message inline. (01)
Philip Gust wrote:
> Jonathan,
>
> Eugene Kim mentioned that he had picked up 6 keysets from Doug. Are you
> working on creating additional interface cables, or have you found some
> of them that work with serial? (02)
After learning that the original keyset that Jake Feinler gave me was a
specialized analog wiring (different wires from analog joystick) DA-15
with female connector, I was quite surprised to see that all six keysets
that Doug/Mary had at Bootstrap have DB-25 male connector keysets. (03)
Noticing that Doug's own keyset that he used at the CHM demo last week
seemed to connect to some kind of serial port card in his DOS machine,
it seems that there is at least a chance that the DB-25 male connector
on the six keysets might actually be a serial connector. I won't know
for sure until I either buy a DB-25 to DB-9 adapter and try it, or
better would be to determine pinout information with help from Brian
Cardanha. (04)
Other possibilities of what they could be include: a) a DB-25 parallel
port connection, or b) some kind of specialized analog wiring that uses
some but not all of the DB-25 pins (as was the case with the DA-15
female that I already have). (05)
I'm not planning on creating any more hand-crafted interface cables
until we find out exactly what their pinouts are. (06)
> I had asked Doug for three units in addition to the one you have; one
> for the museum, one for me to work on the Windows and MacOS Java
> interfaces, and one for a potential hacker who might be interested in
> doing more work on the emulator. Doug told me to call Mary and arrange
> to pick them up, but Mary called back and she said Eugene had already
> picked up all the keysets. Doug was surprised and asked me to sort
> things out with Eugene. (07)
Since the keysets are quite useful and also quite rare, I'd suggest
holding off on giving the CHM any at this time, and probably wait until
we can find a company to build new ones. (08)
Who is the potential hacker that you're considering? I think we should
probably see if we can re-engage Howard Palmer first, since the Java
AugTerm is primarily his work. (09)
I believe that Doug was in the loop on having Mary give Eugene the
keysets (Eugene, please confirm). I think perhaps he just forgot having
the conversation with Eugene. (010)
> If some of the keysets have serial interfaces, I'd like to get them as
> soon as possible. I had asked Eugne to arrange to bring them to Doug's
> party tomorrow. If they require additional cables and you're having
> them built, that fine too; just let me know when I can get them. Also,
> let me know whether I need to pick up an additional gameport adapter
> from RadioShack for any non-serial units. (011)
I'm hoping that they all have serial interfaces, since that would mean
we don't need a hand-crafted cable. We could just buy some DB-25 serial
to DB-9 serial adapters from Radio Shack, or better would be DB-25
serial to USB. (012)
I know everyone is anxious to get ahold of working keysets for their
machines. I'll try to finish figuring out what type they are as soon as
possible and determine what it will take from a software standpoint to
make them work on Linux and Windows (Phil can do Mac later). (013)
Phil, I'd suggest holding off buying any gameport adapters for now,
since there is a good chance that we won't need them for this style of
keysets. (014)
> Thanks, and I'll look forward to seeing you tomorrow! (015)
Unfortunately, I won't be able to make Doug's birthday party since I'll
be in San Diego until Monday morning. Have a great time! (016)
Jonathan (017)
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