I just found drivers for my controller on this site: but there is no clear indication that these will work on Wxp, nor on W2K:

https://www.vogonsdrivers.com/getfile.php?fil … &menustate=26,0

did you already check if add new hardware has that controller in the list? there is this old MS page, but it doesn't mention the freestyle in that list of unsupported stuff. there was apparently also some special update for this controller, probably 9x only given the requirements on that 3.02 software: https://web.archive.org/web/20030417193215/ht … r/downloads.asp

in contrast, people here claimed to get it working in XP, although with less precision than in 98: https://www.overclockers.com/forums/threads/n … -for-xp.359127/

that driver would be for 9x, wouldn't expect that to just work on XP. it seems that to get the controller working optimally you should see if that 478 board could be made to dualboot 98se.

auron wrote on 2025-01-16, 18:07:

did you already check if add new hardware has that controller in the list? there is this old MS page, but it doesn't mention the freestyle in that list of unsupported stuff. there was apparently also some special update for this controller, probably 9x only given the requirements on that 3.02 software: https://web.archive.org/web/20030417193215/ht … r/downloads.asp

in contrast, people here claimed to get it working in XP, although with less precision than in 98: https://www.overclockers.com/forums/threads/n … -for-xp.359127/

that driver would be for 9x, wouldn't expect that to just work on XP. it seems that to get the controller working optimally you should see if that 478 board could be made to dualboot 98se.

I think so, IIRC it is the first thing Windows prompts you to do when you install new hardware but I didn't manage to get it working, let me turn on the computer to check what the error message was.

And after reading all the links you provided; like you said, users report limited functionality on both XP and W2K. The problem is, I intend to play games from the year 2000 or later such as GTA VC, SA, Max Payne. I read compatibility is not great on those titles as W98 lacks support for modern instruction sets and DirectX versions required to make those games work

you might be mistaking that with win95, because 98 SE supports dx9.0c (december 2006 redist), SSE instructions and was generally still supported by games until 2004. of the games you mentioned only GTA SA is out, but maybe it could be made to run via kernelex. there is also an unofficial patch to use more than 512 MB RAM on 98 SE.

auron wrote on 2025-01-17, 05:29:

you might be mistaking that with win95, because 98 SE supports dx9.0c (december 2006 redist), SSE instructions and was generally still supported by games until 2004. of the games you mentioned only GTA SA is out, but maybe it could be made to run via kernelex. there is also an unofficial patch to use more than 512 MB RAM on 98 SE.

Alright, but I need to be looking specifically for the SE version, correct?

SE is mainly a bugfixed and more stable FE, so there may be no practical reason at all to go with 98FE, certainly on a board several years newer.

ME may also work for this, being another 9x variant, but there are very mixed opinions on it.

Oliver Valdez Guzman wrote on 2025-01-16, 17:42:

I have checked many sites that have SideWinder Software but it just doesn't seem to work with Windows XP.

Windows XP comes with a "Microsoft SideWinder (Auto Detect)" driver that should detect all Sidewinder devices you can think of. It can be added in the list of game controllers in control panel.
It is very limited, though - on the Force Feedback Pro joystick you cannot control the intensity of the force anymore, for example. It always runs on full power and only exposes various axis and buttons, like a regular joystick.

For the Force Feedback wheel (Gameport version) a Windows 2000 driver was made (software 4.0), which still works on XP, too.

I don't know about the gamepad wait, I do know about it - I also have a Freestyle Pro! 😁 It's this weird motion controlled gamepad used for a handful of games (like "Motocross Madness") - yeah, that one only has 98SE drivers, the software and driver won't work on XP and you're stuck with the rudimentary built-in driver. It's really fun in Motocross Madness, but falls apart in other games which aren't specifically designed for it. Microsoft dropped support pretty quickly, Motocross Madness 2 doesn't even utilize it fully anymore (you cannot control your riders body via motion anymore, which is really fun).

schmatzler wrote on 2025-01-18, 00:00:

I don't know about the gamepad wait, I do know about it - I also have a Freestyle Pro! 😁 It's this weird motion controlled gamepad used for a handful of games (like "Motocross Madness") - yeah, that one only has 98SE drivers, the software and driver won't work on XP and you're stuck with the rudimentary built-in driver. It's really fun in Motocross Madness, but falls apart in other games which aren't specifically designed for it. Microsoft dropped support pretty quickly, Motocross Madness 2 doesn't even utilize it fully anymore (you cannot control your riders body via motion anymore, which is really fun).

Yeah this ! They were quickly dropped by MS because the gyro thing did not work in most games and was unsupported going forward.

auron wrote on 2025-01-17, 23:10:

SE is mainly a bugfixed and more stable FE, so there may be no practical reason at all to go with 98FE, certainly on a board several years newer.

ME may also work for this, being another 9x variant, but there are very mixed opinions on it.

Wait, can I also install SideWinder Software on Windows ME?

Whatever works best with GTA SA is fine for me, as long as the OS is usable, plus I want to take advantage of the 2GB of DDR I Have

schmatzler wrote on 2025-01-18, 00:00:

Oliver Valdez Guzman wrote on 2025-01-16, 17:42:

I have checked many sites that have SideWinder Software but it just doesn't seem to work with Windows XP.

I don't know about the gamepad wait, I do know about it - I also have a Freestyle Pro! 😁 It's this weird motion controlled gamepad used for a handful of games (like "Motocross Madness") - yeah, that one only has 98SE drivers, the software and driver won't work on XP and you're stuck with the rudimentary built-in driver. It's really fun in Motocross Madness, but falls apart in other games which aren't specifically designed for it. Microsoft dropped support pretty quickly, Motocross Madness 2 doesn't even utilize it fully anymore (you cannot control your riders body via motion anymore, which is really fun).

Well for some reason my FS Pro is listed as "not connected" under the gaming controllers tab, I read it could be due to IRQ conflicts as I am using a soundcard to provide the gameport interface.

Not being able to use gyro on most games? what a shame, that's what made me particularly interested in the FS Pro in the first place.

Oliver Valdez Guzman wrote on 2025-01-23, 01:18:

auron wrote on 2025-01-17, 23:10:

SE is mainly a bugfixed and more stable FE, so there may be no practical reason at all to go with 98FE, certainly on a board several years newer.

ME may also work for this, being another 9x variant, but there are very mixed opinions on it.

Wait, can I also install SideWinder Software on Windows ME?

Whatever works best with GTA SA is fine for me, as long as the OS is usable, plus I want to take advantage of the 2GB of DDR I Have

if the driver is said to be for 95 or 98, it should normally install on ME as well. again, ME is another 9x variant with some changes to it.