Microsoft Sidewinder Force feedback wheel driver, Windows 7

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
tbean1

tbean1

Distinguished
Nov 4, 2013
68
0
18,630
Hello,
I recently found this wheel from someone on craigslist. I realized it's old, but I have done my research and people who have Windows 7 and 64 bit are able to use it without a problem. However this not the case for me. Once plugged into the USB, Windows does not recognize it. Anytime I see someone asking for help the responding person just says it works for me and does not explain anything. Please don't be that person and I'm also not looking for people to tell me to buy a new one. Obviously I would have done that instead of Craigslist if I wanted. Any help would be great! Also, have searched Microsoft and they stopped supporting it. If it works for others on the same OS then it should work for me. I hope to hear some good news!
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
Is it recognized as a device, at all, in device manager? Are there any remarked devices in device manager?

Go to control panel, device manager and see if there are any remarked devices. If there are, try right clicking on them and selecting Update driver software and then Update automatically. You may also need to go to the manufacturers product page and download the appropriate drivers, then install them, if you haven't already.

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Hello,
when plugged into my computer Windows shows you being connected yet it says has malfunctioned and in my device manager it shows up as "unknown" plus all the drivers have been discontinued through Microsoft even though it's a Microsoft game controller.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
That is of course highly likely, but it is also what I didn't want to say until we'd determined all the steps had been taken to ensure it wasn't something else since the OP didn't want to hear people telling him to get a new one.

It could still be the driver, since the unit is recognized at least. What is the model number of the unit?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Yeah, he might be able to manually apply the driver by doing this:
NLrdbOW.jpg


And then navigating to the CD with the drivers and telling it to use the file, might have to try multiple times to get the right file though.

If you don't have the drivers though you'll have to do some googling in some, not 100% reputable places to get the driver.
I can't make any guarantees they won't be virus free, but I have seen links for the software for the wheel.
http://www.driverguide.com/driver/detail.php?driverid=79453
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I can find a part number and registration number (x03-65738) and reg (89697-579-3467744-00000), but the model is FFW1 so it probably too outdated. I thought since it's fairly easy to get older games working on Windows I'd be able to figure out how to get this wheel working. I should have done some more research before hand. Though it seems in good condition along with the joystick I got too, which I haven't tried yet on my PC, but it's the same connector to adapter. I've also tried using the game port on a newer video card which did install properly on Win 7, yet the game port did not work properly. the port would show up in my device manager, however through the game port there was nothing plugged into it so....I felt that was a lost cause as well. As far as the CD goes, even in compatibility mode the CD does not work. However, I had a friend try to help me with this situation before posting here and he found a good link for a driver, but once the menu starts up it says you need to instal directx 5.2 first and when you click next it tells me the directx install failed as well....I just have no idea what to do! Also, still showing up in my device manager as "unknown" and from what I've seen online I can try to set it to HID-compliant game controller, yet when I look for that on my comp it doesn't show up. I honestly don't believe this guy used the gamepads in a long time, since the games he was selling with it were old and he did not seem to be a gamer anymore plus the controllers look like they're in good condition. Nice and clean and the movements don't stick or anything. There's got to be a way! I can't give up that easily! If you need any pictures let me know.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Thank you ahead of time by the way. I'm not sure if you're like me, but once you try to get something like this to work and it doesn't you have to solve the problem!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Unfortunately, it looks like that aside from use as a basic HID device, there are no windows 7 drivers that allow use of the game port or assign any macros. Compatibility mode use doesn't seem to work and Microsoft has apparently never revisited this issue.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-hardware/microsoft-sidewinder-forcefeedback-2-driver-for/4110ab51-e3f4-46e0-8aca-40cc4dbeb80d

You're not the first person to discover that China, or Microsoft, has decided at some point we no longer either need something or will be supported in it's use if we're determined to use it anyhow. (Microsoft stops supporting products they sold us at shameful prices long before the product has become antiquated, and I'm constantly going to the store to purchase something I've been purchasing for ten or fifteen years and discovered that, oop, there's another one China has decided we don't need anymore. Heh.)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Any reason why the DirectX setup won't work through the installation of the game controller software? Just too outdated? Also, I don't understand why mine comes up as "unknown" on my device manager and not as a basic HID device anyway? Is there any solution to that problem as well? It's very annoying as this controls looks great and seems like I have many practical uses for it rather than spending 200 bucks for a cheap wheel that won't be as hardy as this one.....I'm glad you feel my pain though! Most people just tell me to buy a new one, but I don't have the money for that and as said before, don't want to use a different product!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Outdated directX controllers won't install on newer systems except in some cases if you right click on the installer file and select "Troubleshoot compatibility" or "Run as administrator" you get lucky. For the most part, newer directX versions are backwards compatible, but sometimes it just refuses to install and then the program refuses to recognize you already have newer version installed or cannot run with newer versions.

As far as the device not showing up as HID, have you tried right clicking on the device, selecting "Update driver software" and then "Update automatically", to see if it finds the driver on it's own?

Maybe install the following package that is more compatible with older versions but does not make changes to newer versions of DirectX you may already have installed.:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=35
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Yes, I have tried "search automatically" and it just says up to date and still unknown as far at the driver...I also tried the link and install you gave me, however it just says everything is up to date and the setup for the game controller is still failing. Can I download the HID controller? I find it weird it won't show up considering I have an Xbox 360 driver which I can use, please don't tell me to just use that because it's not the same as using a wheel, but I thought with that it'd show up as HID when plugged in for the wheel. I have tried doing the search myself and under Microsoft it's just HIDs for my keyboard and mouse or usb for my phone. I can search through other companies and programs, yet still can't find the right HID, complaint controller or complaint game controller. Again, I appreciate the help and if you find it useless I understand because I am close to that point. But yet again to beat a dead horse, I simply want this great product to work.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Sorry, I have no further ideas about this device. Sometimes older hardware, just can't be used on newer systems. As well, newer hardware often can't be used on older systems. In both cases, it's all about driver compatibility. Hardware vendors and software developers don't have much incentive to make one work with the other. They don't see any point in developing drivers that work with older operating systems since the number of people using them is minimal as compared to more recent versions. They also see no benefit for themselves by making sure older hardware works with newer operating systems, because that older hardware has already been sold, won't be sold again and offers no financial gain if they did. Unfortunately, that's the bottom line.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom