Can one use a IIc / IIe Joystick on a IIGS?

IT would seem it should work, right? But unless this stick I have is broken, the answer is no?

This was a boxed stick which is marked for a IIC/IIE , the directional controls work fine, it's just that the fire buttons don't. I guess I could fire up my IIC and test it that way. But it's more fun this way :)

Do they have different pinouts for the fire buttons on the IIC and IIgs?

One most certainly can use a IIe/IIc joystick for the IIGS. In fact, it's only kind of joystick available for the IIGS.

I went through MANY joysticks back in the day (maybe half a dozen!) and the most common problem was that one or both of the buttons would stop working. Quite often I'd stick the joystick down to the desk with blu-tack, use the stick with my right hand and substitute the buttons with the open-apple/command and option keys on the keyboard.

Solution, or what? :-)

- Alex

Thanks for the quick response man!!

I see! :(

Dang it, so I have to find another stick huh? I wonder execatly what's broken though... The buttons seem pretty tight, and click pretty nicely.

I opened it up last night, just to see if it was something as stupid as a disconnect wire inside, it wasn't, but I did notice that one of the leads on each button is connect to each other through a capacitor, could that go and make it not work? HUmmmm, gotta break out the muiltimeter!! I'd have to know the value of the capacitor though...

Think I could find any info about it?


PS> Also, as an unrelated comment....

I've been coming to this site for a while now, since before you guys had a message board. It's awesome that somebody is doing this!! I have a card at home, noting "sexy", it's a SCSI extention card? That's what it says in the box anyhow, although I'm not quite sure I understand what a SCSI entention is.... At any rate, if you would like I could take a picture of it (I even have the box, like I said) and send it yor way :)

I'm not an electronics expert, and can't provide any advice on how it might be fixed. With one of my broken joystick buttons, I gave the stick to a friend of mine handy with a soldering iron, but I don't believe he wasn't able to fix it. Or if he did, the fix didn't seem to last long. But that was a long time ago, and my memory isn't what is once was.

I don't know what a SCSI extender is either! It's not as simple as simply giving another SCSI port, that you can daisy chain more devices through is it?

By all means, read the instructions for best scanning in expansion cards and upload via You Can Help:

http://www.whatisthe2gs.apple2.org.za/you-can-help/#expansion_card

- Alex

There's really only two flavors of Apple II joysticks (II/II+ joysticks or IIe/IIc/IIc+/IIGS joysticks) though apart from the connector-type, they're more or less identical. There was never such a thing as a GS-specific joystick.

If you plug a II/II+ joystick into the GS's motherboard, remember its direction is reversed (the tail end of the joystick faces the keyboard). I twice blew the ADB micro controller on my ROM 01 motherboard plugging in the (metal) joystick from my Apple II+, so I wouldn't really suggest it if you already have D-style one that plugs into the rear.

If you're talking about the official Apple-made "IIe/IIc Joystick", the buttons going south on it was a common problem. My brother's GS had one and we were forced to play all our games with one hand on the keyboard (never had much luck with joystick buttons, I remember the chip that registered button-1 presses on my II+ clone board kept blowing out!). The fix for the Apple joystick was opening it up and soldering in replacement button switches, although I thought I saw something recently about an easier fix with just simple cleaning. If you can find one, the CH Products Mach III was a really nice alternative to the Apple joystick.