[comp.sys.laptops] Serial Port Joystick?

robinson@motcid.UUCP (Steve Robinson) (03/26/91)

I have recently purchased a Data General laptop computer.  I have a 
[old] game that is best played with a joystick.  There is only one
problem.  The laptop does not have a game port and the expansion
slots are proprietary (or at least not standard slots) so an
off-the-shelf game port can not be added.

Does anyone know of a joystick that works off of a normal serial
port?  Obviously there would also have to be driver software also.
Assuming that a serial joystick exists, would it work with my game
or would there be interface problems?

Can anyone tell me anything about the expansion slots on the Data
General Walk-About 386SX laptop?  Any and all information would be
appreciated.  Please reply directly to me (since I am going out of
town and will not be able to read the news before it expires on my
system) and I will summerize if any one is interested.

Thanks,
 
Steven M. Robinson ( uunet!motcid!robinson )

rubin@watson.ibm.com (Bill Rubin) (04/03/91)

In <6757@cyclamen2.UUCP> robinson@motcid.UUCP (Steve Robinson) writes:

> I have recently purchased a Data General laptop computer.  I have a
> [old] game that is best played with a joystick.  There is only one
> problem.  The laptop does not have a game port and the expansion
> slots are proprietary (or at least not standard slots) so an
> off-the-shelf game port can not be added.
>
> Does anyone know of a joystick that works off of a normal serial
> port?  Obviously there would also have to be driver software also.
> Assuming that a serial joystick exists, would it work with my game
> or would there be interface problems?

I'd also be very interested to hear about this, but I believe the answer
is there is no such animal. My understanding is that joysticks are very
hardware dependant, and they need the special cards that they hook into.
This is unfortunate, since it means that MCA joysticks cost lots more than
regular joysticks.

I'd love to be proved wrong.

-- Bill
rubin@watson.ibm.com