Have you tried the "Add/remove hardware" wizard from Win98?

Yeah I did thanks. The drivers appear to install fine, but then when I try to add the device itself I get the message about my gameport drivers not being configured correctly. I've tried under directx 7.a and 9 and I get the same result, even with a fresh install of Windows. It's funny really because the point of using the serial connection is because most old laptops don't have gameports.

Perhaps I need the precise Gravis driver for this pad but I bought it from eBay with no CD included and the drivers are pretty hard to come by online. Tried 3 or 4 now.

Ahhh, so that's what it's called! I knew I had seen a serial gamepad at some point during my life, but I completely forgot what it was called and was seriously starting to doubt my memory. (I used to be quite taken with the idea of using something like that a a mouse; software solutions seemed clumsy.)

You're using this with a genuine serial port and not a USB-to-serial adapter, right? And can you use serial mice with the serial port in question? Does anything happen if you open a terminal program on the port to which the pad is connected?

To avoid redundancy, can you indicate which drivers you've already tried? https://web.archive.org/web/20050325014040/ht … t/sup_1037.html suggests the standard Gravis Xperience package will do it.

Thanks for your input and sorry for the late reply.

Yeah I'm using a real serial port on a Toshiba Satellite Pro 4300. It's a great Win 98/DOS laptop in pretty much every way except for controller support.

I did try using a terminal programme but I couldn't make head nor tail of it to be honest. I think my issue might have something to do with chipset drivers or similar as I'm not able to add ANY controllers via the control panel (I just get the same "gameport not configured" message.

I've sidestepped the issue for the time being by persisting with my USB controllers (they have a strange "stalling" issue where I lose control for a couple of seconds mid-game). I managed to get my USB working more or less by attaching the controller while the laptop is on, and then resetting. This works 80% of the time now at least.

Would love to get the Stinger going though. I'll perhaps try it without the NUSB drivers installed to see if they are causing some sort of conflict.

Thanks

Retro Muel wrote on 2020-12-07, 18:01:

I did try using a terminal programme but I couldn't make head nor tail of it to be honest. I think my issue might have something to do with chipset drivers or similar as I'm not able to add ANY controllers via the control panel (I just get the same "gameport not configured" message.

If your serial port is COM1, just open the terminal program and specify COM1 as a port. If you have a serial mouse handy, you should be able to see that communicating in the terminal program as well, regardless of what drivers you have installed.

I know this is an old thread, but I experienced similar issues when configuring on Windows 98SE, but after a lot of trial and error managed to find a solution and now have my Stinger fully operational.

Some steps below which hopefully may help OP if still having issues and anyone else who may stumble upon this post experiencing the same problems.

1)Install Gravis Experience 3 which comes with the device. Reboot when done.
2) Connect the Gravis Stinger to the machine, and let it find and install the driver automatically. Reboot. (Note, this brought me to same problem OP had).
3) Remove the Gravis Stinger from Device Manager, disconnect it from the serial port, then uninstall Gravis Experience 3. Reboot.
4) Locate and download Gravis Experience 4.5. Install, then reboot.
5) Connect the Gravis Stinger back to the machine. If not detected, just refresh in Device Manager and it should install. Note - again this still isn’t going to work, but we do have SW installed now which will eventually work. Reboot, again!
6) Confirm you see “Gravis Stinger” under Sound & Game devices in Device Manager, working ok with no conflicts (it may show GRAVIS SERIAL PAD - so long as it’s operating ok according to Device Manager we can continue).
7) Update the driver > Display a list > and Show All Hardware. Head to [Standard game device] and select HID-compliant game controller. Ignore any driver warnings and select to allow installation. Let it complete, then… Reboot.
😎 Double check Device Manager to make sure you still see a device there without conflicts.
9) Head to the Control Panel > Gaming Options > Add > Gravis Stinger. This should now work and add the Gravis Stinger and show a status of OK.

You should be good to go now, and Gravis Experience should also work. A bit messy, but worked for me on my Win98SE install on an Inspiron 8100?

Hope it helps!