How to Transform Your 15 Pin (Gameport) Microsoft Sidewinder Precision Pro Into a USB Joystick

Last Updated: October 6, 2022

Remember that old SideWinder Precision Pro joystick you used to use? Yeah the one with the buttons...And the 8 Axis with the twist features...And probably with the dust on it because they canceled support for it back in Windows XP/Vista-ish if you were lucky?

This will require some soldering skills, or you could just twist the wires together then electric tape them. Soldering will help hold the build together though, and if you have other ways of securing the wires, please do share.

Steps

1
Cut the Gameport end off of the joystick about 3 inches (7.6 cm) from the end. Do the same with the spare USB 2.0 cord. Strip the rubber shields off both wires to reveal the true wires underneath the rubber and foil shields. (Sorry forgot a picture for this step.)
2
Strip the casing off the wires from pin 1,14,10, and 4 on the joystick cord. Do the same with all wires from the USB.

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3
Twist the corresponding cords together.
- USB Red with Pin 1 wire from joystick.
- USB White with Pin 14 wire from joystick.
- USB Green with Pin 10 wire from joystick.
- USB Black with Pin 4 wire from joystick.
4
Now the reason for Pin "14, 10, etc." wire from joystick, instead of color code is because I don't know if the wire coding is the same for all of them. If it is then they should correspond as so,
5
Pin 1 red, Pin 14 yellow, Pin 10 Green, Pin 4 black, Pin 2 purple, Pin 7 dark blue. If not, just go by the pins.
6
(OPTIONAL) Solder all the separate connections.
7
Tape all 4 connections up separately so that no wires are touching each other.
8
Strip wires on the joystick Pins 2 and 7. Twist these two together making a connection. (CRITICAL STEP DO NOT SKIP.)
9
(OPTIONAL) Solder the previous connection you just made.
10
Tape the connection so it touches no other wires.
11
Put together the two foil wire shields, tape them together.
12
Plugin the USB end and test the joystick to see if it worked (Control panel>Devices and printers>SideWinder Precision Pro USB) Controller properties. Check buttons and so on.
13
The three wires from the SideWinder joystick are spares and are no longer needed. Tape them up so they don't touch any wires.
14
Tape everything up to make a decent looking cord.

Community Q&A

Question

Will this work with anything that plugs into the game port?

Community Answer

No. This particular model of joystick had USB built in, but you needed an adapter to access it. If you have a pure gameport-only joystick, you'll need an active adapter with a chip to do the gameport->usb re-encoding.
Question

How do you tell which wire belongs to which pin?

Community Answer

Pin one will be denoted by a mark or a tiny one on the plastic female pin acceptor. Just count clockwise away from it.

Warnings

This was a quick throw together, don't be amazed if I made errors, or seem very un-detailed.

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Helpful 3 Not Helpful 0
I am not responsible for any damages or harm you might do to yourself computer, joystick, anything.

⧼thumbs_response⧽
Helpful 1 Not Helpful 1
You could ruin your equipment easily if you don't know what you're doing.

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Things You'll Need

The SideWinder Precision Pro joystick, specifically the model (Product ID) 85791. (This hasn't been tested on any other gameport joysticks).
A spare USB 2.0 cord that you are willing to part with and not use as a USB cord anymore. (It will become the USB end to your joystick.)
Something to cut with, I used my work box cutter, scissors will suffice.
Electrical tape.
(OPTIONAL) Soldering iron, and solder.
(OPTIONAL) Caramel candies, or stuff to munch on. And an annoying cat.