I seem to be having an identical problem with my Extreme 3D Pro, except I'm using XP Home.
I had no problems on my older XP machine (which is now upstairs) but when I tried on my new machine, it was not recognising the joystick. Of pertainent information is that my newer machine had Vista installed on it; incorrectly - I had specifically ordered XP and sent it back to get the right OS installed. I tried it on the machine upstairs and it seemed to connect fine. At the time (this being about 18 months of so ago) I contacted the computer people (I was having the same issue with my Packard Bell Diamond 1200 scanner). I went through all the procedures he said (faffing around with the USB hud drivers and whatnot) to no avail. I muttered something rude under my breath and then gave up, seeing as his last advise was to re-install XP. Something, given the sheer volume of data we have on my machine, I was not prepared to do for the sake of a couple of games.
And so it was, until this morning, when the mystery deepened. Bidden by a dream, if you can believe it, I plugged the joystick back in (reasoning maybe the numerous updates between then and now might have done something. And to my utter shock, XP recognised the joystick instantly. So, I installed Ultimate Alliance and played for a good couple of hours - only having one odd moment when it said the device wasn't connected. I pulled the USB out, blew it, and stuck it back and all was well.
Great until I had to go out, and when I got back found to my great irritation, my Dad had unplugged the **bleep** thing for his iPod. Not like there were TWO freaking empty USB ports on the front ALONE he could have used or anything (he also managed to take out and leave out of their boxes BOTH of the DVDs in the two drives. Sigh). And now the bloody joystick is back to not being recognised.
I'm totally stumped. I haven't, it being late here, been able to check it works still upstairs, as that computer is in my sister's room. But, if I suspect is the case, it will probably work fine. I find it hard to believe that it's soley the result of a fauty joystick (because then why would it suddenly start working again for no reason after months of lying fallow).
My highly uneducated guess is that there might be some sort of cache - in the joystick itself maybe (I don't know) or in XP - possibly even a remnant of Vista (*spits*) - that's causing the problem. Any thoughts?
It's immensely frustrating.
Edit: Stranger and stranger. I've tried pulling it out and in several times, and, after reinstalling the latest software again, it recognised the joystick for about ten seconds again.
*Some faffing later*
Okay, I finally got it to relyably show up for several seconds before cutting out (by unistalling it in device manager and plugging it back in). It shows up for a few seconds, then switches to say there is a problem with the hardware. Notably, now I can actually find the bugger in Deivce Manager, it's now saying it has a Code 10 error and the device cannot start. Oddly, I can only get it to recognise on one of the USB ports.
Message Edited by AotrsCommander on 01-18-2009 05:39 PM
Edit2: Right, there's definately something funny going on somewhere. I can categorically confirm my joystick is in perfect working order, since it recognised instaly - twice - on the upstairs computer. I also tried the scanner that didn't work last time I tried it on the downstairs machine - and like the joystick yesterday, it was immediately recognised unlike months ago. I can only get the joystick to get recognised at all on one USB port (part of my front pair - why the left one should work and not the right as they are both part of the same slot, I cannot fathom).
Message Edited by AotrsCommander on 01-19-2009 05:24 AM
