VB 6/DirectX 7 Application Does Not Find USB Joystick When Running Under Windows 7

I have a VB 6 SP6 application that uses DirectX 7 to interface to a USB joystick (Logitech Extreme 3D Pro). The application works under Windows XP Pro (32-bit). I've got Visual Studio and the application running under Windows 7 Pro SP1 (32-bit). I've calibrated the joystick under Windows 7. The VB 6 application does not find any DirectX 7 joystick device to connect to. Otherwise, the VB 6 application works (GUI, embedded video, serial channel, Ethernet connections). The VB 6 application must be accessing the dx7vb.dll or it would crash. The joystick disc did not provide a driver. I installed the latest joystick Profiler vendor software from the Web.

I’ve done a few Web searches with no solution. This is my first attempt to use Windows 7 as a platform. I'm not sure what to try from a Windows 7 perspective. Does anybody have a solution to the problem or suggestions?

Thank you

Visual Basic 6.0 DirectX applications fail to run on Windows Vista and later

Quote:

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An application which requires the DirectX for Visual Basic 6.0 components will not execute on Windows Vista or later.

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There are additional hazards involved when compiling VB6 programs on Windows 7 SP1. Compatibility has been broken in a number of areas (most noteably ADO).

Is the joystick/DirectX problem only an issue for SP1? The rest of the difficult application issues have been overcome. Is there a workaround for getting the joystick working? Do you know where "DirectX for Visual Basic 6.0 components will not execute on Windows Vista or later" is documented so I can pass it along to the powers that be?

Thank you for the quick response

This is a problem for all Windows NT 6.x OSs. There is no support for the VB6 DirectX 7 components from Vista onward. See the link above. This was an issue announced in 2006.

Perhaps you might consider joyGetPosEx Function, joyGetDevCaps Function, etc.

For whatever reason I missed the link from your first post - sorry. We don't change the OS often - long product life cycle. I'll pass along the news and look into your other options.

Thanks again

I used the MSDN information that came with the VB6 software to find a joystick sample (http://support.microsoft.com/downloa...s/joystick.exe). I used http://waybackmachine.org to locate the web page and download the file.

I calibrated the joystick on the Windows 7 PC and started the joystick application in VB6. It did not find a joystick.

Does anyone have any other ideas?