Specs:
RedHat 8.0, Kernel 2.4.18-14
windowMaker 0.80.2
Gnome 2.2
ECS K7S5a Mobo w/ AthlonXP 1700
256 DDR PC2100
SoundBlaster (ensoniq) PCI 128
NVidia GeForce 3 Ti200
Maxtor 60GB ATA 133


OK, I have been trying for several days to get a gamepad installed so that I can take advantage of snes9x without having to use the keyboard. I have searched this board several times, and have found instruction on using modprobe to load the correct modules into the kernel, but I am still getting no response from the gamepad. I have tried hooking it up through both the onboard gameport, and the gameport on my soundblaster PCI128, and neither method has worked. I have loaded modules joydev, analog, and gameport, and I believe that these are the only 3 that I need. They load fine, and doing a /sbin/lsmod shows that they have been loaded. Doing a cat /dev/js* returns no such file on js0, js1, js2 and js3.

My question is: The mods are loading correctly, so is there something that needs to be done to initalize the gameport on my soundblaster? I am assuming that it is initialized by default, but I could be wrong. From looking at what I posted above, are there any steps that I may have missed? Anyone have a working gamepad using a soundblaster PCI128 and want to share how they got it working?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

slight

I think I saw a joystick package when I installed Redhat. Did you install that package?

# Redhat links
RedHat Linux Manuals
Maximum RPM
rpmfind
Easier software management: apt4rpm - Red Carpet
RedHat 8.0 Tips & Tricks

# Redhat 7.3 down configuration commands
setup leads to several configuration tools

# Redhat 7.3 up configuration commands
Configure soundcard:
redhat-config-soundcard
Configure X server:
redhat-config-xfree86
Configure network:
redhat-config-network

I did a full install when I loaded RedHat, so if there was a package on the CD, I have it. I know the modules are present, and I think those installed by default anyway.



slight

OK, I found a solution, and figured I would post incase this might be helpful to anyone.

My specific card, the SoundBlaster PCI 128, uses the es1371 module. This module, it turns out, needs to be TOLD where to find the gameport; it is a generic driver and works for multiple cards. So, after much research, I found the fix:

I have added the following lines to my /etc/rc.d/rc.local file.

#Reloads the es1371 module and tells it where to find the gameport
rmmod es1371
/sbin/modprobe es1371 joystick=0x200
#Loads the Joystick driver
/sbin/modprobe joydev
#loads the gameport driver
/sbin/modprobe gameport
#Loads the analog driver
/sbin/modprobe analog

and it worked like a charm.

If you're having a similar problem getting your joystick/gamepad to work, check to see if you might be loading the es1371 module as your sound driver by doing a /sbin/lsmod and looking at your soundcard entry. Most generic cards, and even some of the newer cards may be using this driver. Alot of Soundblaster cards actually use a chipset made by ensoniq, and es1371 is their main linux driver. 0x200 is almost always the address for the gameport, it is a defacto standard.



slight