LicCtrl related Gripe/Problem

Jason Moyer · 07-09-2002, 06:49 AM

I realize this is something that is beyond the control of Markus/the OOTP team but I thought this was interesting and might be helpful if anyone else is having a similar problem.

The last 2-3 months or so I've been having this odd issue with my USB controllers, particularly my MS Sidewinder wheel. Randomly it seems that Windows would just stop recognizing it. For the life of me I couldn't figure it out but I've been too busy to really troubleshoot it.

Today I sat down to do some serious racing, and I finally had enough of this. Basically, the symptoms varied from game to game - in Papyrus racing titles (Grand Prix Legends, Nascar 2002) the game would run fine for short periods then suddenly just stop recognizing one of the 3 axes on the controller. In others, F1 2002 and Rally Trophy, it would work fine mostly, but periodically the controls would freeze for half a second.

I decided to reinstall an old favorite, Rally Masters today. This is where things get weird. The controls would work similarly to F12k2/Rally Trophy, except that the stuttering lasted for anywhere from half a second to 20 seconds. Odd, I thought, I didn't have this problem before a few months ago, I wonder what's causing it.

To make a long story short, I ended up doing a reformat (it had been 3 months since my last, so I figured it was about time) and started off by reinstalling all my hardware drivers and racing titles, just to test them out. Wow, they all worked fine. This is incredibly odd. So I install all of my sports titles. They work fine too.

Anyway, after installing HH2k3, OOTP4, and Tennis Masters Series, I go back to Rally Masters to put some quick stages in. Whoa, the stuttering is back. After some troubleshooting, I discover the culprit...

LicCtrl!

Poking through the windows startup (win98 using msconfig) I disabled LicCtrl at boot time. The input-stuttering was gone. Interesting.

I realize anytime I play OOTP I'm going to need to go back and disable LicCtrl and reboot, but I found this discovery interesting. Re-enabling the eLicense Control Panel causes stuttering from my USB joysticks, disabling it makes it go away.

This isn't really a gripe directed towards .400 Software or anything like that, but I'm wondering...is there a new version of the eLicense CtrlPanel available maybe? At the present time, disabling it is just a minor inconvenience, but it would be cool if there were a permanent fix that I could apply.

Anyway, just sharing in case others had the problem and either found a perm. solution or couldn't figure it out.

Jason

07-09-2002, 06:49 AM	#1
Jason Moyer Hall Of Famer Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Pittsburgh Posts: 5,108	LicCtrl related Gripe/Problem I realize this is something that is beyond the control of Markus/the OOTP team but I thought this was interesting and might be helpful if anyone else is having a similar problem. The last 2-3 months or so I've been having this odd issue with my USB controllers, particularly my MS Sidewinder wheel. Randomly it seems that Windows would just stop recognizing it. For the life of me I couldn't figure it out but I've been too busy to really troubleshoot it. Today I sat down to do some serious racing, and I finally had enough of this. Basically, the symptoms varied from game to game - in Papyrus racing titles (Grand Prix Legends, Nascar 2002) the game would run fine for short periods then suddenly just stop recognizing one of the 3 axes on the controller. In others, F1 2002 and Rally Trophy, it would work fine mostly, but periodically the controls would freeze for half a second. I decided to reinstall an old favorite, Rally Masters today. This is where things get weird. The controls would work similarly to F12k2/Rally Trophy, except that the stuttering lasted for anywhere from half a second to 20 seconds. Odd, I thought, I didn't have this problem before a few months ago, I wonder what's causing it. To make a long story short, I ended up doing a reformat (it had been 3 months since my last, so I figured it was about time) and started off by reinstalling all my hardware drivers and racing titles, just to test them out. Wow, they all worked fine. This is incredibly odd. So I install all of my sports titles. They work fine too. Anyway, after installing HH2k3, OOTP4, and Tennis Masters Series, I go back to Rally Masters to put some quick stages in. Whoa, the stuttering is back. After some troubleshooting, I discover the culprit... LicCtrl! Poking through the windows startup (win98 using msconfig) I disabled LicCtrl at boot time. The input-stuttering was gone. Interesting. I realize anytime I play OOTP I'm going to need to go back and disable LicCtrl and reboot, but I found this discovery interesting. Re-enabling the eLicense Control Panel causes stuttering from my USB joysticks, disabling it makes it go away. This isn't really a gripe directed towards .400 Software or anything like that, but I'm wondering...is there a new version of the eLicense CtrlPanel available maybe? At the present time, disabling it is just a minor inconvenience, but it would be cool if there were a permanent fix that I could apply. Anyway, just sharing in case others had the problem and either found a perm. solution or couldn't figure it out. Jason __________________ "I pretty much popped everything cold turkey. We were doing steroids they wouldn't give to horses." -- Tom House "I was very fortunate to have a pitching coach by the name of Tom House...Tom, I really miss those days that we spent in the weight room and out on the field working together." -- Nolan Ryan's HoF Induction Speech