CD-ROM's,
DAT's,
Hard Disks,
Floppies/Flopticals,
Magneto Opticals,
Memory,CDR's (Writeable CD-ROM's), DLT's (Digital Linear Tape), Mice
Here is all the information I have on joysticks and related devices.
Logitech was distributing this device in the U.S. 1994 that could be used to replace a space ball or possibly used as a joystick The Cyberman is sort of a cross between a mouse and a joystick. It uses a spring mounted 6DOF puck about 3 inches across with a few millimeters of displacement. It connects to a RS232 serial port and provides data for 6 motions:
To use the CyberMan with the Indigo2, however, one would have to write their own Irix driver.
Jim Helman of SGI found it much nicer to use than a space ball because it is displacement rather than force based so you get some immediate tactile feedback from the device itself. Rigid force sensitive devices always give him a sore wrist. You might try calling Bob Hiya at Logitech (510) 713-4835 for more information on this device.
David Phillip Oster has used it on SGI's and posted the following information to the SGI Hardware news/email groups in July 1994.
To use it on an SGI one needs to do two things:
- Jumper pin 8 to pin 20 in the serial cable so that the cyberman will get power, but Unix will still the control signals it needs to accept data from the cyberman.
- The Cyberman powers up in Microsoft mouse compatibility mode. So one sends it a string to kick it into cyberman mode.
In cyberman mode, it provides x,y,z roll, pitch, & yaw info. I have a task blocking on the serial port that copies values from the cyberman into a global record, then I sample these values 30 times a second using an XtTimeout callback to emulate either an velocity or an acceleration joystick.
If one is interested in purchasing software from him, call Softweaver marketing at (707) 987-9000.
Logictech Cyberman (Fry's electronics in San Jose CA) $70 (July '94)
The FlyBox has a 12-bit resolution, and sends data RS-232 format to the host at a selectable baud rate. The data is not subject to noise on the serial line. The FlyBox does not require a VME board or device driver.
The BeeBox has 12-bit resolution and sends data in RS-232 format to the host at a selectable baud rate. The data is not subject to noise on the serial line. The BeeBox does not require a VME board or device driver.
The CerealBox supports 8 analog imputs and 24 discrete inmputs. Options are available to allow the 24 discretes to be configured as outputs, and 3 channels of 12-bit analog output are also supported. The baud rate is selectable in software. Source code is provided. The data is not subject to noise on the serial line, and the CerealBox does not require a VME board or device driver.
FlyBox $2650 (June '96) BeeBox BG-201-0403 (joystick) $900 (June '96) BeeBox SW, 1/4" Tape (Free with hardware, on floppy) $25 (Aug. '95) Cereal Box LV 824-E (No DOs or AOs) $550 (Aug. '95) Cereal Box LV 824-F (DOs but no AOs) $650 (Aug. '95) Cereal Box LV 824-G (DOs and AOs) $800 (Aug. '95) Cereal Box SW, 1/4" (Free with hardware, on floppy) $25 (Aug. '95) Delivery: Normally 48hrs ARO Shipping: FedEx 2nd-day = $15-$40 BG Systems, Inc. 3272 Bryant Street Palo Alto, CA 94306 Phone: (415) 858-2628 FAX: (415) 858-2685 http://www.bgsystems.com/ Contact: John A. Green, Email:john@bgsystems.com
David Nahon posted the following information to the SGI Hardware news/email groups in October 1995.
The WG is very similar to the Notebook Gameport except that it uses standard serial protocols instead of a proprietary protocol. ( The NG uses the Ring and DCD lines to bring in data synchronously so that the standard Txd and Rxd lines are free to be used in the pass-through port. To avoid the difficult (in Unix) "real-time" task of reading in data bit by bit, the WG makes use of the serial port's UART and the standard Rxd line and as such does not support a pass-through serial port.)
The WG is a very small card that is able to measure the resistance of 2 analog PC-like Joystick, plus the state of 4 buttons (located on the same joystick or not). It is actally a workstation version of a PC dual-joystick port. The WG sends in a 6-byte 9600 (N, 8, 2) baud data packet whenever a stick is moved or a button is pressed or released. Writing a driver for the WG is therefore very similar to a simple serial mouse driver. Colorado Spectrum has sold WG's to Sun, SGI, HP, DEC, etc. customers already but do not have a "generic" driver available so one would need to create their own. This however will be an order of magnitude easier than writing a real-time driver for the NG (which they do not release the protocol for anyway).
One can connect any PC joystick without doing any special wiring, I've used a Gravis, which has 4 independant buttons.
If one wants to use 2 different joysticks, I guess one would just have to make a cable that directs the good potentiometers values and switches to the good connections onto the WG. (See pinouts at bottom of the supplemental page.)
The WG sells for $100 and can be purchased directly from Colorado Spectrum.
Colorado Spectrum 1001-A East Harmony Road, #501 Fort Collins, CO 80525 Phone: (800) 238-5983 or (970) 225-6929 FAX: (970) 225-1663
David also posted some wiring diagrams and a sample source file.
The following information was posted to the SGI Hardware news/email groups in May 1994.
Immersion Corporation has had many customers use the INTERFACE BOX to connect an analog joystick to a SGI machine via the serial port. They supply both the interface box and the joystick which works with it.
Following is a general description of the Interface Box and Peripherals:
The Immersion INTERFACE BOX makes it very easy to connect non-standard peripherals to ANY computer system via the serial port interface. Up to 8 devices can be connected simultaneously through a single interface box. One can connect multiple interfaces boxes to a single computer by using different serial ports. One can choose from a variety of peripherals which Immersion Corp supplies, or one can build their own peripherals by following simple instructions in the Interface Box users manual. The prices are as follows:
Immersion Interface Box (including software drivers): $299 (4 switches, 4 Pots) Immersion Interface Box Plus (including software drivers): $374 Optical Encoder support: $10/encoder (for Optical Encoders upto 6 ) Peripherals: Standard Foot Pedal (digital) $25 Heavy Duty Foot Pedal (digital) $60 Analog Foot Pedal $95 Twin Heavy Duty Foot Pedal (dig) $99 Knob Box $45 Double Knob Box $75 Slider Box $45 Double Slider Box $75 Joystick $59 Hand Switch $40 Optical $55Custom peripherals developed by Immersion Corp upon request, ask for a quote.
Immersion Corporation P.O. Box 8669 Palo Alto, CA 94309-8669 Phone: (415) 960-6882 FAX: (415) 960-6977 immerse@starconn.com Contact: Berny Jackson TO PLACE AN ORDER: Just send a purchase order via FAX, Email, or Phone.
In January 1994, Hans H. Huebner email'ed the following:
We are currently alpha-testing our Joystick-Connect product, which is a box which connects Joysticks (analog or digital) to any serial port. The driver currently under development connects this box to IRIX5, and allows for X pointer movement using the Joystick. It is also possible to query joystick state directly using the XInput extension.
The box will be available in single quantities in Feb 94. The retail price including driver source for IRIX5 is $350 excluding shipping.
H. Huebner ART+COM e.V Voice: (+49-30) 262 94 01 Hardenbergplatz 2 Fax : (+49-30) 261 90 36 10623 Berlin
UNWINDER version 3.1 multifunction adapter dual joystick, MIDI, and Control-L.
TECHNOLOGY PLAYGROUP INC. provides a variety of devices for Silicon Graphics workstations. They make a dual joystick adapter for connecting regular PC gameport devices to SGIs. The device can also be used as a Midi to Serial adapter.
Glenn Silver TECHNOLOGY PLAYGROUP INC. Fax : 1-514-282-0211 (Canada) http://this.is/tpg tpg@this.is
My other SGI 3rd party hardware lists:
CD-ROM's,
DAT's,
Hard Disks,
Floppies/Flopticals,
Magneto Opticals,
Memory,
CDR's (Writeable CD-ROM's),
DLT's (Digital Linear Tape),
Mice
If you have any additions, corrects, or updates to the above information, please email me at: blbates@vigyan.com, thanks.
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Last update: May 14, 2002