DescentBB

Is it possible to get this stick working? I connect it and select the Sidewinder driver but all it does is alternate: "Connected", "Not Connected" hence it is not useable.

I use it fine in linux on my machine but I want to get it working on my dads windows box so we can play D3.

So what have you guys done to get the 3Dpro working in windows these days?

(thought a poll would be fun too )

try turning your machine off and unplugging and plugging the stick in back and forth for about 30 seconds. then boot up and readd it to the game controllers. i had to do this alot with windows xp, so it may or may not help with 2k. also when you see it connected in windows and then suddenly it isnt anymore, double click it and keep clicking retry. eventually it should stay connected. alternatively, you can try the 3dpro patch from the sidewinder website. you'll have to do some googling though.

I think that, in 2000 at least, this problem was solved by downloading the patch. Unfortunately, it didn't work in ME, but XP has great native support for the Sidewinder series.

i have not found anyone that has been helped by that stupid patch (i wonder if it actually does anything at all, i suspect "placebo" ).

the SW3Dpro works on win2k. if you are getting the intermitent connected/not-connected problem then flick the switch on the back of your sidewinder.

if this doesn't fix it, then wiggle the cable (at both ends), restart the computer, try plugging the stick in while the pc is running, OR not running, uninstall/reinstall the device from game controllers.

i sometimes get that intermittent not-connected/connected problem. from memory i mostly fix it by switching that switch.

my stick is working great atm, no probs.
i hardly ever get that not-connected/connected intermitent problem. mostly my stick works without a hitch.

edit: heh, i just noticed that the "flick the switch" suggestion was my only original one.
edit2: your poll sux coz MS is known for having crappy software support for it's hardware. the SW3DPro works in win2k, but it's a fluke and NO THANKS go to microsoft for it.

IIRC M$ blamed it on static build-up w/in the stick (I may confuse that w/ a newer stick tho) -- maybe this will help..

Edit: check this too.

No poll for you!

Aww, no more poll.

Thanks guys for the help. I rebooted the machine and and switched the switch on the back a couple of times like some of you suggested and it seems to be working right now. I went into Descent3 and set it up and started a game. At first it would randomly jerk the ship in different directions (just like that joystick polling thing that D1 for DOS would do when run in windows if any of you remimber that) but after a couple of minutes it worked normally.

I guess I gave up too quick sence I was never able to get it to work in windows98.

nah win9x has it's OWN UNIQUE problems with the sw3dpro (on new computers). worthy of it's own thread .

my advice: stick with win2k or winXP. getting the SW3Dpro working in win9x is a nightmare and not worth the trouble.

3Dpro on 98/ME = easy as PIE (700 Mhz CPU and Below)
3Dpro on 2k/XP = mercy of the serial number and the MFG date of the joystick

You don't even know wtf you're talking about roid. The 3dpro was released when Win95 was still the most popular OS for crying out loud. Win98 hadn't even come out yet. Setting it up on 95/98/98se/ME was simple as hell.

Setting it up on 2K and XP is simple as hell. I've never had any problems getting any of my sticks to work on either of my computers. I have had the connected/not-connected problem and yes, the patch MS released fixed it on my older computer. Have never had any problems with it on this computer running Win98se/2K/XPpro.

I've never messed with the USB ones that were released before they stopped being produced altogether. A lot of times it probably isn't the stick, but a combination of the stick and the rest of the hardware in your PC and how the OS is identifying each device etc....

that was a bit harsh farty man.
i've had a SW3DPro since they first came out, i still use the same one.

i've used it on an old Pentium120mhz in win95/98se, no problems.

on my duron600-1000mhz system, with win98se it gives a constant not-connected, supposedly because the FSB is over a certain amount (this seems to be the telltale sign of the not-connected win98se problem).
then after i started dualbooting to win2k, i found that the stick worked absolutely fine in win2k. and then if you softbooted into win98se it would STILL work for some time (thus proving that it's an easily fixable problem for MS).

this was the only way to get it running in win9x on a modern PC: with a dualboot (boot into win2k/xp then softboot into win9x).

huzzah, my geekfoo is superior. bite my ears

hangon... WHY did you say i had no idea what i was talking about anyway? surely the reason is more than just "coz i the mighty Tyranny do not suffer from your puny human problems, fear my drawn out awkward strides !@!@" ?

I could never get it to work on my system with win98 (built in 2000 starting at 500 Mhz Athlon and up). I remimber I tried everything, the patch, reinstalling windows, drivers, bla bla bla. It never worked, I just had to use it as a Thrustmaster which meant no base buttons or slider. Not having those features didn't matter that much for Descent though.

Then a friend gave me Linux to try, heh. I got into it a bit and eventually bought Descent 3 for linux. Of course I had to get my Joystick working and I figured I would be able to get it to work as a Thrustmaster just as I had in windows (sence, according to Microsoft, the FSB was too fast for the stick and it would never work). Reading around I found out that there was a sidewinder driver in linux. I figures what the heck, it couldn't hurt to try it and what do you know? It works! All 8 buttons and the slider and everything else! I guess MS was making up a reason to not update the drivers.

There's my rant.

There was the other solution to fixing the joystick. Set it as a Thrustmaster in the Game Devices properties, that was the only way I could get the hat working in D3 for some reason on a 9x OS. Everytime I just added it as a Thrusmaster it worked fine in all 3 descents, which is basically what the 3D pro was meant for

Yes, but that still drove me nuts because the hat switch was only a 4-way hat, not an 8-way which the sitdewinder is (if im not mistaken).

Doesn't really matter because sliding in any of the combinations using up/down and left/right would create the diagnal movement. I could see how this might be a problem if you used the hat only to slide in all directions but some of the more popular descent configs used were ones that involved using keys to slide left/right and then the hat just to slide up/down.

Others used all keys to slide and the hat to cycle weapons or use rear view or whatever. *shrug*

Guess it all depends on your personal preference but most people tried going with whatever others who already figured all this stuff out were using

Tyranny wrote:I could see how this might be a problem if you used the hat only to slide in all directions but some of the more popular descent configs used were ones that involved using keys to slide left/right and then the hat just to slide up/down.

Those configs were a workaround for 4 way hat switches. The 3DP was the 1st stick w/ an 8 way hat IIRC. Sure ppl wanted that feature, alows you to slide up/left etc. w/ the use of only one finger instead of two.

While that may be true both D1 and D2 recognized the keys much quicker then the hat even with sensetivities all the way up. So it was always a better tradeoff to use the keys to slide then it would be using just the hat. Considering most of the best descenters who used a 3dpro never used solely the hat to slide it is pretty obvious which method worked out the best.

IIRC it's the FSB speed that fuxors the 3D Pro in 2K. If the FSB is greater than 133 MHz, then it won't work properly. 100 FSB = no problems at all.