Seitek X45 and Windows Vista Ultimate

[187nj]

Hello.

I tried installing my new joystick to windows vista last night but I kept getting a message saying 'the device has malfunctioned' - This is weird because during the start up of windows the Seitek lights up and looks ready to use but then as soon as windows has fully loaded the lights go off.

Can anyone help me please?

[hellsbrink]

do you have the right driver installed?

try here first ftp://ftp.saitek.com/pub/software/full/Saitek_X45_Flight_Controller_SD6_32.exe

[187nj]

at work but will try this when get home, 2:30pm.

Cheers.

[187nj]

Lights are coming on post booted now after installing above link but shortly after that, vista message appears again: usb not recognised - device has malfunctioned.

any thoughts here?

[hellsbrink]

Sorry about PM, was just reacting as I just got home (not that it's been much longer now).

Hmmm, is Vista updated? That could cause issues (there new stuff out, I got hit this morning with a bunch of patches and I running Home Premium).

Have you tried the stick in another USB port (sometimes things do wear out so there isn't the proper connection, try another USB port)?

Does/did the stick work ok now/in the past with XP (if it does/did, it SHOULDN'T be a hardware issue but I seen things die just because you dared to unplug them).

I really struggling without seeing error messages, what does it say about the stick when you look at it in the "device manager" (my Vista is in Dutch so it has a different name)? Might be a clue there.

Once we rule out the "obvious" then we only have the impossible to deal with, and with Microcrap software the "impossible" is usually easy

[187nj]

It works fine on my laptop but on my desktop it says 'unknown device' in the device manager. I emailed Saitek support but they came back with pretty much the same thing you did. I've got XP on this computer so going to try installing on that and see what happens.

[hellsbrink]

"unknown device" generally points to a driver issue.

[Parapunter]

Slightly obvious, but tried a different usb port - just to make sure the joystick is the problem?

[187nj]

I don't think its the joystick because that works fine on my lapton which is running XP pro. I switched to XP pro on my desktop but the x45 showed the same problems as when the desktop was running vista.
I called seitek support went thought various solutions with one of their guys but he said he need to speak to a collegue and this is what they both came back with:

Hi,

Further to you call regarding your X52 not functioning on your Vista PC I have spoken about the issue with another colleague. He has suggested that bearing in mind the X45 worked on your laptop that the problem lies with your motherboard. This error can sometimes occur with our devices and the most common culprit are nvidia motherboard chipsets. Of course the crucial test for this would be to test the X45 on a Vista PC other than your own, that possesses a different motherboard. However, your case does fit the symptoms of a motherboard issue.

I also found a similar issue on our forum. The solution on there, and the one suggested by my colleague was to purchase a PCI USB for your PC. A PCI USB card has its own chipset and can, therefore, gets around situations like this where the motherboard's USB chipset is having difficulty with certain devices. Installing one and running the X45 from there should get it going again. A PCI USB card usually costs about £8.

If you want to see the forum entry then here is the link;

http://www.saitekforum.com/showthread.php?t=13874