rec.autos.simulators

Couldn't figure out why everyone raved about this wheel. Sure it's solid and has
strong FF, but it's steering resolution was lousy to the point it affected
driving.  About 100 points of resolution on the steering axis (0-4096 in steps
of 40) made the in-game wheel move it small jumps.  The wheel would have to be
turned about 3 degrees to get something to register on screen, and then the
in-game wheel would make a sudden jump. Tried all manner of drivers, tweaks,
serial and USB connections, and OS's, always the same result.

My wheel was purchased in Sept 01, just after they came out with the 2.2
cartridge.  Found a 2.1 cartridge on ebay recently, and what a difference it
made!  It now gives 1024 points of resolution on the wheel axis.  The steering
in game is very smooth with no jumps, and it reacts to even the smallest
movement of the wheel. Now this is a wheel worthy of some praise!

AFAIK all the cartridges since about July 2001 have been the 2.2 version.  If
you see a review or get a recommendation from someone, check the date on when
they got the wheel, odds are it was before July 01.  If you are thinking about
buying this wheel or upgrading to a USB cartridge ask them what version
cartridge and about the steering axis resolution before you buy.  And don't buy
the "it's functionally the same as the other cartridges" line, while is does the
same job, it doesn't do it nearly as well.

Don't know why they changed the cartridge design, but hopefully they can bring
back the 2.1 cartridges again, or at least something that performs as well.

Ken

Ken...Very interesting info!!   I have one of the original Serial wheels
from early 99, with TM Pro pedals wired in for a long time, MANY miles.
Never had any problems with wheel,  just pedal springs/pots from time to
time. :)

Recently swapped/resoldered microswitches on wheel from outer buttons (many
miles) with inner's (zero miles).

Win98 here, I use older 1.23 act-labs drivers,  still seems very precise to
me.  Maybe I am missing something with newer stuff, but they dont run away
from me with this combo, and I can still run door-to-door with any of em,
pretty precise, for me.   :)

Haven't had chance to try a serial-only cartridge yet, but suspect it gives
similar output as the 2.1 serial/USB cartridge.  Others have complained about
the wheel not working as well when upgrading from serial to a new USB cart, but
this is usually accompanied by an upgrade to XP as well so it was never clear
which "upgrade" caused the problem. BTW tried 1.23, 2.1 and 2.51 drivers with
the 2.1 cartridge and win98se and always gave the same wheel axis resolution.
Serial connection with the 1.23s and 2.1s was the same as well. One more case of
newer not being better.

Ken

Yeah, I definitely see the same thing.  The serial only cartridge I
had was great under Win98SE, but the new cart under XP really blows.
I did not test the new cart under 98SE.  Was the cart you bought
advertised as 2.1 or did you luck out?  I'd love to find one so I can
keep this otherwise excellent wheel.

I think the res problem may also be impacting the feel of the FF.  It
just hasn't seemed "right" either.

Has anyone raised sand with Act-Labs yet?  This is pretty much
unacceptable quality and I would hope they agree.  But then again,
they seem to be ignoring the widespread complaints about the
durability of their perf pedals.

Gerald

Hey, Ken, care to take your cartidges apart and see if you can see
what is different between 2.1 and 2.2?  Maybe it is something easily
remedied by soldering-gun types.

I've had my old serial cart apart once looking for a look connection,
there wasn't much in there.

Once asked AL if there was another cart I could buy to improve the resolution on
the wheel.  They said all the cartridge's they had behaved the same as the 2.2 I
had.  Once I got the 2.1, I emailed AL again and asked if there was anything
that could be done to make the newer cartridge perform like the older 2.1. The
reply was "No". :-( Wrote back saying too bad they ruined what was once a good
wheel.   Posted a similar message on the AL forum (worded nicely of course),
they haven't responded or deleted it yet.

Did some digging around the AL forum, apparently the chip inside the cartridges
were changed with the 2.2, hence the need for a different driver for the new
cartridge. Since this has been going on since July 01, they don't seem to be in
a hurry to come out with a better version.

The cartridge on ebay wasn't advertised as a 2.1 but confirmed the version and
output before buying.  This person seems to regularly have AL gear for sale, he
might have more, drop me an email (remove the letters in caps).

If you (or anyone else) get chance to try your serial only cartridge in win98
let me know what the output is.

Ken

As posted above, I think it's a different chip, so not an easy fix if it is. If
you can believe AL there is nothing that can be done. ;-)  Will have a look
anyway, may just take a day or two before I get to it.

Ken

 >
 >>
 >> Hey, Ken, care to take your cartidges apart and see if you can see what is
 >> different between 2.1 and 2.2?  Maybe it is something easily remedied by
 >> soldering-gun types.
 >>
 >> I've had my old serial cart apart once looking for a look connection, there
 >> wasn't much in there.
 >
 >
 > As posted above, I think it's a different chip, so not an easy fix if it is.
 > If you can believe AL there is nothing that can be done. ;-)  Will have a
 > look anyway, may just take a day or two before I get to it.
 >
 > Ken
 >
Definitely different beasts.  Compared the 2.1, 2.2 and an old serial only
cartridge (1.2) that's not working.  All the cartridges have 2 boards inside,
with the one board containing the chips and a board that the cable connects to
(these second boards were similar in all 3 cartridges).  The 1.2 and 2.1 both
use an Intel chip with 2 other chips that look very similar.  The 2.2 uses an
I-Force chip and another chip that looks nothing like the those in the older
cartridges. In fact the board layout is very different so swapping chips is not
possible even if you were willing to attempt it.

Ken

Well, there's a glimmer of hope there.  It sounds like the 1.2 and 2.1
carts are roughly similar.  I wonder if it would be possible to mod a
1.2 into a 2.1?  I have the old serial cart, and don't expect to ever
use it again (my 9x days are finally over.)

I asked Act-Labs tech support what was up and they gave me the "all
USB cartridges are the same there is nothing that can be done"
response.  Sounds like they are just riding the gravy train of past
successes now.  I hope I am wrong.  I told them about the v 2.1 not
having the problem, and asked if I could have a schematic to try to
build one myself... I bet they laughed pretty hard, but it was worth a
shot.

If you want to continue this via email I am at tds not icx.  If you
can get numbers off the chips on the 2.1 I can compare them to my 1.2
and then try to look them up from an electronics supply to see what we
are dealing with.

cheers,
Gerald