Switching order of game controllers

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Guest

I am wondering if there is any way to switch the order of the controllers listed in the Game Controllers dialog box. The reason I want to do this is because I have some racing games that will only notice the first controller listed. The first controller listed is a Act Labs Shifter that uses a utility that makes the game notice it. So I want to switch the way the controllers are listed so my steering wheel is listed first. ( no matter what order I plug them in in the shifter still shows up first in the list)
 
Hi,
|I am wondering if there is any way to switch the order of the controllers listed in the Game Controllers dialog box. The reason I
want to do this is because I have some racing games that will only notice the first controller listed. The first controller listed
is a Act Labs Shifter that uses a utility that makes the game notice it. So I want to switch the way the controllers are listed so
my steering wheel is listed first. ( no matter what order I plug them in in the shifter still shows up first in the list)

In Windows XP you can set a device to ID1 by making it the "Preferred
Device". To do this open the Game Controllers control panel. Click the
Advanced... button and select the device you want to be on ID1 in the list
box. I hope that helps! :-)

--
Cheers, Windows XP MVP Shell / User
Jimmy S. http://mvp.support.microsoft.com


Game FAQs: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=FH;[LN];gms
Visit my Zone.com / Gaming Helpsite: http://nibblesnbits.tk or Call / Contact
MS Support at: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=sz;en-us;top
My advice is donated "AS IS" without warranty; nor do I confer any rights.
_________________________________________________________
 
Hi
That didn't work. I would like to switch the order of the two controlers listed in the Game Controllers control panel. I do have Win XP and a TSW Wheel and Peddals and a Act Labs Shifter. The shifter has a utility that makes it work with older games.

I have a game NASCAR Racing 2003 By Papyrus That works without the shiffter utility because the game was developed with the shifter in mind on the other hand My game Sports Car GT and NFS series of games by EA will only configure the first controller listed.

----- Jimmy S. wrote: ----
In Windows XP you can set a device to ID1 by making it the "Preferre
Device". To do this open the Game Controllers control panel. Click th
Advanced... button and select the device you want to be on ID1 in the lis
box. I hope that helps! :-
 
Hi Znovotz,

Here's the instructions on how to change their order on the list, however
a Direct eXpert has already posted before in this newsgroup that the it
makes no difference which order they are listed in. Just the same....

Here's a post Chris H. made some time ago "on how to set up the
sequence of which controller is first, second, etc. It depends on
which device you want to set with first priority. The example is to
set a Mad Catz wheel first in the order, followed by a game port device.

The same would apply for USB devices:
=====
1) Unplug all devices from system
2) Plug-in the Mad Catz Andretti Wheel
3) Run the game controllers control panel
4) Click the "Advanced" button and set the wheel as the preferred device
5) Unplug the wheel
6) Plug-in the USB Gravis GamePad Pro
7) Run the game controllers control panel
8) Click the "Advanced" button and set the USB GamePad Pro
as the preferred device
9) Unplug the Gravis GamePad Pro
10) Now plug-in the wheel, followed by the USB GamePad Pro.

By setting both devices to preferred, we actually clear their previous ID
settings. By replugging them in the desired order, i.e. wheel then GamePad
Pro, the wheel gets ID1 and the GamePad Pro gets ID2."
==================================================

--
Cheers, Windows XP MVP Shell / User
Jimmy S. http://mvp.support.microsoft.com


Game FAQs: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=FH;[LN];gms
Visit my Zone.com / Gaming Helpsite: http://nibblesnbits.tk or Call / Contact
MS Support at: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=sz;en-us;top
My advice is donated "AS IS" without warranty; nor do I confer any rights.
_________________________________________________________

| Hi.
| That didn't work. I would like to switch the order of the two controlers listed in the Game Controllers control panel. I do have
Win XP and a TSW Wheel and Peddals and a Act Labs Shifter. The shifter has a utility that makes it work with older games.
|
| I have a game NASCAR Racing 2003 By Papyrus That works without the shiffter utility because the game was developed with the
shifter in mind on the other hand My game Sports Car GT and NFS series of games by EA will only configure the first controller
listed.
|
| ----- Jimmy S. wrote: -----
| In Windows XP you can set a device to ID1 by making it the "Preferred
| Device". To do this open the Game Controllers control panel. Click the
| Advanced... button and select the device you want to be on ID1 in the list
| box. I hope that helps! :-)
|
| --
| Cheers, Windows XP MVP Shell / User
| Jimmy S. http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
 
I have tried what you said and various other ways of doing what you said a couple times each just to make sure. It still doesn't work

I would like to talk to this Direct eXpert because I have proof that it does matter which order they are listed

I have a Thrustmaster wheel USB
a TSW Wheel USB
and a Act Labs H_pattern shifter USB(basically a 8 button controller)

The Sim I would like to use them in is called "Sports Car GT" by E

Now if I have the Shifter plugged in along with the older piece of junk Thrustmaster. in the Game Controllers control panel the thrustmaster is listed first and the shifter second. After configuring the controllers I start the shifter utility Then I go to the game and configure the Wheel there. then play the game it works fine

Now if I have the TSW Wheel(a better wheel that I spent good money on) and the Shifter plugged in. In the Game Controllers control panel The TSW is listed second and the shifter first. I configure the controllers then start the shifter utility then go to the game to configure the Wheel, and nothing I can't configure the Wheel.The shifter configures but I don't want to steer and brake and accelerate with the shifter

Again thanks in advance for any help
ZAC


----- Jimmy S. wrote: ----

Hi Znovotz

Here's the instructions on how to change their order on the list, howeve
a Direct eXpert has already posted before in this newsgroup that the i
makes no difference which order they are listed in. Just the same...

Here's a post Chris H. made some time ago "on how to set up th
sequence of which controller is first, second, etc. It depends o
which device you want to set with first priority. The example is t
set a Mad Catz wheel first in the order, followed by a game port device

The same would apply for USB devices
====
1) Unplug all devices from syste
2) Plug-in the Mad Catz Andretti Whee
3) Run the game controllers control pane
4) Click the "Advanced" button and set the wheel as the preferred devic
5) Unplug the whee
6) Plug-in the USB Gravis GamePad Pr
7) Run the game controllers control pane
8) Click the "Advanced" button and set the USB GamePad Pr
as the preferred devic
9) Unplug the Gravis GamePad Pr
10) Now plug-in the wheel, followed by the USB GamePad Pro

By setting both devices to preferred, we actually clear their previous I
settings. By replugging them in the desired order, i.e. wheel then GamePa
Pro, the wheel gets ID1 and the GamePad Pro gets ID2.
=================================================

--
Cheers, Windows XP MVP Shell / Use
Jimmy S. http://mvp.support.microsoft.co


Game FAQs: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=FH;[LN];gm
Visit my Zone.com / Gaming Helpsite: http://nibblesnbits.tk or Call / Contac
MS Support at: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=sz;en-us;to
My advice is donated "AS IS" without warranty; nor do I confer any rights
________________________________________________________

| Hi
| That didn't work. I would like to switch the order of the two controlers listed in the Game Controllers control panel. I do have
Win XP and a TSW Wheel and Peddals and a Act Labs Shifter. The shifter has a utility that makes it work with older games

| I have a game NASCAR Racing 2003 By Papyrus That works without the shiffter utility because the game was developed with the
shifter in mind on the other hand My game Sports Car GT and NFS series of games by EA will only configure the first controller
listed

| ----- Jimmy S. wrote: ----
| In Windows XP you can set a device to ID1 by making it the "Preferre
| Device". To do this open the Game Controllers control panel. Click the
| Advanced... button and select the device you want to be on ID1 in the list
| box. I hope that helps! :-)
|
| --
| Cheers, Windows XP MVP Shell / User
| Jimmy S. http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
 
I forgot to say that if the TSW is the only controller plugged in it works Fine. In that game. but who drives a sports car with a sequential shifter. ( 1ssssssssssssst 2nnnnnnd 3rrrrrrrrrd 4ttttttttttttttth 5tttttttttttttth brake turn clutch down shift to 1st 2nnnnnnnnnnnnnd 3rrrrrrrrd) you get the idea.
 
Hi Zack,

Thanks for trying my suggestions. Sorry they didn't resolve the
problem that you've been having. If you could go ahead and re-
post your situation including the steps that you took in a new
thread, we'll leave it open to solicit other opinions and ideas. :-)

|I forgot to say that if the TSW is the only controller plugged in it works Fine. In that game. but who drives a sports car with a
sequential shifter. ( 1ssssssssssssst 2nnnnnnd 3rrrrrrrrrd 4ttttttttttttttth 5tttttttttttttth brake turn clutch down shift to 1st
2nnnnnnnnnnnnnd 3rrrrrrrrd) you get the idea.

--
Cheers, Windows XP MVP Shell / User
Jimmy S. http://mvp.support.microsoft.com


Game FAQs: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=FH;[LN];gms
Visit my Zone.com / Gaming Helpsite: http://nibblesnbits.tk or Call / Contact
MS Support at: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=sz;en-us;top
My advice is donated "AS IS" without warranty; nor do I confer any rights.
_________________________________________________________
 
Maybe I can shed some light on what's going on. First a little history.
The first implementation that was used to get joystick data was called
WinMM. It is very old, Windows 95 and previous. With the coming of DirectX
there was a new way of getting device data, DirectInput. DirectInput
supported the WinMM functions so that older games would still work. In WinMM
you could only have up to 16 devices at a time. Each device would get an ID
number and games would access controller data by this ID number. DirectInput
does not use these ID's unless the game is using the old WinMM interfaces.
It assigns each device it finds a unique GUID and applications get device
data by accessing this GUID. DirectInput will theoretically handle as many
devices as the system can physically handle. I have had 48 devices connected
to a system at once.
In Windows XP the decision was made to only expose to the user what
device was at ID1. This was due to the fact that ID configuration was one of
the biggest areas of confusion by users and most game developers had stopped
using WinMM. Game makers that used WinMM would just take whatever device was
at ID1 and almost always only supported one device. This is why we changed
the Game Controllers control to only expose the Preferred Device, the device
to be set at ID1. From what you wrote it seems you are under the impression
that the order the devices are listed on the main page of the control applet
is the ID order. This isn't the case. When DirectInput runs it calls a
function that finds all the devices attached to the system. Each discovered
device gets a GUID that it can use later to access the device. The devices
are listed in the control applet in the order the system happened to
discover them and has nothing to do with the devices WinMM ID#. When the
developers write the game it is entirely up to them when they stop asking
DirectInput for devices, or devices on ID#'s. Most stop after finding the
first device. Some will give you the option of choosing a single device in
the games options, and a few will allow you to use all the devices attached
to the system.
Now the games. Based on what you describe, and having not debugged the
games, this is what is most likely going on. The game NASCAR 2003 is quite
recent as the name implies. Chances are they are using the DirectInput
device interfaces. They are also making all controllers available to the
game and not quitting after finding the first one. Your other game, Sports
Car GT was released in April 1999. My guess is that they are also using the
DirectInput interfaces. This would explain why it doesn't matter what ID you
set the devices to you always get the shifter, you could only make the game
see the change if it was using WinMM, but unlike the NASCAR 2003 game they
are just enumerating and using the first device that DirectInput returns and
stopping. The only way this can be fixed is to see if you can get the system
to expose the device you want first, but even if you did that chances are
real good that you wouldn't have access to the shifter.

I know this doesn't fix you, but should at least explain what is happening.
Let me know if you have any questions abou this.

Joshua Smith
DirectInput and OpenGL Test Labs
Microsoft
-----

Get Secure! www.microsoft.com/security

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





Jimmy S. said:
Hi Zack,

Thanks for trying my suggestions. Sorry they didn't resolve the
problem that you've been having. If you could go ahead and re-
post your situation including the steps that you took in a new
thread, we'll leave it open to solicit other opinions and ideas. :-)

|I forgot to say that if the TSW is the only controller plugged in it
works Fine. In that game. but who drives a sports car with a
sequential shifter. ( 1ssssssssssssst 2nnnnnnd 3rrrrrrrrrd
4ttttttttttttttth 5tttttttttttttth brake turn clutch down shift to 1st
2nnnnnnnnnnnnnd 3rrrrrrrrd) you get the idea.

--
Cheers, Windows XP MVP Shell / User
Jimmy S. http://mvp.support.microsoft.com


Game FAQs: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=FH;[LN];gms
Visit my Zone.com / Gaming Helpsite: http://nibblesnbits.tk or Call /
Contact
MS Support at: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=sz;en-us;top
My advice is donated "AS IS" without warranty; nor do I confer any
rights.
_________________________________________________________
Click to expand...
 
Thank You both of you
Based on what the last guy said I tried one last time to see if I could get it to work. What I did is Unplug the shifter set the wheel as the prefered device. then went into the game and calibrated the wheel then exited the game and started the shifter utility. then went back into the game with the shifter unpluged. once the game was loaded I pluged in the shifter started a race and it worked. to test I closed the game then restarted with the shifter pluged in it didnt work again closed the game then unpluged the shifter restarted the game after loading I pluged the shifter back in and started a race and it worked
Thanks Again
Zack
 
Thanks for the direct input again Joshua! :-)

Cheers,
Jimmy.

| Maybe I can shed some light on what's going on. First a little history.
| The first implementation that was used to get joystick data was called
| WinMM. It is very old, Windows 95 and previous. With the coming of DirectX
| there was a new way of getting device data, DirectInput. DirectInput
| supported the WinMM functions so that older games would still work. In WinMM
| you could only have up to 16 devices at a time. Each device would get an ID
| number and games would access controller data by this ID number. DirectInput
| does not use these ID's unless the game is using the old WinMM interfaces.
| It assigns each device it finds a unique GUID and applications get device
| data by accessing this GUID. DirectInput will theoretically handle as many
| devices as the system can physically handle. I have had 48 devices connected
| to a system at once.
| In Windows XP the decision was made to only expose to the user what
| device was at ID1. This was due to the fact that ID configuration was one of
| the biggest areas of confusion by users and most game developers had stopped
| using WinMM. Game makers that used WinMM would just take whatever device was
| at ID1 and almost always only supported one device. This is why we changed
| the Game Controllers control to only expose the Preferred Device, the device
| to be set at ID1. From what you wrote it seems you are under the impression
| that the order the devices are listed on the main page of the control applet
| is the ID order. This isn't the case. When DirectInput runs it calls a
| function that finds all the devices attached to the system. Each discovered
| device gets a GUID that it can use later to access the device. The devices
| are listed in the control applet in the order the system happened to
| discover them and has nothing to do with the devices WinMM ID#. When the
| developers write the game it is entirely up to them when they stop asking
| DirectInput for devices, or devices on ID#'s. Most stop after finding the
| first device. Some will give you the option of choosing a single device in
| the games options, and a few will allow you to use all the devices attached
| to the system.
| Now the games. Based on what you describe, and having not debugged the
| games, this is what is most likely going on. The game NASCAR 2003 is quite
| recent as the name implies. Chances are they are using the DirectInput
| device interfaces. They are also making all controllers available to the
| game and not quitting after finding the first one. Your other game, Sports
| Car GT was released in April 1999. My guess is that they are also using the
| DirectInput interfaces. This would explain why it doesn't matter what ID you
| set the devices to you always get the shifter, you could only make the game
| see the change if it was using WinMM, but unlike the NASCAR 2003 game they
| are just enumerating and using the first device that DirectInput returns and
| stopping. The only way this can be fixed is to see if you can get the system
| to expose the device you want first, but even if you did that chances are
| real good that you wouldn't have access to the shifter.
|
| I know this doesn't fix you, but should at least explain what is happening.
| Let me know if you have any questions abou this.
|
| Joshua Smith
| DirectInput and OpenGL Test Labs
| Microsoft
| -----
|
| Get Secure! www.microsoft.com/security
|
| This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights
|
|
|
|
|
| "Jimmy S." <Private> wrote in message
| | > Hi Zack,
| >
| > Thanks for trying my suggestions. Sorry they didn't resolve the
| > problem that you've been having. If you could go ahead and re-
| > post your situation including the steps that you took in a new
| > thread, we'll leave it open to solicit other opinions and ideas. :-)
| >
| > | > |I forgot to say that if the TSW is the only controller plugged in it
| > works Fine. In that game. but who drives a sports car with a
| > sequential shifter. ( 1ssssssssssssst 2nnnnnnd 3rrrrrrrrrd
| > 4ttttttttttttttth 5tttttttttttttth brake turn clutch down shift to 1st
| > 2nnnnnnnnnnnnnd 3rrrrrrrrd) you get the idea.
| >
| > --
| > Cheers, Windows XP MVP Shell / User
| > Jimmy S. http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
| >
| >
| > Game FAQs: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=FH;[LN];gms
| > Visit my Zone.com / Gaming Helpsite: http://nibblesnbits.tk or Call /
| > Contact
| > MS Support at: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=sz;en-us;top
| > My advice is donated "AS IS" without warranty; nor do I confer any
| > rights.
| > _________________________________________________________
| >
| >
|
|
 
Awesome! Glad we were able to sort that out together. :-)

Cheers,
Jimmy.

| Thank You both of you,
| Based on what the last guy said I tried one last time to see if I could get it to work. What I did is Unplug the shifter set the
wheel as the prefered device. then went into the game and calibrated the wheel then exited the game and started the shifter utility.
then went back into the game with the shifter unpluged. once the game was loaded I pluged in the shifter started a race and it
worked. to test I closed the game then restarted with the shifter pluged in it didnt work again closed the game then unpluged the
shifter restarted the game after loading I pluged the shifter back in and started a race and it worked.
| Thanks Again,
| Zack
 
My pleasure. You always beat me to these things. I was happy I could finally
give some input. :)

Joshua Smith
DirectInput and OpenGL Test Labs
Microsoft
-----

Get Secure! www.microsoft.com/security

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


Jimmy S. said:
Thanks for the direct input again Joshua! :-)

Cheers,
Jimmy.

| Maybe I can shed some light on what's going on. First a little
history.
| The first implementation that was used to get joystick data was called
| WinMM. It is very old, Windows 95 and previous. With the coming of
DirectX
| there was a new way of getting device data, DirectInput. DirectInput
| supported the WinMM functions so that older games would still work. In
WinMM
| you could only have up to 16 devices at a time. Each device would get an
ID
| number and games would access controller data by this ID number.
DirectInput
| does not use these ID's unless the game is using the old WinMM
interfaces.
| It assigns each device it finds a unique GUID and applications get
device
| data by accessing this GUID. DirectInput will theoretically handle as
many
| devices as the system can physically handle. I have had 48 devices
connected
| to a system at once.
| In Windows XP the decision was made to only expose to the user what
| device was at ID1. This was due to the fact that ID configuration was
one of
| the biggest areas of confusion by users and most game developers had
stopped
| using WinMM. Game makers that used WinMM would just take whatever device
was
| at ID1 and almost always only supported one device. This is why we
changed
| the Game Controllers control to only expose the Preferred Device, the
device
| to be set at ID1. From what you wrote it seems you are under the
impression
| that the order the devices are listed on the main page of the control
applet
| is the ID order. This isn't the case. When DirectInput runs it calls a
| function that finds all the devices attached to the system. Each
discovered
| device gets a GUID that it can use later to access the device. The
devices
| are listed in the control applet in the order the system happened to
| discover them and has nothing to do with the devices WinMM ID#. When the
| developers write the game it is entirely up to them when they stop
asking
| DirectInput for devices, or devices on ID#'s. Most stop after finding
the
| first device. Some will give you the option of choosing a single device
in
| the games options, and a few will allow you to use all the devices
attached
| to the system.
| Now the games. Based on what you describe, and having not debugged
the
| games, this is what is most likely going on. The game NASCAR 2003 is
quite
| recent as the name implies. Chances are they are using the DirectInput
| device interfaces. They are also making all controllers available to the
| game and not quitting after finding the first one. Your other game,
Sports
| Car GT was released in April 1999. My guess is that they are also using
the
| DirectInput interfaces. This would explain why it doesn't matter what ID
you
| set the devices to you always get the shifter, you could only make the
game
| see the change if it was using WinMM, but unlike the NASCAR 2003 game
they
| are just enumerating and using the first device that DirectInput returns
and
| stopping. The only way this can be fixed is to see if you can get the
system
| to expose the device you want first, but even if you did that chances
are
| real good that you wouldn't have access to the shifter.
|
| I know this doesn't fix you, but should at least explain what is
happening.
| Let me know if you have any questions abou this.
|
| Joshua Smith
| DirectInput and OpenGL Test Labs
| Microsoft
| -----
|
| Get Secure! www.microsoft.com/security
|
| This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights
|
|
|
|
|
| "Jimmy S." <Private> wrote in message
| | > Hi Zack,
| >
| > Thanks for trying my suggestions. Sorry they didn't resolve the
| > problem that you've been having. If you could go ahead and re-
| > post your situation including the steps that you took in a new
| > thread, we'll leave it open to solicit other opinions and ideas. :-)
| >
| > | > |I forgot to say that if the TSW is the only controller plugged in it
| > works Fine. In that game. but who drives a sports car with a
| > sequential shifter. ( 1ssssssssssssst 2nnnnnnd 3rrrrrrrrrd
| > 4ttttttttttttttth 5tttttttttttttth brake turn clutch down shift to 1st
| > 2nnnnnnnnnnnnnd 3rrrrrrrrd) you get the idea.
| >
| > --
| > Cheers, Windows XP MVP Shell / User
| > Jimmy S.
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
| >
| >
| > Game FAQs: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=FH;[LN];gms
| > Visit my Zone.com / Gaming Helpsite: http://nibblesnbits.tk or Call /
| > Contact
| > MS Support at:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=sz;en-us;top
| > My advice is donated "AS IS" without warranty; nor do I confer any
| > rights.
| > _________________________________________________________
| >
| >
|
|
Click to expand...
 
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