Can someone direct me documentation that will guide me in mapping all the buttons on my Sidewinder Precision Pro to useful buttons?

Also, is there a PDF manual, or at least a default keyboard mapping somewhere?

Many thanks!

You map joystick buttons as if you were mapping extra keyboard buttons.

So you go through the same process of clicking on the command and depressing a joystick button to bind it.

Try these if you're used to flight sims
x axis = roll
y axis = pitch
z (twist action) = turn like rudder (yaw) turning in a flight sim
slider = throttle set
Then allocate buttons as desired for afterburner & powerbrake, primary, secondary and tertiary weapons, change view/target etc. Experiment with calibration for null zones, and centering, and reversing axis. I prefer the old stick back = nose up setup & I haven't touched my mouse ( no more aching wrist) except in stations since I set up my stick (logitech wingman 3d).

Great! Thanks for all the info.

One other question, is it possible to deactivate the mouse completely for flying when the joystick is activated? I'm cruising along, decide to send a message and accidentally bump my mouse and go flipping through space. =)

Not that i know of, one good hint *turn mouse upside down* =D

or unplug it, but I think yoda's idea is simpler.

how do you adjust joystick *sensitivity* though? Its not affected by the normal controlresponse thing, and although i found the deadzone settings in config.sys and someone (i think it was ray) assured me sensitivity was also in there, i can find it!

I'm on windows so the calibrate thing in VO just brings up the stupid windows calibration screen :s

Here's a tip that helped me in other games where I sometimes switched quickly to joystick -- just dropping my optical mouse anywhere wouldn't work, because the mouse kept moving slightly and throwing off my game.

Keep a black bandanna or a sock near your mouse pad. Drop the mouse on that. I use a "do-rag" I bought in a convenience store. It just sits there, a wadded up pile of black cloth, and when I need to grab the joystick quickly, I toss the mouse on it and the wads of cloth just sort of soak up the mouse and hold it still. Since there's no print on the cloth, and it's not reflective, it works great for my MS optical mouse.