rec.autos.simulators

In N4 my Interact V4FX wheel would stop responding every so often making my
driving appear jerky and lose valuable time. I decided to get a new wheel
and went for the Thrustmaster Force Feedback Racing Wheel as there is little
choice in most retail outlets.

My first problem is the force feedback effects seem very week even with the
settings in the various games and in the windows control panel set at max.
For example in GP3 my old wheel would really vibrate when going over the
rumble strip or crashing into anything, with the new one I can hardly feel a
thing. I can feel the resistance when going round corners but not the other
effects. It is the same in N4, I have to force the wheel round bends but
when I crash I hardly feel a thing.

My second and most important problem is the amount of error messages and
lock ups I am receiving.

I have tried to connect the wheel using both the serial and USB connections
but the same errors occur. When I switch my computer on it either locks up
or I get an error message such that contain the following:

An exception has occurred at 0028:C002F7D6 in VxD ---. This was called from
0028:C002DD49 in VxD ---.
Error: OE : 0028 : C002F7D6
An exception has occurred at 0028:C00142CC in VMM(01) + 000132CC. Called
from: 0028:C0013BE4 in VxD VMM(01) + C002F5B0.
Error: OE : 0028 : C002F5B0

I get these errors whether the device is switched on at the rear or not. If
I go into game controllers then sometimes the thing just locks up
completely.

I have been to the Thrustmaster and Guillemot web sites looking for an
updated driver but they are the same as the one I already have. On the
Thrustmaster site the driver says it is for just Win2000!

My system is:
Athlon 750, Asus K7V motherboard, Asus V6800 deluxe graphics card (GeForce
32mb DDR), 448 MB 133mhz SDRAM, IBM 25gig Hard Drive (UDMA66), SoundBlaster
Live Value, Windows Millennium, Direct x8.0a, MS Sidewinder Precision Pro
USB, Freecom USB portable CD Writer.

Thanks in advance.

Ian

Dont know about weak forces but the lock ups could be caused by the Wheel
Editor Program.
The software package and support for this wheel sucks!!!!!!!!!

I removed the editor and the drivers, unplugged the wheel and still my
machine would lock up and come up with error messages. As there is no
uninstall program for the immersion software I went about searching for and
removing files I thought connected with it. My machine now works normally
again. It therefore seems that the problem is connected with the immersion
software and not the wheel itself. Has anyone had similar problems or knows
of a solution.

Ian

Hi Ian

The only other thing I know is that Dx8 had controller issues associated
with it.  If you are not already using it I suggest you DL and install Dx8a
and try again.  I have spent a couple of evenings trying to install the
software for this wheel and as of yet have been unsuccessful.  There is an
uprated driver on their web site its a bit difficult to track down, but Im
afraid that wont install either - for me anyway.  The only other thing I am
going to try is copying the CD to the hard disk and then trying to install
from that.  If that does't work I am going to take it back and get a refund.

Mick.

I have tried Dx8a and spent another afternoon trying
to get the wheel to work without error messages or lock ups but still no
luck. I have a week left to keep the wheel before the 10 day no quibble
return policy expires so I hope I find a solution soon. I did notice that on
the Thrustmaster technical Forum this problem has been mentioned before and
that no known solution exists up to now. Besides already e-mailing tech
support I am also going to e-mail one of the people who wrote in the forum.

Ian

hope someone gives me a solution before I have to take it back

Try turning up the latency setting in N4. I was disappointed with the FF
(same thrustmaster wheel) until I cranked up the latency. Bammo the effects
are now in your face.

Roy Berube

Thanks, I always thought the latency setting was to do with the time between
hitting something and feeling it. The force feedback is still not as strong
as my other wheel but it will certainly do. All I need now is to fix the
problem of the lock-ups and error messages whenever I have the wheel plugged
in.

Ian