Hardware blues

[Seeker]

Apparently, my MS flight stick has taken a dirt nap. Can't figure out what happened, but it's no longer listed in my game profile and nothing I can do will enable the PC to recognize that it's plugged in. I've even resorted to reformatting (which I'm in the middle of now), and it still won't work.

So, I think tomorrow I'll be buying a new stick. And installing the rest of my proggy's. I should be good to go for the scrimmage.

Any suggestions on a stick? I'm looking at $100 and under. I'm thinking of the MS FFB stick. I've been using the MS Precision Pro 2 and like it a lot (except that it just took a crap).


TX-Seeker
White 3

 

[TX-Deck]

From what I've heard, anything with Force Feedback has less than desireable results in IL2.  Again this is second hand, as I've never actually used a force feedback joystick.I've heard good things about the Saitek setup with stick and throttle, and Thrustmaster has a good usb stick with rudder control on the grip for less than $40.   In my opinion, you can't go wrong with the good ole MS Sidewinder, whatever the lastest version may be.I know your budget is probably limited, but I can't say enough about the Cougar Hotas.  When I first purchased mine I was leary about the expense, but after it arrived at the house and I pulled it out of the box, my mind was at ease.  It has a few quirks here and there, but once you learn what these are and why they occur, MAN WHAT A STICK!Good luck, cya tonight,TX-Deck out.

[TX-Rahman]

I haven't used the force feedback on that particular stick but I must say that in general, I would be lost without the force feedback.  I can actually feel when my plane is about to stall out.....etc...  I use one of the old Logitech Wingman Force stick with a Thrustmaster rudder and the Thrustmaster gameport throttle. (I need to pay you for that Fanfot)  Works great.  The only thing I'm having problems with is setting a push to talk button on the throttle....all the buttons seem to be sending a small blip to the GV instead of a steady hold down, if you get what I'm saying....My $.02Regards,TX-Rahman"BLUE 2"

[TX-Razor]

I am going thru a similar situation involving Flight controls and after opting for the old standby Sidewinder 3D Pro and  having issues with W98SE not recognizing the stick I finally have it working but with only 4 of 8 buttons and hat positions functioning WTF????So I went shopping and fell in love with the Saitek X45 Digital Joystick Throttle Combo for 79.99 at CompUSA or Fry's..too much for me right now but under the allowance you have established.It has rotary controls for trim,rudder on throttle and too much to list....heck here is a link with a pic http://special.reserve.co.uk/listings/extrainfo.php?co=GG7802 after seeing that setup and going home with new tactical addition of a Game Voice box I was just a bit depressed having to use my 6 year old joystick for tonites scrim just sad Micro$haft cant make their own M$ Hardware work with official M$ Drivers on an Official legal Micro$haft OS!!! Well, thats my two cents on the Joystick slant...lets not even mention sound card issues...~~~~>Razor walks away mumbling incoherently to himself*from out of the Sun and into the fray....S~ TX-Razor out!

[TX-EcoDragon]

I too use the saitek X-45 (and CH Pedals. .. that rocker wasn't my thang!!). It has some small ergonomic issues, which I wouldn't let stop me from buying another.I removed the pinkie extension which helped the fit some, I still hit the lower hat switch often when I fire as the stick is just a little small for my hand, the drivers from saitek are BAD!!!! they take away the rotary functionality!! Ignore what saitek says about this ver or that not being XP compatible, they issued an XP compat version which limits the sticks controls, while the old non XP ones worked pretty good (go figure). I ended up just uninstalling the Saitek stuff and letting  WinXP handle the software installation . .  .and it works fine. . .with the only caveat being that I cant program a PTT on the throttle anymore. . . but now that we all use the GV box that doesnt matter anyway! The only other thing was that the action got a bit sticky, and I ended finding that a parrafin wax coating on the disk helped fix that. I think that for the price range you are using, this is a SERIOUS contender, its got all the bells and whistles, minus FFB (I don't find FFB to be representative of real world stick forces). . .just get to a  store that has a floor model so you can look at it for yourself. I have used the MS sidewinders, and the logitech (rudder problems) but feel that for 79 bucks the X-45 is the way to go. I have one 8way hat for views, the other as aileron and elevator trim, the hat on the throttle for rudder trim, a little button on throttle for map, flaps up and down on the A and B buttons, Rocket laucnh on the red button in between them, MGs on teh main trigger, and Cannon on the "fire C" button. I also find that this stick works great in my other sims, its nice having spoiler Auto-Arm, thrust reversers, checklists etc all right there. . .  ALthough. . for 24.99 right now (rebates) you can get the MS sidewinder at Compusa. . hmm. . . . I guess that depends on how much you want the other goodies, this is kinda tempting at this price!http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=276455S!TX-EcoDragon

[LW_Tornado]

Well as for myself , i thought all the bells an whisltes alil overwhelming, so i bought this pretty lil thing from Logitech, its called a RF2.4 , Logitech Freedom 2.4 gig  , 10 button , 8 way hat, remote even , 70 bux, and i used the same sensitivity settings as the old stick and all seems to be working well. And even being a cordless , i havent come across any delay ! So , there r many of em out there, just depends on what you want.http://gear.ign.com/articles/377/377152p1.html Heres the link.check it out , sweet stik man !!!!S~ AllTX-TornadoBlue 3

[Seeker]

Thanks for the feedback. But, I've got the darn thing working again. Very strange, but I reinstalled XP and it still wouldn't work. Then I converted the drive to NTFS from FAT32 and now it works. Weird, huh? Anyways, I've been busy reinstalling everything and should be ready to go here shortly.Thanks again. I may be getting a new stick soon anyhow, so I appreciate the input.TX-SeekerWhite 3

[GR142_Sammie]

I have the X-45 also, and I really like it. There are drivers available which greatly improve the smoothness of the joystick (link below). As far as hitting the hat switch, I moved fire1+2 to the main trigger, and my guns to the fire-C. This has worked well for me anyway...Link for better X-45 drivers: http://saitekhelp.simhq.comIf you do install these, follow the install instructions closely!HTH,Sammie

[Seeker]

Well, now I've got a new problem. Seems whenever I run Il2, my processor starts running at 100%, nonstop (as viewed from task manager). This is not right, correct? I don't remember it doing this before. Anyways, I've tried everything I know to correct it, from reinstalling Il2, reinstalling drivers, reinstalling XP, reinstalling XP again, destroying my harddrive, installing new XP on new harddrive, and screaming at it and threatening it. It's not listening though. Still chugging away at 100% throttle.I don't know what else to do. It makes for some choppy online play, but seems to run fine offline. Am I just imagining that the processor shouldn't be running at 100%? Gawd, I hope not.So, I'm at my last option--which is to download and install the patches from a different source in case 3dgamers' were corrupted somehow. I think this started after I reinstalled Il2 when my stick quit on me. I'm trying the patches from the UBI-snail FTP. Should be downloaded in about 10 hours.Lord, the things I go through to play this game. hehe. If it doesn't work, I've at least got the beginnings of my new system started. The new harddrive is way better than what I had. I need to stay away from Fryes. I almost left there with a new motherboard, case, DVD-RW......TX-Seeker"White 3"

[TX-Zen]

Seeker,On every machine I have installed IL2 on, the processor time has always been 100%, though I have not correlated chop in online play due to that. It happened on all of the 1ghz machines we used as a server, my old 1ghz gaming box, the proliant dual 600mhz and even my current 2.4ghz machine. IMHO IL2 is a hog and will always grab everything it can. As far as stick goes, I bought the Saitek a ways back before I plunged into the Cougar and while I liked certain aspects of it, I could never get the touted macro features to work and I felt the pull of the stick was rather light and ended up being too sensitive for me. I ended up taking it back but I'm not anti Saitek, at the least it confirmed that I enjoy using a HOTAS configuration, though I don't recall that I was able to use my ruddle pedals with them. On the other hand its the only stick on the market that has glowing LED's for night flying...read it right on the box. This made me confident that I could play IL2 and find all my switches in total darkness, which would only happen if the monitor was also turned off.Who else offers so much for 79 dollars?TX-Zen"Black 6"TX Squadron CO