Mu0n Posted July 19, 2020 Report Share Posted July 19, 2020 (edited) This little thing connected to the DB9 mouse port of pre-ADB Macs: and allowed you to play Mac Man using an Atari Joystick. I just tried plugging my custom gamepad and running the game, but it will show that it doesn't recognize its adapter. Perhaps the normally unused pin of the DB9 connector is set high with this adapter by linking it to the 5V pin? It's hard to say without having access to the interior of that casing (I don't own such an adapter). I also found a reference to that game and adapter in a MacUser August edition of 1987 Edited July 19, 2020 by Mu0n Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Crutch Posted July 20, 2020 Report Share Posted July 20, 2020 Wow, I’d forgotten all about that thing. I had one circa 1987. Couldn’t tell you how it worked, though, I’m afraid ... I do recall that Mac Man was not a great game! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mu0n Posted July 20, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2020 do you know what would happen if I just use a jump wire inside the Mac Plus case between pin 2 and 6? Smoke? Is it possible for the Mac to probe pin 6 for special checkups? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sfiera Posted July 21, 2020 Report Share Posted July 21, 2020 The Mac Plus schematic indicates that pin 6 is not connected at all. Here’s a thought—what happens if you plug in a regular mouse and hold down the button when launching the game? It could be as simple as Mac•Man checking for the mouse button being held down (pin 7 being grounded), on the assumption that players wouldn’t do that while opening the game. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Crutch Posted July 21, 2020 Report Share Posted July 21, 2020 If that doesn’t work - We could figure out what it’s doing by launching Mac Man and dropping into the debugger to see what it’s checking before popping this error. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mu0n Posted July 23, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2020 I'll try those ideas! This is so freaking hard to search for that derelict item either on eBay or just the web. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mu0n Posted July 23, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2020 Right after double clicking to launch the game, I tried a 3rd, held click, but it seemed to have no effect. There are several spots where it might do some kind of check. Before the splash screen, during it, after it. after selecting PLAYER 1 from the menu (that's when it tells you it can't detect a joystick and shows you the keyboard control layout). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NJRoadfan Posted July 23, 2020 Report Share Posted July 23, 2020 Best bet is above, dissembling the game's detection routines. Annoying, but doable. Being that you can't send data out the mouse port, it can't be too complicated. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
napabar Posted February 18 Report Share Posted February 18 On 7/23/2020 at 6:45 AM, NJRoadfan said: ion routines. Annoying, but doable. Bei What kind of custom controller is it? Just having the Atari plug doesn't mean Atari compatible. Systems like the Genesis and the Vertex have the same plug, but are electrically different. Easiest solution is to get an Atari 2600 joystick and try it out. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
olePigeon Posted February 18 Report Share Posted February 18 @napabar @Mu0n The linked article says "Atari compatible joystick." So I would test it with an Atari joystick. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mu0n Posted February 19 Author Report Share Posted February 19 Again, I don't have the adapter, that image was taken off the net. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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