Spaceball 5000 & AutoCad 2000

[mlcengineer]

javascript:emoticon('')My OS is Windows 7 64 and I am running AutoCad 2000 in Windows XP Mode (32) within Windows 7. I recently purchased a Spaceball 5000, installed the Vista 64 driver and the AutoCad 2006 plugin. The cube demo works perfectly in Windows 7. I loaded the acad3dx menu in AutoCad, which shows the 3dconnexion toolbar. When I select the 2D motion button on the toolbar, I get "'3DX_MOTIONMODE Unknown command" in the command line. I haven't been successful getting the Spaceball to work yet. Please help, thank you!!

[lynnagency]

You certainly do need a lot of help.
You are doing about everything wrong that you could.
You are running the

wrong version of 3DxWare
in the wrong mode of your operating system
with an out of date application
making use of an out of date device
with the wrong plug in.

You need to use the current version of AutoCAD
with the current version of 3DxSoftware
with a 3Dconnexion device that is currently on the market.

[mlcengineer]

lynnangency, you have way too much time on your hands to post this kind of mis-informed reply which is absolutely of no value. For the sake of this forum, you should restrict your replies to those in which you have at least elementary knowledge in.

[Fred]

The Spaceball 5000 is not supported on the Win 7 OS.
It is not certified and the product is a Legacy device.
No driver will be released for the new OS.
Its as is if you get it to work.
The Autocad 2000 application is a Legacy application. The 2006 addin you downloaded may not work with the application due to changes in the AIU in the application.

[mlcengineer]

Thank you Fred! The 3DxSoftware_v3-7-22 driver does work in Windows 7 64 part of the time. The 3dsrv.exe file will run at times, and will not run at other times. I can't diagnose why it intermittently runs, but when it does, it works great!

I installed the driver certified for Windows 7 from the SpaceNavigator driver listing (3DxSoftware64_v3-10-1 and it does the very same thing. Can you help me resolve this intermittent problem?

Thanks again,
Michael

[Fred]

3.7.22 driver is the last driver made for the Spaceball 5000.
The 3.10.1 driver will not recognize a Spaceball 5000.

Try adding 3DXsrv.exe as trusted in the firewall settings you may have to check in Bit defender as well.
Not sure what would be causing the intermittant work\not work.
Run the start driver under administrator as well.


Maybe one of the programmers will add there 2 cents worth as well.

[mlcengineer]

Thanks again Fred! I installed the 3.10.1 driver just to see if it would duplicate the intermittent problem regardless of the device, as part of the diagnostics process, which it did. I already added the 3dxsrv.exe as trusted to the firewall and it runs as administrator. I am not running Bit Defender, but I am running AVG free. I cannot find where to allow the driver in AVG. As we both mentioned, the problem is intermittent loading of the driver. When it won't load at startup, it won't load manually either. When it does, it works great.

[Fred]

Check with AVG and see if they scan the usb ports if so you may have to ask them how to disable or create an exception rule.

I found this in the index of there home page:

Open AVG User Interface.
Choose the Firewall settings option from the Tools menu.
Expand your default profile from the Profiles section.
Select the Applications item.
Press the Add button on the right hand side.
Use the "..." button to enter the path to the program executable:
C:\Program Files\3Dconnexion\3Dconnexion 3DxSoftware\3DxWare\3dxsrv.exe

[UtaSH]

Thanks again Fred! I installed the 3.10.1 driver just to see if it would duplicate the intermittent problem regardless of the device, as part of the diagnostics process, which it did. I already added the 3dxsrv.exe as trusted to the firewall and it runs as administrator. I am not running Bit Defender, but I am running AVG free. I cannot find where to allow the driver in AVG. As we both mentioned, the problem is intermittent loading of the driver. When it won't load at startup, it won't load manually either. When it does, it works great.

mlcengineer,

do you have a more recent device for the 3DxSoftware 3.10.1? The driver won't start if you have a SpaceBall 5000 connected as this is a legacy device and not supported as Fred mentioned. You can only test the driver if you have one of our supported devices attached.

[mlcengineer]

Fred/uludwig,

Thank you so much for your support. I called tech support today and they suggested I run the Spaceball 5000 3.7.22 driver in compatibility mode for Windows Vista service pack 2. I made this configuration change and have rebooted ten times with the driver loading automatically each time. I upgraded AutoCAD to a post 2007 version and the Spaceball 5000 works beautifully in it as well. I was told by 3Dconnexion that I could possibly be the only person successfully running the Spaceball 5000 in Windows 7 64. I hope the following information helps others:

1. Install the 3DxSoftware driver version 3.7.22
2. Change the 3dxsrv.exe file properties to run as an administrator
3. Change the 3dxsrv.exe file properties to run in compatibility mode for Windows Vista service pack 2
4. Add the 3dxsrv.exe file to Windows Firewall as an allowed program

[Fred]

mlcengineer,

Im glad everything is working correclty now.
Im the same person you spoke to on the phone.

[jedikalimero]

I was told by 3Dconnexion that I could possibly be the only person successfully running the Spaceball 5000 in Windows 7 64

mlcengineer,

Im glad everything is working correclty now.
Im the same person you spoke to on the phone.

Dear Fred,

This forum and many other forums are full of stories about people who after a lot of effort achieve the goal to run their legacy devices in new versions of Windows. This demonstrates there are no outdated devices but brands who don't care about their base of old customers. This is more painful when the device is a expensive one and the company pretends you to buy a new device that does pretty much the same every time a new version of Windows appears.

Ok, you don't want to spend your time and money on updating drivers for your old devices, but at least, you could spend a little time collecting all the successful attempts of your customers in one place so the rest of them don't have to pass the same painful calvary. In fact, releasing a "new" driver using those successful solutions shouldn't be a problem at all. Just learn the lesson from other manufacturers like Nvidia, HP, Wacom or SpaceControl who constantly release unified drivers that allow their old hardware to work in the newest systems. That creates TRUST and trust is what makes people to buy their products because they know they will be not declared outdated by the manufacturer the next year. I know I will be not buying a brand new 3Dconnexion device because I don't trust you. Maybe I would buy a second hand one if I get it cheap. But I know I would buy a brand new one from SpaceControl.

[Tehrasha]

That creates TRUST and trust is what makes people to buy their products because they know they will be not declared outdated by the manufacturer the next year. I know I will be not buying a brand new 3Dconnexion device because I don't trust you. Maybe I would buy a second hand one if I get it cheap. But I know I would buy a brand new one from SpaceControl.

In your quoted example, the Spaceball 5000, came out in 2003 and was supported until 2009.
Thats 6 years of support for a single model, while supporting 8 other models during most of those years.

SpaceControl has only been around for 5 years in total. They have had 3 devices in that time,
if you count the addition of the PowerWheel in 2011 as a 'different model', and the GEN in 2012.
The GEN, which mysteriously vanished from their website entirely 1yr later.
Messages to SC about the GEN have so far gone unanswered...

That being said...
I am certainly not thrilled with the rate at which 3DConnexion antiquates their hardware.
Especially when, apart from number of buttons, and an LCD screen thrown in here or there,
the internals of the controller and the data streaming from it are essentially identical.
It practically comes down to the driver being allowed to recognize the older device ID#s.

[jedikalimero]

That creates TRUST and trust is what makes people to buy their products because they know they will be not declared outdated by the manufacturer the next year. I know I will be not buying a brand new 3Dconnexion device because I don't trust you. Maybe I would buy a second hand one if I get it cheap. But I know I would buy a brand new one from SpaceControl.

In your quoted example, the Spaceball 5000, came out in 2003 and was supported until 2009.
Thats 6 years of support for a single model, while supporting 8 other models during most of those years.

SpaceControl has only been around for 5 years in total. They have had 3 devices in that time,
if you count the addition of the PowerWheel in 2011 as a 'different model', and the GEN in 2012.
The GEN, which mysteriously vanished from their website entirely 1yr later.
Messages to SC about the GEN have so far gone unanswered...

That being said...
I am certainly not thrilled with the rate at which 3DConnexion antiquates their hardware.
Especially when, apart from number of buttons, and an LCD screen thrown in here or there,
the internals of the controller and the data streaming from it are essentially identical.
It practically comes down to the driver being allowed to recognize the older device ID#s.

I have an old Wacom Graphire tablet since 1999 that is still running perfectly in Windows 10 using the same driver as my newest Wacom Intuos Pro tablet. From the first tablet to the last I have had 3 more Wacom tablets (intuos 3, intuos 4 and intuos 5). Not because they got outdated but because every generation had enhancements that made worthy to upgrade. Wacom has made a lot of money with me, no doubt, but I spent every penny with pleasure (well, I could have spent less money with more pleasure since Wacom devices are expensive, but quality is unrivalled and support is over the top). A driver that supports a 16 years old device that was created before Windows XP even existed and has supported this device and all others through all instalments of Windows and MacOS. THAT IS something you can TRUST.

I finally got a SpaceNavigator, but only because I got it very, very cheap (£11 with a big lot of other things). It is certainly a great device. I wish it will last as many years as my first Wacom tablet, 16 years and counting. Let's see.