Joysticks malfunctioning !

Hello, My joysticks doesn't seem to work anymore. I've got to separate Arcade joysticks and I don't believe they will fail both at the same time. If I make a small program: print strig(1) The result is always -1, it looks like the joysticks are constantly firing. When I hook the joysticks up to port joystick port 2 the result is only -1 if I hit the fire button. Now comes the strange thing: even if I use the space bar in a cartridge game I get the same effect ! Has this to do with a controller which is defect inside the MSX ? Anyone any idea's ?? Regards, pp