rec.autos.simulators

Hi.

I've bought a Thrustmaster Pro Dgital USB yesterday, and I can't get it to
work correctly... It works fine for a few seconds, then locks, then works
fine, then locks, etc. What I mean is that the game does not respond to the
command for a second or two every ten or so seconds. Not only the game does
that, but also the calibration program I got with the wheel. I tried to
access Thrustmaster's website, but apparently it's down. My computer is a
Compaq Presario based on Athlon 700 Mhz,  with a Geforce 256 (which I
believe not to be the problem), and I don't know the brand of my
motherboard. I've heard somewhere that USB on computers with an Athlon and a
certain kind of motherboard is jerky. Microsoft released a patch for that,
and I've installed it. Still does no good. My scanner and my DSL modem are
both on USB, and I nearly never had any problems with them. Has anyone
already had that kind of problem? Did you find a solution? Can ONE USB slot
be jerky, and the others work fine? Is it worth trying to use a 4 port hub
on one of the slots I'm already using? Is there a driver newer (and maybe
better) than the 3.03c I recieved with the wheel? Do you know where I can
find it (elsewhere than Thrustmaster's website)?

I hope someone can help me on that one... As I really really want to try GP3
with a wheel... :o)

Thanks a lot...

--
Vincent Jacquemin

Red Roosters Online: http://www.racesimcentral.net/
49R Pictures: http://www.racesimcentral.net/

Make certain your USB port is not sharing an IRQ with any other device
on the system, particularly the sound card.  I've heard this can be a
problem.

Regards,
Brett C. Cammack
That's Racing! Motorsports
Pompano Beach, FL

Thanks... Looks like you got it... They share IRQ 11. The properties on both
tell me that the device is working properly, but obviously my USB is shaky.
Do you know a way of changing the IRQ on one or the other?

--
Vincent Jacquemin

Red Roosters Online: http://roosters.cjb.net
49R Pictures: http://49r.cjb.net

On Sat, 29 Jul 2000 16:50:31 -0700, "Vincent Jacquemin"

Moving IRQs around can involve assorted tricks that are usually
specific to the motherboard you've got.  See if you have an option to
turn of interrupt sharing in the CMOS setup.  That'll force it to
assign unique interrupts to each PCI device.  Another thing is to
right-click on "My Computer" and got to the 2nd tab "Device Manager".
Down in the "System Devices" section at or near the bottom of the
list, find the "PCI Bus" entry and check it's properties.  On it's 2nd
tab, you can try selecting either "Use Hardware" or "Use BIOS" for
hardware enumeration.  (whichever you're not using now)  On it's 3rd
tab, "IRQ Steering" you can try turning off the "Use IRQ Steering"
checkbox.

All of these things will have an effect.  I've gone so far as to
assign a specific IRQ to a "phantom" ISA card in CMOS so that it would
shove all the automated IRQ assigments over one to the right to get
them to not share anymore.

Do this sort of thing often enough and eventually you qualify for one
of those blue pointy hats with the stars and comets on them.  People
will speak reverently in your presence and women will find you
irresistable. <g>

Regards,
Brett C. Cammack
That's Racing! Motorsports
Pompano Beach, FL

Nevermind...

I changed the USB plug to another port, and it seems to run fine now... Go
figure... :o)

Thanks again for your help, Brett...

--
Vincent Jacquemin

Red Roosters Online: http://roosters.cjb.net
49R Pictures: http://49r.cjb.net