2 gamepads - 1 gameport

Has anyone used a joystick splitter cable - similar to the one found on http://www.dse.co.nz - Cat. no. X2041

I've got 2 analogue gamepads & hooked them up with the splitter cable.
The buttons on the second gamepad don't work. I've added the second controller thgrough Control Panel/Gaming Options, but when calibrating it, the D-pad works fine but no response from the buttons.

I've installed the gamepads on their own & verified that they both work.
The gamepads were switched around on the splitter cable, but whichever one is installed last has no reponse from the buttons.

I've read than Windoze doesn't support 2 gamepads; if that's the case, why do these splitter cables exist?

Using Windoze98.

Any clues appreciated.

I had similar troubles, I installed an old soundcard and a special joystick/parallel card, so now I can run 3 @ one (But I sold that PC about a year ago!!!)

Chilling_Silence

I would hazard a guess that the splitter cables do work for 2 joysticks. You are using them for 2 gamepads. They are not the same thing at all.

Original joysticks had few buttons, evolution has given many more controls which must have necessitated using some lines from the joystick #2 function. There just are not enough lines available for everything on the legacy device input for the modern equivalent?.

You perhaps should be using USB controllers?