I am new-ish to WOFF and trying to get my Sidewinder 2 force-feedback joystick to work on a new PC build, but I just can't get it working with WOFF. If I "turn on" force-feedback in WOFF settings, I do get effects like the stick shaking near stall and when I fire, plus during some maneuvers, but the joystick is otherwise providing no resistance to movement - i.e. no centering force at all. The joystick works great with IL-2, DCS, MSFS 2020 and everything else I've tried, so I don't think it's a driver issue, unless there is some ancient driver that WOFF requires (which is, I guess, possible) ...

Help!

Hallo @Jeff1969c,

I hope, this answer can help:
https://SimHQ.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/4616370/info-desired#Post4616370

Greetings

Well that really disappointing to hear.
Was thinking of upgrading the the new Between Heaven and Hell II. But if it means that I can no longer use my MS FF2 stick, I'll have to pass.
And stick with my WOFF UE version.

I use a MSFF@ stick and it works just as you described .... very weak centering force but other effects work. I use it like that and have no problems; you just get used to it?

The believe the version of WOFF makes no difference, as the fault lies with Windows no longer supporting the stick as mentioned in Becker's linked conversation. Upgrading to Heaven and Hell II won't change the situation for better or worse.

I doubt it's a problem with Windows; as the OP states "The joystick works great with IL-2, DCS, MSFS 2020 and everything else I've tried..."

And actually this has been discussed much longer ago than the link above (at least to 2015) You can search "sidewinder" here on this forum and see what I mean. But here's one example: >LINK<
"Just incase somebody does go for the search option and find this post, warning this game does not support the MS-sidewinder FF2 USB joystick there is no support for and there will be no fix. "

Also, here: >LINK<
" Old hardware like MS-FFB2 is not supported by Woff, is the anwer from OBD."

If the problem lies with Windows, is it only with Win 10 and onwards?

Because my MS FF2 stick works fine on Win 7.

Again, I don't think it's a problem with Windows. The OP states the stick works in several other sims; if it were a Windows problem, it's unlikely it would work in those games either.

Also, the threads I link show that this has been discussed some 8 years ago, and specifically mention that it's not supported in this sim and there are/were no plans for a fix. I don't use the stick myself, but I get the impression reading that there is 'diminished' level of force feedback, so although it seems to work somewhat, several people who use it have said it doesn't work like it did in prior versions of OFF/WOFF. So, that also suggests it's not a problem within Windows; rather, that it worked at some point in the sim (c. 2015? or perhaps slightly earlier) but then at some point stopped working properly.

In this post on the thread linked by Becker01: >LINK< catch said "the old sidewinder is not as good as it used to be in the latest WoFF versions. I think they changed the code or something and it's perhaps no longer supported?", and OBD responded that "MS no longer supports it either".

Doesn't seem like a Windows problem.