This package contains "port 2" drivers for GEOS-- input drivers that access your device plugged into game port #2, instead of the usual game port #1. This allows you to physically plug 2 different input devices into your C64, one in each game port, and switch between them, simply by selecting either the original driver for the device plugged into port 1, or the port 2 driver for the other device. You do this with the "select input" option under the "geos" menu of the deskTop. Now isn't that easier than plugging and unplugging?
The port 2 drivers function essentially the same as their port 1 counterparts, with the exception that "shift-clicking" (that is, selecting multiple files in the deskTop by holding down the Commodore key) will not function with any of them. You'll have to use C=1 through C=8, instead. This is due to the way that the deskTop looks for a shift-click. Perhaps in a (near?) future revision of geos we might see a convention defined for properly passing a shift-click, so that ANY device in ANY port could generate one in any manner that it wants. (How about bit #6 of "mouseData", guys?)
There are no "port 2" drivers for light pens, as the light pen line only comes off of port #1. Sorry-- you'll have to plug your mouse in port 2, instead!
The enclosed drivers, and a little bit about each:
@COMM 1351 p2
Exactly like BSW's "COMM 1351" driver, but for port 2!
@COMM 1351(a) p2
Exactly like BSW's "COMM 1351(a)" ("accellerated"), but for port 2!
@New Koala Pad p2
My own "New Koala Pad" driver, adapted to port #2. If you haven't gotten "NEWKOALAPAD.LNX", let me explain-- I HATED the BSW Koala Pad driver, as it had a nasty tendency to lock up in a menu... so, I re-wrote it to function with "relative" movement-- that is to say, that it watches where your finger moves and moves the mouse accordingly, instead of trying to place the mouse on the screen in a spot that corresponds "absolutely" to the spot on the pad you've put your finger. I also added support for the "inputData" variable, so you can scroll in geoPaint.
@Koala Side p2
Similar to the above driver, but uses the pad oriented as shown in its icon; the buttons on the edge instead of the top. I found that this was a more comfortable position to use the pad, as I could move the mouse with my right thumb and click the buttons easily with my finger. More like a trackball!
@JOYSTICK p2
BSW's "JOYSTICK" driver (you remember it- the system's default driver!) Since I had to make room for a few more instructions, this port 2 version does not support the "SET_INPUTCHG" flag of the "pressFlag" variable, that shows when the stick has moved. This shouldn't cause any problem, as none of the other input drivers BSW originally supplies support it, either! (I have yet to see a program that even checks for it! Now, wouldn't that shift-click flag be much more useful??) The "inputData" variable is still supported, so geoPaint does scroll!
(.txt)