Release notes

A new look for setting up your cockpit. Console Panels shows each console as a set of cards, and a new Instruments page lists every gauge and screen, where you pick how each one is built in one click. Invictus displays work out of the box, screens align with your panel, and DIY Devices is now Open Hardware.

New

• Console Panels under Avionics gets a sleeker look. Pick a console from the tabs across the top, each showing how much of it is wired. Every panel is a card that says which board it's on and how much is wired, and lists its controls with their live state when you open it. Search still looks across every console.
• Instruments get their own section under Avionics. Every gauge and screen in the cockpit, panel by panel. Pick Mechanical, Screen or None for each gauge in one click, or All mechanical for a whole panel. A mechanical gauge gets its motor pins in the board's setup, and Calibrate shows on its row once it has them.
• The caution panel moves to Instruments. Its card shows where its lamps are wired, every cell lit as the sim lights it, and Test lamps.
• Displays are listed under what they show. A DED, PFLD or FFI display you plug in appears on Instruments under the instrument it shows, with what it shows, the white blocks, Align and Update firmware.
• Screens scale and nudge to align with your panel. Align on a DED, PFLD or FFI display makes the picture bigger or smaller and moves it left, right, up or down, with a test face that shows its edges: a full grid of 8s on the DED and PFLD, 888.0 on the FFI. Each kind of screen keeps its own setting. The FFI's face is now centered on the rolling hundreds drum and fills as much of the screen as it can. Needs display firmware 1.3.0.
• Invictus hardware ships signed, so it works out of the box. DED, PFLD and FFI screens from Invictus are recognized and never ask for a key.
• Configure from a panel. Configure on a panel that isn't on a board yet lists your boards, or adds a new one, and opens the board's setup with the panel already ticked.
• Learn wiring in one click. With one board for the airframe connected, Learn wiring starts on it right away.
• Keep this layout. Turn on Keep this layout in Settings > Display layout and the manager puts your saved screen layout back by itself when Windows changes it, including which way each screen is turned. Screens are recognized by their monitor, not by Windows' display numbers.

Changed

• DIY Devices is now Open Hardware. It keeps your DIY boards, firmware installs and display wiring. Display boards are listed on Avionics > Instruments.
• A display you built yourself needs your open hardware key to show anything. It runs the same firmware as the Invictus displays. Enter your key once in the manager: one key unlocks all your DIY devices.
• The Firmware page only updates. What a display shows is set on Instruments.
• AIM Displays in DCS, instead of AIM MFDs. The monitor setup the manager installs carries the CDU and other screens too, so it now shows as AIM Displays in DCS's monitor list. Existing setups keep working. The manager asks you to apply it once.

Fixed

• An AIM board could drop off the network for good after a gauge like MANUAL TRIM was added to its setup but not wired. The manager now leaves an unwired stepper gauge out of the board's setup, and panel firmware 2.5.2 never drives the board's Ethernet pins.
• Updating a display board from the manager could leave it stuck until you unplugged it. Display firmware 1.3.0 restarts into its loader cleanly and comes back by itself.
• The Network page said "AIM network not configured" with the cockpit cable unplugged, though nothing needed fixing. It now only says so when the network setting does.

Update / install

• The manager offers this update in a banner at the top of the window. Click Download there to see what's new, then Download again. Your boards and settings are kept.
• Display boards: the manager carries display firmware 1.3.0. Press Update to 1.3.0 on the display's card under Avionics > Instruments: no file to find. The restart this update fixes is the one it starts with, so this one update can stop at "The display didn't reconnect". If it does, unplug the display, hold its BOOT button while plugging it back in, and install DED, PFLD or FFI display on it from Open Hardware > Install the firmware.
• AIM boards: panel firmware 2.5.2, out since October 29, keeps a board on the network with an unwired stepper gauge. The manager offers it on the board's page.
• Open hardware boards: no firmware changes in this update.
• Windows will confirm the publisher is Invictus Machine LLC, the company behind Invictus Cockpit Systems.

Smooth X27 needles on open hardware, a fuel flow indicator on a small OLED, and many more lamps and buttons you can wire: the caution panel and any lamp on a MAX7219, and the lamps and buttons inside the indexers, eyebrows, MASTER CAUTION, ECM and TWA.

New

• Fuel flow indicator. An ESP32-S2 Mini or ESP32-S3 Super Mini with a 1.3 inch SH1106 OLED (I2C or SPI) can show the FFI. Install DED, PFLD or FFI display on the board, set it to show FFI on its row under Your devices, and pick its pins on the Display wiring card. The drums roll like the real counter. FUEL FLOW and PPH are left for your data plate: right-click the board's row to light white blocks behind the engraved FUEL FLOW.
• Caution panel on a MAX7219. Arduino, Teensy and Pico boards can light all 32 caution lamps from one MAX7219 on three pins, two LEDs a lamp. The wiring sheet shows the digit and segment lines for each lamp.
• Lamp matrix. On those same boards, any lamp can sit on a MAX7219 instead of a pin of its own. Wire the LAMP MATRIX row (DIN, CLK, LOAD, up to four chips chained), set a lamp to On the lamp matrix, and pick a digit and segment line for each of its lamps.
• More lamps and buttons to wire, on every board. The AOA and AR/NWS indexers, both eyebrows, MASTER CAUTION, the ECM buttons, the TWA and TWS PRIME buttons, and the light in the landing gear handle can now be wired: a pin for each lamp, an input for each button. A pushbutton on an ECM button or TWA POWER turns it on or off with each press.

Fixed

• X27.168 gauge needles on open hardware moved half as far again as they should and could hit the stop at the top of the dial. They now move the right distance and roll smoothly between sim updates.
• FTIT on a physical needle read the wrong scale, and its calibration showed PSI. It now reads degrees C.
• Calibrate gauge…: with many points on a custom curve, Reset, Apply and Close slid off the bottom of the dialog. The settings now scroll.
• The on-screen fuel flow counter showed a leading zero below 10,000. That place is now blank, as on the gauge.

Update / install

• The manager offers this update on launch. Click the banner, or use Check now in Settings. Your boards and settings are kept.
• Open hardware boards with X27 needles: press Update on the board's row under Your devices for firmware 1.5.2. A display board needs firmware 1.2.2 for the fuel flow indicator. The caution panel, the lamp matrix and the new lamps and buttons need no firmware update.
• AIM boards: no firmware changes in this update.
• Windows will confirm the publisher is Invictus Machine LLC, the company behind Invictus Cockpit Systems.

Eight F-16C switches now put DCS in the position the manager shows.

Fixed

• Eight F-16C switches went to the opposite position in DCS. For example, FUEL MASTER set to OFF put DCS on MASTER, and MANUAL TF FLYUP on ENABLE read as DISABLE. The others were EXT FUEL TRANS, ENG CONT, the C&I knob, the ECM XMIT switch, CANOPY SPIDER and AP ROLL. Each one now sends the position you set, and Console Panels shows the right position when DCS moves the switch.
• Your wiring doesn't change. If you used Invert switch wiring to work around one of these switches, turn it off after updating.

Update / install

• The manager offers this update on launch. Click the banner, or use Check now in Settings. Your boards and settings are kept.
• No board firmware changes in this update.
• Windows will confirm the publisher is Invictus Machine LLC, the company behind Invictus Cockpit Systems.

Open hardware boards can now drive real gauge needles and TM1637 7-segment displays. Needles work better on every board, and rotary switches keep their wiring in the board wizard.

New

• Gauge motors on open hardware. Set a gauge to Drive physical needles on Console Panels and it gets a row in the board wizard, where you pick its motor: an X27.168 gauge stepper, a 28BYJ-48 on a ULN2003, a stepper driver with STEP and DIR inputs, or a hobby servo. Each motor takes the pins it needs, and the wizard checks that the board can drive it.
• Calibrate gauge… fits the motor: pulse widths for a servo, Set home here for a motor without a stop, and Turns the other way for a needle that runs backwards.
• TM1637 7-segment modules for the UHF readouts on open hardware. On the UHF display row, pick TM1637 modules. The modules share one clock pin, and each readout gets its own data pin.
• A panel made only of gauges, like HYDRAULIC A or EPU FUEL, can be picked in the wizard once one of its gauges drives physical needles.
• The wiring sheet names the pins of each motor and TM1637 module.

Fixed

• Needles, on every board. Gauges with an uneven dial, like O2 PRESSURE, didn't move their motor. A fast change could leave a needle short of where the sim put it. Needles now return to the right place when a board reconnects, editing a board in the wizard keeps each gauge's calibration, and the trim indicators use their whole travel.
• A rotary wired one pin per position went back to "One analog input" every time an open hardware board was reopened with Assign or Edit setup, and lost its pins. It now keeps its wiring and pins, also when you import a saved setup.

Update / install

• The manager offers this update on launch. Click the banner, or use Check now in Settings. Your boards and settings are kept.
• Open hardware boards keep working on their current firmware. Gauge motors, servos and TM1637 modules need firmware 1.5.0: press Update on the board's row under Your devices.
• Windows will confirm the publisher is Invictus Machine LLC, the company behind Invictus Cockpit Systems.

The oxygen flow indicator as a single LED, and fixes for the MAP switch, the AIR SOURCE knob and single lamps.

New

• The oxygen FLOW indicator can be an LED. Besides a needle motor or a screen, you can now build O2 FLOW as one LED that lights whenever the indicator in the sim shows white. On Console Panels, open OXYGEN, click ⋯ on the O2 FLOW row and pick Light an LED. Assign then gives it one pin, and Test lamp lights it so you can check your wiring.

Fixed

• The AVIONICS POWER MAP switch moved in the manager but not in DCS. It now works the switch in DCS.
• A knob wired on a resistor ladder could flick to another position while turning. For example, AIR SOURCE jumped to RAM on the way from OFF to NORM. A new position now has to hold for a moment (the knob's response time) before it counts. If you stop the knob between two detents, it can still read as another position, because that is what the wiring reports there.
• Single lamps showed "dark" on Console Panels while they were lit. They now show the right state, and Test lamp puts a lit lamp back on when the test ends instead of leaving it dark.

Update / install

• The manager offers this update on launch. Click the banner, or use Check now in Settings. Your boards and settings are kept.
• Windows will confirm the publisher is Invictus Machine LLC, the company behind Invictus Cockpit Systems.

A fix for the AIR SOURCE knob, no more false "DCS was updated" messages, and an About window.

New

• About AIM Cockpit Manager. Click the small i next to the version at the bottom of the sidebar. It shows what this version includes, links to the documentation and the issue tracker, and the release notes for every version. Copy details copies the version information for a support message.

Fixed

• The AIR SOURCE knob asked for five positions. It has four (OFF, NORM, DUMP, RAM), and the wiring wizard and Calibrate positions now ask for four, by name. If you set yours up with five, it keeps working: the first four positions work as before and the fifth does nothing.
• The KY-58 FILL knob showed numbers instead of position names. It now names all eight positions, including 6.
• The manager said "DCS was updated since your last flight" when DCS hadn't been updated. It said this whenever it refreshed its own script in DCS. It now says what it actually did, and only mentions a DCS update when it puts back something a DCS update removed.
• A notice that DCS had an older AIM script flashed at startup. It now waits for the startup check, which fixes the script, and only shows if the script is still out of date.
• Updates now clear out program files left behind by older versions.

Update / install

• The manager offers this update on launch. Click the banner, or use Check now in Settings. Your boards and settings are kept.
• Windows will confirm the publisher is Invictus Machine LLC, the company behind Invictus Cockpit Systems.

ESP32 boards can now be set up from the manager, including your own DED and PFLD screens. Switches land in DCS even when you flick them fast, and the PFLD reads the way it does in the cockpit.

New

• ESP32 boards. Install the firmware on the DIY Devices page now installs the AIM Open Firmware on an ESP32 dev board or an ESP32-S3.
• Your own DED or PFLD. An ESP32-S3 or ESP32-S2 Mini with an SSD1322 256x64 OLED can be made into a DED or PFLD from the same card. Pick the pins it's wired to under Display wiring. One board runs one screen: plug in a board for each screen and the manager drives them all.
• Display boards show under Your devices, with SHOWS right on the row to switch a screen between the DED and the PFLD.
• Open hardware: analog pins can be used as switch inputs, and pin 13 is available on the Mega. The board needs the new firmware for these (see below).
• MAX7219 7-segment displays on open hardware boards, for the UHF panel readouts.
• A board running older firmware than the manager carries says so on its row under Your devices, with an Update button.

Fixed

• Flicking a switch fast could leave DCS on the middle position, for example the HUD Velocity switch going from CAS to GND SPD stopping on TAS. The manager now checks where DCS put the switch and sends it again if it didn't get there.
• The PFLD didn't line up like the cockpit. It now uses the cockpit's own layout: each part of a fault row in its column, the warning arrows lit, and the ENG and AV labels, the more-faults mark and the page number shown.
• The manager restarted some other USB boards about once a minute while looking for open hardware. It now leaves boards that aren't ours alone.
• The taskbar sometimes showed a Python logo instead of the AIM helmet.

Update / install

• The manager offers this update on launch. Click the banner, or use Check now in Settings. Your boards and settings are kept.
• DCS picks up the updated export script the next time it starts.
• Open hardware boards keep working on their current firmware. To get the new pins, press Update on the board's row under Your devices.
• Windows will confirm the publisher is Invictus Machine LLC, the company behind Invictus Cockpit Systems.

Panel firmware updates now find boards that are already set up, the manager notices new versions while it sits in the tray, and your setup is much harder to lose.

New

• The manager checks for updates every few hours while it runs, and when you open it from the tray. A new version found while it's in the tray shows a Windows notification.
• The version number sits at the bottom of the sidebar. Click it to check for an update.
• EXPORT CONFIG… now includes the gauge setup and the cockpit display setup. IMPORT… shows what it replaces, asks first, and restarts the manager. What you had before is kept as a Manager settings backup you can restore.

Fixed

• Panel firmware updates weren't offered for boards that are already set up. The Firmware page now gets the board type from the board itself.
• Upload & flash couldn't find a downloaded panel firmware file.
• The Firmware page's check button said nothing when there was nothing new. It's now Check for firmware updates, and it says what it found.
• A crash or power cut during a save could leave the board list empty. The manager now keeps the last good copy of each settings file and falls back to it.
• Downloads are checked against the release before they're offered, and the installer must be signed by Invictus Machine LLC before it runs.

Update / install

• The manager offers this update on launch. Click the banner, or use Check now in Settings. Your boards and settings are kept.
• Windows will confirm the publisher is Invictus Machine LLC, the company behind Invictus Cockpit Systems.

A fix for the AIM Ghost Joystick driver. If you use the Falcon BMS virtual joysticks, update the driver after installing.

Fixed

• The AIM Ghost Joysticks sent every input dozens of times. Driver 1.0.1.0 sent each switch or axis change to Windows 10 to 60 times over, which cost CPU in every program reading the joysticks. Driver 1.0.2.0 sends each change once.

After updating

On the Home page, click Setup BMS keyfile. The virtual joystick section shows Update available. Click Update driver and approve the Windows prompt. Your joysticks keep their names and numbering, so your keyfile and bindings still work. Restart if Windows asks.

Not using the BMS virtual joysticks? Nothing to do.

Update / install

• The manager offers this update on launch. Click the banner, or use Check now in Settings. Your boards and settings are kept.
• Windows will confirm the publisher is Invictus Machine LLC, the company behind Invictus Cockpit Systems.

The panel backlight slider is back, Open Hardware boards get a backlight pin per panel, and there are two experimental features: RS-485 for Open Hardware boards, and panel sync at mission start.

New

Panel backlight

• We left the panel backlight slider off when Console Panels switched to the tree layout. It's back, at the top of Console Panels.
• Open Hardware boards can give every panel its own backlight pin, with the new PANEL BACKLIGHT row in the wizard's Pins step.

RS-485 for Open Hardware boards (experimental)

• Several Arduino, Teensy or Pico boards can share one USB connection. A Mega or a Pico plugs into the PC as the bus master, and the others connect to it through RS-485 modules. Set it up with the new Connection button on the DIY Devices page. The Open Hardware page in the guide has the wiring.
• It needs the board firmware that comes with this release, now version 1.2.0. Reinstall it from the DIY Devices page. Boards keep their setup.

Panel sync at mission start (experimental)

• Settings > Simulator > Sync panels at mission start. When a mission starts in DCS, or you enter the cockpit in BMS, the manager sets the sim's switches and knobs to match your panels. Off by default.

Fixed

• Falcon BMS: the IFF backup code drums never moved. They now follow the sim.
• The update banner stayed at 0% until the download finished. It now counts up while downloading.
• Old installers piled up in the manager's download folder. Each update now clears out the previous ones.
• An unplugged Open Hardware board showed its old USB port on the DIY Devices page instead of Offline.

Changed

• The A-10C shows as Coming Soon on the Home page until its panels have been checked against the real cockpit, the same as the F/A-18C. The F-15C for Falcon BMS joins them as Coming Soon.

Firmware

• Panel firmware 2.5.1 for Sidewinder and Phoenix boards fixes a bouncing issue on some rotary switches. Update from the Firmware page.

Update / install

• The manager offers this update on launch. Click the banner, or use Check now in Settings. Your boards and settings are kept.
• Windows will confirm the publisher is Invictus Machine LLC, the company behind Invictus Cockpit Systems.

Fewer pins, more ways to wire. A rotary switch can now sit on a single analog input through a resistor ladder, and any potentiometer can be swapped for a click-stop rotary encoder. This release also makes USB boards respond noticeably faster.

New

Rotary switches on one analog input

• Wire a rotary switch through a chain of resistors and it takes one analog input instead of one pin per position. The INS knob drops from seven pins to one.
• Pick One analog input on the rotary's row in the wizard's Pins step. Open Hardware boards use it by default; AIM boards default to one pin per position.
• Then choose Calibrate positions… from the ⋯ menu on Console Panels, park the switch on each position and click Capture. The guide has a new page, Resistor Ladder Rotary Switches, with the wiring.

Rotary encoders in place of potentiometers

• Every potentiometer can be wired as a rotary encoder on two pins. Pick Rotary encoder, two pins on the pot's row. The board counts the clicks and the sim still sees a pot.
• Calibrate encoder… in the ⋯ menu counts how many steps your encoder reports per click and sets how many clicks span the travel. Twenty clicks from end to end is the default. It also has Reverse direction.

Airframe reference pages

• The Docs button on each panel opens a page describing the panel and every control on it: what it does, what each position does, and what it takes to wire. It also notes where a control is not modeled in DCS or in Falcon BMS.

Fixed

• Eight F-16C controls that shared an identifier with another panel. ICP DRIFT fired EXT LIGHTING FLASH STEADY in DCS, and ICP FLIR GAIN fired WING/TAIL. ANTI G TEST did nothing. The ENGINE START RUN and MKR BCN lamps never lit. Each now has its own identifier. Your saved wiring is carried across. A board wired to one of these controls shows This board needs its configuration sent again on its page: click Send configuration. USB boards are updated on their own when they connect. If one board has both the ICP and EXT LIGHTING panels and a pin was wired to one of the pairs above, the manager can't tell which switch that pin was meant for. In that case the board's page asks you to set both in the wizard.
• USB boards answered half a second late. A turned knob or flipped switch on an Open Hardware board now shows up at once.
• A panel set up on two boards. Console Panels mixed the two boards' wiring together. It now reads the panel from one board, preferring the one that is connected, and the wizard says already on another board beside such a panel.
• Pin names. Console Panels now names pins the way the wizard does: GPIO 19 and P1 on an AIM board, A4 on a Nano, GP27 on a Pico. It used to say P19 for an AIM pin, which read like a pot channel.
• Wizard pin counts on USB boards. The panel list counted a ladder-wired rotary as one pin per position and showed the board as over budget.

Changed

• The F/A-18C shows as Coming Soon on the Home page until its panels have been checked against the real cockpit. It was selectable in 2.0.0 with "draft" beside every control.

Known

• An encoder-wired knob starts from zero whenever its board restarts or receives a new setup.

Update / install

• The manager offers this update on launch. Click the banner, or use Check now in Settings. Your boards and settings are kept.
• Windows will confirm the publisher is Invictus Machine LLC, the company behind Invictus Cockpit Systems.
• No firmware update is needed for this release.

The manager now works with your own boards. Plug in an Arduino, Teensy or Raspberry Pi Pico, install the firmware from inside the manager, and set it up the same way you set up an AIM board. This release also brings the A-10C, a new Console Panels page that shows every control in your cockpit with its wiring and live value, and learn mode, which records how you wired a panel by watching you flip its switches.

New

Open Hardware (beta)

• Your own boards. Raspberry Pi Pico, Arduino Nano, Uno, Pro Mini, Mega 2560, Pro Micro, Leonardo, Micro, and Teensy 4.0, 4.1, 3.1, 3.2 and LC all work as panel boards over USB. Clones work too.
• Install from the manager. The new DIY Devices page has an install card: pick the board and its port, click Install, and the firmware goes on. No Arduino IDE, no downloads.
• The same setup as an AIM board. The wizard offers exactly the pins your board has, using the board's own pin numbers. Switches, rotaries, encoders, pots and indicator lamps all work.
• An Open Hardware key unlocks programming. Seeing your boards is free, and a board you already set up keeps working without a key. AIM hardware never needs a key. Buy one at invictuscockpits.com, then click Enter key on the DIY Devices page.
• Open Hardware is in beta and supported best-effort through the guide and Discord. Support for AIM hardware is unchanged.

Console Panels

• One page under Avionics lists every control in your cockpit as a tree: its panel, its type, what it is wired to, and its live value. Inputs can be muted, inverted or given a different response time from the row's menu. It replaces the drawn Panels and Instruments pages.

Learn wiring

• Wire a panel first and let the manager work out the pins. Click Learn wiring on Console Panels, pick the board, click a control and move it. The manager records the pin that moved and pushes the wiring to the board when you are done. Open hardware boards have it built in; AIM boards need panel firmware 2.5.0 or newer.

Test lamp

• Lamps normally follow the sim. The row menu on Console Panels now has Test lamp, which lights every cell of an indicator for three seconds so you can check the wiring on the bench.

A-10C

• The A-10C joins the F-16C. Pick it on the Home page and its panels and controls appear in Console Panels, ready to wire.

Gauge calibration in real units

• A physical gauge is now calibrated in the units on its face, one needle at a time, instead of in raw steps.

Changed

• The installer shows the license agreement and asks you to agree before it installs.
• The version number jumps to 2.0 to mark the first release that supports hardware other than Invictus boards.

Update / install

• The manager offers this update on launch. Click the banner, or use Check now in Settings. Your boards and settings are kept.
• Windows will confirm the publisher is Invictus Machine LLC, the company behind Invictus Cockpit Systems.

Hotfix for cockpit displays in VR.

Fixed

• Exported MFDs went dark in VR. They worked in 2D but not with a headset on. The DCS layout the manager writes now includes the VR settings DCS needs, so the MFDs render on their monitors in VR too, and the headset mirror stays on your main monitor.

After updating

Launch the manager once so it refreshes the DCS layout (or click Apply DCS Setup under Setup displays if you've turned automatic repair off). Then in DCS open Options → VR and turn on Use DCS System Resolution.

Not flying in VR? Nothing changes for you, but the update is safe to take.

Updating

Run the installer below or use the update banner in the manager. Boards, calibrations, and bindings are untouched.

Hotfix for running Cockpit Manager alongside DCS-BIOS. If you use both, update.

Fixed

• DCS-BIOS switches stopped working when Cockpit Manager's DCS integration was installed. Both integrations were listening for commands on the same port (7778) inside DCS, and whichever loaded first silently cut off the other's switch input. The telltale signature: DCS-BIOS warning lights and displays kept working while every DCS-BIOS switch went dead. Cockpit Manager now uses its own port (7787), so the two coexist cleanly. Thanks to the customer who spotted the port overlap.

After updating

Launch the manager once before starting DCS. It updates its DCS integration automatically (or click Install on the Set Up DCS card if you've turned automatic repair off). The manager and its integration must both be on this version; the manager handles that for you.

Not using DCS-BIOS? Nothing changes for you, but the update is safe to take.

Updating

Run the installer below or use the update banner in the manager. Boards, calibrations, and bindings are untouched.

Hotfix for high background CPU usage caused by the AIM Ghost Joystick driver. If you set up the Falcon BMS virtual joysticks, update and follow the one extra step below.

Fixed

• The AIM Ghost Joystick driver could quietly burn CPU around the clock. Driver 1.0.0.0 answered Windows' input polling in a tight loop, which shows up in Task Manager as WUDFHost.exe working hard even with nothing open. The load grew with every virtual joystick, roughly half a core each, whether or not the manager was running. Driver 1.0.1.0 fixes it: on our bench, four devices went from an average 249% of a CPU core (peak 362%) to a flat 0.0%, with input behavior verified unchanged.
• Driver updates now actually reach you. Until now the manager only checked whether the driver was installed, so a newer bundled driver was never offered. It now compares versions and shows Update available with an Update driver button when your installed driver is older.

One extra step after updating

Installing this update does not replace the driver by itself. Open the BMS setup in the manager; the virtual joystick section will show Update available. Click Update driver and approve the Windows administrator prompt. Your joysticks are rebuilt with the same names and numbering, so your keyfile and bindings still apply.

Not using BMS or never installed the virtual joysticks? Nothing to do; this doesn't affect you.

Updating

Run the installer below or use the update banner in the manager. Boards, calibrations, and bindings are untouched.

A fix release. If you are on 1.6.0, the toggle switches were missing from your panels. This puts them back.

Fixed

• Toggle switches did not appear on any panel. Every two-position and three-position switch was missing, on every aircraft. Knobs, buttons, dials, gauges and indicator lights were unaffected, so a panel would come up looking like its switches had simply never been added. Nothing was wrong with your setup or your boards, and nothing you configured was lost. All switches are back.

Who this affects

Only 1.6.0. Version 1.5.2 and earlier did not have this problem, so if you skipped 1.6.0 you have not seen it.

Your pin assignments, board configuration, calibration and profiles are untouched by this update. Install over the top and your cockpit comes back exactly as you left it.

The session update: your cockpit now survives DCS updates, Windows reboots, and startup friction. Plus a new diagnostic page that ends network guesswork.

New

• Hot Start. One click launches your whole flight session: the sim selected on the Home page plus every companion app you add (kneeboard, voice tools, launchers), in order, each with its own delay. Lives at the bottom of the sidebar in hazard stripes, and on the tray icon. Set it up under Settings, Flight Session. Guide
• Network Health. Every layer of the cockpit network as a row of lights, from the cable up to live board traffic. The first red light is the problem, in plain language, with the one-click Fix right below. Find it under Network in the sidebar. Guide
• Automatic DCS repair. DCS updates love to wipe the integration from Saved Games. The manager now checks at startup and quietly reinstalls anything missing: export script, aircraft patches, stick input profile. On by default; toggle under Settings, App Behavior.
• Display layout save and restore. Snapshot your multi-monitor arrangement once; restore it anytime, or let Hot Start restore it automatically before launching. No more viewports on the wrong glass after a driver update. Guide
• Backups. One-click archives of your DCS bindings and BMS keyfile, automatic safety copies before every keyfile export, and whole-configuration export/import for moving to a new PC. Guide
• Tray and startup options. Close to the system tray, start with Windows, and Hot Start straight from the tray menu.
• Kneeboard display slot. Assign a kneeboard viewport to any monitor in the DCS display wizard, portrait-fitted automatically.
• Adjust response time. Right-click any switch or rotary for a per-control settle window. The fix for a rotary that briefly snaps back to its previous position when you turn it.

Changed

• New app icon.
• Status lights across the health page now render as proper LEDs.

Updating

Run the installer below or use the update banner in the manager. Boards, calibrations, and bindings are untouched. Documentation for everything above is at docs.invictuscockpits.com and the wiki.

Follow-up fix to v1.5.1. If you use Falcon BMS, install this one; it supersedes 1.5.1, which could still fail during the elevated device-creation step.

Fixed

• BMS setup could crash partway through creating the AIM Ghost Joysticks (an "Invalid argument" error during the elevated step). The setup helper was writing status messages to an output channel that does not exist when running elevated, and the crash could stop device creation before it finished. Status output is now best-effort and the setup waits for the helper to complete before reporting success.
• Includes everything from v1.5.1: the BMS setup helpers now run correctly from the installed app, and ghost joystick startup handles Windows renumbering.

Updating

Download the installer below and run it, or use the update banner inside the manager. Your boards, calibration, and bindings are untouched.

After updating, open the BMS setup dialog and run the setup again. It should report 4 of 4 devices ready.

Superseded by v1.5.2, which fixes a crash in the elevated device-creation step. Install v1.5.2 instead.

Changes since v1.4.0:

Fixed

• Stick and USB display firmware updates now work from the installed manager. Updating stick firmware from an installed (non-developer) manager failed partway and left the stick unresponsive until it was unplugged and replugged. The update never actually wrote anything, so no stick was harmed. This affected every installed version until now; thanks to Phil for the first field report. If an update attempt fails for any reason, the manager now also tells you to unplug and replug the device before trying again.

New

• The cockpit network moves to 10.24.6.x. The old 192.168.100.x range collides with the diagnostic address built into every cable modem (192.168.100.1), which caused hard-to-diagnose conflicts for cable-internet households. Existing cockpits keep working with no action: boards configured on the old range stay on it, the Fix button now binds both cockpit addresses and reserves both ranges, and new boards are assigned 10.24.6.x. Panel firmware 2.4.1 (released alongside) moves the factory default for future boards; it changes nothing on configured boards.
• Switch polarity corrected (panel firmware 2.4.1). Since the first firmware release, correctly wired two-position toggles reported backwards, and three-position toggles read with their ends swapped; momentary buttons were unaffected. After updating a board to firmware 2.4.1, switches wired per the wizard's pin labels read correctly. If any of your switches were wired differently to compensate for the old behavior, flip them in software with the new invert option below, no rework needed.
• Right-click a switch to invert its wiring. Wired a toggle to the wrong throw, or a momentary that reads backwards? Right-click it in the Panels view and choose Invert switch wiring: the fix applies instantly, persists with the board's pin assignment, and no rewiring is needed. Works on two-position, three-position, and momentary switches.
• A heads-up when the network fix targets your internet adapter. On PCs with a single Ethernet port, adding the cockpit address to the adapter that also carries your internet can interrupt internet access on some routers. The fix banner now warns you first and points at the setup guide's single-port options (a Don't remind me again checkbox hides it for good). The guide also gained a section on running internet and the cockpit through one port.
• Panel board firmware updates, built in. Select a Sidewinder or Phoenix on the Firmware page and click Check for updates: if newer firmware exists, a banner appears and Download stages the correct file for your board automatically; then Upload & flash as usual. Firmware is published at https://github.com/invictuscockpits/aim-panel-firmware/releases if you prefer to fetch it yourself.

Updating: run the installer over your existing install, or use the in-app update from Settings.

• Faster, quieter startup with BMS devices.

Highlights since v1.2.2:

Cockpit displays

• Physical DED and PFLD support. SSD1322 OLED glass driven from a Sidewinder SPI channel renders the Data Entry Display and Pilot Fault List, fed by DCS or Falcon BMS. Includes a hand-drawn typeface matched to the real DED's letterforms, correct degree symbols, and an Invictus boot logo. Requires panel board firmware 2.3 or newer.
• Display-only panels (DED, PFLD) now appear in the board wizard with SPI channel selection.

New hardware support

• AIM USB Display (initial support): a standalone USB version of the DED/PFLD for builders without an AIM network. Plug it in and the manager detects it, feeds it from DCS or BMS, adds it to the Firmware page for updates, and lets you choose whether it shows the DED or the Pilot Fault List.

VFT5 side stick

• Haptic feedback. The manager detects sim events from DCS and BMS (gun fire, missile launch, gear transitions, stall buffet, weapon release, countermeasures, touchdown, over-G) and fires matching haptic effects on the stick. Configure them on the new Haptics page. Requires stick firmware 1.4.0, released alongside.
• DCS default bindings. The DCS setup dialog can install a ready-made F-16C input profile for the Viper Force Transducer, matched to your grip. DCS picks it up automatically for new devices.
• Calibration wizard improvements: live at-rest readings, Enter advances each step, and calibration exports to and imports from a file.
• Serial number and manufacture date are stored on the stick and shown on the Firmware page.
• New Hysteresis page with one-click center re-zero, and a new Filter page.

Networking

• Hyper-V / virtual adapter protection. The manager detects when a Hyper-V, WSL, VMware, or VirtualBox virtual adapter takes over the 192.168.100.x cockpit range, names the offending adapter, and offers a one-click Fix that permanently reserves the range for your real cockpit adapter. Fixes #2.

Polish

• Clearer wording throughout the app.

Updating: run the installer over your existing install, or use the in-app update from Settings (v1.2.2 and newer).

A fix release that repairs the built-in update check and restores the app's dark theme on PCs that were showing Windows' default colors. Because this release fixes the update check itself, please install it once by hand — after that, the manager will notify you of new versions automatically again.

Fixed

The "Check for updates" check works again

• On some PCs the manager couldn't reach our release page to see whether a newer version was available — the check failed with a connection error, and no update banner ever appeared. The manager now connects reliably using your PC's own trusted‑connection settings, so both the automatic check on launch and the Check now button work.

The app keeps its dark theme everywhere

• On some PCs, header bars, drop‑downs, spin boxes and similar controls picked up Windows' default light colors instead of the AIM dark theme, which looked out of place. Every control now uses the AIM theme regardless of your Windows color settings.

Update / install

• Please install this one by hand. Earlier versions (v1.2.0 and v1.2.1) shipped with the broken update check, so they can't download this fix for you. Download AIM-Cockpit-Manager-v1.2.2-Setup.exe below and run it once. It updates in place — your boards and settings are kept. Windows will confirm the publisher is Invictus Machine LLC (the company behind Invictus Cockpit Systems).
• After this update, the manager notifies you of new versions automatically again — you'll get the update banner on launch and the Check now button will work.

A small fix release for everyone whose manager said "DCS not found" even though DCS is installed and working. If v1.2.0 already detects your DCS, there's no urgency — but it's a safe drop-in update either way.

Fixed

DCS is now detected on a clean simulator PC

• The manager used to require a Scripts folder inside your Saved Games\DCS folder before it would recognize DCS. That folder is only created by third-party export tools — a fresh DCS installation never makes one — so on a clean sim PC the manager said "DCS not found" no matter what you did. The manager now recognizes DCS from the folders the game itself creates, and makes the Scripts folder for you when you click Install.
• The manager now asks Windows where your Saved Games folder really is, so a Saved Games folder that's been moved off the C: drive is found too.

"Set folder…" now talks back

• Picking your DCS installation folder in DCS Integration setup used to give no feedback at all — it looked like nothing happened. You now get a clear confirmation (or a clear reason it was rejected) right in the dialog.
• To be clear: that folder picker covers the cockpit-display file fixes (like the F-16C RWR). Detecting DCS itself works from your Saved Games folder and needs no manual setup — see above.

Version display

• The Firmware page showed a bogus manager version (e.g. "v0.2.0"). All parts of the app now report the real installed version from a single source.

Update / install

• Already on v1.1 or v1.2? The manager shows an update banner the next time you launch it — click Download, then run the installer when it finishes. It updates in place; your boards and settings are kept.
• Fresh install? Download AIM-Cockpit-Manager-v1.2.1-Setup.exe below and run it. Windows will confirm the publisher is Invictus Machine LLC (the company behind Invictus Cockpit Systems).

A friendly tidy-up release: the manager now finds DCS no matter which drive it's on, you can flip a control that runs the wrong way without rewiring, removed boards can be brought back, and the full guide is one click away. Install it right over your current version; your boards and settings are kept.

What's new

Finds DCS wherever it's installed

• The manager now locates your DCS installation automatically, even when DCS is on a different drive from your Saved Games folder.
• If your setup is unusual and it still can't find DCS, the DCS Integration screen shows a clear notice with a Set folde button. Just point it at your DCS install folder once and it remembers.

Reverse a control's direction

• A new Reverse option on the calibration screen flips a knob or lever that turns or moves the "wrong" way — no need to rewire or remount anything. The change takes effect right away.

Bring back a removed board

• Removed a board by mistake? Boards you remove now move to a Recently deleted list instead of vanishing, so you can restore one with its settings intact in a couple of clicks.

Help is one click away

• A new Visit Wiki link in the sidebar opens the full setup-and-troubleshooting guide in your browser.

System requirements

• Windows 10 21H2 or newer, or Windows 11
• A wired Ethernet adapter for the cockpit board network (separate from your internet adapter)
• A standards-compliant IEEE 802.3at PoE switch for the boards
• DCS World 2.7+ for DCS integration
• Falcon BMS 4.37 or newer for BMS integration (the cockpit-display feature works best on 4.38+)

Update / install

• Already on v1.1? The manager shows an update banner the next time you launch it — click Download, then run the installer when it finishes. It updates in place; your boards and settings are kept.
• Fresh install? Download AIM-Cockpit-Manager-v1.2.0-Setup.exe below and run it. Windows will confirm the publisher is Invictus Machine LLC (the company behind Invictus Cockpit Systems).

Feedback

Found a bug or have a request? Please use the issues feature right here on this repository.

Built and signed by Invictus Cockpit Systems.

This update makes Falcon BMS a first-class experience, puts your cockpit displays on extra monitors, and gives the whole app a cleaner, plainer interface. It's a free update for everyone on v1.0 — install it right over your current version.

What's new

Falcon BMS — every control, working

• We went through the entire F-16 cockpit, control by control, so each switch, knob, and button does the right thing in BMS. Flight controls, fuel, electrical, engine, ECM, audio, autopilot, avionics, sensors, canopy, eject, IFF — all checked and corrected.
• Volume knobs, the trim wheels, HSI course and heading, and the altimeter setting now work as smooth analog axes in BMS instead of stepping. Assign them once in BMS's axis setup and they feel natural.
• The IFF code wheels (Mode-1 and Mode-3) now turn correctly and follow the sim.

Cockpit displays on your extra monitors

• Built-in display setup places your MFDs, DED, RWR, and HUD onto additional monitors in both DCS and BMS. Line each one up with the on-screen guide, click apply, and you're done — no hand-editing simulator files.
• Added an EHSI display spot alongside the MFDs and other readouts.
• Choose how smoothly BMS draws the displays, and have the display helper start automatically whenever BMS launches.

A cleaner, clearer interface

• Reworked the wording across the whole app. Setup dialogs, buttons, tooltips, and status messages are clearer and far less technical.
• Control tooltips now tell you when something isn't simulated in a particular sim, so you know what to expect before you wire it up.

Smoother first-time setup

• The virtual-joystick driver that BMS needs is now fully signed. The old one-time "turn on test signing and reboot" step is gone — installation just works.

Known limitations

• BMS support covers the F-16 (and F-15), matching what Falcon BMS itself models. DCS World remains the primary and most complete integration.

System requirements

• Windows 10 21H2 or newer, or Windows 11
• A wired Ethernet adapter for the cockpit board network (separate from your internet adapter)
• A standards-compliant IEEE 802.3at PoE switch for the boards
• DCS World 2.7+ for DCS integration
• Falcon BMS 4.37 or newer for BMS integration (the cockpit-display feature works best on 4.38+)

Update / install

• Already on v1.0? The manager shows an update banner the next time you launch it — click Download, then run the installer when it finishes. It updates in place; your boards and settings are kept.
• Fresh install? Download AIM-Cockpit-Manager-v1.1.0-Setup.exe below and run it. Windows will confirm the publisher is Invictus Machine LLC (the company behind Invictus Cockpit Systems).

Feedback

Found a bug? Pleased use the issues reporting feature right here in Github.

Built and signed by Invictus Cockpit Systems.