Inconsistent Vista HID Driver

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I was using a Panther DX joystick which is no longer supported by Mad Catz
(so I can't expect a new driver). Twice when I plugged in the joystick in
the USB port, the device was recognized as a Human Interface Device (HID) and
worked with no problem. But for the rest of many times I tried, the joystick
came up as an unknown device, and it was not recognized as a game controller.
I plugged the joystick to my old WinME machine and it worked every time.

What is causing Vista not recognizing the joystick consistently and is there
anything I can do to solve this problem? Is there a new/better generic HID
driver that will work better (I Googled it but didn't find free ones that are
applicable)?

Thanks.
 
HankHLiao said:
I was using a Panther DX joystick which is no longer supported by Mad Catz
(so I can't expect a new driver). Twice when I plugged in the joystick in
the USB port, the device was recognized as a Human Interface Device (HID) and
worked with no problem. But for the rest of many times I tried, the joystick
came up as an unknown device, and it was not recognized as a game controller...
Click to expand...

If it worked even once, the HID driver is probably not the problem. If
you look in the Hardware Manager does the joystick show up as an unknown
device?

More important, does Vista ask you for drivers for it when you plug it in?
 
I assume you meant Device Manager. When Vista fails to recognize the
joystick, it shows up under USB controllers as an Unknown Device. When it
was recognized, it showed under HID. Vista didn't ask me for a driver; it
just said the device is not recognized.

Another way to state my question is: I like to update the driver under
Unknown Device manually to HID, but throughout different manufacturers listed
under all devices, I could not find the HID driver, yet I know it must be on
my PC since Vista has used it. Where and how can I specify the HID driver
manually, and will that solve the recognition problem I am experiencing?

Thanks.
 
HankHLiao said:
I assume you meant Device Manager. When Vista fails to recognize the
joystick, it shows up under USB controllers as an Unknown Device. When it
was recognized, it showed under HID. Vista didn't ask me for a driver; it
just said the device is not recognized.

Another way to state my question is: I like to update the driver under
Unknown Device manually to HID, but throughout different manufacturers listed
under all devices, I could not find the HID driver, yet I know it must be on
my PC since Vista has used it. Where and how can I specify the HID driver
manually, and will that solve the recognition problem I am experiencing?
Click to expand...

You can point the driver updater to C:\windows\inf\ or even
C:\windows\system32\DriverStore (that may not be exactly right,
but you can find it somewhere nearby).

If that fixes the problem once then you may be able to fix it
permanently by deleting C:\windows\inf\INFCACHE.1 but that's
just a guess.
 
Yesterday Vista recognized the joystick again so I copied down all the
information I can get from Device Manager. Two items were listed under Human
Interface Devices:

HID-compliant game controller and
USB Human Interface Device

Both showed Driver Provider as Microsoft, and driver version 6.0.6000.16386.

For HID-compliant game controller, there was no Driver Details, as it said,
"No driver files are required or have been loaded for this device."

For USB Human Interface Device, 3 files were listed under Details:
c:\windows\system32\drivers\hidclass.sys
c:\windows\system32\drivers\hidparse.sys
c:\windows\system32\drivers\hidusb.sys

When I tried Update Driver, a whole bunch of HID drivers were displayed
under various manufacturers, but there was no Mad Catz, and the generic
driver selected by Vista seemed to be the most appropriate.

Later, Vista lost the recognition by itself, without me doing anything to
the joystick or power off the PC. When I checked again, the driver has
changed back to Unknown Device again.

When I tried Update Driver for Unknown Device, I was not able to specify any
of the 3 files listed under USB HID, because the option was looking for INF
files and these are SYS files. Also the compatible hardware appeared to be
driven by the device type to begin with. So when the device is unknown, I
couldn't get to the HID driver selection. Any suggestion?

Thanks.
 
did you find a solution to this? I have a similar issue with a scanner which I want to connect via USB. First time it was connected vista automatically found driver (HID). Now when it is connected it is always coming up as a unknown device and when windows tries to find and install a driver I am always getting an error "the system cannot find the file specified".

EggHeadCafe.com - .NET Developer Portal of Choice
http://www.eggheadcafe.com
 
Sorry. I have not made any progress since the last post, and is ready to
resign that I just have to buy a new USB joystick that is currently
supported. I fould that the device seems to have a better change being
recognized if it is plugged in before the PC is powered up, but that is an
unscientific feeling. I hope someone from Microsoft will be able to answer
to this mystery.

Good luck.
 
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