CH Yoke Not Connected

[N562Z 4]

Just recently reconnected my system after a move to find that my CH Products Flight Sim Yoke (non USB) is inoperative in FS 2002. And despite a reinstallation, Windows still is telling me it's not connected. It's like the gameport is just completely dead as the CH rudders, connected to the joystick, are not working either. Any help is appreciated. Screenshots attached.http://www.bwiairport.com/images/carrier_logos/co.gifAlex ChristoffN562ZBaltimore, MDhttp://forums.avsim.com/user_files/12708.jpghttp://forums.avsim.com/user_files/12709.jpg

[Guest Captain Barfbag]

What do you mean by "a move?" Did you just physically pick up the machine and put everything in another room, or did you migrate to a different computer or OS?Do you have a dedicated Gameport card, or do you plug the CH stuff into a Sound Card gameport, or a motherboard gameport? If you have any alternative Gameport jacks, try those instead. If you are using a dedicated Gameport card, then you probably had to disable the system's gameport when you first installed the new card. If you have now connecte the CH stuff to the original gameport, it won't work because it's been disabled.You might also try plugging in just the yoke and not the pedals. If you've got a bad connector or something, the yoke should still work by itself. Also, carefully check which of the pedal cables are in use. There's an extra one (for dual joysticks I think) that you shouldn't be using.CH Products maintains a web page with driver downloads, etc. There is a driver (about a year old) for XP. In a pinch, you can use the default driver for a 3-axis joystick, but that does not support all the switches on the CH yoke.

[N562Z 4]

Barf:I mean a cross-country move where I completely dismantled the computer. Same OS, WIN98 SE, same hardware, same software, nothing has changed, except that I installed an Ethernet card to connect to my local DSL. I've hooked and unhooked this rig so many times, I know it's not an external wiring issue. Looked inside last night for loose cards, etc...everything appears to be where it should be. I tried bypassing the rudder pedals and their connecting cord by plugging the yoke into the gameport direct and then rebooting, still nothing. http://www.bwiairport.com/images/carrier_logos/co.gifAlex ChristoffN562ZBaltimore, MD

[Guest Captain Barfbag]

If you've still got the cover off, then pull the Ethernet card and restart the machine from cold. My guess is you have an IRQ conflict between the Ethernet card and the gameport (dedicated or sound card.) There may be a way to get around this by manually setting some IRQ's, or there may be jumpers on one or both of the cards. Be prepared for a lot of trial-and-error.I had a similar problem when I put an Ethernet card into my daughter's machine after I got a new box. (Yeah, you guessed it. I'm typing this on that old P133, while she does her "homework" on my 1.8 gig in my office. The homework looks suspiciously like The Sims.)Anyway, in that case the Ethernet card conflicted with the phone modem, which I was never able to get working again.

[N562Z 4]

B-Could the IRQ assignment have anything to do with which PCI slot I installed the Ethernet card into? There were, I think, 2 slots available. The one I chose was merely at random. Could installing it in a different slot remove the conflict, potentially?Second, How do I access an IRQ list or otherwise look for a conflict? There is a jumper to the Gameport card, and the Ethernet card came with an internal jumper that I did not use. I'll snap some photos and post them ASAP.http://www.bwiairport.com/images/carrier_logos/co.gifAlex ChristoffN562ZBaltimore, MD

[N562Z 4]

Here are the photos. Editors please be patient with me as I'm having difficulties and I think these small KB photos will help him solve my Ethernet card / Gameport IRQ conflict.Thanks!http://www.bwiairport.com/images/carrier_logos/co.gifAlex ChristoffN562ZBaltimore, MDhttp://forums.avsim.com/user_files/12970.jpghttp://forums.avsim.com/user_files/12971.jpghttp://forums.avsim.com/user_files/12973.jpg

[wsieffert 0]

The Ethernet cables are probably not necessary and are usually for a computer wakeup upon external addressing through the network. If you need more information concerning these cables, visit the NIC card manufacturer website.To see a list of IRQs under Win98/ME, open device manager, double click "Computer" in the list area. It will show you what IRQs are being used and which ones are being shared.Many Audio cards like IRQ5. You can try moving the NIC to a different slot to see if it moves the IRQ. If moving causes problems with another peripheral then you may have to make more decisions. If you are not using the dial-up modem because you now have Cable/DSL modem and connect through the NIC, remove the modem and place the NIC in the modem slot. If you have two COM ports listed, enter BIOS and turn off COM2, which will free up IRQ3.

[Ed 0]

Hi,A couple of other things you can try are 1) reloading Directx and 2) is checking the resources that is being used for your gameport joystick. It should be set at 0200-0207. This can be found in controlpanel>system>device manager>sound,video and game controllers>gameport joystick>resources.EDPS. Also check out this web site:http://www.chproducts.com/fom/cache/67.htmlE

[brucek 38]

Just to support Ed's comments:I had this occur once, and re-running DirectX cured it. I would try that. Same CH Gaming yoke (PC gaming port).Bruce.

[Guest Captain Barfbag]

To my knowledge, the physical location of the card should not matter, because the hardware is a bus architecture and all slots appear the same. I would first remove the Ethernet card and see if that cures the problem. Then, maybe replace the Ethernet card and remove the modem card. You may find that after you've done a lot of plugging and playing that you will have everything, but maybe not.With most of the current-generation cards, all the IRQ stuff is set in software so jumpers aren't used. Older ones did use jumpers. If so, the documentation for the card should show where they are and what they do. If you don't have the books, you can probably find the information on-line.

[N562Z 4]

Bruce:What do you mean by re-running Direct-X? Download and reinstall it again, over the existing Direct-X?And thanks everyone for all the great suggestions. I'm going to begin looking into each one, and if I fix the problem, I'll let you know.http://www.bwiairport.com/images/carrier_logos/co.gifAlex ChristoffN562ZBaltimore, MD

[brucek 38]

Yes- re-install DirectX, the same version as you had already installed. That worked for me anyway (I always keep the current DX executable in my download folder). I assume you know about the risks of not being able to uninstall DX, and all that, this is at your own risk :)Bruce.

[N562Z 4]

Reloading DriectX 9.0a didn't fix it. Next, I removed the dial-up modem card, but when I switched the Ethernet card to that PCI slot and rebooted, the computer asked me to completely reload the Ethernet card drivers from the installation disc. That looked to me like it now had a new IRQ, but I was afraid my DSL software would no longer be able to find the card. Not wanting to go through the tedious process of reinstalling the DSL software, I aborted in favor of a call to the manufacturer to see if I can manually reassign the IRQs. Does anyone know if this is possible?Thanks Guys, http://www.bwiairport.com/images/carrier_logos/co.gifAlex ChristoffN562ZBaltimore, MD

[brucek 38]

Hi Alex,It sounds normal if moving an NIC to another PCI slot (which will have another IRQ) would cause a driver re-install. I would actually un-install the NIC first, then re-install it into the other IRQ. However- this appears to be not as simple as just a re-install of DirectX (I note that this did not work). I would try CH Products for support, otherwise you'll be changing hardware slots all over the place and have the possibility of driver misconfigs, all for a CH yoke.Are you running the CH yoke as a generic gaming configuration (I am as "Six Button Flight Yoke with 2 POVs....."). I tried once the CH patched drivers for XP (which appears as a "CH Yoke" under Gaming Devices), but could never get it to work properly. My generic setup doesn't recognize some of the switches, but that's OK for me. Either way, I would try CH support from their web-site (there's a good FAQ there too, as I recall).Good luck,Bruce.

[N562Z 4]

Thanks Bruce, I'll look into that after I speak with the NIC company.http://www.bwiairport.com/images/carrier_logos/co.gifAlex ChristoffN562ZBaltimore, MD