Re: More Questions from a New IIgs User

[supertimer@aol.com (Supertimer)]

jonINTERNETrelayCHAT@napaVALLEYnet.CLARInet (Jon Bettencourt) wrote:

>supertimer@aol.com (Supertimer) wrote:
>
>> jonINTERNETrelayCHAT@napaVALLEYnet.CLARInet (Jon Bettencourt) wrote:
>> 
>> >Can you use a Mac Plus mouse in the game port? I read somewhere that you
>> >can plug one into a IIgs or IIc, but I read somewhere else that IIc mouses
>> >won't work with the IIgs. Also, the first place I read about also said
>> >that on a IIe you plug it into the mouse card. But the IIe, IIc, and IIgs
>> >game ports should all be the same, shouldn't they?
>> 
>> No, you cannot use a Mac Plus (equivalent to a IIe/IIc) mouse
>> on the GS game port.  The IIc is special because the joystick
>> port is also the mouse port.  Both functions share the same
>> port.  This is not true for the IIe or the IIGS.
>> 
>> The IIGS uses ADB mice.  Go to any computer store that
>> sells Macs.  I saw a generic Mac mouse for $5 in one.  For
>> a little more, you can have a two button mouse with the
>> second button serving as click-lock.  Makes the menus
>> stay down as they do in Windows.
>
>I don't think anyone gets it. The game ports are supposed to be the same.
>Same signals on all IIe, IIc, and IIgs.
>
>The _software_ might use it differently, but I _do_not_care_ about what
>the software thinks. I'm making my own software, and I can make it think
>any way I want. A PDL() value is a heck of a lot easier and quicker to
>adapt for something in an Applesoft program.

Good luck.  You might be able to pull it off with the greater
speed of the IIGS, but I think the IIc does it with hardware.
I can't imagine it polling the game joystick port like that
without a speed hit.

>> >What kind of monitors can I plug into the RGB Video port? I have the
>> >following: Apple Performa Display, Apple Multiple Scan 15 Display, and an
>> >Acer SVGA. I know the port uses analog RGB. Do any of these monitors use
>> >analog? Or are they all digital? What about the 15Hz 30Hz 50Hz 60Hz 25Hz
>> >47Hz frequency thing? Do I need to build a special cable?
>> 
>> All of these are analog RGB.  The IIGS uses analog RGB.
>> But the IIGS uses 15Khz while the others require a
>> minimum of 30Khz.  However, plug the Apple Mac
>> monitors into the port and have some fun.  You will find
>> that they do work, but the screen is distorted because
>> the monitor cannot sync down to 15Khz.  You can
>> barely make out the image of the GS display underneath.
>
>Is there a way to double the sync on the IIgs? Would that also need some
>oversampling of the RGB signals?

There are scan doublers for the Amiga that should work on
the IIGS.  The Amiga also uses 15Khz sync, especially
the older models like the Amiga 1000, released at around
the same time (few months earlier) as the IIGS.  The trick
is to wire a cable that connects the two because Amiga
and IIGS connectors have different pinouts.

There's also the Second Sight SVGA card from the folks
at http://www.sequential.com/ Sequential Systems.