Error messages from the Win95 Game Controllers

Usually the only error message you can get from the Game Controllers is one that says "Not Connected".
Unfortunately this really doesn't tell us much so we will need to look at a few different things.

Note: If you have a MonsterSound card (M80 or MX200) Grab the Version 4 Drivers.

Note: If you have an Aureal A3D Sound Card and it is not working, Grab the Version 4 Drivers

1.) Make sure that you are using DirectX 6 and have the Game Controllers Applett, Available from Microsoft Website. Also, there are known compatibility problems with the Microsoft Sidewinder "Gaming Devices" Usually Game Controllers will replace Gaming Devices when you upgrade to DirectX 6 and should no longer be a problem.

2.) Make sure that you have installed the FPgaming A3D Technology Direct Input Drivers. And that the Drivers are selected and calibrated. You can tell that this has been done by looking at the FPgaming & Madcatz joystick options.

3.) There is also a possibility that you will get this error message if you are using an incompatible joystick gameport.

4.) It is possable that your gameport is actually using different resources than specified, causing an undetected resource conflict. You can check your Gameport Joystick Properties. The normal setting mentioned below is 201-201, this has been found to work every time as it is the basic legacy gameport setting. The setting 200-208 should work but has reported problems.

5.)We have seen a few cases with the Sound Blaster 16PNP and AWE32 and AWE64 where you will get this message although everything looks ok. We have had a few customers remove the gameport joystick and upon rebooting it gets re-detected and works fine. Follow these steps if you are having problems.

If these procedures do not fix your problem Please [Email Tech Support].

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This page was last updated 06/13/04

The following information is referenced from above.

Checking the Gameport Joystick Properties

1. Click Start, followed by Settings, and then select Control Panel.
2. From the Control Panel double click System.
3. Select the Device Manager Tab.
4. Locate Sound Video and Game Controllers and click the plus sign (+).
5. You should see a listing for Gameport Joystick^*, Click it one time so that it is highlighted.
6. Click on Properties.
7. Verify that it says, This device is working properly^**.
8. Click on the Resources Tab and verify the Input/Output range is 0201-0201.
   If it is 0201-0201, this is not the problem Close all open windows and boxes by choosing Cancel.
9. If not, we will need to change the setting, You will see a drop down window by the heading Setting based on. NOTE: You will need to uncheck Use automatic settings.
10. Click the down arrow and choose the setting that will give you the Input/Output range 0201-0201^***.
11. Close all open Windows and Boxes by choosing OK.
12. You may or may not need to Restart your Computer for the changes to take effect.

^{* No Gameport Joystick means that the Joystick Icon shouldn't be there and if it is it is not working properly. [Click Here]
** If it says it has a conflict please continue, we should fix that in this process.
*** Sometimes there will be no other selection and it will be set at 200-208. Please follow the directions below to Remove the Gameport Joystick and re-install. This should fix it right up!}

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Sound Blaster 16PNP and AWE32 and AWE64

1. Remove the FPgaming or Madcatz option from the Game Controllers [General Tab].
2. Remove gameport drivers from System Properties [Device Manager].
3. Re-Start the computer
4. Upon the re-start your system should detect and re-install the gameport drivers (accept all defaults) If your gameport does not get detected you will have to re-install it manually.
5. Re-Install DirectX 5 (accepting all defaults related to the joystick gameport)
6. Re-Start the computer again.
7. Add the FPgaming or Madcatz option to the Game Controllers [General Tab] and Calibrate.

There have been reported cases where this has not solved the problem and we need to trick the system into opening up some resorces to let it work.

1. Remove the FPgaming or Madcatz option from the Game Controllers [General Tab].
2. Use "Add New Hardware" to add a second (non functional) Gameport.
3. Re-Start the computer
4. Check the gameport drivers from System Properties [Device Manager]. You will see one with a red "NO" symbol (circle with a slash) and one that appears normal. Remove the one that looks normal.
5. Re-Start the computer
6. Upon the re-start your system should detect and re-install the gameport drivers (accept all defaults)
7. Check the gameport drivers again in System Properties [Device Manager] and remove the one that is Disabled (has the NO symbol)
8. Re-Start the computer
9. Re-Install DirectX 5 (accepting all defaults related to the joystick gameport)
10. Re-Start the computer
11. Add the FPgaming or Madcatz option to the Game Controllers [General Tab] and Calibrate.

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FPgaming and Madcatz Joystick Options

Under the Add button on the General Tab of Game Controllers you should see entries labeled.

If these options do not appear you will need to either install the A3D Technology Direct Input Drivers. or There may be too many joystick options installed for Win95 to display them all properly.

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Removing the Gameport Joystick

1. Click Start, followed by Settings, and then select Control Panel.
2. From the Control Panel double click System.
3. Select the Device Manager Tab.
4. Locate Sound Video and Game Controllers and click the plus sign (+).
5. You should see a listing for Gameport Joystick^*, Click it one time so that it is highlighted.
6. Tap the Delete Key, you will be asked if you are sure that you want to remove this device from your system, answer Yes.
7. Restart your computer.
8. Upon re-starting it should be detected and automatically installed.
9. If it is not detected [Click Here] to see how to re-install it.

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Too many Active Gameport Joystick Drivers

Note: This has been fixed with the Version 3.0 of the Direct Input Drivers

1. Click Start, followed by Run. Type in regedit and click OK. This will open the System Regestry.
2. You will need to click the Plus signs next to the following items to open up the branch where we need to look.
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, System, CurrentControlSet, control, MediaResources, joystick
3. Then click on the folder msjstick.drv<00xx> (where xx is a number from 00 on up)
4. On the right side of the screen you will see the regestry keys and their values. We want to make sure that the Active Key has a value of 1
5. If you have more than one msjstick.drv check them all for the Active flag. If you have more than one marked active, this is the problem. Pick the one that shows the most information for current joystick and set the active flag on all the others to 0.

Note: If you are unsure which one to change you can follow the directions above to remove the Gameport Joystick. Then go into the regestry and make sure that all the msjstick.drv keys are marked Active 0.

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Adding the Gameport Joystick Drivers

1. Open Control Panel: Click Start followed by Settings then Control Panel.
2. Open the Hardware Wizard: Double click on Add New Hardware.
3. Select Next.
4. Click on the word No so that the circle becomes dotted and click on Next.
5. Scroll to the bottom of the list and highlight "Sound, video and game controllers" then click Next.
6. Under the Manufacturers highlight Microsoft.
7. Under Models highlight Gameport Joystick and click Next.
8. This should take you to a new screen showing your "Input/Output Range" for the new gameport. Click Next.
9. At this point Windows may need to copy software from your Original Disks or CD-Rom. Follow the on screen prompts and replace all files even if they are older (this will eliminate a corruped file problem).
10. After the files are finished being copied you will recieve a screen with a finish button. Click Finish.
11. You will be prompted to Re-start your Computer. Choose Yes or No and click OK. If you chose No then you will need to re-start it manually before the changes will take place. Note: Do not re-install DirectX 5 until after your computer has been re-started.

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Home - Gamer's Corner - Support - What's New
This page was last updated 06/13/04