15.009 What is a Koala Pad and how do I test it?
Description
This article is from the Apple II Csa2 FAQ, by Jeff Hurlburt with numerous contributions by others.
15.009 What is a Koala Pad and how do I test it?
The Koala Pad is drawing pad peripheral. It 'looks like' a two-button
joystick to your Apple II. So, any software which accepts joystick input can
use the pad. This includes the paint program originally included with the pad
(the "Koala Micro-Illustrator"), "Blazing Paddles", "Dazzle Draw", "816 Paint",
and many other programs.
The Koala Pad has the old 16-pin game plug. It is supposed to be plugged
into the Old Game Port socket. This is an 'IC socket' near the back right side
of the Apple II (II+, IIe, IIgs) motherboard. The cable end should be facing
toward the back.
It's a good idea to get a 9-pin plug -to- 16-pin socket converter cable so
that the pad can be plugged into the newer, external, 9-pin Game Port. This
makes it much easier to unplug the pad when you want to swap-in a joystick for
games. The converter cable is not hard to build; or, you may find one at a swap
meet.
You can test your KoalaPad using software which checks joysticks. For
example, touching the stylus to the upper left corner outputs X,Y readings
close to 0,0; touching the stylus to the lower right corner outputs X,Y
readings of 255,255. Near the center of the pad, the output is about 130,130.
Some indication of shrinkage or stretching on the pad seems to be normal.
Our pad does not present a 'slate flat' look either; but, it works fine. Before
deciding that your pad is defective, try it out on a joystick checker program.
If you are using some kind of accelerator on your Apple ][, be sure to set
speed to 1MHz.
Similarly, you can check your software by substituting a joystick for the
KoalaPad.
By: Rubywand
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