Has anyone had any success with the ACM game card in Win95? I disable my
SB16 joystick port, installed the ACM according to instruction but when
I try to calibrate any joystick in Win95 it will not go through the full
range of motion. Someone please help. Also in QBC97 for Dos will not
even detect my joystick with the ACM.
Dear Don,
Yes I was able to calibrate an ACM gamecard in Win 95. You
should go to Thrustmaster's web site and get the instructions for doing so.
> Has anyone had any success with the ACM game card in Win95? I disable my
> SB16 joystick port, installed the ACM according to instruction but when
> I try to calibrate any joystick in Win95 it will not go through the full
> range of motion. Someone please help. Also in QBC97 for Dos will not
> even detect my joystick with the ACM.
This info is applicable to the SB16 PNP versions. Jumpered SB16s won't
have this problem as you can jumper disable the port.
Sounds like your SB gameport isn't actually disabled. This will normally
be the case with a PNP SB16/32 unless you carry out the following
routine. Software disabling the card in Win95 will not work as Win95
will not release previously allocated resources used by the SB which the
ACM requires (if using 201).
If you have a SB16PNP card, you'll have to *physically* remove the SB16
card from the PC, install & setup the ACM Gamecard in Win95 and then
reinstall the SB16 with *most* PCs. Sad, but that's how it is. Here's
how to do it.
Physically remove the SB16PNP.
Install & setup the ACM in Win95 using the add new hardware wizard but
selecting no when Win95 offers to search for new hardware. Choose TM ACM
card from the controller list when offered and install it. Connect your
joystick & re-boot. Go into Win95 Control Panel Joystick, select and set
up your joystick properly and calibrate the controller.
Re-install the SB16PNP.
When Win95 detects and installs the SB16 on boot, the SB16 IDE & Game
ports will be reinstalled, however because it can't have the entire
address range it demands (201-207) as you have allocated (201 & 209) to
the TM ACM card the game port will be Exclamation Marked in System
Properties and the Gameport System Properties resources tab will
highlight the conflicting address as the cause. You can now remove the
tick from the "original configuration" box and click OK. Your SB
gameport will now have a red cross through it which *this time* will
stay disabled upon subsequent reboots.
Voila!
Don't forget to use the TM DOS TMS calibration app to optimise your ACM
gamecard RX/TX in your PC.
Regards,
--- Cogito Ergo Sum --- *
* Fidonet: (temporarily unavailable) *
Keiron Rado, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia *
My experience with the ACM, Win95 and the AWE32PnP was quite painful, but
I did get it working. I got a new Dell PPro200n and couldn t get my T2
working right with it. I hooked up the ACM, turned off the AWE32 gameport
in the Win95 System control panel, added the ACM driver under Add New
Hardware, calibrated it and it worked. Unfortunately, Win95 kindly "fixed"
this for me everytime I rebooted - it reactivated the AWE32 and ignored
the gameport. I got a utility called ICU143 from Dell s Web site that I
was eventually able to use to disable the port, though it took me well
over an hour talking to a Dell technician before I got it set up right. (I
think the problem was that it the file wasn t compressed right - you had
to unzip it once, the unzip another part of it again or something weird
like that). On the whole, very clumsy - Win95 is pretty pathetic, but you
can make an ACM work with an AWE32.
