Re: Covert old Joystick to USB?

My old MS Sidewinder Precision Pro joystick came with the USB adaptor with
MIDI capabilities which works fairly well on my new PC via the USB port
using the adaptor. I do have the occassional problem, like in one game I get
the equivalent of an 'e' key press when 's' should be simulated. My stick
does not have force feedback, so that was never a problem anyway.

I am in the process of trying out a joystick emulator that simulates key
presses when a button on a joystick is pressed. It is called JOYTOKEY
(google for it and you will find it). This not only emulates the key
presses, but you can use one of the buttons to emulate a second joystick, so
you can effectively use that button on the joystick as a 'Shift' key. I have
only tried one game on it so far, but it seems to work fine. Try it out and
see for yourself if it gives you what you want.

Martin


"RobertVA" <robert_c72AThotmail@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:O5QlqpSBHHA.4060@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
LMO wrote:
Hello all. I just bought MS Flight Sim X Deluxe. I have an older
Sidewinder joystick that I would like to use with it. Problem is the
stick is an older model that plugged in to a sound card. My new system
does not have the female plug for this card. Is there any way to convert
an older model sidewinder to a USB plug?
I have a newer model sidewinder, also, but the older one worked better.
Thanks all.


Many USB/game port adapters only work with the "analog" sticks that used
the game port's circuits that were originally designed for dual two button
sticks. Unfortunately a lot of "digital" joysticks used the bidirectional
serial data transmission capabilities of the port's MIDI (Musical
Instrument Digital Interface) circuits. Force Feedback controllers NEED
the two way capabilities of the MIDI circuits and will ALWAYS require
"digital" communication with the computer via MIDI, USB or a serial port.
Compatibility with different ports vary with different Force Feedback
controllers.

Some Microsoft sticks featured a switch that allowed operation in the
user's choice of digital or analog modes. Others came with a special USB
adapter with MIDI capabilities. I don't recall which models had which.


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