My joystick blocks my Internet access...

[ToucHDowN 0]

Hi all, (and sorry for cross-posting this message),From times to times (not to say all the time), FS can find things to drive us crazy. PROBLEM:My joystick blocks all my incoming and outcoming bandwidth whenever it is enabled and FS (fs2k2) is running! As soon as I disable it within Options-->Controls menu of FS, everything is ok and back to normal.SYSTEM/HISTORY DESCRIPTION:1. fs2K2 on WinXP SP12. DirectX 9.0c3. The problem appeared SUDDENLY with no previous hardware or software changes in my system.4. ZoneAlarm DOES NOT detect any fs/joystick related program to try to access the internet.5. My joystick is the old Microsoft Sidewinder Forcefeedback pro (no drivers available for XP).6. My computer is new and 'high-end' (P4 3.0Ghz, 2GBram, FX5950 ultra, Seagate raptor HDD, etc).7. I need my joystick enabled AND the internet because I only fly online in VATSIM.8. I fly on-line since SATCO days, back to 1997. Never had this kind or problem.9. I have a single-channel (64) ISDN connection to the internet.Could you possibly come up with any ideas? My senses tell me that this must some kind of port or irq confict. But I never had this problem before. I run the same FS and system setup almost 2 years now.Thanks in advance for any ideas,George.

[RobertVA 0]

Does the joystick continue to interfere with the broadband when force feedback is disabled?Does the joystick continue to interfere with broadband when sound acceleration is reduced?Am I correct in understanding that other applications are unable to use broadband while the joystick is operating?I don't recall the hardware configuration for your model joystick. Are you connecting it to the gameport or the USB port?How does your broadband connect to the computer? Most connect through an ethernet connecter (on a card or built into the motherboard), but some connect through the USB port. A USB 1 port could get pretty busy with a broadband connection on it. With all the power specification you describe I think your USB ports are probably USB 2 though. Either USB version could also have problems if a USB broadband or ethernet on USB port adaptor, along with other USB devices, draws too much power from the computer's built in USB hub(s). The joystick shouldn't be a problem, as one of the things I do recall about the Force Feedback Sidewinder sticks is that they utilized a DC power supply.

[ToucHDowN 0]

>Does the joystick continue to interfere with the broadband>when force feedback is disabled?Yes. Unfortunately yes. I tried this one too with no luck.>Does the joystick continue to interfere with broadband when>sound acceleration is reduced?Yes.>Am I correct in understanding that other applications are>unable to use broadband while the joystick is operating?Indeed, you're correct. It's not that I do not have internet AT ALL, but it feels like I have reached the limits of my bandwidth although I upload or download nothing at the same time. It feels like I download (I actually do) with 0,5Kb/sec maximum.>I don't recall the hardware configuration for your model>joystick. Are you connecting it to the gameport or the USB>port?It is connected via the gameport (Sound blaster Audigy 2)>How does your broadband connect to the computer? Most connect>through an ethernet connecter (on a card or built into the>motherboard), but some connect through the USB port. A USB 1>port could get pretty busy with a broadband connection on it.>With all the power specification you describe I think your USB>ports are probably USB 2 though. Either USB version could also>have problems if a USB broadband or ethernet on USB port>adaptor, along with other USB devices, draws too much power>from the computer's built in USB hub(s). The joystick>shouldn't be a problem, as one of the things I do recall about>the Force Feedback Sidewinder sticks is that they utilized a>DC power supply.My ISDN modem is connected via a SERIAL port (USB connection causes troubles with the specific modem type). And yes, it's the USB2 port version in my system. And finally, you recall correctly, it utilizes a DC power connector.It's funny. I can SEE my transfer rate drop to 0.5kb/sec or less as soon as I hit the "Enable joystick" button, and watch it rise back again to the normal 7.5kb/sec when I disable it...Thanks for your time,-George.

[RobertVA 0]

The joystick would be useing the game port's MIDI capabilities. MIDI was originaly intended as a two way serial link betwen electronic musical devices. I haven't studied MIDI's operation very much, so I'm not sure if it has the ability to generate hardware interupts. Any digital gameport game control sends data to the computer though a MIDI data stream. The computer sends serial data back to gameport forcefeedback controlers using the MIDI output functions.At this point I can only guess that the gameport's MIDI functions are overwealming the PCI bus with a constant stream of interupts OR the sound card may be configured to use the same interupt as the serial port. COM ports 1 (and 3 if present) normally use interupt 4, COM port 2 (and 4 if present) normally uses interupt 3. ISA sound cards normally used interupt 5, but I don't recall if the MIDI functions used that interupt or any other interupts. PCI sound cards use other interupts (greater than 8). My PCI SoundBlaster Live card is running on interupt 16. The system can be checked for conflicting interupt uses through the System applet on the control panel. From what I gather PCI devices can sometimes share an interupt without problems.I'm hopeing there will be someone reading that knows more about MIDI devices though.

[ToucHDowN 0]

Hi Robert, At first, I did not understand why you mentioned the MIDI issue in the first place.Today, I thought I should have an online flight, even if I had to disable my joystick after take-off (that's why we have auto-pilot, right? ;-)).So I connect and run the AVC voice client to communicate with my air traffic controller at VATSIM. He could not hear me. "What the heck...", I say. I go to my EAX console panel (sound configuration) to see if something was wrong with the selected RECORDING device (line-in, midi, microphone, etc). Guess what...Without ANY intervention by me, I found out that I was recording using the "MIDI - synth" device, and NOT the microphone. That's why the controller couldn't hear me. ...I quickly recall your message here about the "MIDI issue". So, I choose "Microphone" back as the recording device, the controller now can hear me but.... I still have the "firewall joystick" issue...-George.