MS FF Wheel & Squash Balls :-) Little Long.

Well I went and did it yesterday. Decided it was time to make the plunge. I determined that there would be no use getting the wheel if I couldn't get the ball so I went ball hunting first. Academy only had tennis, racquet and hand balls. No squash. They recomended Oshmans. REI didn't have any balls at all prefering kayaking, mountian climbing and cycling. Whatever. Decided to pop in to Best Buy as it was between REI and Oshmans. Nice wheel. One on shelf. Oshmans doesn't have them either though they have every other type of ball known to man, woman and ET. Beginning to wonder if Austinites play squash. I don't even know what the hell squash is other than a game where men play with balls. Lots of those. (Freudian?) Wondering if I should get the wheel w/o the ball and ask one of you to send your 2nd half to me. Would hate to leave you w/o a nose protector though. See a sporting goods store that I'd not known about as I head towards freeway. U-turn and ask them. They at least have a spot on the shelf to check. It's empty. But upon calling the other store, much closer to where this journey started than any other store involved, confirming that they have some. Both Yellow and Red dot. What's the difference? Is Yellow dot for a different brand of wheel/pedal? Stop at Comp USA on the way as I get a discount there. $199.00 for $170.00 + tax. Nice to save $30 bucks as I think I've spent that in gas. Stop on way home to get ball. They have it. Now I know why these are so hard to find. Thier too small. I'd lose alot of them too. Probably many lost and homeless little squash balls around Austin just waiting and hoping to be found. Somebody will start a movement to save them soon and request government funding. They'll probably get it. Cut ball in half without cutting fingers. Good sign. Extract wheel from box and decide how I'm going to work this with my CH Pro Throttle, CH Pedals, and CH Janes Combat Stick. Not to mention my homebuilt wheel. Too many controllers.Try to pass wheel thru Pro Throttle as I do with homebuilt. FF seems to work. Install software and it can't see the wheel. Power cord made wheel move. Pro Throttle blocking data. Unplug Pro Throt and plug wheel in. Joystick Properties is happy now. Wheel feels nice in the test modes. Nascar collectibles on top of monitor begin to roll as table shakes with FF effect. Take Earnhardt down as he's been having a rough time lately. Leave Rusty up there. Maybe he'll hit Gordon again. :-) Load MTM2, came with wheel, and have some fun. Video not smooth. Stops every 2-3 seconds for about 1/4 of a second. Turn off awhile. FF is fun. Blue Screen of Death. Huh???? Re-Boot. Boot Hangs. Keeps***. ALOT. Start to panick. Re-seat processor & memory. Only attach the basic's, Power, Monitor, Mouse, Keyboard. Works. ???? Attach wheel again. Works. ????? Re-Attach everything else and Re-Boot. Hangs. Hmmmm. Remove Pro Throttle keyboard pass thru from keyboard circuit. Boots. MS and CH don't get along. Seperate the two untill they've decided to get to work out thier differences. Silly Peripherals. MM FF Wheel ROCKS. Try GPL. I still suck but can look a little better doing it now. More controllable. Especially the breaking. I don't overshoot by as much anymore and the hay bails are starting to recover. Ranchers and grass eating animals are happy. Try Viper. Why O Why does the Viper engine decide to pull the wheel just long enough for you to resist it and then release it completely. Fish tailing more often than not. Times MUCH slower. Feels like I'm driving in a VERY gusty and strong crosswind. Place last. Damn. Exit, don't save. Hmm. what else do I have??? NFSIII. Been on shelf since homebuilt wheel doesn't like Windows and I don't like deleting and re-installing controllers all the time. Which I'll be doing alot more of now. :-) NFSIII ROCKS with FF. Kicking butt. Played till 3:30 am. Still get Blue Screen Of Death occasionally. Have any of you had this problem???? Updated MS FF software, NFSIII and MTM2. Viper should allready be up to date and GPL 1.1 not out yet. Apparently to be released in the proverbial "2 weeks". :-) Any one race NFSIII online????? I highly recomend this wheel. It's great. Only other problems I've had is the pedals sliding on the carpet. Placed a 1x10 piece of wood beneath them and they don't slide anymore. Wood does a little. Plan on cutting grooves in wood to prevent it from sliding. Plan on making***pit for racing & flight sims so shouldn't be a problem afterwards. WARNINGS: If you have CH gear you'll need to completely disconnect it AFAIK. Also if you have little metal cars and planes on top of your monitor you should remove them. SR-71 took a nose dive attempting to set a new speed record. Missed Earnhardt by 1 inch. :-) 16 inch fall not enough time to set speed record. Might try again later. :-) Steve-S +-----------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | And quickly he's subdued | Split_S3 on IRC | | Thru constant pained disgrace | Steve-S on TEN | | The young boy learns their rules | Unforgiven (-unfg-) on Warbirds | | Metallica | Dweebs of Death | +-----------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | Dale Earnhardt | Dale Earnhardt Jr | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Hysterical. My question: Did you maintain a journal anticipating all this trouble or do you just have an uncanny knack for remembering excruciating detail in the face of overwhelming frustration? Guard that squash ball with your life! Jack Rambo www.RaceLive.com/GPaL

Glad you liked it. I did not maintain a journal I have the type of memory that holds such memories for a LONG time. Though I can't remember names for the life of me or what I read 5 minutes ago I can remember the images and fealings for a lifetime. I think that adventure will go into long term memory right next to the PB&J sandwich in a high chair memory from my childhood. Such interesting textures PB&J. :-) Steve-S

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>Hysterical. My question: Did you maintain a journal anticipating all this >trouble or do you just have an uncanny knack for remembering excruciating >detail in the face of overwhelming frustration? Guard that squash ball with >your life! >Jack Rambo >www.RaceLive.com/GPaL

+-----------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | And quickly he's subdued | Split_S3 on IRC | | Thru constant pained disgrace | Steve-S on TEN | | The young boy learns their rules | Unforgiven (-unfg-) on Warbirds | | Metallica | Dweebs of Death | +-----------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | Dale Earnhardt | Dale Earnhardt Jr | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

If you're going to use a piece of wood to keep the pedals from sliding, try this. Look at the underside of the pedals assembly. There is a hollow cavity about 4"x5". Cut a small block of 3/4" or so thick wood that will fit snuggly into the cavity. Then***the block down onto a piece of plywood or such-like that will serve as the base. Now the pedals will lock right onto that block of wood. Works great. No sliding at all.