UltraStik 360 not working in Mame, but OK in Windows XP

[whynotpizza]

Hi guys,

I have recently decided to rebuild my Mame PC (still keeping it XP) ... and am having trouble getting the U360 UltraStiks to work properly in Mame.

I have four sticks, all with unique targets 1,2,3,4 and the latest 2.5 firmware from Ultimarc. Each stick has been programmed using Ultimarc Ultramap tool to "8 way easy diagnals". Windows XP has latest service packs and all updates from Microsoft. Nothing else is plugged into my PC, other than mouse and keyboard.

Windows recognizes each stick OK and in "Game Controls" each stick works properly on the PC OK.

However...

2 sticks (targets 1, 3) do not work at all within Mame. When I go into TAB and try to set UP or DOWN or LEFT or RIGHT, the stick movement is NOT seen within mame at all. It acts as if I did not set "joystick enabled" which I did.

1 stick (target 4) Works as expected in Mame in all directions.

1 stick (tagret 2) works fine in 3 directions, just not LEFT.

I have been working closely with Andy from Ultimarc to try and resolve this issue, he has been great with support throughout the troubleshooting process! That said, these sticks work fine in Windows, just not Mame which is baffling.

Has anyone seen a similar issue with Mame not recognizing a device, yet Windows looks ok?

I have tested on multiple Windows XP machines and multiple versions of Mame and get the same result in those scenarios.

Help!

Any pointers would be appreciated, as I am anxious to get this puppy working again!

  David

[drventure]

Target numbers don't matter to mame. It uses a "joystick id" which is akin to the order in which you connect the joysticks, but not exactly.

Anyway, have you tried unplugging all sticks, then reconnecting just one. Verify it works in windows and mame, then connect another and repeat?

Connecting them out of sequence from how you originally connected them might also help, since widows will see them as essentially "new" sticks and reset everything.

It's a longshot, but you could also try swapping out hubs (if the sticks are connected to a hub).

Finally, I've had some luck with using USBDEVIEW from nirsoft.net to forcibly uninstall and reinstall usb devices that didn't initially want to work right.


One other note, if you plan on having swappable controllers or having USB plugs where you can plugin handheld controllers on  occasion,  you might want to check out my ControllerRemap utility. It remaps controller IDs right before running Mame so that if the id's change (say from plugging or unplugging a controller) mame will still see things the right way.

[LeedsFan]

Are you using a powered USB hub?  I've had this exact problem before and using a powered hub cured it instantly.

[whynotpizza]

Turns out, I did not pay attention to the Windows “game control”.

I tried each stick, one at a time after clean reboot. No HUBS on the PC and only Mouse/KB plugged in.

Each stick comes up in Game Control, however … while they “appeared to work” … they don’t in Windows.

Each of the targets 1,3, 2 are “jumpy” in the game controller test – even after I calibrated each. Pointer moves around and does not cleanly move in each direction. Even without touching the stick, the pointer moves.

Target 4 is NOT jumpy and cleanly moves the pointer UP/DOWN/LEFT/RIGHT.  Works fine in Mame.

Each stick with jumpiness in Windows does not work in Mame. I even reprogrammed each stick using UltraMap tool. No deal. Still jumpy in Windows.

Spoke with Andy and he is helping to fix/resolve the issue.

Excellent customer service, thanks Andy! 

[crispux3]

Did this ever get resolved. I'm having trouble with my ultrastik not working in Mala or MAME but seems to work fine in windows and Nestopia emulator.

What was your solution?

[Fursphere]

I was wondering if you were using a directinput version of mame?