Zomby Woof wrote:
Thrustmaster support has told me that a gameport to USB adapter won't allow
my basic "Top Gun" joystick to work within Windows XP and my new,
gameport-less computer.

I'd already purchased the adaper before asking Thrustmaster, and yes...no
luck.

At all, or with more than the basic axes?

Is there perhaps something Thrustmaster isn't telling me...for the purpose
of having to purchase a new joystick?

I'm tempted to say yes, because I was told that my CH Gameport pedals
needed a dual-port gamecard and wouldn't run on my XP machine, which is
as good as saying it won't run on any new computer. (Dual port
gamecards were made only for the ISA bus, which has since gone the way
of 8-Track and usenet ettiquete.) To make a long story short, the
pedals worked fine on my Dimension 3000 (though I haven't used them in
months), so CH was wrong on that one. I don't think they were so
concerned with me buying new controls as much as not wanting to get
into a long and involved discussion about control-device mechanics.

However, having confronted your same problem when my gameport-less Dell
arrived earlier this year, I'm forced to concede that TM might be right
on this one. I refer you (for the nuts and bolts) to a helpful post
left by Bob Church as to possible alternatives. After trying a USB
adapter myself (and given BC's presence on the web where control
devices are concerned) his point is hard to dismiss. In short, these
adapters are acceptable for only basic use, and having a stick like the
"Top Gun" means that you're somebody who wants more than that out of
life.

http://groups.google.com/group/comp....9003a100998e0a


I eventually caved in and bought a sound card with a gameport - getting
the stick to work and having no conflicts with my existing sound. The
annoying part however is that companies having chosen to put gameports
on their soundcards don't have them on all of their cards. Meaning if
you wanted to get a SB with a gameport, the entry-level model wouldn't
suffice.