PS/2 in MacOS

[jessenator]

I debated putting this in PCI PowerMacs, but it mainly concerns peripherals.

So the Motorola clones have PS/2 ports on the motherboard and I'm wondering what kind of support existed for PS/2 under MacOS at the time and if that support went beyond keyboard and mouse. That is, even if it existed at all.

What I'm looking at accomplishing is using a Gravis Firebird. I used to have an ADB version when I was a kid, but don't really want to shell out for the Apple (ADB) tax on a used one. There are PS/2 + PC joystick models for decent prices on ebay and maybe it could work. I know aside from using a Belkin adapter, it's not just pin swapping one mini DIN for another, and I reckon the drivers wouldn't exactly play nice.

So I guess

1) would any Mac Gravis driver work for a PS/2 peripheral, or is it only going to look for it over ADB?

2) is it worth it to adapt? Or should I pony up for a Mac version of the Firebird?

 

[Byrd]

... a work around would be USB card + generic USB gamepad + USB OverDrive utility.  ADB joysticks and gamepads often confirm as essentially programmable mouse and key press emulators so you'd have a difficult time getting the PS/2 variant up and running, without lag and some quirks IMO.

 

[jessenator]

Do they have generic USB flightsticks?

I'm mainly wanting to play Chuck Yeager's Air Combat. And maybe a few other flight sims. Now that I think about it, I wonder if I can use PS/2 joysticks with the PC compatibility card [?]

I guess the PC firebird does have both Joystick and PS/2 connectors... The PC card has the joystick input for sure.

Starting to look like a one-or-the-other situation :/

 

[Gorgonops]

So the Motorola clones have PS/2 ports on the motherboard and I'm wondering what kind of support existed for PS/2 under MacOS at the time and if that support went beyond keyboard and mouse. That is, even if it existed at all.

Technically there is no such thing as "standard" support for anything other than keyboards and mice on PS/2 ports. I have no experience with this particular device you're interested in, but it looks like how it may have worked is essentially "proxying" the keyboard and mapping normally unusued scancodes to its own buttons. If that's the case it's almost absolutely a sure thing that the MacOS driver for the joystick isn't going to have any idea how to deal with it.

(The ADB protocol *does* allow for "arbitrary" devices that are addressed directly, I would assume that's how the Mac version worked. My *guess* is the PS/2 ports on those Starmax clones probably show up at a software level as if they were attached ADB devices and, again, unless for some reason the ADB version of that stick also proxies keyboard input the same way as the PC version, which would be pointless, then the code path will be different and it won't look for those extra scancodes on the keyboard device.)

Also, of course, you'd still need to somehow adapt the 15 pin analog joystick port into something the Mac can understand (the PS/2 part only carries codes for all the extra buttons), did they even make such a thing?

 

[jessenator]

Also, of course, you'd still need to somehow adapt the 15 pin analog joystick port into something the Mac can understand (the PS/2 part only carries codes for all the extra buttons)…

Ah, so you actually do need to plug in both the PS/2 and the Joystick cables if you were using it on a '90s PC then? Interesting. That would explain the multiple connectors on the PC version.

Yeah, the generic USB option is looking a tad more simple and incorporated at this point. They do make a GamePort to USB adapter it seems, but haven't seen anything like a 15-pin to ADB adapter (in my 15 minutes of search…). Yeah, there would need to be an intermediary board to take the discrete GamePort signals and send them over the ADB line. I bet that's how the Mac version worked, like you said.

Interesting the GamePort has provision for 4 button lines on its own.

I remember playing CYAC pre-joystick and just using the keyboard. It was a great feeling to be able to have a "real" throttle control. 

If I actually knew a thing or two about programming I would just DIY the analog adapter part. And as the mapping for the majority of the buttons are probably keystrokes anyway, I could just simply find out what it's emulating with something as simple as KeyCaps and map those where I wanted.