Mess really SUCKS

[CantStopClicking]

Worst emulator I have ever used.. can't even quit out of it.. terrible.

 

 

I can't say that I blame you for your comment and verbalization of it. Been there, done that. However, as you'll probably see if the following replies (minus the ones that are flaming you) it is actually quite a capable emulator.

 

You might as well think of it as the difference between setting up your XBOX and setting up Windows, as far as comparing emulator ease of use. The XBOX, you turn on, insert disc, and play. Windows, there's definitely more involved and I know you've already figured that part out - so, your capable.

 

You WILL have to take the time to learn how to effectively use it. If you don't, then your option is to just not use it. Stick with what you got or abandon it altogether. Or do what I did, buy the real thing.

 

Emulators are convenient but I still find them frustrating to work with. Mostly the work flow and reliability. I finally just decided I like my TI enough that I'd track down the parts and pieces and not fight it. I know that's not always an option for everyone, especially if you're only checking it out. But, if you are just checking out vintage systems then MESS is the way to go!

 

Best of luck, don't let the experience make ya bitter. Easier said than done but, I'd like to bring ya back into the fold, there are extremely talented people here to help you.

 

Cheers!

 

-Dano

[atrax27407]

Does anyone know if DISkASSEMBLER works properly in MESS? It sure doesn't in Classic99.

[Retrospect]

MESS menu system takes a bit of getting used to, but once you are familiar with how it works, TI emulation under MESS is actually really good!

 

It even emulates cassettes for true nostalgia.

[+mizapf]

I have not heard of problems with particular applications in MESS.

 

Please allow me to point out that I included a disassembler in TIImageTool that can disassemble memory dumps (PRG), tagged object code (D/F80), and GPL. Maybe it can help you even better than DISkASSEMBLER.

[atrax27407]

I'll take a look. I need to convert some program image files to EPROMs by disassembling and adding a GPL header.

[+mizapf]

Hmmm ... if you had DIS/FIX 80 files, TIImageTool would be able to output source files that can be re-assembled. For memory dumps (program format) this is not available, unfortunately.

[jacquesg]

Does anyone know if DISkASSEMBLER works properly in MESS? It sure doesn't in Classic99.

Bob,

 

DISkASSEMBLER loads properly from MESS HSGPL. I was able to go through the various screens although I have never disassembled anything using this program in MESS or for that matter on my real TI.

 

Jacques

[Gazoo]

To Michael.

 

I have a bug report regarding HSGPL emulation in MESS. This was tested with both TI99_4ev and TI99_4P emulations.

 

On banks >0F, >10, and >11 the Rom banks do not respond. The loader will appear to load files in the space, but they are not present after loading.

 

I hope you can get this sorted, as the HSGPLMENU program ftp://ftp.whtech.com/datasheets%20and%20manuals/Hardware/SNUG/HSGPL/hsgplmenu.ark uses bank >10, and any modules containing Rom won't work currently with the program.

 

Thanks,

 

Gazoo

Edited April 3, 2014 by Gazoo

[+mizapf]

I'll have a look, thanks for the report!

[RobertLM78]

Seeing as this thread has become more of a support thread for MESS - I'm wondering, is MESS capable of running the TI-99/4A with a 9938 GPU?

[Gazoo]

Seeing as this thread has become more of a support thread for MESS - I'm wondering, is MESS capable of running the TI-99/4A with a 9938 GPU?

 

Make the highlighted selection.

 

Edited April 6, 2014 by Gazoo

[RobertLM78]

Got it figured out. I had to move all my slot devices up a tick since slot 2 is used by the SNUG EVPC, but it seems to be working fine. Thanks Gazoo .

[Retrospect]

I've just been using TI emulation under MESS ... it allows pasting of text into the emulator .... however there's something amiss, whenever I do paste text in, it seems to miss the first few characters out of every line it pastes, has anyone else noticed this strange behaviour ?

[RobertLM78]

I've just been using TI emulation under MESS ... it allows pasting of text into the emulator .... however there's something amiss, whenever I do paste text in, it seems to miss the first few characters out of every line it pastes, has anyone else noticed this strange behaviour ?

Interesting. How does that work? As far as I know, pasting into MESS is not possible. How are you doing that?

[+mizapf]

Please do not paste into the emulator.

 

MAME/MESS emulates pasting by a sequence of appropriate keystrokes. So pasting is generally possible by the MAME core, but it has no information whether the TI emulation is able to catch up with the delivered data.

 

My tests showed that virtually always you'll lose some characters, which makes pasting less desirable.

 

I'm not really sure whether this problem can ever be solved, since there is no practical way to control the pasted character delivery.

[Retrospect]

Interesting. How does that work? As far as I know, pasting into MESS is not possible. How are you doing that?

If we press function F12 (I'm using MESS windows under WINE by the way so if you're on a Linux version these keys may differ)

we can then press TAB to access a menu, go to the General input or something along those lines, and scroll down ... I reassigned the key used for Pasting as F1 on my computer so it was easier (scroll lock and shift otherwise, which I dislike).

 

So yeah pasting is possible, but it's like Mizapf has just said, shouldn't do it really as it's not functional.

[Retrospect]

Please do not paste into the emulator.

 

MAME/MESS emulates pasting by a sequence of appropriate keystrokes. So pasting is generally possible by the MAME core, but it has no information whether the TI emulation is able to catch up with the delivered data.

 

My tests showed that virtually always you'll lose some characters, which makes pasting less desirable.

 

I'm not really sure whether this problem can ever be solved, since there is no practical way to control the pasted character delivery.

One thing I did try was to place zero's in front of every line of code i made, so for example if we have this:

 

10 CALL CLEAR

20 PRINT "HELLO WORLD";

30 GOTO 20

 

we could alter it to this:

 

00010 CALL CLEAR

00020 PRINT "HELLO WORLD";

00030 GOTO 20

 

However, it didn't work. It still missed out the vital part of the numbers.

[RobertLM78]

I'll just keep using paste-xb in Classic99 in my XP VirtualBox (Classic99 and SimCity 4 are the only things that VM is used for ).

 

 

@Michael - I'm still having trouble using that generic imgtool. Finding consistent documentation on that has been a real pain in the backside. Am I missing something from the documentation included in the trunk source?

[RobertLM78]

 

@Michael - I'm still having trouble using that generic imgtool. Finding consistent documentation on that has been a real pain in the backside. Am I missing something from the documentation included in the trunk source?

Nevermind - I found a much better tool from VICE that is, by comparison to imgtool, very well-documented. I must say that imgtool is next to worthless. It sure makes me grateful that your TIImageTool is so easy to use .

[slinkeey]

Okay, so I got Mess running.

 

Is the (-natural) switch buggy by chance?

 

Sometimes the shift key works and other times it does not..

[RobertLM78]

Okay, so I got Mess running.

 

Is the (-natural) switch buggy by chance?

 

Sometimes the shift key works and other times it does not..

Ah, that you can take care of by re-mapping the ALPHA lock - I use LWIN myself, but you can set it to anything. So yes, in answer to your question, the standard CAPS lock is buggy, to say the least .

[RXB]

So, how do I use keyboard in MESS ? Anyone this figure out ?

I think he has the same issue I had when starting MESS for first time on Windows.

It says "No .ini file" and tells you to go to the "config file in Docs" for MAME and using Windows that file is useless.

It should say go to the .ini file for Windows but does not.

 

All of the documents there tell you how to do things in MAME not MESS and assumes you only use MAME only.

So windows users just go crazy as all the documentation is fixated on MAME which of course we as windows users are not using nor do we need it.

 

Easy to see why so many just quit using MESS for Windows after the first try. And say very bad things about it.

[RXB]

Same issue as I do not want to load a old .ini file for MESS I have and screw up MESS as it just locks up with a screen that I can not get out of. (ignores all keys on every keyboard)

So I am trying to remember how I got a .ini file into MESS to make it work.

 

The -configini file does not work as that is for MAME users only. I spent more time fixing MESS to work then I have ever used MESS to do anything.

 

I really want to use it badly. But my gawd this is a incredible pain in the rear to learn and get working for a new user.

 

Third Reinstall of MESS and set up but I do not want to use any possible corrupted files again.

[+OLD CS1]

Before I go MESSing around with this (ha!) would it so happen that anyone here has MESS running on WebOS? I was considering taking on the undertaking of compiling everything necessary (Preware is missing pretty much all of the dependencies,) but I thought someone else might have done it, already. I have MAME4Droid installed in ACL but it crashes as soon as it opens, and even if it worked I am not certain I could get a TI running in it.

Edited October 7, 2014 by OLD CS1

[Willsy]

I just have a single batch file. All it takes is a double click to launch MESS with the 4A emulation loaded, EVPC video card, all the appropriate cards installed in the PEB, TurboForth cart in the cart slot and the floppy disks in the disk drives. For the keyboard use the PC ALT key as the TI FCTN key.