Sidewinder and realtek ac97 problem.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Geoff
  • Start date Start date
G

Geoff

HI,
I have a pc with a built in sound card a Realtek AC'97,
and up till recently my sidewinder force feedback 2 has
worked fine but now when you go to test it the x,y and
rudder action dont work but all the buttons do.XP auto
detects it fine. Is it correct that the Realtek sound chip
conflicts with the joystick, as it has worked before. Any
ideas are muck appreciated.

Thanks Geoff
 
You indicate that you have a Sidewinder Force Feedback 2 which is a USB only
device. If that is the device you have then the sound card you have won't
matter. If it isn't working I would look at updating USB drivers. If it
still happens with the latest drivers I would try the device on another
system with a different USB controller. If it works there you might want to
try adding a different USB controller to your system to see if that helps.

Later in your post though you indicate that you added the device through "XP
auto detect". The SideWinder Autodetect is only for the Microsoft gameport
devices such as the Force Feedback Pro. If this is the device you have then
it is likely that the sound card is not processing gameport data correctly.
You could try the device on another system with a different sound card and
see if it works correctly. Also see if there are new drivers for your card.
Even if you just got some a couple days ago. I have seen on occasion new
drivers released within days of each other. If you determine that the stick
will work just not on the Realtek card and you want to keep the joystick
then you will need a better soundcard. Before you spend money on a new card
though make sure you can completely disable the onboard card in the BIOS. It
is quite common for gameport devices, especially force feedback ones, to not
function properly when there is more than one gameport on the system.

Let me know if you have more questions.

Joshua Smith
DirectInput and OpenGL Test Labs
Microsoft
 
-----Original Message-----
You indicate that you have a Sidewinder Force Feedback 2 which is a USB only
device. If that is the device you have then the sound card you have won't
matter. If it isn't working I would look at updating USB drivers. If it
still happens with the latest drivers I would try the device on another
system with a different USB controller. If it works there you might want to
try adding a different USB controller to your system to see if that helps.
Click to expand...

Thanks Joshua, for the reply.

I have tried the joystick in a friends PC and it worked
fine, and tonight I am going to try a non force feedback
joystick in mine. I will check the Realtek web site for
updates. Once again thanks for the prompt reply.Are you by
any chance a microsoft engineer as you seem very well
informed.....

Geoff
 
I am a Software Test Engineer at Microsoft that has been testing input
devices in DirectInput for about 5 years now. I have recently moved into
testing OpenGL graphics but I still frequent the newsgroups looking for
problems with controllers. It seems a waste to have all this knowledge and
not spend a little time each day looking for issues like yours.
Since we are making progress with your device I would like to tell you that
the days of gameports on systems is numbered. I would encourage you to
consider a USB capable force feedback device to replace you existing one if
you can. It is likely to have fewer connection issues, isn't affected by
your sound card, should have supported configuration software that allows
you to configure buttons to keys, and wouldn't require you to get a new
sound card. My personal opinion is that I would put my money into a new game
device than another sound card, even if the controller was twice as much
money.

Joshua Smith
DirectInput and OpenGL Test Labs
Microsoft
 
Hi Joshua,

Tried my dads MS sidewinder (non force feedback as you no)
and it worked fine. So obviously theres a conflict between
the force feedback and the sound chip. I'll have a look
at the Realtek web site for driver updates.

You mention that I should buy a USB capable joystick ?
Is'nt the Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback 2 joystick
USB capable or have I got the wrong end of the
stick......As with the software loaded you can program the
buttons to suit. With the software loaded only the buttons
and throttle worked.

If it is'nt USB capable have you any advice on ones that
are, dont worry about recommending MS products (as the
ones I have have been great, its just 3rd party software)

Thanks again. Its nice to speek to someone with real
knowledge of the subject.

Geoff
 
The Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback 2 is a USB only device. It is
good too because unlike other force feedback devices you can just plug the
device in and have forces and everything. That is if you are not concerned
with using the Sidewinder software to map joystick buttons to keyboard keys.
Course you can always install that too if you like, but it isn't required.
As far as recommended devices I can only say that you should do some
research to find one you like. You should go to stores and try the feel of
it and then go to the Internet to see what kind of support is available at
that companies site.


Joshua Smith
DirectInput and OpenGL Test Labs
Microsoft
 
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