Joystick Problems, Dummy HOWTO [Unsolved]

[avieth]

Hi, I just got a free Microsoft Sidewinder 3D pro and I want to get it to work with flightgear. I don't have a built in gameport, so I went to my basement and discovered an old creative PCI sound card, plugged it in, and was ready to use it's gameport. Now from the start I knew I was gonna have to ask you guys for some help.

I need a how to on getting the creative sound card to work, but keep my current sound card working. (All I really need is the game port to work.)

Then I need to know how to setup and configure the joystick. (Microsoft Sidewinder 3D pro.)

Thanks for any help.

[avieth]

Heres what I got when I tried to modprobe my device.

[avieth]

Ok, making progress. The problem is this line in /etc/modules.d/alsa

[avieth]

Ok, since no one is posting I'll give some more info. I did modinfo snd-ens1371 and heres what it showed me:

[avieth]

I am getting closer! I suspect loading the ns558 module will do the trick, but check this out:

[psy_ill]

Ok, maybe I can help you out.

As I digged in my kernel configuration (2.6.11-gentoo-r4) I saw this:

[psy_ill]

I forgot to mention: I got a M$ Sidewinder 3D Pro working just a week or two ago, on a 2.6 kernel.
Just so you don't think it's impossible due to the rumors about sidewinder and 2.6 kernels

[avieth]

[avieth]

Oh, Ha, nevermind I found it. But I still get this dumb problem when modprobing snd-ens1371 while joystick_port=1 or joystick=1 is in my /etc/modules.d/alsa

[ruben]

I think the parameter should be "joystick_port=1", all lowercase.

For the sound card order... in /etc/modules.d/alsa, you can probably use

[avieth]

[avieth]

Anyone else get this problem? I searched around the forums and turned up nothing.

[ruben]

Some cards need joystick as parameter, others need joystick_port, so obviously in your case it needs joystick_port, so that looks fine.
But to be sure that the gameport is detected: Do you have an entry in the dmesg output that says something about the gameport ?
When you run 'lspci', do you get an entry for the gameport ?

If that's all ok, then you're halfway there.

Now you should try to load the sidewinder module. If it does not detect your sidewinder, then you might try to increase SW_TIMEOUT to 6000, in sidewinder.c, that is a file somewhere in your kernel source, but i can't tell you the exact location now (this is what i mentioned in the other thread).

[avieth]

[avieth]

Sorry for being so impatient but I need to know if I can do this.

[ruben]

Sorry, but i'm not reading the gentoo forums that much lately.
At the time you checked your dmesg for the gameport, then did you also have the gameport module loaded?
When you have the gameport module loaded, it should have an entry about your gameport in dmesg AFAIK.

And then, you should also load the "joydev" module (for creating /dev/input/js0), and finally the sidewinder module. If dmesg doesn't report anything about your joystick, then you'll need to manually adapt sidewinder.c and change the SW_TIMEOUT to 6000.

For what it's worth, on my machine, i have the following entries:

[avieth]

Ok, I installed windows XP on a little 6 gig hard drive just to see if it was linux's fault. Turns out Windows XP detects the gameport, but gives me "Code 10" and the I/O range is being blocked or something. This makes me think it is the hardware's fault. What do I do?

[avieth]

Ok, I booted knoppix, and tried a new sound card which didnt work with windows and it detected my joystick, i think. Heres what knoppix gave me:

[ruben]

Are you trying to use the joystick with knoppix ? Or is it your goal to get it working on gentoo in the end ?
Just asking because your knoppix seems to be running a 2.4 kernel, while i assume your gentoo is a 2.6 kernel.
In any case, you should make sure the "joydev" module is loaded, otherwise the /dev/input/js0 is not created. (or does it exist and you don't get any reaction on it?)
Does dmesg mention something about detecting your joystick?

[avieth]

Well I want it to work on gentoo and windows, but these forums are for gentoo. Ill try joydev when I get the chance.

[oanjao]

Hey man, I'm sorry nobody was able to anwer your question. Even though this is an old thread I'm going to post my solution because it might help someone. My system has an Ensoniq 1371 sound chipset on the motherboard, with a Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback Pro plugged into the game port. It requires ALL of the following modules:

snd_ens1371
gameport
ns558
joydev
sidewinder

Unfortunately there is no way for you to know this without extensive trial and error, because most of the modules do not depend on one another, even though they all have to be there! This is the worst-documented part of Linux I've run across in quite a while.

I found that I did not need to pass the joystick_port=1 option to the snd_ens1371 module. However, the ns558 module IS necessary even if you have the snd_ens1371 module, despite what the kernal docs might say.

To test your joystick quickly, type

[avieth]

What do I need in my kernel?

Here is the output of modprobe ns558:

[avieth]

Oh, one more thing..... Knoppix detecs the joystick fine, is there any way I cud copy knoppix's config?

Also, my card is not onboard, and it certainly is not ISA. It's a creative soundblaster pci 128 and I have a microsoft sidewinder 3d pro plugged in. I dont use the card for sound, thats what my onboard sound is for. I think I don't need the ns558 module, so any other ideas?

[avieth]

Just a thought, In windows the device manager says that the gameport doesn't have enough resources! Could this be the problem with linux? BUt it's odd because knoppix can load it.

[Gentree]

http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_Joystick_Setup#Modules_for_Joysticks
_________________
Linux, because I'd rather own a free OS than steal one that's not worth paying for.
Gentoo because I'm a masochist
AthlonXP-M on A7N8X. Portage ~x86