Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: TequilaChaser on August 24, 2008, 03:15:23 PM
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trying to get my new PC to co-operate with my old joystick ( gameport ).......
brand new PC been sitting since June 23rd.......
what I have - USB CH Combat Stick --what I need USB CH Fighter Stick ( anyone want to trade, ROFL? )
or to use my old Gameport CH HOTAS setup
what I have - Brand New Creative SB Xtreme Gamer Fatality Pro sound card --what I need Creative SB Audigy Z2 sound card with Gameport( anyone want to trade, ROFL? )
brainstorm idea- perhaps?
how many sound cards can I actually install on a PC? I know I have 2 on my old PC I use an Audiophile ( has like 10 different type of connectors hanging off of it for recording/mixing etc...for my Degidesign/ProTools/Cu-Base/Reason 3.0/Line 6 TonePort UX2 stuff and a SB PCI512 soundcard with gameport along with onboard sound....whereI just go and enable/disable as needed...only using just the gameport on the PCI512 only
I know it works for me on my old system, but what about having to sound cards of the same manufacturer being installed, will they conflict?
what are others opinions of me using the new Xtreme Gamer Sound Card for my sound and just using the PCI512's gameport for my stick?
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I've never tried it and really can't comment on it other than I think it would be a driver/IRQ nightmare.
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You might be able to insert the old card into an open PCI slot, then, without installing the drivers for the older card, disable it in system devices (it will probably show up as an unknown device). The gameport might still work as I don't think it will need a driver.
Not sure if this will work or not but it's worth a try.
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trying to get my new PC to co-operate with my old joystick ( gameport ).......
brand new PC been sitting since June 23rd.......
what I have - USB CH Combat Stick --what I need USB CH Fighter Stick ( anyone want to trade, ROFL? )
or to use my old Gameport CH HOTAS setup
what I have - Brand New Creative SB Xtreme Gamer Fatality Pro sound card --what I need Creative SB Audigy Z2 sound card with Gameport( anyone want to trade, ROFL? )
brainstorm idea- perhaps?
how many sound cards can I actually install on a PC? I know I have 2 on my old PC I use an Audiophile ( has like 10 different type of connectors hanging off of it for recording/mixing etc...for my Degidesign/ProTools/Cu-Base/Reason 3.0/Line 6 TonePort UX2 stuff and a SB PCI512 soundcard with gameport along with onboard sound....whereI just go and enable/disable as needed...only using just the gameport on the PCI512 only
I know it works for me on my old system, but what about having to sound cards of the same manufacturer being installed, will they conflict?
what are others opinions of me using the new Xtreme Gamer Sound Card for my sound and just using the PCI512's gameport for my stick?
Yes, you can use more than one sound card although certain issues can arise due to drivers and resource allocation (IRQ, etc).
Problem is, Creative is convinced you should only have one sound card, so I don't believe you can have X-Fi and Audigy at the same time (drivers issue).
Keep X-Fi (install firstly and use as default) and get cheap second card with gameport from another manufacturer (newegg has some for about $10). There's still no guarantee though.
Another option is to purchase good gameport to USB converter. CSI is making converter (about $30) which has several modes, one specifically for CH controller, so that would be safer option.
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When faced with a similar situation, I decided not to buy Creative's latest and greatest, and instead went to Ebay and bought a used Audigy 2 ZS, and the gameport works just fine. I just didn't have enough slots for multiple sound cards.
Windows XP can support multiple sound cards just fine, though it can only USE one at a time for sound purposes. The gameport of one should always be available, however.
I wouldn't worry about IRQs - moderns OSes and motherboards have been able to sort through multiple IRQs just fine for years. The only real trick is if the creative drivers will allow for multiple creative cards. And that I don't know.
Given the ebay prices of audigy 2's, it think it would only cost you about $40 to try it for yourself.
-Llama
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I didn't know that LLama. Good thing I kept my yap shut.
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Windows XP can support multiple sound cards just fine, though it can only USE one at a time for sound purposes. The gameport of one should always be available, however.
I wouldn't worry about IRQs - moderns OSes and motherboards have been able to sort through multiple IRQs just fine for years. The only real trick is if the creative drivers will allow for multiple creative cards. And that I don't know.
Given the ebay prices of audigy 2's, it think it would only cost you about $40 to try it for yourself.
-Llama
Thanks Llama, my main concern was the idea it is going to be 2 different models of the same manufacturer, gonna give it a shot here shortly....... then I can go ahead and just set it up like I currently have the PCI512 SB card now, with only the Gameport enabled.......
no need to spend money if I don't have too.......and use what I got..............
my logical thinking behind this, is if I hook up my gameport CH setup to this new PC, I would not have to hardboot (dump the memory / programming) to be able to calibrate it in windows.....with an adapter in use I would have to and also have to go thru the whole process of reprogramming it all in Aces High II.........
thinking it be easier to just install the PCI512 Soundcard and just install the gameport / joystick drivers from CH analog8.exe ( think it is )
with CH Products lasting for so long, it looks like they would offer up a way to support us dinasours who still love the older product........( although only thing I hate between the USB version & Gameport version is the lack of the 2 MB Flash Memory onboard the stick/throttles )
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I use USB headphones for game sound, they work independently from the native soundsystem. Granted they may give overhead but my box is well fast enough regardless of the fact.
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TC,
Sorry, but I use ancient Thrustmaster flight gear, and I don't know anything about programming CH stuff.
But at least you can do it in Windows. I have to reboot to a DOS partition to download TM programming into my gear...
-Llama
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If you are running windows XP CH gameport stuff will not work. The buttons cant be programed on windows XP. You can get the stick to work with a USB adapter but buttons will not work period. I have a complete gameport CH set gathering dust because I built a new pc with windows XP. USB is the only way to go.
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You could always convert the gameport stick to USB. It's a little work, but it can be done. You'd also lose the ability to program the stick with CH software. But, it would be completely functional..buttons and all.
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If you are running windows XP CH gameport stuff will not work. The buttons cant be programed on windows XP. You can get the stick to work with a USB adapter but buttons will not work period. I have a complete gameport CH set gathering dust because I built a new pc with windows XP. USB is the only way to go.
YES they will!!!
Go here there is an entire section devoted to gameport set up in WinXP....
http://www.ch-hangar.com/forum/
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I'm running two sound cards fine in my Windows 2000. One for the microphone, one for the speakers. Both are SoundBlaster cards with one being over 5 years old, the other being a newer Audigy.
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They must be on thier own physical IRQ's. Creative cards do not share well, at all, when the interrupts are chained.
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Might want to look and see if your motherboard has a header (set of pins) to accept a gameport plug. Many don't, many do. Of those that do, you don't always get the PLUG for it, so it sits unused. On my past 2 motherboards I've had (and used) this gameport plug from the motherboard for my pedals, and the gameport plug on my sound card for my joystick.
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They must be on thier own physical IRQ's. Creative cards do not share well, at all, when the interrupts are chained.
They probably are since one is brand new and the other is 5+ years old. I have no way of confirming it though since my knowledge of the hardware is limited.
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Here's what I would try:
1. Install the old soundcard with the gameport in a PCI slot. Install the drivers for it. Make sure the gameport works.
2. Remove the old cardcard and install the new soundcard IN A DIFFERENT SLOT than where the first one was. Install its drivers and software. Make sure it works.
3. Reinstall the old sound card into the slot it was in in step 1. Windows should pick up the old drivers from when it was the first sound card.
4. Go into the Sound and Audio Devices control panel. Go to the Audio tab. Set the Sound Playback and Sound Recording devices to the new sound card.
5. Plug in the joystick into the old sound card and install the joystick in the Game Controllers control panel.
I bet it all works.
And don't listen to people who say XP doesn't support gameport controllers perfectly. They don't know anything about the subject.
Let us know...
-Llama
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YES they will!!!
Go here there is an entire section devoted to gameport set up in WinXP....
http://www.ch-hangar.com/forum/
Well I stand corrected. Looks like somebody came up with a programe to make it work. Wish this had been out when I built my rig a couple years back. Then again the usb stuff works so much better than the gameport stuff in the end I am glad I spent the money. HMM maybe I can use my old throttle now set up duel throttle controlls.
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Why not just buy some gameport to USB adapters? That has been covered several times on this board and by all accounts they work pretty good. Then you don't have a need for extra sound cards being installed in the computer.
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I've always wanted to have the voice comms running through my headphones, but other sounds running through the speaker system. I wondered if it could be done with 2 soundcards, as I have an Audigy ZS and integrated motherboard sound.
Has anyone got anything like that to work?
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You should be able to set the Recording device as the headset and the playback device as the speakers. Should work just fine.
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Why not just buy some gameport to USB adapters? That has been covered several times on this board and by all accounts they work pretty good. Then you don't have a need for extra sound cards being installed in the computer.
I've used three different brands of USB to Gameport adapters, and they are ..... okay.
They all use an analog-to-digital converter that's baked into some chip built into the converter, and it isn't terribly precise. I *think* they are all 6-bit or 7-bit converters, so they reduce the range of travel down to around 100 data points along each axis, as opposed to many times that for a native gameport.
Additionally, the adapters only provide power after the windows driver loads, so if your joystick also has a keyboard connector, only half the joystick is getting power at bootup. Right after I tried one of these adapters (along with a USB to PS2 adapter), I fried a WCS Mk II. Now to be fair, the WCS was more than a decade old, and maybe it would have failed on its own anyway, and maybe it was the PS2 adapter causing the problem, but since then I don't let my Thrustmaster gear anywhere near the USB adapters.
There is also some doubt that the CH Programmer is able to correctly send the programming to the stick with the USB to Gameport adapter, but not owning any CH sticks, I haven't been able to test.
Honestly, the solution is to get a good gameport on a good soundcard. I've used both an Audigy LS and Audigy 2 ZS in Windows XP and Vista with my TM gear without problems. The only wrinkle here is using 2 soundcards at the same time.
-Llama
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I've always wanted to have the voice comms running through my headphones, but other sounds running through the speaker system. I wondered if it could be done with 2 soundcards, as I have an Audigy ZS and integrated motherboard sound.
Has anyone got anything like that to work?
Not possible. It just doesn't work that way. It all goes out the same source.You can pick which source, but you can't split up the sound signals amongst sources.
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I've always wanted to have the voice comms running through my headphones, but other sounds running through the speaker system. I wondered if it could be done with 2 soundcards, as I have an Audigy ZS and integrated motherboard sound.
Has anyone got anything like that to work?
You might be able to work something up with digital output... Your question got me thinking about it.