Mac OS X Input Sprocket question

[k8track]

OK, so Mac OS X doesn't seem to recognize Input Sprocket for programs like Stella (the Atari 2600 emulator). I never had any problems when I ran it in OS9. Unfortunately, my new Mac is so "advanced" that I don't even have the option of booting it up in system 9. Anybody out there know what my options for a joystick would be for Stella in OSX?

[norkusa]

You can boot up in OS 9 if you want. Just go to system preferences/startup disk/ Mac OS 9....

[k8track]

No, I am afraid I cannot. It is not physically possible. It's the latest (and most certainly not the greatest) model, and the motherboard will physically not boot up from 9. When I picked it up from campus stores (after having ordered it 2 weeks prior and the sales rep assuring me I could boot up in either 9 or 10), the tech person assured told me the same thing and proceeded to try to boot it up with a system 9 CD. It wouldn't work for anything. She called the big Apple, which revealed that my newest model could not boot up from 9. I was ticked, but was hoping it wouldn't pose a problem. It is proving to do just that.

It will run OS9 in the background, though, for older programs. I'd be happy if it did that for Stella and MacMame, but it doesn't.

I'll be real honest and admit that I don't have a complete understanding how all of this works, only a tenuous grasp at best. (I constantly need to have my hand held.) But one thing I am sure of, I can't boot up into OS9. You would think that you could do more things with OSX than with 9, but I seem to be able to do less! I can't even do simple things anymore like install my own screen savers and background pictures, or click-hold (the Mac equivalent of right click on a PC) on items for a pull-down menu. No, I'm not happy at all with OSX.

[norkusa]

Man, that's a raw deal. Why would Apple do that? I could understand them wanting to phase out their old OS, but most people still have to boot up in OS 9 once in a while. Strange that you can't run MacMAME. What version are you using? I just downloaded the latest version (v0.66.2) for OS X and it works fine.

I know for a fact you can install your own screen savers and background images in OS X because I did it myself. Just mess around with it for a week or two and I'm sure you'll feel more comfortable. I love it so much better than the old OS.

[k8track]

Actually, Stella and MacMame do work fine and I did download the newest versions. But for some reason OSX doesn't recognize Input Sprocket, whereas OS9 does. What I meant was that Stella and MacMame don't need to have OS9 running in the background in order for it to work, but some other programs do. The long and short of it is, I'm stuck with using the keyboard instead of my cool gamepad.

I just want to be able to do everything I could do in OS9, especially the little things.

[davidbrit2]

OS X dropped support for the various Game Sprocket APIs (god knows why.) It does, however, have full support for HID compliant devices, such as just about every USB input device on the market. At this point, it's up to the software developers to make use of this new API. MacMAME will use gamepads, but right now it's kind of a dirty, dirty hack that requires adding a new HID.Bundle. And it doesn't save button mappings like Input Sprocket did.