spaceball flx4000 su windows 7 pro 64 bit e solidworks 2012 (o altri)

[Andalo]

Hello everyone,
First of all I know, I know, in many people will tell me that the spaceball in question is prehistoric, but finding it given me, I said: why not try if it works?

I read a lot around, especially on the site of the building house, where many posted evidence and suggestions about it.
I looked around here, but I didn't find anything.

So here I am with this post.

In the absence of the seizure of attempts until now carried out, I clarify some points and the results achieved.

I use win 7 pro 64 bits for different reasons, so I cannot/want to change the system.
I have a serious adaptor>usb that works well and in fact I see the mouse with its name among the harware resources and feel the related bip to the initial chek.
I even see in sw the bar corresponding to the spaceball, with window of the various adjustments.

the problem is that the famous yellow exclamation point appears in win and therefore the various options in sw are translucent and therefore unusable: the device is not recognized at the drivers level from windows 7.
I tried the drivers for the 4000 serial, the 5000 serial and the 5000 usb.

Many in the mother's home forum complained that this (despite the price not indifferent to the device, and the operation without problems of the same to the customers) had decided not to develop the drivers from xp to 7 64 bits indirectly pushing the customers to migrate to the new and expensive usb.
They said about this: "ok you are a company that has to earn and produce new devices and ok the usb is due now, but many of us with numerous 4000 perfectly working in the company, are migrated to win 7 64bit for obvious reasons and you have left us with many $$ of effetuated expense attached to the neck. for what we spent and the niche in which it is open, we expected a longer support as other houses continue to do, in parallel to the new products." more or less they went on like this.

now, I ask myself: Has anyone been able to achieve results?
If yes, with which sequence/drivers?

thanks to all in advance,

Good job!
p.s. hope to have posted in the right section; If I have misguided gentle moderators transferred me to the most suitable one. Thank you.

 

[stefanobruno]

http://www.3dconnexion.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3828I have always promised to try these procedures to see if I could use my old 3dconnexion.
I'll let you know if you have time and want to try, let me know the result.

 

[Andalo]

Hello stefanobruno,
Thank you for answering me and for the link.
I have read in length and wide the forum to which it belongs, but in fact I had missed that particular discussion.
after carefully reading the 3 pages of suggestions and solutions proposed/proved and dated over 7 years back (but that could be a solution still current), I arrived at the last intervention, dated just yesterday: eye51 » thu feb 02, 2017 10:36 am. I carry it in full, hoping not to create problems of copiright (in case cancel it):hi,

responding to a very old thread.. but it might help some people.
i managed to get my spaceball 4000 flx working on my 64bit windows 7 machine using the instructions as posted by witch doctor.

like other people, i had no trouble finding the 2.8.2 driver but could not find 3dxsoftware 3.10.1.
by googling i found a german website which had 3dxsoftware 3.10.1 still available.

if you look for 'support harlander treiber' you will find the right website.

under "artikel suchen" type "space explorer". this will guide you to a download for the 3.10.1 (file name "space_explorer_usb_64bit_xp_vista_win7")
(there is also a 32bit, but i have only tried the 64 bit version)

to connect the spaceball to my laptop i am using a usb to serial connector. i tried the spaceball with autocad 2014 and it seems to be working fine.
hope this will be of any help

regards,
basThis person seems to be in my condition, even for usb to serial connector.
Unfortunately in my case I couldn't solve (in fact I learn to answer him in that same post).

in particular, here is my sequence with hardware details:
1)lenovo t410 and usb to serial prolific rs232 adapter
2)win 7 64 bit
3)spaceball 4000flx manufactured for ibm
I install everything with compatibility win xp sp2, reboot to each installation.
4) install the 2.8.2 drivers of the cadman device: 3dxsoftware64_v2-8-2. Also for the 4000 you find a driver 2.8.2, but only for the 32 bits. cadman also contains 64bit folder. avoid installing the add-in for sw.. only the device drivers.
5) reboot
6) I should have installed the device, but unfortunately it seems that win7 does not find the drivers of 4000, that while doing the double bip at startup, it appears in the harware resources, but with yellow dot... :
7) install as from above indications, the drivers for sw, 3.10.1. they have the name: "space_explorer_usb_64bit_xp_vista_win7".
8) reboot.
in sw 2012 the spaceball bar appears, but apart from the question mark that provides explanations on its use, the other buttons are semi-transparent, or disabled.
This, I imagine, because in the first place it is the know not to recognize the 4000, before "to feed it" to the software cad.

for me, for now.
my win7-64, does not want to digest the 4000 with the indicated drivers/procedures.
it would be interesting to remake everything with a motherboard that originally has a serial, so with a win7-64 bit.
useless to try with virtual machines (also xp), as if the host does not recognize the hardware, it does not pass it to virtual.. At least this happens to me.

I would like to grump with others here, in these various attempts, to confront.

I try to write on the forum you told me, maybe I contact the guy who posted last and I understand something more.

Hello, good night

 

[Andalo]

Hello stefanobruno,

Did you manage to find a solution? Unfortunately I don't have a serial port machine on which to put the win7 64.bit. I don't want it to be the usb adaptor to create recognition problems.

you then on what kind of mouse did you orient yourself?

Hi.

 

[stefanobruno]

I have at home all the spacemouse museum, from that with the tennis ball, passing through that at the foot of duck to the space traveller.
It was not my intention to try now, I already have what works connected to my car.
taking into account that what I use costs 100 heuri, for me it is not worth wasting time to do tests, it would be interesting but only as curiosity.

 

[Andalo]

Sure, I understand. In fact, these tests take a long time, so if they are not necessary. . .
I only have this and so if I could avoid other expenses, so much money.
If you want to test in parallel, let me know.

Meanwhile, given your "collection" I would ask you for advice on which to evaluate (compatible with win7 64), maybe even if it is used. I am not interested in the last hair, and for my use it would already be enough to navgare 3d with the left hand, while with the other mouse go. some key for quick access to a few functions would not be bad, but nevertheless secondary to my needs.
Hello, thank you

 

[stefanobruno]

the old ones, strictly used, had more keys and I never felt the need to program them, if not for evidence that led me to the determination that they did not help me much more.
I have bought new ones have always had 2 keys, and I don't even use these, so my answer is discounted : spacenavigator.

 

[Andalo]

:wink: I would say very clear.
any indication on models to guide me? Of course, "strictly used"
Hi.