MSX Game Reader + Windows Vista, driver problem

*update* after messing around I got the game reader driver itself installed (forgot exactly what I did), but the Jungo Windriver still refused, meaning the device was detected but unusable.

seeing as there appears to be no news about it from Japan (at least, nothing I can find) either.... :/

Allthough there doesn't seem to be much interest in this topic,
This topic got over 300 views. Unless you claim you're responsible for those, you're wrong

Anyway, thanks for the update/

ok, first, the above method actually installs a driver that will only work for 30 days (it's a trial version, I just didn't think the driver itself would be a trial version too), and since I found a much better solution I'd advice against doing what I described there, because it could make it really hard to get the Gamereader working again after those 30 days.
Fortunately, I finally found out the usefulness of System Restore in Windows, as it could restore the system in the state prior to installing any of these drivers... I've used it a lot today, because this took me a few times to figure out.

So, here comes a "how to get the MSX Game Reader working in Vista 32-bit" tutorial.

notes prior to trying this out:

1 - I haven't tried it with the ASCII version - I don't have that one.
2 - I have no idea how/if this would work on 64-bit Vista.

Ok, first, plug your game reader into your computer. Don't install any driver just yet.

Put the installation CD-rom in your PC and run the installers (both MSXPLAYer and the driver) like you normally would.
When installing the driver, ignore warnings and errors, just continue... it's needed because otherwise the MSXGR.DLL won't be copied.
Conveniently, the driver folder will be extracted to your Desktop (GRSETUP_1006-en\Drivers).

No drivers will have been installed after this. In case you wonder why, the main problem can probably be adressed to the fact that the correct syntax for INF files has changed a bit in Vista.

Now, go to the driver folder, and open the MSXGR.INF file. Uncomment the line "windrvr6.sys ,,,0x40 ; 0x40 == COPYFLG_OVERWRITE_OLDER_ONLY" or comment the line "CopyFiles=FilesToCopy". This is due to Vista always requiring to have a file to copy when you used the CopyFiles statement, unlike previous versions of Windows.

Go to your device manager. The game reader should show up as unknown device. Install the driver, pointing to the location on the desktop. It should now install.

In addition to the now installed driver, you need to install the Jungo Windriver. You could use the driver that's included with the trial version of the driver development kit with the same name (available at http://www.jungo.com ), but that one will stop working after 30 days.
To install the jungo windriver, a utility is needed: wdreg_gui.exe. You might've noticed it in the folder of your gamereader driver. However, that version doesn't appear to be working well under Vista, and neither is the windrvr6.inf file.

However, the trial version of the windriver development kit needs the replacement files we need. You can download the program and extract individual files from the self-extracting .EXE using a program like 7zip ( http://www.7zip.org ) The files you need are wdreg_gui.exe, windrvr6.inf and difxapi.dll (the latter because the newer version of wdreg_gui needs this file).
If you don't like to go through all the hassle (and a 30MB download), I zipped up the files you need in an archive: http://www.samor.nl/grdrivers_replacementfiles.zip
In addition, I slightly altered the INF file to reflect the correct version number of Windriver and removed a few unnescesary lines. It's purely a cosmetic change.
Because all these files are from the trial version of the program, and are probably commonly used when shipping drivers created with this devkit, I assume it's ok to distribute them.

Unzip the files to the gamereader's driver directory.
Create a shortcut to wdreg_gui.exe. Edit the shortcut and add the following parameters: -inf <location and filename of inf file> install
In our case the INF file is aforementioned windrvr6.inf.
(run wdreg_gui without parameters and you get a help screen)
Run the shortcut as administrator. The driver's not signed, but install it anyway. Windriver should now be installed after which the gamereader should function correctly.

closing note:
-maybe there's a handier method, but I got tired of trying after a dozen system restores. This works, and doesn't install any additional trash.

.....and that's all there is to be able to use your Konami Tennis cartridge on a next-generation OS :P

well,
most people still use XP... most people probably don't even have a gamereader, so yes, you get a small audience

For those that have both, at least now there's a way to use 'em together

you could try a variation on the above trick with a 64-bit jungo windriver, but I can't guarantee it'll work.
http://www.jungo.com/st/do/download_new.php?product=WinDriver&tag=/st/windriver_usb_pci_driver_development_software.html