Less than two months old. USB. Currently not using Logitech Gaming Software (or whatever it's called).

So I finally was getting good'n'comfortable with this new joystick, and it's started acting up. About a week ago I noticed that when relaxing the 'stick to the central "at rest" position it would jerk and bounce around randomly. This makes fine-tuning my aim extremely (if you'll pardon the pun) difficult; better to say "impossible." I uninstalled the generic USB/HID drivers, shutdown my computer, unplugged the 'stick, powered back on, and then plugged the 'stick into the other USB port and let Windows redetect it. Everything was peachy again for about a week.

Now it's doing it again, worse than before. When letting the 'stick return to center, it'll randomly float about, jerk and bounce, and generally be twitchy as all hell. I don't mean the stick itself is loose, like the springs wore out quickly. It's more like a ghost in the shell; like it's making up input.

I don't like it. )= If I'd bought the stick from a merchant, I'd just exchange it, but I ordered it from an online retailer and I'd like to avoid the hassle of a return by doing some actual trouble-shooting first. I've tried installing the Logitech GS and setting pretty deadzones for the X and Y axis (10% each) as well as lowering the sensitivity, but the software isn't helping (or hurting) the issue at all; as far as I can tell, it's not doing anything.

Anyone have any ideas? Know where I can buy a USB=>gameport adapter? (I've seen lots of gameport=>USB adapters, but not the other way around.) Any Logitech joystick users out there got insights into the software?

WindowsXP Pro
Logitech Gaming Software 4.25

Help me, Banzai...you're my only hope!

you have 3 options

1) Keep unpluging and plugging it

2) suffer

3) eat pie

4) throw it out the window

9) go to a bar and get drunk

Try it on a mate's PC. At least that way you'd be able to establish whther it's a problem with the joystick or your PC.

I think I may've just not set the deadzones large enough when I was testing the LGS. I had 'em at 10%, tried 50% (just to see if it was being applied at all), then bumped down to 15% and it seems mostly normal now. At any rate, it's a helluva lot better than it was. I still wish I didn't have to use the software in the first place, but I'll take it over the random swimming about my ret was doing.

You're lucky you haven't gone blind yet.

try 100

I always hate it when Wad brings up Joystick problems. It gives me the Willies.

Got the same stick about 2 weeks ago. Had to set the dead zone to 20% within 2 days of Mech piloting due to becoming loose, and within 4 days it was already unusable/floating around. So I took it back to Best Buy and got a Cyborg Evo instead along with a two year replacement policy.

That was my fifth Logitech stick in about 7 years (2 Wingman Extreme, 1 Wingman Extreme Digital, 1 Wingman Extreme Digital 3D, 1 Extreme 3D Pro), but the later versions with the torso twist handle are not durable enough for Mech combat, even though the Logitech stick layout is great.

You should get microsoft joysticks THEY LAST A LONG TIME but they tend to look up
once in a while... (After years) well it just goes up slowly
not left not right..just up slowly lol i have that but sadly my new comp doesnt have the right thingy to hook it up (non usb)

Unfortunately Microsoft discontinued their Sidewinder joysticks.

They did???..... Want mine? i cant use it lol

Saitek cyborg series are just awesome.

I've got a freedom and haven't had hardly a problem. What you need to check is how far are you from the receiver and if something could be interfering with the signal.

they discontinued sidewinder? i bought one about 3 months ago at bestbuy, its a beauty

I run the Logitech profiler with my Freedom, and I haven't had any problems with it at all. You may just need to keep running that, Wad.

you been unplugging and replugging the USB joy to your computer Wad?

You can actually wear them so that you dont always get a good, tight connection..had that happen to me..id be in a game, barely brush the cord and then all of a sudden cant move up or cant move right..etc..

pull it out and replug it and alls ok... <_<

Don't have a Freedom. Wired is the only way to go.

My bad, I thought the extreme was the upgraded version of the freedom. Card made a point though if they have the profiler you need to start them with it for the stick to function correctly. Otherwise I have seen occasional glitches.

is there some sort of polling interval in the USB port that could be set at a lower interval? As my hands are normally pretty twitchy, a stick like that may help me more than hurt

Oink

Had the same problem with my Logitech 3D Pro when I first started playing Veng. Never was able to resolve the issue to my satisfaction. It got particularly bad when I was in zoom. I ended up replacing the stick with a Saitek Cyborg and haven't had a problem since.

The worst part is that it took away my excuse for poor targetting! <_<

cyborg 3d is a nice stick. i used it for a jear. but 3 weaks ago the spring for the z axis broke.
at the moment i use a cyclone digital pro. funny thing about it: the z axis is inverted - wasnt easy to adapt. i think ill by the new cyborg stick.

Logitech sticks do that, plain and simple. I haven't had any problems with the freedom that I own right now, but I'm sure it'll start within 6 months or so.

Here's what u do.. go to Circuit city, get a freedom or other stick of your liking.. BUY the City Advantage plan on it (ussually 2 or 4 year warranty). If problem persists with new stick, return it and get a brand new stick without paying any more money while the stick is under warranty.

I went to four different stores (CompUSA, Circuit City, Electronics Boutique, and Best Buy) and none of them sold this stick. Two had display-only models, but no stock.

The stick does not appear to exhibit this behavior in other games, though I haven't extensively tested it. Just the Secret Weapons Over Normandy demo (too arcadey, even for my flight-sim-lite tastes).

I have the same stick, had to defrag and then run the profiler before I launch the game....Now all works fine....except I can not get the 11 or 12 buttons to work...other than the the 11 or 12 buttons the stick has worked fine.

Mercs recognizes 12 as my shift button, but insists that 11 is "hat left." *heh*