rec.autos.simulators

If you have problems with TM GP1 in win95 (e.g with Interstate 76)

Mark Dybal

If you have problems with TM GP1 in win95 (e.g with Interstate 76)

by Mark Dybal » Sun, 27 Apr 1997 04:00:00

I just bought Interstate 76 and had problems with using my Thrustmaster
GP1 wheel, I fixed my problem and as I remember seeing other people with
problems on this newsgroup, this is how I fixed it

This procedure involves opening up the wheel and adjusting the insides,
if you do not feel confident in doing this then leave it alone.  Having
said that, the adjustments are very easy to make.

The problem with my system was that the accelerator would not work in
I76, but it worked with the only other win95 game I have tried, which
was the MTM demo.  
After the wheel was calibrated, I noticed that when the accelerator was
pressed on the test screen the cross only went halfway up its box, after
checking resistances on the wheel I found that this is because the
accelerator/brake axis never reached 0 ohms, it only went down to 50
ohms, win95 obviously expects all axes to vary from 0 ohms to 300k or so
(i think.)

If you have the same problem as this and you want to fix it, this is the
procedure:

Remove the wheel from the unit (if you turn the unit upside-down, there
is a***to remove where the wheel joins the shaft, the wheel will
then pull from the shaft)

Remove the four screws holding the plastic plate on to the back of the
wheel and remove the plate.

The pots should now be accessable, they are driven by cogs, which are
turned by a toothed piece of plastic at the back of the paddle.  The
problem is that the right hand pot is not fully turned (i.e. at 0 ohms)
when the right hand paddle is fully pulled, and the left hand pot is not
fully turned when the left hand paddle is in its normal position,
instead they are at approx. 50 ohms (this was on my unit, I suppose it
may vary on other units)

The cogs on the pot shafts can be slid upwards so that they are not
driven by the paddles and can therefore be rotated independantly of the
paddles (only slide up the left one for now, you will see why later.)

The pots should then be rotated so that they do reach zero ohms by
following these steps:

The left hand (from the front) pot should only need to be turned a
little , when I did it I turned it to its physical limit and them backed
off by one cog tooth width.)  This pot should be at zero ohms (i.e just
before its end stop) when the paddle is in its normal position.

The right hand pot is a little more complicated, this one should be at
zero ohms when the paddle is pulled fully in, so _before_ you slide the
cog up the shaft of the pot you should pull the paddle fully in and fix
it there (it can quite easily be tied or taped to the wheel)  Then you
should do the same as for the left pot

The cogs can now be slid back down the shaft again, you can check with
an ohmmeter if you have access to one, just check that both pots reach
zero ohms either when the paddle is pulled all the way in, or when it is
in its normal position, depending on which paddle is being tested.  

If when you have done this you find that one or both of the paddles will
not go fully in, it means that you have rotated the pots in the wrong
direction or too far.

Now reassemble the unit and try it out, if it works then please let me
know.

Good luck, and dont blame me if something goes wrong.

--
Mark Dyball


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