Sidewinder Racing Wheel

[Vaughn]

Recently with the Sidewinder Precision Pro racing wheel I
have been having problems with the software on Windows
XP. It seems to be a new driver for something that is
causing the problems. I have had this problem on other
operating systems as well though. The problem that I have
been having deals with the Sidewinder Game Controller
Software version 4.0. When I launch it from the taskbar,
Sidewinder Central comes up. I then go into Game
Controllers/Control Panel and select the Sidewinder
wheel. When I click properties it says "There was an
internal error that may be due to low system resources.
Please close this program, as well as other open programs,
and try again. If the problem presists, your computer may
be missing necessary components of this program. Please
reinstall the software." I have tried replugging in the
wheel several times as well as uninstalling the device in
device manager. None of these helped. Any help that
could be provided would be greatly appreciated. By the
way- I'm using Windows XP Professional. Thank You.

[Joshua Smith [MSFT]]

The problem you are seeing is probably that for some reason the system has
chosen to use the "HID-compliant device" driver instead of "Microsoft
SideWinder Precision Racing Wheel" (quotes may not be exact, I am going off
memory =) ). You can check this by opening Device Manager (Right click "My
Computer" -> Properties -> Hardware -> Device Manager) and checking what is
listed under "Human Interface Devices". There should be at least two devices
listed (more if you have other USB devices), one will be "HID-compliant game
controller" and the other should be "USB Human Interface Device". For each
of these you will need to do the following:

1. Double click the entry
2. Choose the Driver tab
3. Click Update Driver...
4. Select "Install from a list or specific location (Advanced)".
5. Hit Next.
6. Choose "Don't search. I will choose....", hit Next.
7. At this point you should have a list with "HID-compliant device" and one
or two listings for "Microsoft SideWinder Precision Racing Wheel". (in
Windows 2000 you will only have one listing, in Windows XP you should have 2
one marked as digitally signed the other not).
8. Highlight the "Microsoft SideWinder Precision Racing Wheel" entry with
the green check that indicates it is digitally signed and hit Next.
9. The rest should install ok. If you get any prompts click OK.
10. Do the same for "USB Human Interface Device".


At this point if everything went right you should have 3 devices listed:
"Microsoft SideWinder Precision Racing Wheel", "Microsoft SideWinder
Precision Racing Wheel HID Drivers", and "Microsoft SideWinder Virtual
Keyboard".

The absence in the beginning of the "Microsoft SideWinder Virtual Keyboard"
was the reason the "Low resources" error.

Hope this helps. If you need further assistance please feel free to let me
know.

--
Joshua Smith
DirectInput Test Lab

-----
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights


"Vaughn" > wrote in message
...
> Recently with the Sidewinder Precision Pro racing wheel I
> have been having problems with the software on Windows
> XP. It seems to be a new driver for something that is
> causing the problems. I have had this problem on other
> operating systems as well though. The problem that I have
> been having deals with the Sidewinder Game Controller
> Software version 4.0. When I launch it from the taskbar,
> Sidewinder Central comes up. I then go into Game
> Controllers/Control Panel and select the Sidewinder
> wheel. When I click properties it says "There was an
> internal error that may be due to low system resources.
> Please close this program, as well as other open programs,
> and try again. If the problem presists, your computer may
> be missing necessary components of this program. Please
> reinstall the software." I have tried replugging in the
> wheel several times as well as uninstalling the device in
> device manager. None of these helped. Any help that
> could be provided would be greatly appreciated. By the
> way- I'm using Windows XP Professional. Thank You.