The Force is yours! If you are having trouble using the force, check if you have a SB LIVE! sound card - if you do, use Windows 2000's default drivers.
The Microsoft Force Feedback Wheel (USB shown) is still the best wheel you can buy. Forget negative reviews about it - they are all bull*.
MS Sidewinder Force Feedback Wheel USB - ALL Problems Solved!
As promised on 250800, I am back to my review of Microsoft's Force Feedback Wheel, on its USB version, because I finally found what was causing random system resets, under the not-that-simple hardware configuration I run. Again, I strongly advise you to go back and read the 250800 update, before continuing.
After suspecting my VIA's chipset and my VIA's USB ports, I bought an Opti based USB controller, only to come up with no results. Now 3 months later, after loads of attempts, dozens of hours of web surfing, web searching, and Usenet digging, I am 100% certain of what is happening...
The problem is with the Creative Lab's Sound Blaster Live! drivers. I am running Windows 2000, with 2 processors (2 x P3@733 FSB 133), and Creative does recognize SMP problems with its drivers (SMP == Symmetric Multiprocessing). These problems usually cause no more than occasional glitches, but - in my case - they just reset the machine, when the USB port is being used in two-ways (force-feedback sends and receives data via the USB bus). The crashes are random - I can play for hours with zero problems, and I can play for just 10 seconds, and then it all collapses...
During my quest to understand what was wrong, I once believed to have found the solution: fixing the IPs of the two NICs I have installed in the PC, but that wasn't the key, though it does increase the stability.
If you are running SMP with a configuration similar to my own, try NOT TO INSTALL the Liveware 3.0 drivers and, instead, use the Windows 2000 WDM Basic drivers (Windows Driver Model, basic). The result? 100% stability on USB-force-feedback software! It was with such config that I managed to win my first GP Legends race, ever @ Kyalami, South Africa, on Pro level!!
I've also discovered that if you run the Liveware 3.0 software as "a service" (Windows 2000), you are less prone to errors.
Download this file:
http://www.geocities.com/fedevx/liveservice-v3-2.zip
that allows you to run the LiveWare software as a service. This is highly recommended. Notice that you must be logged as "Administrator" to do it.
You should thanks to fedev@mailandnews.com for writing this software.
One thing I still didn't try, is running the Liveware 3.0 drivers as "a service" and having fixed IPs on both the NICs. May be that will be as solid as running the original WDM Basic drivers. I will try it, soon.
For now, rest assured that the Microsoft Wheel remains the best choice for your hard earned money and that it is innocent of any problems I might have when using it. Blame it all on Creative Labs!
I really think that Creative Labs is delivering too much crappy software drivers these days:
- Live! drivers have issues with SMP and USB;
- Encore drivers have issues with Windows 2000, in general (go to ftp.sigmadesigns.com/HollywoodPlus and use those drivers instead);
- Nomad 2 / Jukebox software didn't allows Jukebox -> PC transfers, on my system... (read the 071100 review of it)
Yes, it sucks and it costs a lot of money. Creative is growing BIG, but its software support is on hold.
The Microsoft pedals are as impressive as the wheel itself. I kick them a lot and they look like new, after all this time.
If you are serious about driving simulators... then there's only one mandatory title on your collection: GP Legends! Make sure you play it with separate axes for the accelerator and brake pedals! Notice that the Microsoft wheel allows precisely that (like in real life).