Rockin' Kat Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 So I got a PEB w/disk Manager 2... and now I have a floppy disk with a loader on it and some games... ...now how do load from the floppy disk? I do not know how to do anything with this computer other than play game cartridges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockin' Kat Posted March 4, 2011 Author Share Posted March 4, 2011 So I figured out how to make disk manager 2 show a catalog of the files from the disk I got... It listed some stuff and then gave me a disk error 31 or something like that and then I couldn't figure out what keys I was supposed to press on the keyboard to move on from that screen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockin' Kat Posted March 4, 2011 Author Share Posted March 4, 2011 Put a blank disk in... initialize disk. DISK NOT INITIALIZED Infinite beep. I think I might be a little boned on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grownup Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 Put a blank disk in... initialize disk. DISK NOT INITIALIZED Infinite beep. I think I might be a little boned on this. Sorry dude, but all my instruction manuals for the TI are packed away right now, so I wont be able to look it up for you. I never had a disk drive for mine, but I found all the manuals at the thrift shop years ago. But i bet that stuff is on the internet anyway. Do a google search Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockin' Kat Posted March 4, 2011 Author Share Posted March 4, 2011 I did do the lovely google searches. I got lots of shrine websites, but the FAQs I found were not particularly newbie friendly... They seemed to be mostly hardware oriented than "do that in basic and you'll get this". That said I did find out a post on the OLD command... which proceeded to fail. OLD "DSK1.LOAD" RUN Line 100 is like totally F-ed up man... My PEB is full of fail. I think It's time to break out my floppy box full of awesome... ...cleaning diskettes. I hope the thing isn't out of alignment. I don't know how to fix that kind of issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tursi Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 It's possible that LOAD is an Extended BASIC program, but if you get an error in Disk Manager 2 trying to list the directory, the disk is probably damaged. The programming section here has a TI-99/4A forum that is very active, you will get better and faster responses posting TI questions there than here in the general section, many of the members don't venture out of that one message base. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tursi Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 As for the keypresses, the various keys are FCTN plus a number key, usually sorted like this: 1 - DELETE 2 - INSERT 3 - ERASE 4 - CLEAR ( Stops a BASIC or XB program) 5 - BEGIN 6 - PROCEED 7 - AID 8 - REDO 9 - BACK = - QUIT ( Restarts the TI) 5,6,7,8 and 9 only do anything if the program running gives them a function. The rest can usually be counted on to work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockin' Kat Posted March 5, 2011 Author Share Posted March 5, 2011 It's possible that LOAD is an Extended BASIC program, but if you get an error in Disk Manager 2 trying to list the directory, the disk is probably damaged. I was able to get it to catalog on a later retry without the error... I'm still holding out hope that it's just a dirty drive... But if it's an Extended BASIC program, then I take it I'd need the Extended BASIC cartridge? The programming section here has a TI-99/4A forum that is very active, you will get better and faster responses posting TI questions there than here in the general section, many of the members don't venture out of that one message base. I will have to give that a look... I forgot they have that section here. I suppose they don't venture into the marketplace much either then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockin' Kat Posted March 5, 2011 Author Share Posted March 5, 2011 Well, after running a cleaning diskette through the drive I'm able to reliably catalog the disk repeatedly without failure... ...Load still won't run... ...I just bought an extended basic cartridge, so hopefully it gets here soon... on other notes... Most disks are Single Density and the TI controller card in the PEB apparently only does single density... which leaves me wondering... how reliable are Double Density disks which are formatted for Single Density anyway? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Hatter Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Like Tursi said, a file named LOAD is usually always an Extended Basic file. When you initially select Extended Basic your disk drive will search whatever disk is in the drive for a LOAD file. If a LOAD file is present then it auto-loads that file. You can manually run files from Basic or Extended basic with the OLD command. And from Extended Basic you can use the RUN command (e.g RUN "DSK1.FILENAME"). Most of the 5.25 disks I have are double-sided double-density disks. I've had no problem using these disks with a TI controller. You just have to format them according to what kind of disk drive you have. If it's a stock TI 5.25 drive, then it's a 90k single-sided single-density drive. The TI controller can do double-sided single-density (180k), but of course you need a drive capable of that. Well, after running a cleaning diskette through the drive I'm able to reliably catalog the disk repeatedly without failure... ...Load still won't run... ...I just bought an extended basic cartridge, so hopefully it gets here soon... on other notes... Most disks are Single Density and the TI controller card in the PEB apparently only does single density... which leaves me wondering... how reliable are Double Density disks which are formatted for Single Density anyway? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockin' Kat Posted March 6, 2011 Author Share Posted March 6, 2011 Thanks all for the info so far. Now I can do a little more than just play cartridge games. So now I am having to unplug my PEB because I pressed the power button to shut it off and it didn't pop back out. Now it is stuck on. Joy. I wonder how many parts I'm going to have to remove from this thing to get at that. I guess I'll find out in a few days when I get more time with it. The thing is such a little bastard... the screw placement on the bottom is evil and has now scratched my desk twice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 The push-button models are the older ones... Built for the 99/4, instead of the /4a. . Come see us at the other forum... Guarantee you you will learn everything you ever wanted to learn and MORE over there. We're a tenacious bunch and very rabid problem solvers. Welcome to the TI. Once you're up and running, the possibilities are just about endless for games. We have turned out about 30 new games and programs in the last 2 years.... Some of these games are (IMHO) better than almost anything TI put out back in the day. good luck!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RXB Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 (edited) Well, after running a cleaning diskette through the drive I'm able to reliably catalog the disk repeatedly without failure... ...Load still won't run... ...I just bought an extended basic cartridge, so hopefully it gets here soon... on other notes... Most disks are Single Density and the TI controller card in the PEB apparently only does single density... which leaves me wondering... how reliable are Double Density disks which are formatted for Single Density anyway? Well I can testify to the fact that I have 5 1/2 Floppys that still work. Also only 3 disks 3 1/2 have gone bad that I had my TI in Storage here at house for the last 10 years i.e. 2001 to 2011 I figure my SCSI drives are good for 50 years. 90% of all my 3 1/2 disks are DSDD so there is your answer. Just store them in a cool dry place, not freezing or never hot above 80 degrees. Edited March 12, 2011 by RXB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 If you have only a 5.25 drive, then I would say that as long as you format them to DSSD (double sided single density) you will be fine. As RXB said, 3.5 floppies are VERY reliable... I have a tower with (2) 3.5 drives that I have designated as DSK2 and DSK3. You'll find that uncorrupted 5.25 disks are getting harder to find, but are certainly not "rare." If you can get your hands on a 3.5 drive, I suggest trying to install it as DSK2, it's not hard, and can be a fun project. And for the love of God, come see us at the Ti-99/4a forum!!! We'd love to see you there and we'd love to help you out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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