Col. Richard J. Hucker wrote:
> Robert . . .you are correct. I said a 10 pin adapter and I have to belay
> that. Actually, the female
> connection at the game port is a 15 pin. However the Sidewinder Force
> Feedback stick actually
> has "9" pins at the male connector. (my wife never did understand this
> male/female description. I
> guess she just doesn't understand electrical connections . . . or
> something). But that's Ok, I still
> can't operate her fancy coffee maker either.
>
> I appreciate your comments Sir. Perhaps this stick will work if I can
> find a
> MiniMidi to Midi connector.
> I didn't understand the "music" connections . . . I guess I better study
> some more. Or better yet. Buy
> an updated Force Feedback stick. I don't really understand the technology.
> It's apparent that you are
> an old hand at this. Thanks again. Semper Fie my friend.
>
> Regards,
> Huck
Original concept for game port controller support was to include
circuitry for two joysticks, each with two axis and two buttons (for two
player capability). As the plug on each joystick cable would be wired to
use the pins for joystick number 1, a Y cable could be used to duplicate
the computer's game port with the second socket cross wired so the
joystick connected to it was read by the circuitry intended for joystick
number two.
Many game controller manufacturers designed equipment that would use the
circuitry intended for both joysticks. The vertical axis for the second
joystick was usually used for a throttle lever or thumb wheel. Pedal
manufacturers usually used the circuitry intended for the second
joystick's horizontal axis. A few manufacturers used one of the second
joystick's axis for a Point Of View (POV) hat switch, connecting
different resistor values to the axis for each position.
The game port's MIDI capability was provided to support the interest
some user's had in recording electronic keyboard/organ key strokes in
compact computer files (at that time the size of a MP3 file would have
been considered extravagant) for subsequent playback. The MIDI circuitry
could also be used export files to the electronic music keyboard to be
played by its digital sound production circuitry. These capabilities
were handled in a user friendly manner by software purchased for those
purposes.
Since the game port was at one time more widely available on computers
than USB, the bidirectional MIDI interface was utilized by some
manufacturers of force feedback joysticks and racing wheels to transmit
force information to the electronics in the control. some manufactures
used one the computer's serial ports instead. The MIDI serial data
capabilities were also useful in implementing functions beyond the game
port "game controller" circuitry's capabilities (like multiple hat
switches, toggle switches and "radio tuner" thumb wheels).
The added versatility of USB has resulted in the near abandonment of the
game port by game controller manufacturers and computer manufacturers.
The higher speed of the USB 2 ports has resulted in a similar shift for
printers (once used parallel ports, although there were some serial port
printers), mice (usually used serial or PS2 ports) and flat bed scanners
(often used a different parallel interface called SCSI).
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