Microsoft Sidewiner Force Feedback Pro

[George210363]

I have recently upgraded to Windows XP and according to general opinion my Joystick should be automatically detected, by going into Control Panel/games Controllers/Add. Then chosing Microsoft Sidewinder (Auto Detect)

I have connected my joystick to to a gameport to usb adaptor but when i do the above I get the follwoing message:

"Your gameport drivers are not properly configured. Please consult the Device Manager"

Microsoft no longer supports this product (????) and I have searched the net for drivers than will work in XP but no joy.

Can anyone help??

A DESPERATE MAN !!!!!

many thanks

[congo]

I'm assuming you are running a gameport sidewinder thru a usb adapter to the PC.

If you find an answer to your problem please post it here.

The adapter is probably the problem, I wonder if anyone ever got a gameport to usb adapter to work correctly.

[Fozzer]

If you still have your Soundblaster, or whatever, sound card fitted, why not plug your Sidewinder joystick into the gameport socket on the card...?

It should work just as well as using the USB socket.

Joystick with D plug into the soundcard gameport D socket.
Joystick with USB plug into the motherboard USB socket.

Paul.

I have two different joysticks, gameport and USB.
I just swop them over.
Don't forget to detect them in joystick properties...!

[4_Series_Scania]

Microsoft advise against using Gameport > USB adaptors with the Sidewinder Joysticks.

[fritzman]

When you find the answer... please let me know, because I have EXACTLY the same issue... Sidewinder Pro USB and no WinXP drivers = stumped!

[eno]

That's because there are no Win XP drivers for the Sidewinder range and M$ no longer support the hardware.

My suggestion ........ upgrade your joystick as even using it through the gameport will not work properly.

[chuckcrc]

I went thru this issue about 6 months ago.
I upgraded my pc to XP pro and fitted new M/B , cpu etc and fitted a gameport socket to the M/b as I had on board sound.

This is what I observed.
MS Sidewinder Force feedback One will not work on XP with a gameport adaptor plugged into the M/b. The only MS gameport stick that will be detected by XP is a Precison Pro stick which can work in Gameport mode or with the supplied adaptor will also work on USB. Please note that the Sidewinder Software version3.02 will not be recognised by XP.


I then proceded to delete the gameport adaptor and fit a Creative Soundblaster card with gameport. The same conditions as above occurred.

XP will not support any Gameport Sidewinder stick apart from a Precision Pro. XP will support analog gameport devices which you set up thru control panel. The MS gameport sticks are digitial in use as they use the Midi access port on the gameport to send comms to the pc.

MS Sidewinder Forcefeedback 2 will work as it is usb however the software with it has problems working with XP. I believe there is a Verion 4.0 of the Sidewinder Software that will work with XP but you will have to search the net to find it as MS does not have a copy on their web site.

How I solved my problem was to go to Windows 2000 Pro. This gave me access to more RAM (98 will only support 512mb) which is why I wanted to go to XP in the first place.

BUT there is still problems with Win 2000 and MS Sidewinder F/F one sticks. The Sidewinder Software will not work on Win 2000 but the o/s has had generic drivers loaded into it that will recognise the sticks and allow you to calibrate and test it and also will run the force feed back process. You can't of course run any macro's etc as you don't have the Sidewinder Software to write them

[the_autopilot]

I've never owned a MS joystick, but wouldn't it be possbile to run the drivers in compatability mode? or does that just cause moe problems?

I think MS stopped supporting this because its product life cycle has ended. The sidewinder is pretty old I think.

[congo]

It's a shame they stopped making them as they don't need any additional drivers, windows (all versions) just auto loads them.

They are very comfortable and reliable. I use two different "gameport" MS Sidewinders on Win XP pro.

1st one is a 3D Pro Plus which XP sees as a Precision Pro. It works without fault on all my software.

2nd stick is a FFB Pro that works fine except FFB is not available despite exaustive attempts at fixing the problem.