No gameport detected?

Okay, so I'm trying to set up my joystick - a Logitech Wingman Extreme Digital 3D. I go to install it, and during detection, the computer freezes. I check my driver disc for any help, and find a program called "ChkGPort.exe." Running the program brings up a dialog which says, "No hardware gameport found. Please add a virtual gameport. Add a virtual gameport?" with the usual Yes and No buttons.

Thinking something is amiss, I check my system properties. Under Sound and Game Controllers, all of the devices listed for my Aureal SQ2500 sound card are working properly - including the gameport interface.

This didn't happen on my old machine (AMD K6-2/400 on a GA-5AA motherboard) with the same soundcard, which ran the same OS I use now - Windows ME. I am quite at a loss for what to do here.

I know the joystick shipped with a gameport-to-USB adapter, and I know that would probably solve my problem, except I can't find it and a new one will cost at least US$25(!) plus shipping.

EDIT: For comparison, my current machine is running an Athlon 1.33GHz T-bird on a Biostar M7MIA mobo. (Before anyone asks, yes, I disabled onboard audio in the BIOS.)

Normally, I would refrain from shamelessly bumping my own thread, but I am still no closer to finding an answer.

I ran every search engine I know of, trying to find any page which referenced the error message in some way. All I got was a Logitech FAQ that, unfortunately, was written in Chinese. Babelfish translation was unhelpful at best, with phrases such as "cat coal mildew is dead drunk" appearing in the text. Somehow, I doubt that has anything to do with joystick troubleshooting.

Far be it from a major company like Logitech to provide a glimmer of support to that little backwater country known as the US. Or translating their FAQ for the remaining 4.8 billion of us who do not speak Chinese.

As of right now, I don't know what is causing the problem. I tried changing resources in the System configuration screen (even though there are no conflicts). I made sure everything onboard-audio-related (including the onboard gameport) was disabled in the BIOS. I even removed the gameport from the system profile and had it reinstall the drivers, to no avail.

My only hope is a joystick-to-USB converter; the joystick came with one, but it is unfortunately lost at the moment. And new ones cost $25 apiece online. I could get a new friggin' joystick for that.

I read that the AU8820 and 8830 chipsets (I am using an SQ2500, so it's 8830 for me) sometimes have detection problems with "AID devices." The source could have been a bit more helpful by explaining what AID means, but apparantly the FAQ was written by someone who has never experienced the load of undocumented errors that I have seen. Their recommended remedy is to install Wingman software 3.2 or higher, and my CD comes with 3.25. So that's not the problem.

Does anyone have even the faintest idea why my gameport is not being detected by the joystick software, even though it is clearly detected by Windows? Or, can anyone here read Chinese and provide an accurate translation of the Logitech FAQ? (URL is www.logitech.com.tw/service/faq/game/faq_game.htm)

Thanks for your time.

Not sure if this will help or not, but here is a US site in english you can try

Good luck

radio shack has a gameport --> USB for $15 bucks

Or you could build a gameport to attach to your motherboard header for less than $10 bucks.

I'm not sure why yours isn't working, but those are two alternatives.