Sidewinder 3D Pro and Win2000

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jim Franklin
  • Start date Start date
J

Jim Franklin

Hi,

I have tried to install my Sidewinder 3D Pro joystick on the game port of a
new PC running
Win2k Pro, using "Gaming Options" in the control panel.

My controller gets added to the list, but the status fluctuates between "OK"
and "Not Connected"

The weird thing is that if I mess around with it a bit, removing and
re-installing, unplugging and pluggin in the joystick etc. occasionally it
then works fine. This only lasts until the next re-boot however, and I
cannot work out the pattern I went thorough to get it to work.

I dont think it can be the game port as if I set the joystick up as a
standard joystick, it works fine. But I have checked I am using the latest
drivers for my sound card and game port.

I have run Dxdiag which says the joystick is connected and there are no
problems. The windows troubleshooter suggested I download version 4.0 of the
Sidewinder software, but I can find no reference to this on the MS
Sidewinder site, the latest version being 3.02. I have tried to install
this, but get an error message, about a setup file not found.

The joystick worked ok on my old PC (also running Win2k) so I know it must
be possible. Please can anyone give me some help?

Thanks,
Jim F.
 
Hi Jim,
A couple things you can check. Is there more than one gameport listed in
Device Manager? While technically they should work together it is very
likely two gameports on the system will give you a hard time. Check the BIOS
to see if there is a way to disable one of them there. The next thing that
comes to mind is some gameports are just unreliable. Sound card designers
looking to save on cost seem to start with gameport components. This leads
to gameports that are unreliable in getting data through. Especially when
the sound card gets loaded down with sound processing. You could try playing
a high bit-rate sound file to see if your device just goes to a "Not
Connected" state period while playing. Since you indicated the stick worked
fine on another machine I would suspect your new system. If you'd like you
can post a dxdiag report of your system here and I'll see if I can offer any
other advice.

Joshua Smith
DirectInput and OpenGL Test Labs
Microsoft
 
Did your old computer use the AC97 sound card? I recall having problems in
the test lab with that card. Your version of DirectX looks to be one release
old. There should be a version 9.0b that is the latest released. I am not
convinced it will solve this issue but it is worth a shot. If it was my
system and money I personally would take $20 or $30 and buy myself a good,
name brand USB device. You can get really good devices that is more
reliable, has software for macro's and keymapping, and is easier to install.
If you still want to try getting that device working you might try to find a
store that would let you buy another sound card with the ability to return
it with no restocking fee's etc. and see if it works with a better sound
card. Again I would stick with a good name brand card. However for the same
cost of another card you could probably pick up a new stick.



Joshua Smith
DirectInput and OpenGL Test Labs
Microsoft
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-----Original Message-----
Hi,

I have tried to install my Sidewinder 3D Pro joystick on the game port of a
new PC running
Win2k Pro, using "Gaming Options" in the control panel.

My controller gets added to the list, but the status fluctuates between "OK"
and "Not Connected"

The weird thing is that if I mess around with it a bit, removing and
re-installing, unplugging and pluggin in the joystick etc. occasionally it
then works fine. This only lasts until the next re-boot however, and I
cannot work out the pattern I went thorough to get it to work.

I dont think it can be the game port as if I set the joystick up as a
standard joystick, it works fine. But I have checked I am using the latest
drivers for my sound card and game port.

I have run Dxdiag which says the joystick is connected and there are no
problems. The windows troubleshooter suggested I download version 4.0 of the
Sidewinder software, but I can find no reference to this on the MS
Sidewinder site, the latest version being 3.02. I have tried to install
this, but get an error message, about a setup file not found.

The joystick worked ok on my old PC (also running Win2k) so I know it must
be possible. Please can anyone give me some help?

Thanks,
Jim F.



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