Att få Gravis Gamepad Pro att funka....

jag har en sån där Gravis Gamepad Pro (Gameport), men jag kan inte få den att funka överhuvudtaget. Ni kan ju läsa mitt frågebrv till gravis, så kan nån kanske hjälpa mej (om ni orkar ):

Hello

My name is ******* *********** and I have a major problem installing my old Gravis Gamepad Pro on my SB Live! 5.1 Digital gameport under WinXP. The status is "not connected". If I change the switch at the back to 1 instead of GrIP, then the gamepad is found as a 4-button gamepad, but it doesn't work, because the computer doesn't recongnize any buttonpress and almost no D-pad movement.

I have read all FAQ:s on your homepage ("Why is my Gravis Gamepade Pro (Gameport) controller listed as "Not Con") but it doesn't seem to work anyway. The gameport i/o range is E000 - E007, which isn't very good, since I read that the recommended range is 0200 - 0207 or 0201 - 0201. But I can't change it. I am using DirectX 8.1 and Gravis Xperience 4.5.
Creative claims, on their homepage, that their gameport only works for analouge joysticks, and not digital.

But the most mysterious thing is that the controller occasionally work. I have made it work about 3 times now, after some hours reinstalling drivers and plugging it in and out. But whenever I restart windows, the controller fails to work and it says "not connected". Even with a quite extensive experience in comnputers, I can't find any logical pattern why the gamepad works when it does. It feels like I never do the same things to make it work. If I do something, like reinstall the SB Live drivers and it works, then it probably won't work the next time, after I have restarted, with the same action. When the Gravis Gamepad Pro (Gameport) status is OK, using GrIP, it works in all games. In other words, I need something to change the Gamepad status. If GrIP mode works, then it also works with 4-button gamepad (with a change on the switch).

I have tried to remove my soundcard and use only the integrated one on my motherboard, the AC'97, but the result is the same.

I haven't tried it under another operating system, so I can't tell if WinXP is the problem or not.

I have trouble understanding which part of my equipment that is damaged or that lacks the proper software.

Finally, there's another thing, I have an even older 4-button Gravis Gamepad, which works almost as occasionally as the Pro. The computer recognizes it and makes it a status: OK, but it usually can't sense any buttonpress and I can't move the d-pad any other direction than up and left.