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Q315941: Flight Simulator 2002: Troubleshooting Joystick Problems Part 2

Article: Q315941
Product(s): Microsoft Home Games
Version(s): 
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbimu
Last Modified: 06-AUG-2002

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002 
- Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002 Professional Edition 
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SUMMARY
=======

This article is part 2 of the "Flight Simulator 2000: Troubleshooting Joystick
Problems" article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base. To view part 1 of this
article, click the article number below:

  Q315926 Flight Simulator 2002: Troubleshooting Joystick Problems (Part 1)

MORE INFORMATION
================

Manually Assign Actions
-----------------------

To manually assign an action to a button or axis on your game controller:

1. Start Flight Simulator 2002.

2. Click Settings.

3. In the Controls box, click Assignments.

4. To assign events to buttons on your game controller, click the "Buttons/Keys"
  tab.

  To assign events to the axes on your game controller, click the "Joystick
  axes" tab.

5. In the "Joystick type" box, click the game controller that you want to use.

6. In the Event column, click the line for an event that you want to assign to a
  button or an axis on your game controller, and then click "Change
  assignment".

7. On the game controller, press the button or move the axis that you want to
  use for the selected action.

  If you receive a warning message that states that a different action is
  already assigned to the game controller button or axis, click the green check
  mark to accept the new assignment, or click Clear to select a different
  button.

8. When you finish manually assigning events to the buttons and axes on your
  game controller, click the green check mark.

If the issue continues to occur, proceed to the next method.

Configure Game Controller As a Different Device
-----------------------------------------------

Use the Game Controllers tool in Control Panel to configure your game controller
as a different device.

NOTE: You cannot configure any Microsoft SideWinder gaming device as a different
device, except the SideWinder Standard or the SideWinder 3D Pro. You can
configure the SideWinder Standard and the SideWinder 3D Pro as different
devices.

For example, to configure a SideWinder 3D Pro joystick as a three-axis,
four-button joystick with rudder-pedals, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.

2. Double-click Game Controllers, and then click Microsoft SideWinder 3D Pro.

3. Click Remove, and then click Yes.

4. Click Add, click 3-Axis, 4-Button Joystick, and then click OK.

5. Click Properties.

6. On the Settings tab, click to select the Rudder/Pedals check box.

7. Click Calibrate, and then follow the instructions on the screen to calibrate
  the game controller.

  NOTE: Axis 3 is the throttle control, and axis 4 is the rudder control.

8. Click Test to verify that the game controller functions properly.

9. When you finish calibrating and testing the game controller, click OK, and
  then click OK again.

If the issue continues to occur, proceed to the next method.

Reduce Hardware Sound Acceleration
----------------------------------

If your sound card cannot properly process game port signals and high-quality
game sounds at the same time, you may be able to work around the issue by
reducing the sound playback quality in the game. To do this, follow these
steps:

1. Click Start, and then click Run.

2. In the Open box, type "DXDIAG" (without the quotation marks).

3. Click OK, and then click the Sound tab.

4. Under DirectX Features, move the "Hardware Sound Acceleration Level" two
  notches to the left to Basic.

5. Click Exit.

If the issue continues to occur, proceed to the next method.

Remove and Reinstall Flight Simulator 2002
------------------------------------------

To remove and reinstall Flight Simulator 2002, follow these steps:

1. Insert the Flight Simulator 2002 Disc 1 CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive. Press
  and hold down SHIFT when you insert the CD-ROM to prevent the program from
  starting automatically.

2. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.

3. Double-click Add/Remove Programs.

4. On the Install/Uninstall tab, click Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002, and then
  click Add/Remove.

5. Click to select the "Remove saved Flight and flight videos" check box.

6. Click Uninstall.

7. When you are prompted to confirm the deletion of Flight Simulator 2002, click
  Yes.

8. Delete the Flight Simulator folder. By default, Flight Simulator 2002 is
  installed in the following folder

  <drive>:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\FS2002

  where <drive> is the drive letter of the hard disk on which Flight
  Simulator 2002 is installed.

9. Quit all unnecessary programs that are running on your computer. To do this,
  use the appropriate method for your version of Microsoft Windows.

Microsoft Windows 95, Microsoft Windows 98, or Microsoft Windows Millennium
Edition (Me)

  a. Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE.

  b. In the Close Program dialog box, click any program except Explorer or
     Systray (which are components of Microsoft Windows), and then click End
     Task.

     If you receive a message stating that the program is busy or not
     responding, click End Task again.

  c. Repeat steps a and b to quit all unnecessary programs that are running on
     your computer.

Microsoft Windows 2000 and Microsoft Windows XP

  a. Press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC to open Windows Task Manager.

  b. On the Applications tab, click any program, and then click End Task.

     Repeat this step to quit all unnecessary programs that are running on your
     computer.

  c. Quit Windows Task Manager.

10. Click Start, and then click Run.

11. In the Open box, type the following line, and then click OK

  <cd-rom>:\setup.exe

  where <cd-rom> is the drive letter of the CD-ROM drive.

12. Follow the instructions on the screen to install the program.

Obtain and Install Updated Device Drivers
-----------------------------------------

If your game controller is a USB-only Sidewinder game controller, make sure that
you have installed the version 4.0 software that is specific to your device.

If your game controller is connected to the game port on your computer, download
and install the latest version of the SideWinder Game Controller software. To do
this, see the following Microsoft Web site:

  http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/sidewinder/downloads/default.asp

In addition, if your game controller is connected to the game port in your sound
card, contact the manufacturer of your sound card to inquire about how to obtain
and install the latest version of the sound driver for your sound card.

For information about how to contact the manufacturer of your sound card, click
the appropriate article number in the following list to view the article in the
Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  Q65416 Hardware and Software Third-Party Vendor Contact List, A-K

  Q60781 Hardware and Software Third-Party Vendor Contact List, L-P

  Q60782 Hardware and Software Third-Party Vendor Contact List, Q-Z

Configure the Sound Card to Use Only One DMA Channel
----------------------------------------------------

If your game controller is connected to the game port in your sound card, your
game controller may perform better if you configure the sound card to use only
one DMA channel.

NOTE: Some programs cannot run with only one DMA channel. If you experience this
issue, restore your original sound card settings.

To configure a legacy sound card driver on a Microsoft Windows 95/98-based
computer or a native sound card driver on a Microsoft Windows NT 4.0-based
computer to use single-mode DMA, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.

2. Double-click Multimedia.

3. On the Devices tab or the Advanced tab, click the plus sign next to Audio
  Devices to expand the branch.

4. Click the sound card, and then click Properties.

5. Click Settings.

6. To configure the sound card to use single-mode DMA, see your sound card
  documentation, or do one of the following:

   - Click to select the "Use Single-Mode DMA" check box, click OK until
     Control Panel is displayed again, and then restart the computer.

   - In the "DMA Channel (16-bit)" box, click Disable, click OK until Control
     Panel is displayed again, and then restart the computer.

   - In the High DMA box, click Use DMA, click OK until Control Panel is
     displayed again, and then restart the computer.

  If you cannot use the sound card driver to configure single-mode DMA, click
  Cancel until Control Panel is displayed again, and then proceed to the
  "Disable Force-Feedback Effects" section of this article.

To configure a native sound card driver on a Microsoft Windows 95-based computer
or a Microsoft Windows 98-based computer to use single-mode DMA, follow these
steps:

1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.

2. Double-click System.

3. Click the Device Manager tab.

4. Click the plus sign next to "Sound, video and game controllers" to expand the
  branch.

5. Click the sound card, and then click Properties.

6. Click the Resources tab.

7. Under Resource Type, locate the "Direct Memory Access (DMA)" lines. If you
  see more than one "Direct Memory Access (DMA)" line, configure the sound card
  for single-mode DMA. To do this, follow these steps:

  a. Click to clear the Use Automatic Settings check box.

  b. In the Settings Based On box, click a Basic Configuration that uses only
     one DMA channel setting.

     If you see a conflict message in the Conflicting Device List box, repeat
     this step to select another basic configuration that uses only one DMA
     channel and does not conflict with any other devices.

     If you do not see a conflict message in the Conflicting Device List box,
     click OK, and then click Yes.

  c. Click Close, and then restart the computer.

  If you see only one "Direct Memory Access (DMA)" line, or if you cannot find a
  basic configuration that uses only one DMA channel, click Cancel, click
  Cancel again, and then proceed to the next method.

Disable Force-Feedback Effects
------------------------------

If you use a SideWinder Force Feedback Pro joystick or SideWinder Force Feedback
Wheel, disable the force-feedback effects. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.

2. Double-click Game Controllers.

3. Click "Microsoft SideWinder Force Feedback Pro" or "Microsoft SideWinder
  Force Feedback Wheel".

4. Click Properties.

5. On the Settings tab, drag the Force Feedback slider to the Off position.

6. Click OK, and then click OK again.

If the issue does not occur while the force-feedback effects are disabled, the
problem may be with the SideWinder Force-Feedback game controller. You may need
to contact Microsoft SideWinder Force-Feedback Technical Support for additional
assistance with troubleshooting your SideWinder Force-Feedback game controller.


For additional information about how to troubleshoot issues with your SideWinder
force feedback game controller, click the article numbers below to view the
articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  Q175184 SideWinder Force Feedback Pro: No Forces Felt on Test Forces Tab

  Q175701 No Force Feedback Effects Testing SideWinder Force Feedback Pro

  Q175233 SideWinder Force Feedback Pro Test Is Slow or Does Not Respond

  Q174436 Game Port Resource Settings for SideWinder Force Feedback

  Q174432 Game Port Requirements for SideWinder Force Feedback Pro

  Q173689 SideWinder Force Feedback Joystick Behaves Erratically

  Q175158 Force Feedback Err Msg: Your Gaming Device is Not Connected

  Q175054 SideWinder Not Compatible with Game Port-MIDI Adapter Cable

  Q174437 Joystick Does Not Work or You Cannot Feel Force Feedback Effects

  Q174433 Connecting SideWinder Force Feedback Pro for Best Performance

Additional query words: msgame

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Keywords          : kbimu 
Technology        : kbGamesSearch kbFlightSimSearch kbFlightSim2002 kbFlightSim2002Pro kbSimSearch
Version           : :
Issue type        : kbinfo

=============================================================================

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