What games exactly? I've had no unsolvable problems with getting USB joysticks working in Dosbox. If the cursor drifts, try changing the value of "timed" in dosbox.conf (e.g. change it to timed=true or timed=false, Privateer for example wants timed=false, timed=true makes its cursor drift). Also, if you have more than 2 axes in your real-life joystick, try joysticktype=2axis instead of auto or 4axis (Tie Fighter for example doesn't like extra axes).

edit: If you want your game to use a joystick you can't disable the joystick emulation. Disabling joystick emulation (joysticktype=none) doesn't mean "passthrough" - it means that software running inside Dosbox won't detect a joystick.

I tried what you said, and results varied a lot between games.

Harrier Jump Jet works like a charm. I just have the cursor drifting if I don't move the mouse or the joystick for a long time, but overall it works fine.
F-15 Strike Eagle II has minor control issues: the plane tends to roll left, and is slow when rolling right.
Hind is unplayable at all because the joystick is always "stuck" in the upper left position, and I tried almost all possible configurations.

So far, I only tried those 3 games. I'll try other games ASAP.

Thank you for the infos 😀

I just tried Hind and the following configuration worked perfectly:
joysticktype=ch
timed=true
autofire=false
swap34=true
buttonwrap=true

In the game options choose Flightstick. I got pedals, throttle and hat all working (you need to move each axis to its extremes in the options to calibrate them, alt+j recalibrates when ingame and ctrl+j enables/disables joystick). No sound for some reason though.

edit: For sound, copy SDRIVERS from the CD to where you installed the game. I wonder why the installer didn't do that. <russian accent>Enemy ground fire! Firing now! Goot kill! Lock broken!</russian accent>

That works (except for the swap34 set on false for me)! The only problem is that rudder assumes a neutral position only with the stick fully twisted right...

BTW, I don't have the sound problem you had... everything was in the right place...

Try editing PREFS.CFG which is where you installed HIND. There are values concering joystick calibration. Change the Mid, Max and Min values for the rudder axis (probably Bx). HIND should autocalibrate them when you move each axis in the options. You can also try deleting all the values altogether to reset the calibration and start over. Mine looks like this:

Joystick Ax Min=21
Joystick Ax Mid=650
Joystick Ax Max=1323
Joystick Ay Min=21
Joystick Ay Mid=640
Joystick Ay Max=1331
Joystick Bx Min=21
Joystick Bx Mid=631
Joystick Bx Max=1313
Joystick By Min=20
Joystick By Mid=682
Joystick By Max=1344

By the way, I have the following settings in my dosbox keymapper (Ctrl+F1) and I use core=auto and cycles=auto:

Y-: Sidewinder Axis 1-
Y+: Sidewinder Axis 1+
X-: Axis 0-
X+: Axis 0+

Y-: Axis 3-
Y+: Axis 3+
X-: Axis 2-
X+: Axis x+

This is an old thread but maybe someone can help.
I am trying to show my son the games I used to play but can't get the joystick to work and not sure what I am missing. The game is F15 Strike Eagle 3. I have the latest dosbox and the game loads and runs fine just no joystick. It is a Logitech Attack 3 usb. It is recognised in both w7 and w10.
I changed the dosbox config from joystick=auto to axis2 but no help.
The mouse works fine in the program.
Is there a current program that uses a joystick that I can test?
Regards Clem.