[Coco] $4 USB HOST a chip

[farna at amc-mag.com]

Date: Thu, 23 Feb 2017 08:49:17 -0600
From: Allen Huffman <alsplace at pobox.com>


The adapter would plug in the keyboard port, just like the PS/2 adapters
and such.
Key up, key down, etc. would all be mapped in to the proper matrix so it
would be
100% transparent to the CoCO.


A second interface would plug in to a joystick port for USB joysticks.

Best part ... either could take a cheap Bluetooth dongle, then you could
use a
bluetooth keyboard, bluetooth mouse, or CERTAIN types of Bluetooth game
pads. It
appears gamepad are not standardized, and they have different firmware for
different
types of PS gamepad.

==================================================================

"Now I see, said the blind man..."
Wasn't clear where you were plugging this thing in at first. I was
thinking (like most, apparently) that you were talking about a general USB
port addition... either plugged into the serial or cartridge port. With a
$4 chip making an adapter for each device is practical, though a finished
product would probably be $25 or so... still reasonable. Wouldn't some
programming or hardware be needed for the CoCo keyboard matrix though? I
can see joysticks being much simpler.