F-16 Fighterstick outputting this...αα╪┌▄▐╪╥╥╨╨α∞╨

[DykeFish]

Hey all, I recently sent Bruce this email cuz I was seriously drooling for some instant gaming. I wanted to post this here so any problems which may corrected could be shared with more people.

email which was sent......

Yo Bruce,
>
> Gotta quick question for you if you have time. I broke down and ordered
>a gameport fighter stick to replace my f-16 combat stick. 20 bucks plus
>freight for 10 more buttons didn't seem too crazy. Any ways, I'm using your
>new programers you made and when I try to program my fighter stick It locks
>up my windows xp calibration screen. I thought I'd test the outputs in a
>windows wordpad and this is what i get..."╪╨▄▐Σ╨╥╓╥╘╥╘▄" Any
>ideas??? Also when I load up IL-2 FB the buttons do all kinds of crazy
>stuff.. Normally I'd post on ch-hangar but I having trouble in the forum,
>and Im going crazy trying to play with my new toy. If you get time let me
>know if you have ran across this problem. Thanks again for your work. I'll
>post this in the forum as soon as It's back up.


......I have tried Bruce's suggestion of removing the driver and reinstalling it, but same thing happened.

I am programming it with the FS attached to the PT. If I clear all strings and then transmit w/o programming I then regain the four default buttons in the ch xp basic driver setup, but as soon as I try to program, FS goes wacky.

I did have full 10 buton control with my old combat stick as long as I didn't try to program the stick.

Any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Jason

[BLAZERBRUCE]

Did the CombatStick work with the ProThrottle in Windows Xp games?

-Bruce

[BLAZERBRUCE]

When you set up a ProThrottle and Fighterstick Combo, you will not be able to setup keys on your fighterstick. This is an unfortunite limitation of gameports, This may also be why you are experiencing problems. With the Xp boot disk, delete and profiles for the fighter stick, and only program the prothrottle. In the windows Xp driverlist, set the fighterstick to function as a 3-axis, 4 button joystick. I dont have a gameport Prothottle, but I will do my best to trouble shoot this problem. Michael of CH will be back on the board soon from a business trip, he maybe able to help simulate how the HOTAS will function in a windows98, 95 etc.. environment. If you are having trouble with the joystick moving the screen in circles, try raising the "dead zone" in the game options menu.

-Bruce

[DykeFish]

Bruce,

While I was not able to program the combat stick with your program I was able to program all the sticks buttons inside IL-2 / Op Flashpoint / BF Vietnam's control setup screens.

The fighterstick has more buttons but as you pointed out, but only 4 are usable with the PT in WinXP.

I have hooked up the good ole Combat Stick to curb that sim itch. The main reason I picked up the FS is to get the 8 point hat switch so I could map out an 8-way horizontal view map for pan / snap views.

But there is light.... my track ir2 is scheduled to be delivered at my house tomorrow which should be a fine replacement for the 8-way switch.

The only bad part is having to explain to wifey what the hell is it and how much did it cost, which Im not looking forward to. If I dont respond or post within the next few days, call the police, Ill most likey be dead tied up with usb and gameport cables.

Again Bruce, thank you for your help.

Jason

[BLAZERBRUCE]

DykeFish,

Yea, CH is known for making strong products, so I hope you dont get strangled too much LOL. As for the Fighterstick, even in standalone it is a great joystick for most games I play, especialy now that the throttle wheel has been relocated for easier use.
Let me know how the massive gaming with the track ir2 goes.

B)

- Bruce

[DykeFish]

One thing I think I'll try this weekend if I get a chance is indepently programing the PT and FS. I'll hook up just the PT, disconnect it and the try the FS. I will report if this helps at all.

Later,
Jason

[BLAZERBRUCE]

The results of what happens should help determine the problem more easily, I'll keep an eye on the hangar closely the next few days

-Bruce

[Lostgoat]

First off let me express my gratitude for developing this fix. I'd literally put my CH hotas in the closet as I'd not wanted (didn't feel confident I could) create a dual-boot system and I could not afford a new set of gear to replace it.

After reading the posts in this forum, on the XP boot disk, I'm still a bit in the dark on just what to do and how I can use it.

My hotas is comprised of the Pro throttle, Pro pedals and F16 fighterstick all connected together. I can plug them into my soundcasrs gamport or via a Rockfire USB-analog gameport adapter. But do I load this program on my HDD and use it create one boot disk to use or must I create different boot disks for each piece of gear (throttle and stick)?

And does this, ""When you set up a ProThrottle and Fighterstick Combo, you will not be able to setup keys on your fighterstick." mean I can only program my throttle OR my fighterstick but not both - as one could ala the old way before XP and with Speedkeys ?

Thanks for any replies!

Ken

[BLAZERBRUCE]

Lostgoat,

No problem B) . What you want to do is download the file above to anywhere on your harddrive. This file is a selfinstall program. Make sure you have a blank 3.5" floppy disk in the drive. Run the install program and follow the on screen instrucitons for Pro-Throttle. My program will copy all neccesary files for the pro throttle and other devices by selecting them in the menu. After the installation program finishes, restart your computer with the disk still in it. The bootdisk will allow you to run the orginal dos progam utilities and after you finish programming your Pro throttle, remove the the disk and reboot the computer. You can only program the Pro Throttle because it uses the keyboard adapter to send the keys to the computers. F-16 fighter stick can only be programmed when not attached to the Throttle. If you have trouble getting your computer to boot up with the floppy disk, let me know. Sometimes newer computers dont check the floppy disk unless you tell the computer to.

-Bruce :thumbsup:

[Lostgoat]

Thank you!!! I'll give it a whirl this week.

I wonder if I used this on the Pro throttle, then did it again with the F16 Fighterstick and after I plugged the stick into the throttle if I could end up programming each peripherals to work together nicely again. I'll try that out too. :)

Thanks again,

Ken

[BLAZERBRUCE]

Lostgoat,

Cant wait to hear the results :D


-Bruce :cheers:

[bnz1944]

So let me get this straight. You have to unhook the throttle from the joystick to program it? I have them plugged into each other the same way I did originaly when running 98se, maybe this is where my problem is at.
None of my hats even work at all on my fighterstick and the throttle is not able to be programmed.

[BLAZERBRUCE]

bnz1944,

Can you give me detailed specs about the hardware on your computer?

-Bruce B)