Gamepad for Axim?

[Tom61]

Some links I found in a quick search, dealing with making drivers under WinCE:

http://www.embedded.com/story/OEG20010618S0083
http://www.jungo.com/win_ceusb.html
http://www.jungo.com/win_ce.html
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...DisplayLang=en
http://www.cegadgets.com/wincedevfaq.htm

I also turned up a fair bit of books, if you perfer learning from those. 'Windows CE driver developement' seemed the best phrase.

[deftech]

With traditional USB interfaces (like those found in current PDAs), you cannot have device-to-device communication. This is not a software limitation, but a hardware limitation. The chip itself which handles USB does not allow for this.

There is a new technology called USB OTG (On-The-Go) which will allow device-to-device communication. However, because the Axim (or any PDA right now) does not contain a chip that supports USB OTG, that is why it will not work. USB OTG is planned to go into upcoming PDAs (possibly next Axim????), mainly to allow for USB connectivity between two PDAs. But it will also allow for any device-to-device communication.

[ghettoknot]

guys,

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately, school has began so this project may be put off for a while. In addition, I have to get a new controller and a serial connector for my Axim.

Anyway, it sounds idiotic that USB would work the way that you guys say it does. Sounds like they took a step backwards when they came up with it.

To me that OTG stuff doesn't sound revolutionary. It sounds like what USB was supposed to be from the start.

Well... thanks again...

[GoldenWolf]

Hello:

I like the idea of hacking apart a snap-on keyboard on the X5. The physical wiring is actually pretty simple in such a scenario - as I've successfully converted NES gamepads to Amiga/Commodore/Atari style 9-pin ports in the past. My main concern is the directional pad (since that is what I have the most problems with for games) and whether or not that signal is present in the snap-on keyboard, or can be kludged by combining the signals from several other keypresses simultaneously (splicing the wires together).

The USB scenario seems problematic...but it would be nice to simply be able to plug-in an existing USB gamepad. Maybe a USB to serial adapter acting as a bridge, then a connection to a CF serial card would work with the appropriate driver (haha).

Too bad a manufacturer doesn't recognize the popularity of the Axim and build a snap-on gamepad. It's obvious that the Axim represents an affordable and powerful gaming solution (being able to play thousands of games on multiple emulated platforms is great).


James

[RobertCF]

Actually, I was playing the beta version of the Anthelion first-person space shooter and decided to try it while using the Dell keyboard. It actually sort of worked. Certain keys worked the speed controls and weapons fire, however the problem was in the arrow keys and directional control. Once you pressed a direction it kept going in that direction until you pressed the opposite key---then, of course, it went the opposite direction. In other words, it didn't recognize the key-off. However, this tells me it's possible to do it. In fact, using the keyboard as a controller would be my preferred method (since that's what I'm used to on my desktop and I hate game controllers in comparison). It might be that game designers could build into the code something to recognize when keyboards are attached and allow for the same configuration you can do on the desktop games.

[Tom61]

I've taken my thumbboard apart, it should be hackable into a gamepad with some effort. It uses a matrix, so you need two wires going to each button in the donor game pad.

The problem I have is trying to figure out how to not destroy the keyboard functionallity when hacking in a gamepad. The pad conacts are under a sheet of mylar that contain the button 'tops', the metal circles that complete the circuit when a key is pressed, is stuck to the board itself. This causes two problems: One is the mylar may be damaged by lifting it up and the other is that you can't connect directly to the pads or through holes (which seem to be present). Soldering to the chip inside might work, but it's a bit hard to track down the traces.

My main concern is the directional pad

however the problem was in the arrow keys and directional control

The direction keys pose a problem, I have problems in games with these too. Usually, with mine, you press a direction and the game doesn't respond to a press until a second or so later, then keeps moving in that direction for a second or so. In emulators and games that allow button remapping, you can use the letter keys for directional control just fine. I think I moved and fired at the same time, but I didn't do much testing with key combos to see if the thumbboard had any ghosting/masking issues. My Axim has a dead screen right now, so I can't do testing with it right now. :(

[runnr548]

Is there a way for my kids GB game cartridges to work with the X5?

[Tom61]

Originally posted by runnr548
Is there a way for my kids GB game cartridges to work with the X5?

You need to get a device that connects to a PC and makes a ROM image of it, then transfer the ROM imge to your Axim. No direct way to plug in cartridges to your Axim.