I just bought a new SoundBlaster X-Gamer 5.1 for my HP Pavilion 87 series PC (WindowsME [bring back 95!!!!]). My Problem is that I cannot get my old Sidewinder Force Feedback Wheel to work with it. It lights up, and has tention(feedback) and the light is not flashing, but the gaming options in control panel says that the wheel is not connected. Oddly enough, my new SW Force Feedback2 flight stick works (although it can only be connected via USB port [to which my wheel won't work through] Wherein lies my problem, the card (which worked on my old pc) WindowsME, or the Wheel? ANY help would be appreciated. PS: Yes I do have sound.

I had a problem when I got my P3 system. My older Sidewinder 3d pro joystick did not work. Calling Microsoft I found it was not compatible with faster machines. I bought a 3d Precision Pro Joystick which worked fine with 98 & ME. The problem most likely is that the wheel is old. If they have a newer version, I am sure it will work fine.

When windows starts up and detects plug and play devices it only installs drivers for the sound card---not the drivers for the game port. Run the setup program on the Installation CD that should have come with your sound card and it should fix the problem.

Hey everyone, after about a week of trying to get my sound card to recognize that my Sidewinder Force Feedback Wheel (not pro, not USB)WAS connected, I found a site that helped me. I was too stupid to get the address, but this was the massage "Configure Your Sound Card to Use Only One Direct Memory Access (DMA) Channel If your sound card uses more than one DMA channel, the game controller may not work properly. Verify that your sound card is using only one DMA channel. To do this, follow these steps: Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel. Double-click System. Click the Device Manager tab. Click the PLUS SIGN (+) next to Sound, Video, And Game Controllers to expand the branch. Click your sound card, and then click Properties. Click the Resources tab. Note the number of DMA channels listed in the Resource Type column. Click OK, and then click OK again. If more than one DMA channel was listed in the Resource Type column, use either of the following methods to change the resource setting. Method 1 Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel. Double-click Multimedia. On the Advanced or Devices tab, click the PLUS SIGN (+) next to Audio Devices to expand the branch. Click your sound card, and then click Properties. Click Settings. Click to select the Use Single-Mode DMA check box. If there is no Use Single-Mode DMA check box, click OK, click OK again, and then proceed to Method 2. Click OK, and then click OK again. Restart the computer. Method 2 Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel. Double-click System. On the Device Manager tab, click the PLUS SIGN (+) next to Sound, Video And Game Controllers to expand the branch. Double-click your sound card. Click the Resources tab. Click to clear the Use Automatic Settings check box. In the Settings Based On box, click a basic configuration that uses only one Direct Memory Access (DMA) channel. Verify that "No Conflicts" is displayed in the Conflicting Device List box. If a conflicting device is displayed in the Conflicting Device List box, click a different basic configuration with only one DMA channel until you find a configuration with no conflicts. Click OK, and then follow the instructions on the screen to change the setting. Restart the computer. "

Now maby someone can help me with a new problem that I am almost glad to have (see previous crunchy post) When I click settings for my sidewinder force feedback wheel in gaming options, windowsME says "This page is not available because the SideWinder game controller software could not initalize force feedback. What do I do about this?