Path: utzoo!utgpu!attcan!uunet!mcvax!ukc!dcl-cs!bath63!pes
From: pes@ux63.bath.ac.uk (Smee)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: Problem w/ certain joysticks on ST's
Message-ID: <2883@bath63.ux63.bath.ac.uk>
Date: 4 Aug 88 09:13:43 GMT
References: <1375@ektools.UUCP>
Reply-To: pes@ux63.bath.ac.uk (Smee)
Organization: AUCC c/o University of Bath
Lines: 19

In article <1375@ektools.UUCP> bruce@ektools.UUCP (Bruce D. Nelson) writes:
>... It turns out that some third-party joysticks (in this case, a
>Pro-Line joystick), has connections to the "reserved" pins of the joystick/
>mouse connector on the bottom of the keyboard. This problem will occur with
>any bottom-mounted joystick ports like the 1040 or 520STFM.

It's not only 3rd-party joysticks, and not just bottom-mounted ports.  I've
had a problem with my 520ST (side ports, no builtin floppy, originally no
TOS in ROM) for years, in that if I booted the machine with my **REAL**
Atari brand joystick plugged into the second port, the keyboard would not
work.  Since I didn't have much joystick sortware, I simply left it unplugged
until it was wanted.  Finally, I got bored with that and opened up the
joystick -- lo and behold, it had 'forbidden' connections as well.  When I
detached them and fiddled it back together, the problem was gone.

If Atari can't make their own joysticks right, it's not surprising that the
3rd-party people have problems.  (Admittedly, mine was the stick from an
Atari 8-bit machine -- don't know about them but maybe they make use of the
slightly different connection.)