DescentBB

It seems everything is waiting on KoolBear?

Hi THere, are you still taking requestes for a second run of the sidewinder adapters, if so how do i signup? many thans for you awnser, this is just what i have been looking for!

I'm interested as well (kit or mounted). Any idea on ETA?

Is the second run of adapters still open to reservations?

Either that or is the board schematics available to download?

I'm going to need 4-

How long?

Well nobody's came right out and said it but I believe the dream has died.

Let wait until KB is back from MIA before burrying it.

It certainly has been a long time since the original posting back in April but remember that is for actual built models. I guess the details are still there if anyone is wanting to do it themselves. Just programming the controller is probably the hard part.

I'm also very interested, put plus one for me if there are still empty slots...

my mail is crichhhhwwt@yahoo.itnospam

So.... Is this project officially dead now? I hope not I really want one! If it comes down to it... I will try to make one myself... The only soldering experience I have is from 7th grade IT class though so It should be interesting... Someone please get back to me with if this project is still going or if I should start looking for a parts list to make one myself.


Thanks!

Well, you got nothing to lose by waiting... Koolbear will be back.

Where in the name of gread Odens beard did he go? Doesn't he know people need to play descent??!?

Just to clear this -- the converter in the current state does not support force feedback effects for the FFP and probably never will. Here's why:

Most gameports back in the day were located on a sound card sharing some pins with the cards MIDI interface. M$ added pin 12 to the FFP (MIDI TxD) and uses MIDI channel 6 to issue FF commands. It's too much work trying to reverse engineer the commands, add a MIDI interface to the 3DP-Vert (that's probably not possible anyway, since the MCU is pretty busy bit-banging the USB port) and modify its USB code to have a fully featured FF device. A limp stick is all you will get, sorry (I think. I never tried to plug power in..) Personally I prefer this -- I'm already busy with the game, I don't need to fight with the stick as well

and besides.. there's always a dedicated USB joystick if you REALLY want FF.

well, i originally didnt care a whole lot if i had full FF on my stick.. and when you do plug the power in, it does provide some resistance.. so it's not all bad.. i'd just like one so i dont have to go buy a new joystick =P

Hi !

If it is not to late and if you're gonna make them ... I WANT ONE !

eMail is:
limmo201 pls_put_an_at_here yahoo pls_put_a_dot_here de

Would be great to bring that stick back to life after all that time.

Oh I wasn't aware that FFB effects did not work with it.


If that is the case, please remove me from the list. My sole intention was to buy one so I could have full stick functionality.


Thanks a lot for the effort put into this, and sorry about going in and out of the list like this, but I'm guessing I'll have to buy a new stick.

Hmmmmm..... hope everything is alright with KB.

You can put me down for one unit, fully assembled.

If it's not too late, that is.

Is there a possibility someone else might be able to fill in for whatever portion of the process KB is responsible for?

I think KB had access to a wave solderer through his work.

I would like 4 PCI bracket versions for mounting inside a case. This might be the last run and I don't want to miss out again. Willing to pay whatever is reasonable ($50 each ????). Thanks!

Hey, LLLLLTNS.... I just upgraded my second comp and there is no game port. I love the first one I got, so if there are any more to be made- put me down for one more. please.

Just a wild thought here....

Has anybody tinkered around with just adding an old/cheap PCI soundcard to your PC, in addition to what you might already be using for sound? Seems like in most cases this wouldn't cause too much of a conflict, since most apps will let you select which sound device you want to use, and it seems like you could just disable the extra sound drivers in device manager...

I know this wouldn't be a solution for laptop users. And it isn't particularly cool in any way. But if for some reason I can't get the 3DP convertor, I might give it a shot.

most modern machines are a bit too fast to work properly with the 3DP and non-9x windows(perhaps linux as well?) - hence the adapter.

I knew there had to be some reason.

Interestingly, I threw in a Vortex2 card into my A64 machine and have been playing D2 on one of my 3DP and works really well, no hiccups yet.

Maybe it is card dependent ??

it was a bug with FSB or something

The answer is in the first M$ Sidewinder 3D Pro on USB thead.

I think there is a demand for this USB adaptor. We just need to get KB and Grendel on board for a second run. Maybe we can start a new wish list? I can build my own if I had the schematic, PCB, and parts list. Tell us what we need to do to make this happen!

Gren is 'on board', we're just waiting on KoolBear.

....and this is the second run.

Not really that hard to make your own. I ended up buying the parts to build 3 just not to have any extra resistors or caps left over. The cost for 3 was right around 90 bucks if I remember correctly. Was my first soldering job and considering that your not soldering directly to the chips you stand to lose little. A little bit of time and forethought and your good to go.
Maybe hardest thing was to flash the chips, but not really that difficult with some research. Grendals download has everything you need to build yourself and directions are fairly easy to follow.
I would also add, that it is everything that its made out to be. I've had mine for roughly 6-8 months and it has been solid as a rock. If you can't live without your 3dpro, roll your sleeves up and get your hands dirty

If they are still available, please tell me what I need to do next to order a fully assembled unit.

Thank you

Step One... rattle KB's cage...

*attempts to rattle KB's cage*

*fails at attempt*

*lowers head and walks away*

i want one of these things.. i think i could build the board fine, it's just flashing the thing and whatnot that i have no experience with.. so i dont wanna screw anything up

I could probably get a few chips, program them, and send them at cost if there's interest.

so long as i got a schematic as to where all the different components go on the board, i could put it together, it would be a good project when i am bored =P

and as for programming those chips, would it just be the individual chip? and then we'd assemble them?

Ah, I thought you want to handwire one I don't have any blank boards as of now. Loading a board would be pretty easy actually. As for the chips, yes, just the bare chip but with the software programmed (and tested). After this initial programming the converter program can be easily updated via the USB connection if someone wants to mess with it.

Check out http://grendel.koolbear.com/3dpro.htm , at the bottom of the page is a link named \"Project archive 2007-07-06\". Contains everything except the gerber files for the board (there's a link to them a few pages back IIRC).

now, i'm sure i could follow the schematic pdf that you provided.. but do you maybe have a little be easier to follow one? i'm sure there may be some who would like to build it who might not be able to follow that 100%

and according to the bom.txt, the price for all the parts, or most of them, would end up being $18.91?

again, thanks for all the help on this

Handwire on a project board like in the prototype photos on Grendals page. With the schematics and photos should not be hard. (I used to repair point to point wired radios)

Perhaps a illustration of the wiring would help for those who are intimidated by schematics... I would be more concerned about the possibility of having to trouble shoot a bad component.

But at any rate I would love to get a couple of chips from you but I will be gone tomorrow until when I don't know. And I don't know if I will have internet access, or even to check e-mail. I'll be in touch when I get back, if not sooner.

crazy328 wrote:now, i'm sure i could follow the schematic pdf that you provided.. but do you maybe have a little be easier to follow one? i'm sure there may be some who would like to build it who might not be able to follow that 100%

Sorry, this one is the only one I have. It would be more readable with JP3 removed (not needed if you implement J2), unfortunately I don't have the original files anymore.

crazy328 wrote:and according to the bom.txt, the price for all the parts, or most of them, would end up being $18.91?

Yes, sounds about right if you include the 28 pin socket (recommended) and consider the minimum order quantities.

As for a bad component -- when I built the 1st 50 some boards I did not have a single component failure. The greatest risk of failure is probably the micro controller, should be straight forward tho if you use sockets for the chips and a pre-programmed MCU.