Force Feedback Joystick Won't Work !

Here we go:
Asus A7V233, XP 1900 AMD, XP Pro OS
ForceFeedback Pro joystick: It is NOT the USB model. It has the serial input.
Just installed Combat sim 2 on my XP Pro machine.
XP can see the stick and calibrate it just fine.
Fire up Combat 2/options:
It has the "Enable ForceFeedback' shaded out. It HAS a check beside the 'enable joystick' but it is also shaded out and I cannot change it.
I also cannot assign any commands to it in the game options.
It's like the stick disappears when I run the game.
I cannot install the 3.0 software, cause it says it's not XP compatible.
My joystick is fine. It has worked well in W98SE.
HELP!
H.
Asus A7V233, XP 1900 AMD, XP Pro OS
ForceFeedback Pro joystick: It is NOT the USB model. It has the serial input.
Just installed Combat sim 2 on my XP Pro machine.
XP can see the stick and calibrate it just fine.
Fire up Combat 2/options:
It has the "Enable ForceFeedback' shaded out. It HAS a check beside the 'enable joystick' but it is also shaded out and I cannot change it.
I also cannot assign any commands to it in the game options.
It's like the stick disappears when I run the game.
I cannot install the 3.0 software, cause it says it's not XP compatible.
My joystick is fine. It has worked well in W98SE.
HELP!
H.