Mine didn't work out of the box in dos. I had to install the driver to get it to work.

Mine works just fine in native DOS. Not sure what's giving you problems with it...as a matter of fact, native DOS support through analog gameport emulation is precisely why I plucked one out of a thrift store. (Well, that and nostalgia.)

A few games like Descent and MechWarrior 2 even have 3D Pro digital mode support in their DOS releases, so you can use the four base buttons along with everything else.

The only thing you should have to be mindful of is whether or not it's in Thrustmaster FCS or CH Flightstick Pro mode. This can make or break some games.

-FCS mode doesn't allow you to use the throttle axis, since the hat switch takes that up.
-FSP mode won't let you chord your button presses, like holding down button 2 and pressing button 1 while holding button 2 (very necessary in Wing Commander/Privateer), because that's how CH implemented the hat switch directions: button press combinations.

are you using the joystick switch in dos ?

What "Drivers" are you talking about installing? The only drivers I know of are all for Windows.

And I've flipped that switch on the base, but it appears to have no effect (though... does it matter whether I flip it in-game, or should I exit the game first?)

Mechwarrior 2 I know specifically lists the 3D Pro as a controller it supports but it doesn't seem to actually do so, as when I go to its device calibration it never seems to recognize button presses from the thing nor does the "dot" ever show up.

I have my sidewinder 3d pro CIB and it states right on the box works with windows and DOS.

when I got mine I tried it with Star Wars X-wing and it didn't work unlike my old saitek joystick that worked fine. I had to install the DOS drivers that came on a disk with the stick then it worked fine.

I just pulled out the box and looked at the instructions. it says without software installed it should just function in Analog mode. I don't know why I had to install the drivers to make it work for me in Pure DOS. maybe it was just X-wing?

heres the drivers disk that came with mine
http://www.mediafire.com/download/rkbr86esk3r7b6m/msjoy.rar

*edit* actually I just fired the DOS 486 up that I use this joystick on and I don't have any sort of weird joystick TSR running so i really don't know. I do specifically remember the stick wouldn't work till I ran that setup under DOS but then my memory isn't the best sometimes. all I can say is give it a try.

in analog mode it should emulate a thrustmaster fcs

Thanks for uploading those drivers. I'll install them and let you all know if it works out.

In other news I found this website which lists an autoexec.bat which has a special line just for the sidewinder 3d pro. I tried adding this line to my own config but it did nothing (as I expected, as there's no "msinput" in my Windows directory for it to refer to). I tried contacting the page author but his e-mail appears to no longer be valid.

EDIT: And the results are in... the Sidewinder still refuses to work in MS-DOS, at least on Mazinkaiser.

I'm about ready to throw in the towel. This whole thing is honestly making me pretty angry and I'm just tired of dealing with it. I'd rather get a new joystick.

So, okay, what's a good replacement joystick? Keep in mind I'm gonna be using it in a pure DOS environment, primarily with Mechwarrior 2 and Descent, so I'll want something that... well, optimally I'd like a joystick that has the following:

At least two buttons
a hat switch
that cool twisty-stick thing the 3D Pro has (this made banking really easy in Descent 3). I don't care if the stick achieves this by mapping it to the rudder.
And of course, HAS TO WORK IN PURE DOS.

Other than that, I don't really think I need much else.

Thanks.

have you tested the stick on a different pure DOS machine? maybe the stick is broken and stuck in digital mode?

As I said, it worked on a previous PC, which is why I thought it would work fine here. If I ever meet someone who has a pure DOS machine I'll test it on their machine, but for now I'm tired of fidgeting with it.

Good luck finding an analog gameport-compatible twist-stick that isn't another SideWinder 3D Pro. That was largely Microsoft's signature feature, and by the time everyone else followed suit, USB had become the standard.

The only gameport setups I'd really bother with from that era (TM F-22 Pro + TQS, CH Fighterstick + Pro Throttle, Suncom F-15 Talon or Eagle + SFS Throttle) don't have twist sticks because you're expected to use rudder pedals.

Also, for Descent, I'd go Spacetec SpaceOrb 360 above all, but that's just me.

Hey guys, I think I may have hit on something.

I looked through the Readme file included with the drivers dude above linked to, and somehow I never noticed this line before:

3.2. Incompatible Game Ports […]
Show full quote

3.2. Incompatible Game Ports

The Sound Blaster 16 SCSI-1 (SB 16 SCSI) game port is incompatible
with SideWinder 3D Pro in both analog and digital modes. However, all other
Sound Blaster game ports are compatible with SideWinder 3D Pro.

So, guess what type of sound card I have. Just guess. Hint: It's not a Roland.

Another thing is that, I got Descent: Anniversary Edition in the mail yesterday, and it has a command line parameter called -joybios. when I use this parameter, it sees my joystick and will go into the calibration, but then won't recognize any button presses (however, if I have it set to Thrustmaster mode, it seems to detect me as infinitely sliding up).

Anyway, so its looking like my sound card is the problem.

I'm gonna see if my motherboard (an Epox 8KTA model) has a different, built-in gameport I can plug the stick into, and failing that, I'm wondering if adding a PCI card that adds gameports (it has to be PCI because I only have one ISA slot and the Soundblaster is using that) will fix this issue.

Anyone wanna throw something else my way before I make a fool of myself?