Main > Main Forum
Analog controls in pure DOS, no gameport!
arcadecollecting:
I need help badly! Here's what I'm trying to do. I've bought a mini-itx mobo and I'm trying to stuff it into a Vectrex case. I want it to look like an unmodified Vectrex from the outside and I want to be able to use the Vectrex's original controllers.
I'm having big trouble with the controllers part. The mini-itx motherboard (EPIA M) doesn't have a gameport, so I figured I'd buy an a-pac and use that. Unfortunately, the EPIA M CPU isn't fast enough to run DVMAME under Windows. It's super chunky slow. So that means DOS only and that means no USB!! A-Pac won't work.
Anyone have any good ideas about how to get analog input working with DVMAME without a gameport? Is there a way to do it with the serial port?
Any ideas welcome!
Kremmit:
I hope you're wearing an asbestos suit.
arcadecollecting:
Well, I'm not looking for an answer like "you're a newbie fool, it can't be done." I need to make it work one way on another, whether it be suggestions for a different brand of mini-itx motherboard that does have a gameport or one that has USB drivers built in to the BIOS so that an A-Pac will work in DOS.
Something... anything... I'm desperate. :-\ The only thing I can think of is spending a lot more money for a model that'll be fast enough to run DVMAME in Windows. :P
krick:
What kind of controls did the vectrex have? Are they really analog?
Kremmit:
No, the suit is to protect you from the flames from people who want you dead for "killing" a Vectrex.
That said, does the mobo have any expansion slots? And do you have any room left inside that Vectrex for an expansion card? A lot of sound cards still have gameports built in, or you may be able to find a standalone gameport card. They used to make a lot of those for ISA, maybe there were some for PCI, too. The standalone card would quite likely not stick up as far as the soundcard.
Or, maybe you could find something like the bottom three items on this page:
http://www.donjohnston.com/catalog/pengild.htm
They appear to be PS/2 or USB mice that use a joystick instead of a rollerball. Maybe you could hack the Vectrex controller's pots to one. Although you'd have to find a cheaper version, yikes!