I just installed EAW from the original Microprose CD and installed the v1.28 patch immediately aftwards per the instructions in this forum. The install for both the game and the patch went without a hitch.

Upon clicking on the shortcut to run the game, the screen briefly goes black and then returns to the desktop with the following error message:

Error: could not set Joystick X range property.

I get this error message whether the joystick is plugged in or not. The stick is a MSFF2 and works perfectly fine in all other games.

I'm running WinXP Home.

Any suggestions?

Hi,

uninstall EAW and just copy paste the EAW CD to the wanted directory.

EAW dont need registry entrys and we saw many times that a "normal installed" EAW get trouble, while just a copy run.

The joystick X range message is absolut new to me.

Run the EAW1.2 patch before EAW1.28!! EAW1.28 is a update for EAW1.2, not EAW1.0.

Greetings,

Knegel

Thanks. I'll give it a try.

Hi LeemzHQ,

The problem doesn't have anything to do with the game but with the keyboard you use. Are you by any chance using an enhanced keyboard? If so try installing it as a normal 102 keys keyboard or remove or switch off the extra drivers for it's enhancements.
The game thinks your keyboard is a joystick and tries to assign a stick range to a key. A key has no range, only on and off.
The device is probably in your gaming device list and can not be used as a joystick.

VonBeerhofen

I'm using a Saitek Eclipse keyboard and it does show up in my list of game controllers. The only thing "enhanced" about it is that the keys are backlit. Aside from that, it's a normal keyboard.

Hi,

EAW use the 1st game controller in the list, what is the 1st in your list??

Greetings,

Knegel

Another thing to try would be to move the joystick to the top of your controller list. This has worked in the past for some, as EAW only uses one contoller and will select the one at the top of the list if there a more.

The joystick is at the top of the list. But, now I get the 7217 error.

I'm running an nvidia GeForce 7600 GT card. This is probably the problem.

I'll uninstall the game again and try running it on one of my older PC's.

If that doesn't work I'll give up. I'm just looking for a little nostalgia. I don't want to jump through hoops to get an 11 year old game to run when I can play any of my IL2 games or Strike Fighters (or WOE, WOV).

Thanks for the help.

Hello LeemzHQ.

If your getting the 7217 error, you will need Jelly's JIM launcher.

http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2575984

I'm getting this issue now... Any known fix in Win 7? I copied over the EAW CD and installed the 4 files listed on Mr. Jelly's page. Please help. I'm using a Corsair K90 keyboard and I have Thrustmaster Cougar and MFDs plugged in. It's the Error: could not set Joystick X range property. message...

Hi!
It is an error that I have not met, but checking the posts in the thread it is not new.
I have been looking in the source code, and I find that IDS_STRING5 is defined as "Error: could not set Joystick X range property."
However, so far I have not been able to find a routine which causes an exit with this error message.

Did EAW generate an "eaw.ini" file?

If so what do you have in these two sections?

============================
[CONTROLS]
Force Feedback=0
Force Feedback Gain=7500
Flight Sensitivity=1.000000
Camera Sensitivity=5.000000
Swap Mouse X=0
Swap Mouse Y=0
Windows Joystick=1
JoystickDeadZone=4
Snapview Speed=5
Device1 Port=1
Device2 Port=2
Rudder Device=1
Throttle Device=1
Stick Device=1
Key Device=0
POV Device=0
Guns Convergence Z=0
Guns Convergence Y=0
============================
============================
[Remappable Keys]
FLIGHT CONTROL=Joystick
CAMERA CONTROL=Mouse
RUDDER CONTROL=Rudder
THROTTLE CONTROL=Throttle



Jel

It did:

[CONTROLS]
Force Feedback=0
Force Feedback Gain=7500
Flight Sensitivity=1.000000
Camera Sensitivity=5.000000
Swap Mouse X=0
Swap Mouse Y=0
Snapview Speed=5
Windows Joystick=1
Device1 Port=1
Device2 Port=2
Device3 Port=3
Rudder Device=1
Throttle Device=1
Stick Device=1
Key Device=1
POV Device=1
JoystickDeadZone=4
Guns Convergence Z=0
Guns Convergence Y=0

I do not have that second part though! I'll add it and see what happens.

Well I added the second part and set my settings as the same as yours. Still I'm getting the same error message...

d this problem years ago with a saitek keyboard and X-52..Solved by Saitek
http://www.saitekforum.com/showthread.php?t=9323
I have a Saitek x-52 stick and a gamers keyboard...When I install the x-52 software it picks up on the gamers keyboard and installs it as a gaming device which prevents me from running EAW which dosen't handle multiple controllers well.
I've found in the past if I use another USB keyboard and install the stick software and then later just plug in the keyboard it goes in as a regular usb keyboard and all is well...Problem is I just did a re-format/reinstall of xp and installed my joystick and now I have the two game controllers.
How do you totally and fully uninstall the software along with the registry entries so I can install my stick and later plug in the keyboard..I'm sure add/remove dosen't remove all the identifiers in the registry and the keyboard will show up again as a game controller.I need a totally clean uninstall to get things working.
Thank you for any help on this issue..



There's an easier way around this - just disable the parts of the Gamers Keyboard that act as a Game Controller.

Open the System icon in Control Panel, click Hardware at the top of the window that comes up and then click Device Manager. In there click the plus sign next to the Human Interface Devices category and then right-click and disable the two Gamers' Keyboard entries.

You should also see one or two (maybe more) entries called USB Human Interface Device. You need to disable one of them by right-clicking it and choosing Disable from the drop-down list of options.

Note: If you have only two such entries there in Device Manager then only one will be able to be disabled - the other will have the disable option greyed out in the drop-down list when you right click it. If however you have more than two such entries in Device Manager then you will need to ewnsure that you disable the correct one. This is done by double clicking on each one in turn and looking at what it says next to Location on the Properties page. The one that should be disabled will say USB Gaming Keyboard Pro next to Location. Once you have disabled that then try the game again and it should work fine.
__________________

I have a Corsair K90 keyboard and a Saitek Aviator stick. Could that be the reason?

I also cannot view that page. Says a need to be a member...

Argon
I copied my post and the reply from Saitek in my post.It worked for me I had a Saitek gamers keyboard and had to disable one in the
HID entry on control panel since then I junked the saitek board and use a 20$ one and all works fine.The keyboard software might be interfering with your stick.

Thanks. I think I'll not worry about it until maybe a fix is found on EAW's side. Kinda a hassle for me as I play more than just EAW.

ArgonV

If you get chance to try a different keyboard please do so, and let us know the outcome.
We need as many clues as possible so that we can work out exactly what is causing the problem so that we can fix it.
As I wrote previously we have not found a routine in the source code which is generating that error message. Obviously it is in there somewhere, but none of us have been able to find it, and none of us can generate the error on our PCs.

Jel

Jell
Find someone who has a keyboard that installs as a controller IE:saitek gamers keyboard..I had one and it raised the same error message...Because it instals as a HID device and conflicted with my programmable Saitek stick.Eliminating the keyboard from the hid devices cured it.It seems Saitek and/other programmable Sticks and keyboards can't co-exist

Living in a French village of less than 2000 people makes this a little tricky

Jel

Firstly I've not read all of this thread, so sorry if this has been said before.:)

In all the years I've used and built my own PC's, I've never had a keyboard which can be used as a controller. On the other hand I've never had a game which can't be played with a keyboard, but then I am using WinXP Pro, and I have no intention of giving Bill the chance to mess up my PC's.

The Keyboard you have might be set in a foreign language key arrangement, which will mess up playing the game, or if your keyboard is one of those fancy ones, like on most modern laptops, which have a second button setup under the default QWERTY, which normally is little numbers and letters on the lower right of each button, might be active. My son's Laptop would not play his Lego Football, but once I reset the keyboard, it worked normally.

Of course, make sure your stick is at the top of your controller list.
Make sure the stick, throttle, rudder are listed as =1 like your device port=1.

I just had to re-do my computer with a new mothermoard, and had to re-install my X-52
and no matter what I did I could not get my EAW profile to work...the stick worked for
turning, but nothing else worked. I deleted the eaw.ini, ran the game again, and all
works well, so try deleting your eaw.ini.

You will also want to make sure which version of the eaw.exe you are using.
I am using 1.28e_fix12. There are others prior and later. (also some 1.3 versions)
I'm not sure what the latest is from Jel's downloads, but some of the latest ones include
the possibility of 3 devices, some hit/damge bubble fixes and a prop-speed setting in your
eaw.ini. Just some thoughts.......

AO

Thanks AO- you reminded me of something that may well be relevant

I no longer have rudder pedals- they were left behind in Australia, but when I got them a couple of years ago I had a problem with EAW.
With both the SAITEK pedals and the joystick plugged in the pedals were acting like a joystick, and the joystick was not working as it should.
At the time I recall posting pictures of the solution that I found to help others fix the problem if they encountered it.
It was similar to this:



What I saw at the time in the box which appears after clicking the "Advanced..." button was the pedals being shown as the "preferred controller for older programs". The joystick was available in the drop down list, and when it was selected as the preferred controller it worked properly. All that was needed was to set the rudder to device port 2 in the "eaw.ini" so that I was using the pedals for the rudder, and not the twist handle.

Jel

Ok guys, some news!

I had my HOTAS Cougar as the first in the list as shown by Mr Jelly. Also made sure the stick, throttle, rudder are listed as =1 like your device port=1.

What was causing the problem was the Thrustmaster MFDs. I unplugged the two I have and EAW LAUNCHES! Now how do I tell which EAW version I have?

Now to fix this issue with programmable controllers...

Your version should show up on the bottom left
of the EAW mainscreen when you launch.

AO

Col
The keyboard that gave me the error was a Saitek Gamers keyboard which had a keypad ..When I used saiteks software it raised hell with a few games EAW in particular.Even after switching keyboards to a generic one the keypad kept showing up in game controller...Right now the keyboard and key pad are collecting dust in my garage...Haven't tried it in 1.28 but the whole problem was the keypad showing up as a controller in EAW 1.2

[CONTROLS]
Force Feedback=0
Force Feedback Gain=7500
Flight Sensitivity=1.000000
Camera Sensitivity=5.000000
Snapview Speed=5
Swap Mouse X=0
Swap Mouse Y=0
Windows Joystick=1
Device1 Port=1
Throttle Device=2
Device2 Port=2
Rudder Device=3
Device3 Port=3
Stick Device=0
Key Device=0
POV Device=0
JoystickDeadZone=4
Guns Convergence Z=0
Guns Convergence Y=0

My setting for a Logitech G940 Stick Thottle and rudder