rec.autos.simulators

Is this an issue with this old wheel & Windows XP? I've done some
searching but can't seem to come up with a definitive answer. Has anyone
got FF working with this wheel and GPL under XP?

Cheers,
Dave.

make sure this is in your core.ini

[ Joy ]
allow_force_feedback= 1

force_feedback_damping= 5000
force_feedback_latency= 0.0045
max_steering_torque= 2800

then experiment with those 3 lines

I get no force feedback effects at all. Not even a twitch.

Dave.

Have you tried the control panel app too? If the problem is only in gpl
then the core.ini stuff should work provided you rename the file from
core.ini.sample to just core.ini.

If the problem is in Windows then you need to try another driver or
something. Chances are with the gameport/XP combination you may find you
need a replacement wheel, or replacement OS ;-)

Malc.

Well I have on old copy of Win ME lying around. I suppose I could make
my machine dual boot. It's a pain in the rear, but cheaper than buying a
new wheel I suppose.

Strange thing is, I'm reasonably sure I had FF working fine with XP
a couple of years back. Can't see what's different this time. A bit of
a puzzler, really.

Dave.

You do have a CORE.INI found in the GPL Folder? If not, copy
CORE.INI.SAMPLE to CORE.INI, and try again.

Cheers!

Remco

If you open the Game controllers applet in Control Panel (with the
wheel turned on) and test any of the buttons, you will get a FF
reaction (if it works). You do not need a FF gane to test.

With the Game Controller applet open, click on Properties (assuming
in the first place that your wheel shows up on the list of devices).
You should see a picture of your wheel and three boes for steering,
accelerator and brake. On the physical wheel, test any button and you
should get a FF reaction.

If you don't get a reaction, click on the Settings button and make
sure that the checkbox for Enable Force Feedback is checked and that
the sliders for FF values are not all the way to the left (zero
force).

IF FF is turned on, the device shows in your list, and you get no
reaction from pressing any of the buttons, them you may have a duff
wheel.

HTH,
--
  Darryl

I've decided to take the time-consuming (but hopefully best) approach to this
and am currently half-way through setting up a Win ME dual-boot, so that I can
use my Sidewinder FF wheel in an O/S that supports it. Hopefully it'll sort
out the crackly sound problem I get under XP too. All-in-all a bit drastic just
to get a game working right, so I hope it works!

--
Cheers,
Dave

Ended up with Microsoft wheel ($50 at Comp-USA.com plus $20 to ship)
and have been really pleased with it. I would spend $70 before setting
up dual-boot OS on my machine in a heartbeat.

FYI only.

       Gil

You dont have Force feedback because you dont have use of the software that
sets it to be used in XP.  Because you have the gameport version, (Please
note I avoided the delemma, by purchacing the USB version right off the
bat...  SO I have not experienced it 1st hand,)  But according to Microsoft,
the Gameport version of the FF wheels are not going to work in XP.  However
I am sure there were a few fellows who had the wheel & XP & working, long
before MS told everyone that it doesnt work, Hehehee.  I just have NOT met
them or or read thier posts.

AFIK, you would need the most current version of the "sidewinder profiler"
software and A WHOLE BUNCH OF GOOD CARMA.   it is on the CD, but the
Gameport CD's usually only have version 2? or 3.02 on them, where I am using
version 4.  I seen on that website (driver library of some sort) you could
download that CD's contents.   do a google on drivers for Sidewinder, in
this group, because someone posted the link and a logon & pw to use...  you
could try it.

another possible solution, could be to buy the converter that
Thomas-Super-WHeels sell on thier website (can be found on other sellers too
but I dont recall the name, so I refer you to Thomas) as I heard these are
the best ones...

USB cards can be had for 10 bucks if you dont have USB on an older machine,
and usb works too cool not to have one.

But there is no "Enable Force Feedback" checkbox, or anything remotely
to do with FF anywhere within my Game Controllers applet. It's just
the standard XP Game Controllers control panel applet. The Settings tab
just contains 2 buttons: "Reset to default" and "Calibrate". The Test
tab just has "lights" for each of the buttons and graphs for the
axes and brake pedals. There are no other tabs. Are you sure you're not
thinking of the extra stuff that's insalled with the Sidewinder s/w?

Right, I'm about to install Win ME for dual boot. Wish me luck!
If I'm not back here in 12 hours, send out a search party! :-)

--
Cheers,
Dave.

I'd happily dual-boot before spending even $30! I already have the hardware &
software; all it costs is a little of my time (and I've got that in abundance
at the moment).

Thanks for the feedback anyway!
--
Cheers,
Dave

For the benefit of posterity, people experiencing the same problem,
and those who are interested, here's what happened:

I set my machine up for dual-boot with Win ME (and that was a saga in
itself - more lessons learned there!) and once I'd got the sidewinder
s/w installed it came up with a relatively useful error message that
gave me enough new info for a bit more Internet research.

It appears that the FF signals are sent to the wheel using the
MIDI lines that are present on most gameports. It also appears that
the (on-motherboard) gameport  on my machine doesn't have the MIDI
connections, hence no FF.

I have an SB Audigy in another computer, so tonight I shall be
swapping that into my main PC and seeing if that makes a difference.

Thanks to all who provided feedback and opinions,
--
Cheers,
Dave

Half-way through adding the Audigy I realised that my motherboard DOES
have MIDI support, but by default it's disabled in the BIOS.

Enabled MIDI in the BIOS and, hey-presto! One working FF Sidewinder
gameport wheel, both in Windows ME and XP.

However, the Win ME control panel applet still won't let me set force
strength etc (I still get an error message about being unable to
initialize FF), but GPL works fine.

And Win ME doesn't suffer from the same *** sound crackles and pops
that Win XP does, so that's a gain anyway.

I hope this story will help someone else out, eventually!

Thanks again to everyone for ideas/help.

Now on to the more serious business of careening around ractracks in the
hopeless attempt to do one lap without crashing...

--
Cheers,
Dave.