[Solved] Windows 98 SE Guest USB Joystick

[Tore Daniel]

Hi all

Before I ask for help I find it appropriate to mention that I`ve exhausted all resources the way I see it, I`ve googled, yahoo`ed, hotbot`ed and what not inbetween from here to Japan and back without any luck what so ever in solving the problem, I did a forum search but at this time I`m just too tired and spent to even be arsed to source and look my way through time and again...

I`ve been trying to get my Saitek X52 USB joystick working on Windows 98 guest in all sorts of virtual PC`s, VMWare, Microsoft Virtual PC, VirtualBox, you name it..

I have the Windows 98 drivers for this joystick (Which I was able to attain only by asking Saitek via email), they removed the W98 drivers from their official drivers list, removed their forums etc etc so I`ve lost the single biggest resource I can think of.
I can get as far as installing the drivers but the joystick, but the setup does not take me to the calibration page, joystick is still listed as unrecognized in the device manager, is USB support only for Mass Storage devices exclusively?

I read about people getting Xbox controllers etc working, is there even a glimmer of hope for me here?

I`m also at a loss as to which VirtualBox version to download, I tried version 5 but cannot find the extensions for that so I may have come only just as far...

At a complete dead loss here, does anyone have any pointers as to what I can do to get it working in a W98 guest?

[erdeslawe]

Guest Additions: On the download page there's and entry:

- "VirtualBox 5.0 Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack All supported platforms"

That's the Guest Additions download link.

Can't help you with the Joystick problem unfortunately, but would expect that the age of the hardware is not on your side. If you've already tried unsuccessfully to get this working in a Win98SE VM on both VMWare and Parallels that's possibly a clue that no developer is really interested in resolving obscure peripheral hardware issues for a OS that's nearly 20 years old. They are much more interested in applying their resources to keeping business customers satisfied with the functionality of 'serious' software.

[mpack]

- "VirtualBox 5.0 Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack All supported platforms"

That's the Guest Additions download link.

Actually, that is the extension pack download link. The Guest Additions are something else entirely, and not relevant to this question.

However, the extension pack is the correct download to add USB2 functionality to a VBox host - needed if the joystick is a USB2 device.

And no: USB functionality is not restricted to mass storage devices, in fact it would be impossible to restrict it in that way: after all USB is just a networking protocol, the treatment of devices on the network is entirely a software matter.

Just make sure you have the correct Extension Pack installed. I don't know why you had difficulty finding the v5 extension pack, it's is right there, right after the main executable download. Then create a non-blank filter to match the joystick.

As to what you are trying to do: if the manufacturer was reluctant to release a Win98 driver then it's possible that the driver is completely untested and may not work.

[Tore Daniel]

Lots of valuable input here, thank you all so much for chiming in

I mounted the Vbox Additions, but inside the "CD" there are 3 setups, AMDx64 version, X86 version, and just a VboxAdditions with no specifics, tried all 3, only the x86 one actually launches, and during install it says it does not support this version of Windows...

[Tore Daniel]

Tried joystick driver install despite this, got illegal operation error, thanks to VGA.DRV according to the details.
And extensions cannot be installed to allow for better graphics driver.
This is hilarious

[Tore Daniel]

Did another readup on the extensions, seems they are not even compatible with Win98..
Tried finding out just what in the blue moon the Virtual Box uses for USB 2.0 card so I can load those drivers but nope, no mentions ANYWHERE.
The resources that do cover Windows 98, says to install Extensions/Additions, which are clearly not compatible

[Perryg]

viewforum.php?f=28

See the tutorial section above but don't hold your breath waiting for it to work properly. Win98 has never been a supported guest and there are no guest additions to make it work better/properly. If you get it to work at all you are doing well.

[Tore Daniel]

I`ve actually been looking at those tutorials, but one thing I noticed is that 60-70% of the download links are dead, and none of them deals with SVGA or USB 2.0, or illegal operations.
Not only that, they also list a lot of linux commands etc, so it`s all for Linux hosts.

Thanks anyway
Sadly none of these advices work.

[mpack]

I already explained that the extension pack and guest additions are different things, and that only the extension pack is relevant here. So, I don't know why you persist in looking at the GAs, which have nothing to do with USB, and anyway don't exist for Win98.

The extensions (not the GAs) are installed on the host. Compatibililty with a specific VM doesn't arise.

[Tore Daniel]

Indeed you already have explained that, It passed by me, I`m known for passerby`s

But the extension pack has been installed many nights ago, the problem is not alleviated, upon attempt of driver install, I get illegal operation error during the setup, it cant even unpack the drivers into the temp folder.
Also get an error when attempting to attach the USB device (The Joystick) to the Guest, I tried adding a filter, still does not work.
It`s errors as far as the eye can see at every turn

[mpack]

the problem is not alleviated, upon attempt of driver install, I get illegal operation error during the setup

It may not be alleviated, but that doesn't sound like the problem you described in the first post.

A better description of the new crash is needed if you want anyone to comment on it. And for the problem of attaching the USB device I'd need something better than "doesn't work".

Please also post a VM log file: With the VM fully shut down, right click it the GUI. Select "Show Log" (ONLY) and save "VBox.log" to a zip file. Attach the zip here.

[Tore Daniel]

As I mentioned, been at it too long, common sense flies the same way as concentration at that point

When attaching USB device in VirtualBox on Host = USB Device busy with another request.
When attempting a driver install using the driver install setup in Win98 Guest I get error: This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down.

Attempted to add empty USB strings in settings for VirtualBox on Host and connected the USB sound card to see if any USB units would attach = I lose sound, keyboard and mouse on host.

Attempted to get you the log, but there are 4 of those and I don`t know which one is the most recent (most relevant to this problem) to grab, so I took a wild guess and grabbed the first one.

5 minutes ago I got no error when adding the USB device (and that was with no empty USB strings) but the device did not show up in the Guest system`s device manager, and driver install still gives this error: This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down.

[mpack]

When attaching USB device in VirtualBox on Host = USB Device busy with another request.

That is a perfectly common error - I suggest that you Google for it "USB "busy with another request" site:forums.virtualbox.org". It means that you plugged in the device before starting the VM, hence the host grabbed it and won't let go. To ensure that a Windows guest grabs the device, first create a matching filter, and then plug the device in after the guest has booted to the desktop, and allow the host to install the USB redirection filter (a hardware found dialog will pop up when it wants to do this).

When attempting a driver install using the driver install setup in Win98 Guest I get error: This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down.

The error is on the guest or the host? If it's the guest then you have a buggy driver, or maybe just a buggy driver installer. Substitute a non-buggy version. If it's the installer that crashes then you may do better with a "bare" driver (the driver and an .inf file), which you can install manually. Possibly it's an issue with a 16bit installer, in which case enabling VT-x (if available) sometimes changes the scenario enough to avoid the crash.

To get the bare driver: if you're lucky then the installer exe is a self extracting zip, just rename it to .zip and you can unpack it. If unlucky then you need to go back to the manufacturer.

[Tore Daniel]

Taking what you said to heart, and leaving no stone unturned I asked Saitek and made sure that it is not corrupt on their end (the setup, the files, the everything and the kitchen sink and what not for any true gizmos out there).
I`ve picked up on how people here like to do things, so I also downloaded it at another persons house (With completely different ISP, modem, router, central, ISP server location etc) on two occasions on two different computers onto two different USB sticks, despite these attempts I ran into the same driver install error.
So to make sure, I redownloaded and reinstalled VirtualBox on host and W98 on guest, this time with host restart after VB install and host restart after W98 Guest profile creation to be on the safe side and also without installing anything else than WinRAR on W98 Guest profile to extract the driver setup files from the .rar file that is the driver download.
But the exact error persisted.

So I tried an approach based on what you said about the Guest not grabbing the USB device before the Host.
I unplugged the USB Joystick, plugged it back into a different port (My Host machine is luckily a bit slow on installing drivers for different ports), this gave me enough time to select the USB Joystick in the USB Devices tab for the Guest VM menu bar, and voilà, the device was recognized by VirtualBox, and VirtualBox installed USB drivers on the Host, then the USB 2.0 card in the Guest was activated and W98 installed the drivers for that, presto, USB Joystick was instantly recognized in the Guest, from there it was as simple as launching the USB Joystick driver installer (Because the installer now found a USB controller in the guest OS system)

In hindsight, I also found out how to possibly make a USB filter, which will be useful for the next occasion.
Right now I`m playing the nostalgic European Air War and Flying Corps Gold, all thanks to discerning advice from you all!

Thank you all so much!

[mpack]

If the joystick is now working then I'll mark this topic as solved.