Cyberman 2 via USB?
January 11, 2010 6:30 PM Subscribe
Any advice for using an old Logitech Cyberman 2 on a modern PC?
Well, I thought it was a slim chance, but worth a shot--I bought a Game Port -> USB converter and plugged in my old Cyberman 2. You know, that awesome controller that was featured on the cover back in '97?
Sadly, windows can't pick up a single button click or axis wiggle. This is via the Manhattan USB Game Port Adapter, model 168199.
Can anyone out there either suggest other things to try that might get it to work or, failing that, other awesome ancient joysticks that would work? I'm planning to use this to control Ableton Live, ultimately, and the Cyberman would have been sweet! But maybe there are equally sweet controllers for sale on ebay that might work better?
Well, I thought it was a slim chance, but worth a shot--I bought a Game Port -> USB converter and plugged in my old Cyberman 2. You know, that awesome controller that was featured on the cover back in '97?
Sadly, windows can't pick up a single button click or axis wiggle. This is via the Manhattan USB Game Port Adapter, model 168199.
Can anyone out there either suggest other things to try that might get it to work or, failing that, other awesome ancient joysticks that would work? I'm planning to use this to control Ableton Live, ultimately, and the Cyberman would have been sweet! But maybe there are equally sweet controllers for sale on ebay that might work better?
There has to be drivers somewhere out there.
Or there's This monster.
posted by Max Power at 6:42 PM on January 11, 2010
Or there's This monster.
posted by Max Power at 6:42 PM on January 11, 2010
Consider the Belkin Nostromo n52. You should be able to snag one fairly cheap. Or go for the earlier n50 model.
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 7:07 PM on January 11, 2010
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 7:07 PM on January 11, 2010
The reason it probably isn't working is because that joystick is not a standard analog joystick. The standard PC gaming port only has pins to support two devices each with two analog axes and two buttons. Your device has six axes and eight buttons and is digital, so Logitech had to create a proprietary protocol (called ADI I seem to recall) in order to communicate digitally with the device over the analog game port. This requires special driver support, and my guess is that the USB adapter is only capable of dealing with dumb/standard analog devices. If you want to use it, it sounds like you'll need to get a real game port (a cheap sound card - google product search shows plenty for less than $5) and install the Logitech software driver.
posted by Rhomboid at 10:05 PM on January 11, 2010
posted by Rhomboid at 10:05 PM on January 11, 2010
(Also, if you think you'd have a use for it you can have my old circa-1996 SpaceOrb 360 for free if you want. It had a serial interface instead of the game port, but from a quick search it appears the driver situation is horrendous, with a Win95 driver being the last thing ever produced before it was discontinued.)
posted by Rhomboid at 10:15 PM on January 11, 2010
posted by Rhomboid at 10:15 PM on January 11, 2010
Response by poster: Wow, rhomboid, that thing looks awesome! It looks like someone's working on rebuilding the drivers, too: http://hidsporb.sourceforge.net/
posted by Squid Voltaire at 9:33 AM on January 12, 2010
posted by Squid Voltaire at 9:33 AM on January 12, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by wongcorgi at 6:36 PM on January 11, 2010