Joysticks Thread, Don't Shout At Me!

[NickLoTurco]

Hello! Right, I can't for the life of me find any competition pro usb joysticks anywhere (used to be a few on ebay). Anyone know where I can find them? Also, are they any good?

One more thing, I'm guessing our Pandora (yes I have one coming too!) only has one usb port for a joystick/pad? If so, how do I go about two player TV out gaming? Would it be better just to get 2 wireless cheap gamepads?

I'm sure these Q's have been asked before but would be nice to see them all on one page! I love my joysticks and just wanna prepare for the launch so I can have the best retro nights possible.....

Lo Turco

Oh look, I found one half of my answer on the front page of the site on another joystick thread, I'm prepared for a beating!

 

[mrsnature]

One more thing, I'm guessing our Pandora (yes I have one coming too!) only has one usb port for a joystick/pad? If so, how do I go about two player TV out gaming? Would it be better just to get 2 wireless cheap gamepads?

Use a usb hub for more ports. Not sure how wireless gamepads work but i'm guessing you would need a usb dongle that has an open source driver to be ported.

 

[juanvvc]

Which half did you get?

You can use USB hubs to plug two gamepads to one USB port. They are really cheap, and you won't need external powering for the hub (probably)

 

[nubie]

One more thing, I'm guessing our Pandora (yes I have one coming too!) only has one usb port for a joystick/pad? If so, how do I go about two player TV out gaming? Would it be better just to get 2 wireless cheap gamepads?

Use a usb hub for more ports. Not sure how wireless gamepads work but i'm guessing you would need a usb dongle that has an open source driver to be ported.


If the wireless pad is HID complaint (AKA Xbox360 wireless), then it should just work. I don't know if the Xbox360 USB will host more than one controller at a time though.

If you get a PS3 controller it should be able to work over the internal Bluetooth, but you might need to run a script and/or connect it with a cable to establish the link. After it is working you can remove the cable and link another controller. Of course you can just use the PS3 joypad with a USB cable as well.

 

[Morpheus384]

My fiance asked the same question. How come theres only one usb?

I told her that you could just get a usb hub and plug in as many controllers as you want.

I was on the phone with a friend who had just took his A+ certification test for computer repair, so when she asked how many perephrials could be supported by a single USB he was johnny on the spot with the answer.

Apparently he had gotten it wrong on his test. According to his test a single usb port can support exactly 127 devices; so if you had a hub with 127 usb slots it would work just fine..

Needless to say I didn't know that. Nifty bit of trivia though.

{edit clarification}

 

[nubie]

My fiance asked the same question. How come theres only one usb?

I told her that you could just get a usb hub and plug in as many controllers as you want.

I was on the phone with a friend who had just took his A+ certification test for computer repair, so when she asked how many perephrials could be supported by a single USB he was johnny on the spot with the answer.

Apparently he had gotten it wrong on his test. According to his test a single usb port can support exactly 127 devices; so if you had a hub with 127 usb slots it would work just fine..

Needless to say I didn't know that. Nifty bit of trivia though.

{edit clarification}

Well, to be extremely technical a single Host Controller can support up to 127 devices, most PC's use an internal hub, so about half that, and each hub counts against the total.

And yes, I drove my A+ teacher bats, she would look at me to confirm hardware stuff in her PowerPoint, I was a bit embarrassed, but I suppose I should have kept my Mini-ITX hobby to myself. But the textbook book mentioned neither ITX or DTX, and didn't have a good explanation for the BTX standard, which was of course the horrendous heat output of the P4 chips, the BTX standard specified a large intake opening (tunnel) directly in front of the CPU socket placed on the front of the mainboard.

That A+ test is full of information that is:

1. Technically correct.
2. Nearly useless in the real world (who installs XP on 128MB of RAM?)

But lets say I passed mine with flying colors (I got an A on my 'A+', to pass you only need to get a C, or 70%).

Now you know too much for your own good

 

[Prometheus]

Hello! Right, I can't for the life of me find any competition pro usb joysticks anywhere (used to be a few on ebay). Anyone know where I can find them? Also, are they any good?

I don't know if they're any good (I've never used them), but I just found some of those sticks whilst looking for a good price on something else;

The USB kind is here and is packaged with a CD of 185 Amiga games, and the variety compatible with the C64 and Amiga can be found here (just for anyone who wants them for either the real thing, or for use with the relevant type of USB adapter ).

 

[Miknal]

Since that's been pretty much answered, and I don't want to clog up the forum with a similar question,

http://www.mayflash.com/pc/pc039/pc039-1.htm

Will this work? I does require a driver, but it's a similar theory to hooking up a usb hub and using usb pads, right?

 

[Prometheus]

I would hazard a guess that you would still need to use adapters such as that one in conjunction with a USB hub. After all, the adapter really just "converts" the controller for use with USB - I'd think that the requirement for a hub will almost certainly still apply.

EDIT: Also, my understanding is that the drivers for such devices are usually only meant for some of the additional features listed (such as the force-feedback, perhaps?) - the controllers plugged into them are usually just seen as standard USB pads, and behave as such.

 

[Miknal]

Thanks for the quick reply.

So will there be a way to install the drivers onto the pandora? This is more out of curiousity tbh, I was never a fan of my pad rumbling anyway, but my mates may want it to

And just so I completely understand the process, why is the usb hub required on this controller to usb hub? wouldn't that just mean that I would have some unused usb ports? It is also possible I am missing something amazingly obvious, as I am kind of new to all this stuff...

 

[dsraa]

That A+ test is full of information that is:

1. Technically correct.
2. Nearly useless in the real world (who installs XP on 128MB of RAM?)

But lets say I passed mine with flying colors (I got an A on my 'A+', to pass you only need to get a C, or 70%).

Now you know too much for your own good

Ain't that a bitch? I am more of a an old-school system builder, I know systems back to front from DOS all the way up, and just finished taking my A+ class, and I realized that more than half of that stuff is not really relevant, just tons of useless, meaningless drival about how many pins different connectors have, etc. I've never actually needed to know more than half of that stuff....


DSR

 

[Svartalf]

Use a usb hub for more ports.

/+1 You'll need to do this even with a set or more of wireless joypads anyhow. I'd be careful how much you hooked onto that hub unless you supply a small battery supply to the hub as well.

QUOTE

Not sure how wireless gamepads work but i'm guessing you would need a usb dongle that has an open source driver to be ported.



Most of the modern wireless USB joysticks, etc. do not need driver disks for Windows or MacOS, indicating that they're done up sensibly as a proper HID device if this is the case, using wireless comm to/from a bridge dongle to the device in question. I'll have to tinker a bit with some on my desktop to see, but the rule of thumb will be if it's a proper HID device of any kind it should work without special drivers so long as the app understands the exposed info from the HID driver. For example, don't expect a Spaceball 3D mouse to fully work with Q3:A until the 3D info is properly addressed in the app.

Since that's been pretty much answered, and I don't want to clog up the forum with a similar question,

http://www.mayflash.com/pc/pc039/pc039-1.htm

Will this work? I does require a driver, but it's a similar theory to hooking up a usb hub and using usb pads, right?


It's a PS2 to USB adapter. Most of those are proper HID interface devices these days- and should work with the Linux joystick driver layer.

 

[Prometheus]

Thanks for the quick reply.

So will there be a way to install the drivers onto the pandora? This is more out of curiousity tbh, I was never a fan of my pad rumbling anyway, but my mates may want it to

Only if the source code is available. That said, there may come a time when someone implements rumble support into an emulator, which may also work. But that's for time to tell.

QUOTE

And just so I completely understand the process, why is the usb hub required on this controller to usb hub? wouldn't that just mean that I would have some unused usb ports? It is also possible I am missing something amazingly obvious, as I am kind of new to all this stuff...


My basic understanding is that the USB hub is required to "translate" for things that don't run at the full speed offered by USB 2.0, which is what the full-sized USB port on the Pandora supports. Further, I understand that most machines with USB 2.0 ports would have an internal hub that handles these translations, but that the Pandora doesn't. (As ever, someone please correct me if I'm wrong on this - this is just the basic information that I seem to have soaked up over time somewhere on the forums. )

 

[Miknal]

Yeah, my bad, this thread http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?showt...44712&st=45 explains the hub situation entirely. Considering I never knew the difference between 1.1 and 2.0 (just figured 2.0 was a bit faster) this is all a bit of a learning curve. Still, better to learn all this now, than get the console and have a ton of stuff that won't work!

I just bought this http://www.ebuyer.com/product/139198 as recommended by Mr Loon. A bit mental that you have to have a separate power supply but nevermind!

 

[Pleng]

I'm just waiting for a USB version of the old Quickshot II-style joysticks.

Mr Men Olympics just wouldn't feel the same with anything else!!!

 

[paddy]

I do desktop/laptop repair and find usb a horrible connecton to work with ,they break all the time and cause surges that damage the usb controller,i would think of the Pandoras single usb 2.0 as a port to be used only when really needed ,use it long term as a storage port but
for plug and play i personaly dont recommend it with the pandora being such a small device,i say this as i want my pandora to live forever(scared incase no more pandoras get produced)

Im all for using wireless controllers and i soo hope the 360 wireless controller will work,the wii controller would be very nice as well but im not a fan of sony controller at all,but for the time being untill drivers are created for the wireless controllers i hope my xbox s controller wired will work.

 

[Pleng]

I do desktop/laptop repair and find usb a horrible connecton to work with ,they break all the time and cause surges that damage the usb controller,

What, really? I have never, ever managed to damage a usb connection or controller. Even with excessive tugging and trying to force the thing in the wrong way around after having too much to drink! And I have never heard of anybody else causing any damage.

I imagine in theory that usb controllers should be easier to damage than, say VGA or PS/2 connectors, but that's only because these connectors tend to be used (is in plugged into/unplugged) an awful lot less than USB connectors, but still I find it amazing that you have enough repair jobs to say that 'they break all the time'

 

[Svartalf]

I'm just waiting for a USB version of the old Quickshot II-style joysticks.

Mr Men Olympics just wouldn't feel the same with anything else!!!

Ascii and ye shall receive....

 

[cloud858rk]

Well, the USB port on one of my old PC's is broken from being forced in the wrong way. Also the one on my laptop broke, probably from having something in there then dropping it or lifting it up partially and breaking off the plastic part. Anything with a irregular shape would be a much better idea, as you couldn't insert it backwards at all.

 

[hobbyman II]

taking the mickey.....

I read the above and my eyes glaze over....how on earth can you force a USB connector in the wrong way round?, do you normally insert USB devices with the aid of an hammer?, does not some sort of bell go off in your head once you are applying over 4 or 5 ounces of force?, it must take a fair bit of shoving to actually insert one the wrong way round, I`m sort of stunned anyone could actually accomplish this feat without realising they would be better off reversing it, don`t you know the USB logo goes to the top?.

end mickeytake.... :lol:

mind you, I take obsessive care of my gear, my mates heap of uncased DVDs and CDs makes me flinch, as does his habit of shutting down by turning off the mains, snatching USB cables out of his PC and waggling his monitor cable to get the picture back cos he can`t be bothered to get himself a replacement cable for the one his dog chewed the end of.

maybe some people should take a test before being allowed to use a PC?

I`m sort of amazed you can buy something so expensive as a PC and not treat it with kid gloves, then again, I`m not that rich, every penny's hard earnt and reluctantly spent, it takes me two or three years to get enough money for the next upgrade, I can`t risk anything failing between times through abuse, last time that happened I had to take out an overdraft.

Hobbyman