Author Topic: Problem's with Sidewinder.. help please (Read 361 times)

beef58 · « **on:** May 11, 2002, 08:53:17 PM »

I am having problems with my joystick.

I just installed a new MB (asus A7V333) and new AMD 1.6 Xp processor, and G-Force 4 Ti4400 128meg.

Now my MS Sidwinder Force Feedback Pro, wont work properly.
When you check it in control panel, joystick properties. it is very glitchy and if you move the stick it will give you, "Not Connected"

I am using my old sound card SB pci 128 game port. I have disabled the on board sound and joystick in CMOS and by the MB jumper.

I have flashed the MB with the newest bios and chip set drivers, I also found the Microsoft "patch" for the Joystick.

What have I missed, havent been able to play Aces for 2 weeks, I am going through withdrawal.
LOL

Oh yea I tried the on board game port and had the same problem.

Should I just trash the old stick and go to USB, if so what is good with out spending a lot of cash.

Thanks,
beef

beet1e · « **Reply #1 on:** May 12, 2002, 09:38:45 AM »

Which operating System?

beef58 · « **Reply #2 on:** May 12, 2002, 07:57:18 PM »

Hi beet1e ,

I guess I forgot that minor deatail,

Win 98se2

beet1e · « **Reply #3 on:** May 13, 2002, 03:34:52 AM »

Beef,

I did a similar upgrade myself about a year ago. I upgraded the mobo to a A7V133 with a 1.2MHz Athlon. I had various major problems, and got into such a knot that I ended up having to reformat the drive and reinstall everything. I learned a lot as a result of all that!

Before you go much further, I would back up any important data, and reinstall W98SE. Let it detect all the new kit you have since you upgraded the board.

I've just had a look at the Asus website about your A7V333 board, and I see it uses the VIA chipset, so I assume you have installed the latest VIA chipset drivers. (??) I think they're up to about v4.37 now; I still have 4.36. Go the VIA Download page.

You should also reinstall DirectX 8.1 after your upgrade. Do that last.

Have a look at my earlier post in which I describe the Belarc Utility. I recommend this, and if you would download this and run it, it produces a report in .htm format. You could send me this and I could look at it for you.

By the way, I have a Creative Labs Live! soundcard, and it works for both W-ME and W2000 (different drivers for W-ME). I have a MSWPP joystick, and have it plugged into that soundcard.

Do you have the MSW Game Controller software installed? May need to reinstall it. I've just been to the
Microsoft Sidewinder Downloads site, and could not help noticing that there is a patch for USB problems. Could this be what you need?

Finally, when you've got it all working, you might want to consider moving up to Windows ME. I use that for gaming, and it's much better than W98, even W98SE. No more crashes! As for W2000, I am uncertain whether the Microsoft Game Controller software will work with that - the subject of an earlier debate in one of my other posts.

Lephturn · « **Reply #4 on:** May 13, 2002, 08:45:20 AM »

Yes, the software works under Win2k. If you are going to upgrade from 98, go to Win2k, it is far more stable than WinME.

beet1e · « **Reply #5 on:** May 13, 2002, 11:31:26 AM »

Lephturn, - yes and no.

It may be that the Sidewinder 3.02 drivers work with W2000, but the success of the installation would seem to depend on the decision made when W2000 was installed. At that time, you get the choice to install to C:\WINDOWS or C:\WINNT. I chose to install to C:\WINNT. After you told me that the game controller would work with W2000, I tried installing it, but the setup program does not work. It seems to be looking for files in the wrong place. See the attached error message. Is there any way round this?

By the way, I can confirm that this installation was of 3.02, despite the heading in the error message.

minus · « **Reply #6 on:** May 13, 2002, 11:58:03 AM »

is it just like for WIN XP , BUT ! it have Auto Detect MS Sidewinder and it instal prefectly without Sidewinder 3.02 drivers
FX forces work but cotrol aplet is not present, for some games you will need some DLL to make it work

got FFMS1 FF MS2 but all they useles

bloom25 · « **Reply #7 on:** May 13, 2002, 04:34:07 PM »

The sight of someone recommending Windows ME nearly gave me a heart attack! I would NEVER inflict the horror that is Windows ME on any machine. It's buggier, bloated, and far more troublesome to work with than 98. (You ME users might also want to look at how big the _restore directory is... ) Windows 98 SE is far more reliable than ME IMO. Windows 2000 is an order of magnitude better than either. I'm going to have to log off and go get myself something to eat and relax for a while to calm my nerves down after reading that.

I personally would make sure there are no interupt conflicts with the gameport. Moving to a USB stick would also probably eliminate the problem. Getting the gameport on some SB cards to work right with certain joysticks and motherboards can be painful.

beet1e · « **Reply #8 on:** May 13, 2002, 05:20:33 PM »

LOL Bloom25. You feel about W-ME the way I feel about W-XP...
Still never a single problem with W-ME - 5 months and counting...

beef58 · « **Reply #9 on:** May 13, 2002, 11:51:54 PM »

thanks for all of the info guys!!

This whole mess started because of a virus, Chernobyl. I thought it was a hardware problem at first. because after a low-level format and reinstall it was still messin up. Took me awhile to realize the virus was on DirectX 8.1 that I had saved on a network drive. man what a nightmare.

I will try the via chip set update but I am thinking it is just something not compatible with this setup. Because my racing wheel still works fine. (TSW2).

I think I will go to USB, and I would really like to try the new Cougar HOTAS, but it looks like it is sold out everywhere.

If anyone knows someone that has it in stock, please let me know.

Thanks Again
beef