rec.autos.simulators

Hi,
 I'm hoping someone has some suggestions for this calibration problem that
has just occured with my system.. My controller is a TSW (1996) and I've
never had a calib problem until now.. Here's the situation.. The other day I
reinstalled WIN98SE, over top of an existing install, just to clean up the
files.. Now, when I go to calibrate the TSW in my win98-->ctrl panel-->joy
calib. screen, all 4 axis seem to be "pulsating" on a 10 second clock...
They axis' will be relatively still, after I calibrate it, except every 10
seconds they all go hay wire for about 1-2 seconds.. At first I though a pot
was going bad.. But that wasn't it.. I've changed the pots *twice* now, just
to be sure that wasn't it, and still the same thing.. I checked and
unchecked the "poll with interrupts" box, with no change.. Now, when I enter
NR2002 (About the only game I play) I can also see the calibration pointers
jumping around.. And when Im in the game it feels like I have  a miss in the
motor, cause it sputters the whole way around the track. (I use the direct
driver, because of my GPL USB Shifter) But if I use the "Generic" driver
(optimised) it seems to be able to overcome the "pulsating" and it works
ok.. Only thing with that is, now I can't use the USB Shifter.. Now, I've
had the same system and everything, working fine now, for about 6 months..
Just after reinstalling win98 has this problem occured.. I removed and
reinstalled my sound card (SBLive X-Gamer 5.1) and all it's software.. I've
reinstalled Nascar 2002 also.. Does anyone have any idea what could be going
on?? I just can't figure out why it's going nuts on a 10 second cycle..
Please Help!! All suggestions welcome!! Thanks in advance, and sorry for the
lengthy post. Mick

Have you tried using Papy's "generic" input driver with n2002?
Superior to what DirectX provides by a mile or two. Too bad about
the USB shifter, though...

I think it's the same problem that prevents the wheel from
being used in split axis mode with ISI titles unless you rewire
the axis. Take a look at this page

http://www.schuerkamp.de/zope/hoover/racing/tsw and see if it
helps. It's quite easy and you can always revert to the old setup
by switchin a couple of cables (no soldering required).

Cheers,

Uwe

--
Uwe Schuerkamp //////////////////////////// http://www.schuerkamp.de/
Herford, Germany \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ (52.0N/8.5E)
PGP Fingerprint:  2E 13 20 22 9A 3F 63 7F  67 6F E9 B1 A8 36 A4 61

Don't you know this is a sure-fire way to open up a hell-gate?!!!

Good luck, young Captain!  I hear Beezlebub likes his human sacrifices
med-rare.

Seriously, don't ever do this.  Instead, use something like Norton
Ghost to make images of a stable system and then roll back to that
when the system starts getting flaky.  Restoring from a saved image is
much faster than an OS reinstall, and actually solves the problem,
instead of compounding it in an untold number of ways.

HTH,
Gerald

Yea, I've already rewired it for seperate axis.. It's too bad my circa 1996
model wasn't quite as easy to work on as the newer TSW 's  =)  But it's been
done for a few years now.. Like I was saying, all was just fine until the
other day.. Now something is interfering with my calibration. The way the
pointers are acting, in both the windows and NR2002 joy calibration screens,
it's as if it's hearing interferrence from something.. (And if anyone missed
the original post, I've changed all the pots, twice now, just to be sure
that wasn't it) Maybe some old drivers or settings from my SBLive  didn't
get properly removed after I reinstalled the sound card?? This is a real
bummer.. Never had a problem with the controller before.. Other than basic
maintenance/pot replacement every so often.. Oh well, if anyone else can
think of something that may help, I'm all ears!! =) Thanks again, Mick

I recently switched to the converter box and the uss adapter with my taw.
works good except every few races it switches itself to controller id 2 in
*** options and messes up everything. I then need to recalibrate in
windows and the game (gpl, n2002). Sometimes it locks in id2 and I need to
reboot. what gives here? Thomas Enterprises is going to have to change some
things in order to keep up with the OS's of the future. to charge top dollar
for these wheels yet compatibility issues are always present. Not too
mention Microsoft doesn't seem to keen on gameport technology.

DC

That's your view of the situation.

TSW charges top dollar for their products, and rightly so. They
are superbly engineered items.

Most sound cards still come with a game port you can use with
your TSW, so use an operating system that will support it. Just
because "Microsoft isn't keen to" support game ports any more
doesn't mean they're not good for ***. Microsoft OTOH "is
very keen to" grab your money, and keep you plodding along in
the pony circus they consider "innovation". It's your choice.

Regards,

Uwe

happy TSW owner.

--
Uwe Schuerkamp //////////////////////////// http://www.racesimcentral.net/
Herford, Germany \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ (52.0N/8.5E)
PGP Fingerprint:  2E 13 20 22 9A 3F 63 7F  67 6F E9 B1 A8 36 A4 61

Well I am a happy TSW owner but if a business does not change with the times
they will eventually go under. That is a fact in the business world.

I have an idea..everyone go out and get a top of the line TSW and purchase
the latest "sim" from the west brothers...

Like  a guy named Barnum once said...there is a sucker born every minute.

DC