Nostromo N50 Speedpad

[maddmaxx]

Hello all,
Anyone here use one of these? I can't get it to work correctly on 7. I hear that Belkin is not supporting it. Anyone know of a work around? Thanks for any help.

 

[maddmaxx]

Some light at the end of the tunnel? Well here it is straight from Belkin USA....

We are very sorry to inform you that it is not officaly tested with vista and wins 7. Our research team is working on it and if there are any updates, that will be posted in our website.

Inconvience regreted.

If you require any further assistance, please feel free to contact us again and we will be glad to assist you.

Regards,

Rajeish.A
Belkin Technical Support.

Research team? What are they looking for a cure for cancer? Jeez it's just drivers. And I have seen all the posts regarding the N-52 but that fix doesn't help the N-50. I learned to game on the speedpad which makes me a total spaz on the keyboard. The Reg cleaner from belkin does'nt work on 7. Anyone have a walk through on cleaning Belkin out of the registry?

 

[spud58]

i use the n52 speedpad, and i can get it to work correctly on first installing it but if i reboot it doesnt respond or load correctly.

tried running compatibility in xp and vista and no joy, kind of a bummer since its such a great addition to gaming.

might end up trying a saitek or something else, who knows.

 

[maddmaxx]

I'm going to hold out a bit longer to see if Belkin addresses the issue or a third party software becomes availible. I was looking at a Logitech G-13 if I can't get it to work.

 

[holo88]

this maybe stupid, but try using a keyboard driver instead. it's really not that different to a usb number pad used for laptops. so my guess is, that if you install it as a keyboard input device it MIGHT work. do it at your own risk, I'm merely making a suggestion.

research first, there might be similar solutions. hope it helps

 

[spud58]

True it may be a crutch to get through it, but the nostromo also has a D-pad and mouse wheel on it that I don't think a keyboard driver would recognize.

Actually Windows 7 uses a standard keyboard setting for it as it is, so the extra keys work, just not the D-pad (which is used quite a bit by me personally) for buttons. It works for movement, but that is not what i used it for.

 

[spud58]

I got a work around for the n52, and it may work for the n50. Turn off user access control settings and it allows the software to run like normal. I am using the vista drivers for it, and doing this allowed the program to run unhindered.

Control Panel -> User accounts -> select the account if you have multiple ones -> Change User Access Control Settings -> set slider to Never Notify.

Might not be the safest bet but it works for now and if you have a trustworthy antivirus/hacker/spam program it does the trick.

 

[maddmaxx]

Well now that 7 has come out I hope someone has used the n52 with success because I am thinking of buying one to replace my n50. You know if some smart guy knew how to write drivers for the n50 to work in 7 I bet he could charge $ for them and make a tidy sum.

 

[spud58]

I have been using mine just fine with the process i mentioned above for some time now, both in beta and release, using the latest version of drivers they have provided on the belkin website.

 

[maddmaxx]

Sweet. Now I'm shopping for it.

 

[LPDad]

I have been using my n52 with Win7 x64 with no problems whatsoever.
It works like a charm.
I was able to download the x64 drivers directly from Belkin.

 

[LPDad]

I do not know why, but the bekin site that has the drivers is a pain in the butt to find.

This is the name of the driver you want:

nostromo_3.2.4_081607.exe

version: 3.2.4, OS compatibility: Windows XP 32-bit, Windows Vista 32-bit, Windows XP 64-bit, Windows Vista 64-bit, size: 9.87Mb

Here is where you can download it from:

Belkin : Support : F8GFPC100 Nostromo SpeedPad n52 - Software and Drivers

That particular download contains both the software and the drivers. I had an old n50 speedpad that I plugged in (instead of my n52) and it worked also.

Software + drivers. you should be good to go (I replaced the drivers that Win7 x64 automatically installed, by the way)

 

[maddmaxx]

Thanks. I have tried those drivers and I can program the n50 and save the profile but for some odd reason it doesn't find a loadout in the loadout manager. I'm surprised that your n50 works. I wonder what the difference is here? Bah. Damn Belkin.

 

[CoPYCaT]

I have the exact same problem as maddmaxx. Windows 7 recognizes the N50... The Belkin Profile Editor works and saves in Windows 7, the Loadout Manager loads, but doesn’t recognize the N50 (even though Windows 7 does).

My solution was the go buy the N52te (which I did today)... Major problem with the n52te! The thumb pad “DPad” doesn’t accept more than one button being pressed at a time (eg. when driving a tank forward in BF2, you can’t turn at the same time... Same applies to any other game that requires moving. You CANT walk forward and strafe sideways at the same time!!). According the forums at n52te.com, it seems hundreds of users are pissed at Belkin for even releasing the n52te with such a problem. Seems Belkin is aware of the problem for over a year and no updates are out yet with lots of people returning their unit or waiting. I personally am taking the n52te back tomorrow and hoping I can get the N50 working. That or back to XP... sad since everything else in Windows 7 seems great.

 

[LPDad]

I read a lot of people were not too happy with the n52te, especially after using the n52 (which I love).

As an alternative you might look at: Newegg.com - Logitech G13 USB Advanced Gameboard - PC Game Controllers

(I still have an unopened original n52 as a backup for when my current controller wears out...but after that I might consider the above logitec. I tried the Saitek..do not waste your time, in my opinion the Saitek does not work well at all).

 

[waskol]

Hello everyone,
I see that you have some problems with your N50.

I have developped a loadout manager/profile editor working on top of standard windows drivers (that detects it as a Game Device), but enabling the Red/Green/Blue levels of programming.
A lot of people have tried it and report it successfully running with Vista and Seven, should it be x32 or x64.
Some people say not, but I am pretty sure they did not read how to install it.

So, feel free to visit my sourceforge project.
Since I don't know if I can put a link here (it is not an advert, nor a spam, I swear it !), I suggest you find it by yourself with google (keywords : nostromo sourceforge).

Have a nice day.

 

[LPDad]

Wow WASKOL, That is GREAT!!
Thanks for Sharing your work. Hopefully it will help a lot of us out. As you can see, there are many who rely on the older (better???--I think so) Speedpads.

 

[maddmaxx]

Great. I just bought a N52 and a N52te. I still have my N50 so I will definitely give this a try. I heard a lot of negative remarks about the N52te and I was looking for a 52 but I found a package deal for the 52 and the 52te so I jumped on it. The 52 has four more buttons than the 50 which I really need ( I'm a spaz on the keyboard ). I knew that sooner or later someone would develop a work around for the n50. I am going to try the n52 and the n52te on seven and I'll let you know the results of both.

 

[waskol]

And I have a great news, one of my users offers me a N52, and will soon send it by mail
Sooooo, I think I'll manage to make this one work too with Vista and Seven !

For instance, With my N50, I play Crysis, QuakeLive and some MMO under VISTA32 almost everyday (RoseOnline, LastChaos, GuildWars...)...
Stalker : Clear sky, Aquanox I/II, are working great too, etc...
It works also in all sort of applications , not only games. One of my users, Ron Alpert (http://www.texturemonkey.com/) is using it for it's job.

Some "Games for windows" that were designed to work with XBox Gamepad, such like LEft4Dead, just automatically map the buttons of the game controller and you cannot always change some bindings. In Left4Dead, Button8 of the 1st Gamepad met in the list of Gaming Device opens the game menu , wich is pretty annoying. Some people think it is an issue of my software, but nope.

Just be sure to download the XP version if you are running XP 32 or 64, and the VISTA/Seven version otherelse.

Just remember when you install :
- Do not install Belkin's drivers, just let Windows do the job with it's regular drivers (your nostromo should appear then in your Gaming devices)
- No installation required of the software : just unzip anywhere on your Disk.
- Run the 3 executables (Macro List editor, Profiler, and Commander) as with admmin privileges, UAC may ask you a few questions ("Are you sure to run this program ? blabla !"), unless you deactivated it.

Just spread the word and have fun !

Last, to tell you that as a developper point of view, VISTA and Seven have a very good USB devices management (compared with XP). And what is doing Belkin is a real shame : it's not because they cannot provide some software for our N50 or N52, but more because they do not want ! (Or they should just explain me why I was able to do it in 3 month when I had no experience of USB programming !)

Of course, sources are available for download, and the programs were written in Delphi (kind of Object Pascal).

 

[maddmaxx]

Okay I got my n52 and n52te today and tried the n52te first and the D pad doesn't program correctly. The n52 however works perfectly. I heard the fault is the software was written by Razor and not Belkin.