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Thread ID: 46296	2004-06-19 07:34:00	DOS 6.22 and Joysticks....	agent_24 (4330)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
246031	2004-06-19 07:34:00	I have an old standard 2-button 2-axis joystick "jetstick". i was wondering how to set it up in dos 6.22 / windows 3.11 so i could use it. the standard plug on it is some weird 8-pin thing arranged in a circular plug, with an adapter to change that to standard joystick type. any ideas welcome!	agent_24 (4330)
246032	2004-06-19 09:25:00	Now thats going back a bit, but it sounds as though the joystick was not originally from an 'IBM compatible' machine, as PC joysticks are fitted with a 15 pin D connector, not a DIN plug which may be what you are describing. There shouldn't be any setting up to do as far as I can remember. The joystick just plugs into the game port of the sound card, or the game port on a multi-I/O card used in older 286/386/486 machines. The big point to watch is that you dont have 2 active game ports as that will cause problems. DOS/Windows games had joystick detection, setup and calibration. I cant remember any other software for joysticks.	Terry Porritt (14)
246033	2004-06-19 09:31:00	interesting. it seems to work for some games but not for others. either way i was thinking that there may have been some sort of driver that had to be loaded at DOS startup like for the CD Drive.	agent_24 (4330)
246034	2004-06-19 09:49:00	Someone else may know more, but I dont think there was any special joystick software or drivers in DOS/Win3.1, other than the sound card drivers which generally would write a few lines in autoexex.bat giving port addresses, and maybe calling up a dos volume control program. In DOS games there was usually a setup screen to select mouse, keyboard or joystick as the control device, and the joystick setup screen would have some calibration settings. I have an elderly Logitech Wingman joystick from DOS days and the leaflet with it says to just plug it in, and then select Wingman from the option screen of the game. If Wingman is not listed then select "Joystick with Throttle".	Terry Porritt (14)
246035	2004-06-19 10:00:00	> Someone else may know more, but I dont think there > was any special joystick software or drivers in > DOS/Win3.1, other than the sound card drivers which > generally would write a few lines in autoexex.bat > giving port addresses, and maybe calling up a dos > volume control program. I'm sure there was a third party one in there somewhere....	Growly (6)
246036	2004-06-19 10:52:00	Hi, unlike Windows where you define a driver and thats it, in true DOS this is defined by a setup program for the game itself so each time you install a DOS game you have to run its individual program (usually setup.bat/com/exe) where you set the Sound indicating the IRQ and controls (keyboard or joystick). Im unsure whether a USB device will be recognised by DOS. With sound you will have to have the sound set in your config.sys/autoexec.bat, but Ive never set joystick via this.	parry (27)
246037	2004-06-19 11:38:00	In DOS, the registers for the joystick position/buttons etc were at a fixed location. Therefore reading the registers was all that was needed, and this was done by the BIOS and accessed using an interrupt call. Therefore no DOS "driver software" was needed, it was already there (in the BIOS). The game simply needed to support a joystick, and make the appropriate interrupt calls. The code was: (E&OE) Set call: AH=84h DX=00h (to read the switches) DX=01h (to read the joystick axis) Return explanatory if DX=00 on set call, (AL=switch settings in bits 4-7) if DX=01 on set call, (AX=X-value1, BX=Y-value1) (CX=X=value2, DX=Y-value2)	godfather (25)
246038	2004-06-19 12:08:00	well if its that simple for DOS, why the hell can't I get a new joystick to work with freespace 2??	agent_24 (4330)
246039	2004-06-19 23:01:00	> well if its that simple for DOS, why the hell can't I > get a new joystick to work with freespace 2?? And you are using a 286/386/486 era PC, with a BIOS that supports the old legacy code? And your "new joystick" complies with the old DOS hardware requirements? Remember some games probably bypassed the BIOS calls and accessed the registers directly. That could mean some work and some don't under a non-legacy BIOS.	godfather (25)
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