Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!apple!well!farren
From: farren@well.UUCP (Mike Farren)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.tech
Subject: Re: A Cost Effective MULTI-SERIAL Device Proposition
Keywords: Multi-Serial Input Ouput Hardware Options Expansion
Message-ID: <15996@well.UUCP>
Date: 6 Feb 90 13:44:36 GMT
References: <76649@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu>
Distribution: usa, world
Lines: 23

sutton@cherokee.cis.ohio-state.edu (roy a sutton) writes:


>   What I re-propose is that a serial device driver be  implemented for the
>   software configurable use with either of the existing joystick ports.

Bad idea.  In the first place, as you note, it would make one, the other,
or both of the joystick ports unusable, a situation which I (for one) 
would find totally unacceptable.  In the second place, there aren't enough
lines on the joystick ports to implement full modem control.  In the
third place, the signals at the joystick ports are TTL levels, NOT RS-232
levels.  And in the fourth, and most important, place - any serial data
sent out the joystick ports would have to be under total processor control.
This means that the maximum speed you could drive from those ports would
be severely limited.  It also means that multitasking is right out,
unless you were willing to put up with dropped characters.

I've used some of those 8-bit machines with this scheme implemented.
It worked poorly enough for them that I found it unusable.  For the Amiga,
it's just plain dumb.

-- 
Mike Farren 				     farren@well.sf.ca.usa