Oh yeah, I suppose you could do that.  Just be sure to do it with interrupt disabled because those outputs are also used for other purposes.

Ken

On 9/23/25 8:19 PM, Mike Stein wrote:
So, can't you scan it like a keyboard, i.e. output one of the 8 bits at a time and check if it appears on the input pin?

What am I missing?

m

On Tue, Sep 23, 2025 at 11:08 PM Kenneth Pettit <[email protected]> wrote:

    The printer port is output only except for 2 inputs: BUSY and /BUSY

    Ken

    On 9/23/25 7:59 PM, Mike Stein wrote:
    Couldn't you just scan the printer port looking for 1 out of 8
    switch closures?.

    m

    On Tue, Sep 23, 2025 at 9:42 PM Scott McDonnell
    <[email protected]> wrote:

        I am back to thinking about a joystick for the Model 100. I
        have a
        specific reason in mind and even a specific joystick.

        My intent is to target the Atari/Commodore 64 digital
        joystick interface
        mainly because my inspiration is the Suncom Icontroller which
        mounts to
        the side of the machine.

        This interface is a series of 5 discrete switches to control
        direction
        and a fire button. Very basic.

        While the parallel port would have been ideal for something
        like this,
        it is not bidirectional and offers only two inputs.

        The serial port provides 3 inputs; still not enough

        While some multiplexing strategies might allow this to work,
        both of
        those ports are also often used for other important purposes.

        So I started thinking about the barcode port. It only has one
        input, but
        the joystick could be encoded into a serial stream. Maybe
        even using the
        original barcode drivers. I don't know the specifics of the BCR
        implementation  here, but often they are just keyboard wedges.

        Any thoughts on this or a better solution?



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