Posted by Andy Warne on 11, 2000 at 8:49 AM:
In Reply to: Clarification posted by Marshall on 10, 2000 at 11:39 AM:
Thanks for your feedback Marshall!
The board will be the same size as the I-PAC. I am planning to have 2 D-connectors on the board with cables to 2 COM ports on the PC. Using a one-into-two cable would require a custom cable - too expensive.
It will have inputs for 2 trackballs and 4 spinners. Yes all separate but you don't have to use all of them of course. That is a total of 16 signal wires plus GND and 5 volts which are common.
There does not seem any point in implementing USB at the moment as the 2-player trackball/spinner version of MAME does not support USB, being a DOS program. This may be a future option though.
One thing I am still thinking about is whether to make one half of the board compatible with both PS/2 mouse as well as serial. This might add to the cost because it would mean a special cable (although I'm still searching). I am not sure there is a need for this because it's a good idea anyway to keep the ps/2 mouse port for a normal mouse.
Cheers
Andy