Boot Disk for Dummy's

[kram14]

Hi Guys,

Bob Church has kindly got my F-16 Combat Stick (game port), into action and has directed me towards you guys to get the throttle (game port), buttons up and running.

OK I’m not up to speed with these complicated things so before I make a horrible mistake, can I check the sequence of what I need to do.

1) Format 3.5” disk
2) Save onto the disk the contense of the ‘THROT’ folder:
a. AUTOEXEC.BAT
b. CH.CH
c. CHMANUAL.EXE
d. CHMANUAL.TXT
e. ENGLISH.NLS
f. SCANS001.ROS
g. THROTTLE.EXE
h. TMENU.EXE

3) Close my PC down.
4) Restart my PC and get a c:\> prompt (how do I do that? (in very simple
terms please)).
5) Insert my floppy disk
6) Type ‘a’ and press enter (‘a’ being the 3.5” drive name)
7) Type ‘install’ and press enter (install in capitals)?
8) Type ‘throttle’ and press enter (throttle in capitals)?
9) Programme the buttons (I really don’t know what to expect here, I’ll
have to suck it and see).
10) Remove disk
11) I don’t have a clue what to do next, reboot I guess (in any particular
way)?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[kram14]

Well I decided to have a go on my own, here are the results.

1) Download the CHFIXDS.exe file - check

2) Put a blank 3.5" diskette into computer -check

3) Double click on the file downloaded, click accept and click install - check, it's installed on my hard drive, right ?

6) See a black and white screen -no

Double click on C:\CHFIXDS\install.bat, black screen appear - check

7) Press any key to continue - check

8) Press A - no, I never get the chance, it formattes the disk and then writes the F16 files plus 3 others, it says press any key, I do and it starts the process from scratch ?

What am I doing wrong ?

[kram14]

Well I'm gradually making progress all on my todd.

I've made a boot disk by putting a disk into the driver, double clicking on Dos622.EXE and then copying the files from the directory 'BOOT' and 'THROT'.

:thumbsup:

OK when I reboot I enter dos but after selecting the throttle, it says that there is not one connected. :confused:

I've checked the BIOS and can see nothing about 'Legacy support for the integrated sound card and gameport are enabled'.

However, the sound card and gameport within the BIOS are both enabled.

Quick question athough, I get the impression that I am talking to myself ;)

My game port is not on a sound card nor on the motherboard, it's a small block with 2 USB ports that came with the mother board. The game port is connected directly to the motherboard via a cable. (MB - ASUS A8R-MPV).

Also does the F16 Combat stick need to be connected to the Throttle for it to work ? :confused: I'll try that next ;)

BRB

[kram14]

As much as I'm enjoying this one man quest against modern technology I am starting to run out of ideas :(

I can get to the CH Throttle menu and when I press 'J'centre and select joystick 'B' I can see the slider going up and down.

However, when I press 'T'hrottle a window pops up and says "I don't think you have a CH Throttle device pluged in..........check connections bla, bla, bla.

I have the F16 CS connected to the trottle and the Throttle conected to the game port (do I need the 'y' cable conected, I've tried with thesame results)?

Also how do I 'reboot' from a C:\>, I've tried 'exit', 'reboot', 'boot' but can't figure that out :blush: At the moment I switch the machine off. :thumbsdown:

[kram14]

Well you knew that I would get there in the end, thankyou for your confidence.

I didn't have the y cable connected correctly, once I connected it to the keyboard and then the keyboard to the other end of the plug boot disk recognised my throttle.

I've programmed the throttle buttons however, when I press each of them in 'Lock On' they not only do my fonction but also change the view, ie zooms in or swings to the left or right etc.

Once I've sorted that out I'll let you know ;)

I'd love to know how to navigate out of the programming menu, I still can't access the Files, Edit, Options and Button but that another story I guess :unsure:

[Bob Church]

Hi Kram14,

Keep at it. It's a messy situation at best, the stuff was designed to work in early-90s DOS and I'm sure it's just a fiddly sort of thing. I wish I knew more, I'd be happy to help, but I never used them and am probably more in the dark than you are. Maybe a direct email to BlazerBruce would help?

Best regards,

- Bob

The StickWorks
http://www.stickworks.com

[kram14]

Thanks for the encouragement Bob, my comments are tongue in cheek though, I don't expect guys to check the forum every 5 minutes just in case I post ;)

I'm almost there, I now realise that I need to programme the 'press key' and 'release key'. :thumbsup:

I also now know that to navigate within the assignment panel I need to press Alt. :thumbsup:

I am however having trouble with keys that 'toggle', ie. flaps up or down. At the moment they go down and stay down. :confused:

How do you programme 'don't do anything else when I release', just do as you are told. :mad:

I still need to know how to exit MS-Dos when I get the C prompt :eek:

Does anyone have a template for Lock On 1.02 (the original, not Flaming Cliffs)?

[kram14]

Success :yahoo:

My 50€, F-16 Combat Stick and CH Throttle now both work, buttons and all :cheers:

Don't know what all the fuss was about :p

Thanks for everyones assistance, especially Bob Church :salute:

Now its time for :joystick:

[Bob Church]

Hi Kram14,

You're quite welcome! I'm glad you got it all sorted out.

Have fun with it!

Best regards,

- Bob

The StickWorks
http://www.stickworks.com

[BLAZERBRUCE]

Kram14,

I will see what I can do to figure out went wrong with the installation when I get back in town

~Bruce

[BLAZERBRUCE]

Kram14,

From what I can see, it is possible if you don't pause a moment between steps the batch file can jump ahead of itself. Another possibility is a windows update blocking "Dos" commands.

Adjusting the key repeat rate in the windows "keyboard properties" panel found in control panel may also help.

~Bruce