Re: Got an Apple IIe system today, some questions for ya

[dempson@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson)]

Linards Ticmanis <ticmanis@gmx.de> wrote:

> nyder wrote:
> 
> > The system is an Apple IIe, has an 80 col guard with some ram (not
> > sure how much yet), a grafstar card from star micronics (couldn't find
> > much info about it).  think it was in slot 2, i took it out and like
> > and forgot to remember which slot it was in.  doh!

If it is a printer interface card (sounds like it) it was most likely to
be in slot 1, as that is the convention. It would also work in slot 2.

> > 2 joysticks, with 1 of them plugging inside, but I couldn't figure how
> > it came out of the case.  it has a clip, which I though was for
> > ground, but it wasn't clear exactly how it was going out the case, so
> > I figured i'd ask before doing something stupid.

An internally connected joystick should have a 16-pin ribbon cable
header, which plugs into the socket near the right side of the computer.
If it wasn't already plugged in, check the orientation carefully. In a
IIe, pin 1 is toward the front of the computer, but you might have
trouble identifying pin 1 from the cable.

The flying lead might be to connect something like SW2 to the shift key
on the keyboard, intended for use in a II+ (the IIe has a motherboard
option for this). You should identify where the flying lead and clip are
connected - they probably go to a particular pin on the 16-way header. I
don't have a list of pin numbers handy.

> > Not sure i'll need 2 joysticks anyways.
> 
> I don't think the Apple even supports two joysticks plugged in at the
> same time.

It could do in theory: there are four analog inputs (paddle 0 through
paddle 3), which translates to two X-Y pairs for joysticks.

There are only three pushbutton inputs on a IIe, so the second joystick
will be limited to one button.

The external connector only has the pins for a single joystick. The
internal one could connect two joysticks (or the second one, if the
external connector was used for the first one).

What software supports this is another question.

-- 
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz