Drivers for Kraft KC30 joystick (programmers inquire within)

[Super-Slasher]

The joystick I have is from the IBM PC era (has a switch for IBM PC or Apple systems on bottom of joystick) and have the 8-bit controller card for it. The joystick does work in the SETUP program test diagnostics, but I need the drivers to beable to use it as a pointing device in Windows.

[Erik]

I'm not sure there ever were drivers to use that type of device (especially as old as it is) as a pointing device in windows.

You may just have to roll your own! :)

Erik

[Super-Slasher]

You may just have to roll your own! :)

Roll my own...? :?

[Erik]

Roll my own...? :?

As in write the driver yourself.

It's probably not too hard to find out what the output of the joystick is. The fact that it goes to the game port rather then the serial port is probably the biggest reason Windows won't deal well with it.

I'd start by doing a search for both joystick drivers and mouse drivers with source code. You should be able to make a generic mouse driver work with a joystick without too much fiddling.

Of course, I'm assuming a few things that may or may not be true, not the least of which is that you program and that you have programming tools at your disposal.

Good luck!

Erik

[Super-Slasher]

As in write the driver yourself.

It's probably not too hard to find out what the output of the joystick is. The fact that it goes to the game port rather then the serial port is probably the biggest reason Windows won't deal well with it.

I'd start by doing a search for both joystick drivers and mouse drivers with source code. You should be able to make a generic mouse driver work with a joystick without too much fiddling.

Of course, I'm assuming a few things that may or may not be true, not the least of which is that you program and that you have programming tools at your disposal.

Good luck!

Erik

Nope, not a programmer here, so rolling my own would be WAY out of my league. So I guess I paid $10 for the joystick for nothing then... =/

[Erik]

Nope, not a programmer here, so rolling my own would be WAY out of my league. So I guess I paid $10 for the joystick for nothing then... =/

Well, you can still use it as a joystick. There's a lot of games that would recognize it. See if you can find an old copy of MS Flight Simulator, for instance!

Erik

[Super-Slasher]

Is there anyone out there then that could write me a joystick driver? If so please contact me!

[Super-Slasher]

One of the problems is that the card isn't recognized. How can I remedy this, exactly?

[Erik]

Analog joysticks are very generic items and the only thing that specialized drivers are used for is special features like extra buttons or sliders. The basic joystick operation should be supported by any application that knows joysticks.

It sounds like your game card is either set up incorrectly (likely) or broken (less likely). I'd double check the jumpers or switches to make sure you don't have any IRQ conflicts or other issues.

What software are you using to test the joystick?

Erik

[Super-Slasher]

What software are you using to test the joystick?

Erik

There's a small program from Kraft that tests the joystick in DOS, which works, and the SETUP section also has the ability to test joysticks, which works in there also.

[Erik]

So what's not working?

Erik

[Super-Slasher]

So what's not working?

Erik

When I try to use it as a pointing device in Windows. I guess I might as well give up on that and start tracking down a serial mouse... which is harder to find than Windows 2.03 and 1.01 was.

Or maybe an awesome black trackball, if I could scrounge one up...

[Erik]

Yeah, I could see that being a problem.

Windows just wasn't built to use a Joystick as a pointing device. It's really just a gaming interface.

Erik