Sidewinder Force Feedback PRO

[Nunner]

Hi Guys,
Have a question for those in the know.
Is it possible to run/use one of these joysticks on XP?
I know they were originally designed for 95 & 98 but just thought i'd find out and see
if you can ?
Cheers
Nunner

[spongebob206]

QUOTE (Nunner @ Mar 21 2008, 01:41 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi Guys,
Have a question for those in the know.
Is it possible to run/use one of these joysticks on XP?
I know they were originally designed for 95 & 98 but just thought i'd find out and see
if you can ?
Cheers
Nunner

Hi,

Iv'e still got one also. Have tried all I knew to get it running to no avail.

Purchase a usb adapter from DSE but still no go. Microsoft was no help at all.

Sorry.

May one of the geniuses here can help, their are a few.

[toprob]

I understand that, provided you have an appropriate gameport, XP has its own drivers for the Pro. It won't install them automatically, as the joystick isn't recognised like a USB stick, but provided you install the drivers first, the joystick should work ok.
The steps are:
Install the driver: Control Panel: Game Controllers: Add: Microsoft Sidewinder (auto detect);
Shut down the computer, and plug the joystick in;
When you restart it, it should recognise the joystick.
However some people have problems with this, so don't blame me if you can't get it going!

EDIT: just read Spongebob's reply, I think that the main problem that people have is trying to connect it to an adapter -- you need one of the old gameports, though.

[Charl]

Yeah I also bought an el cheapo USB adapter for my beloved SWP, and no go.
It sits on the shelf, with a wicked gleam in its eye while I battle on with its miserable Saitek replacement.
Helo flying in particular has become Not Too Much Fun.
A medal awaits he who comes up with the fix for a modern computer (=No Gameport) to run one of these with Force Feedback.

[spongebob206]

QUOTE (Charl @ Mar 21 2008, 03:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah I also bought an el cheapo USB adapter for my beloved SWP, and no go.
It sits on the shelf, with a wicked gleam in its eye while I battle on with its miserable Saitek replacement.
Helo flying in particular has become Not Too Much Fun.
A medal awaits he who comes up with the fix for a modern computer (=No Gameport) to run one of these with Force Feedback.

Here here.

[HardCorePawn]

PCI soundcard with gameport adapter == problem solved...

They're cheap-as on TradeMe... ie. $1 no reserve etc.

Although if you run Vista you could be S.O.O.L.

[Charl]

Think you may have nailed it - I was looking at new soundcards for this but of course they wouldn't have a gameport.
Now to figure out if my old Soundblaster can run on my "modern" computer, there was a driver issue at least...