps and your flight controls will work as prominently illustrated in our online documentation.

If you wish to use some other joystick or a console game controller, you will need to use LAC's "SETUP OPTIONS" -> "GAME" -> "KBD & JOYBUTTON MAP" menu or you'll need to edit LAC's configuration files as described in other illustrations and postings on this forum. The first time you do this you'll probably need about half an hour to get everything working optimally. On an ordinary LINUX setup, LAC will retain your configuration setup and you won't need to edit those configuration files again.

LAC developers began beta-testing new version 9.87 in late Dec2025, with a more sophisticated menu system for configuring Joysticks or Console Game Controllers. If you've updated LAC to Version 9.87 or beyond, CLICK HERE for the new instruction you'll need.

Under most circumstances, LAC will retain your configuration and control mapping setup for use in subsequent sessions. However, if you are running LAC on a "READ-ONLY" or "IMMUTABLE" version of LINUX, LAC will be unable to retain your configuration setup. This is commonplace if you boot up from a DVD ROM or from a USB "Thumb Drive". You won't want to spend half an hour configuring your joystick or console game controller every time you boot into this kind of LINUX setup for a LAC session, so the first time you get LAC's configuration files working nicely with your controller hardware, you'll want to store extra copies of those configuration files in some handy place so you can easily re-use them in subsequent LAC sessions.

As you will learn in other postings in this forum, LAC uses two configuration files to map its flight functions to the buttons and axis handles of your controller hardware. Both are stored in a new, hidden folder named ".LAC" that is automatically created in your home folder as needed. They are named "LacConfig.txt" and "LacControls.txt".

As an example, if your LINUX username is "fred", those two files should be located at these two locations in your LINUX filesystem:

/home/fred/.LAC/LacConfig.txt
/home/fred/.LAC/LacControls.txt

For those using LINUX in "READ-ONLY" mode, after cusomizing those 2 files for best use with your own hardware, we recommend storing an extra copy of each on a USB "Thumb Drive" or in the "cloud". Then you can easily retrieve those two files and store them in your hidden ".LAC" folder when you need them at the commencement of each new LAC session. Thereafter, for the duration of each new LAC session on your Read-Only LINUX system, your flight controls will work according to your previous configuration setup.

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Update from Dec2025

As you explore the messages and downloadable configuration files (LacControls.txt and LacConfig.txt) referenced in this forum, you will notice that some of them were published several years ago while others are new. You may also know that as time has passed during recent years, LAC has become increasingly sophisticated and increasingly adapted to new joysticks, new console game controllers, and has been given new flight functions that can be "mapped" to your choice of joystick or controller buttons.

The consequence of this is that our old LacControls.txt and our old LacConfig.txt files are no longer compatible with the latest versions of LAC. If you try to use one of these incompatible combinations, LAC probably will not start for you, and if you run LAC from a "bash shell" you are likely to see diagnostic error messages complaining that certain configurable items could not be found in the expected areas of the configuration files. In those cases, LAC may abort with a "Segmentation Fault". In those cases, LAC will try to automatically reset the offending configuration file settings, using default values that won't cause these problems. A second attempt at starting LAC will generally yield compatible success, but you will probably be left with "default" settings for the newest functions and those settings may need customization.

If you find LAC struggling with these problems you could try experimenting with different versions of the LacControls.txt and/or the LacConfig.txt configuration files that you'll find in this forum. You may need to manually edit their content, and you may need to re-start LAC once or twice to get it to automatically create any missing configuration maps. LAC FAQ #53 is helpful in this context, and includes several YouTube video clips showing exactly how we can customize LAC to map ANY USB joystick or Console GameController for compatibility through the default LacControls.txt and LacConfig.txt files that new versions of LAC may generate.

If all else fails, you can always delete those two files (always found in your hidden .LAC folder). LAC will automatically re-create those files and configure all of their mapping elements with compatible, default values that you can subsequently edit.

Here's a direct link to our LacFAQ page, in which you can always find LAC FAQ #53:

https://askmisterwizard.com/2019/LinuxAirCombat/LacFaq.htm

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Since we released new version 9.87 for beta testing in Jan2026 it has been easier to map arbitrary keyboard keys, joystick buttons, joystick axes, and even the buttons of console game controllers to activate any of more than 45 flight, view,and comms functions of LAC. You can see a summary of this and a brief YouTube demonstration/tutorial here:

https://sourceforge.net/p/linuxaircombat/discussion/flightcontrolhardware/thread/0da40ce6e3/

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