What is your PRIMARY CARTRIDGE?

[MrGonker]

My 1985 Extended basic cartridge but I'm pretty sure it's that what's causing my Ti to crash a lot as it works ok for hours with it unplugged.

[Omega-TI]

 

 

I've begun to accept the reality that most folks browsing this forum actively ignore anything to do with Forth. I do plan to start working on posting examples of fbForth in action after I get my promised manual updates finished. @Willsy, however, has been doing that for a long time. Oh, well...

 

...lee

 

From a strictly marketing perspective, I'd highlight NON-technical aspects that users could relate to and would personally benefit from.

If people 'feel' that it's as dry as assembly language programming, their eyes might glaze over. If they feel that it's hard, 'wordy' or that they'll have to memorize a gazillion things to be proficient, they may never even look at it.

 

I'm ignorant about both variants of Forth, so I'm useless in this endeavor, but a couple of suggestions:

 

1) Create a NON-technical PDF file (advertising style) with lots of examples, like the 80 column aspect, because that's something the average guy cannot do in XB.

2) Make a disk image with example programs that a person can just load up from a menu and run in Classic99. You'll probably also want to include instructions in the PDF file on how to go about loading it up too. Remember, some people do not want to ask 'stupid questions', but since your target audience is newbies, you'll have to 'walk them through it'.

3) Include a link in the PDF to a program library for Forth. They may not want to program at first, but if it has some useful utilities, or games, they just might buy if for those... and get into programming later, just like Extended BASIC sucked so many of us in all those years ago.

 

Once people get a 'feel for it', and see that there are programs for it, or that it looks simple enough for them to use, and that it's actively used and supported, they may be more willing to go further. Just my two cents.

[+Ksarul]

Mr Gonker, you might just want to open up your console and remove the gunk-filled felt in the cartridge port if you haven't already--it is probably the cause of your problem. . .

[Gary from OPA]

 

Wow! It seems that @Willsy’s and my Forth cartridges really are invisible! His TurboForth has been available for several years and my fbForth for six months (binary), with the physical cartridge (released at the Chicago Faire) available for about a month (See this forum’s topic, fbForth—TI Forth with File-based Block I/O—now, with a FONT EDITOR):

 

I've begun to accept the reality that most folks browsing this forum actively ignore anything to do with Forth. I do plan to start working on posting examples of fbForth in action after I get my promised manual updates finished. @Willsy, however, has been doing that for a long time. Oh, well...

 

...lee

 

My bad, very sorry, I think that fbForth label looks cool. -- I got some bare boards from hexbus with blank eproms, what size do I need to make one myself, or is there a place to order one from, sadly I don't get out to the chicago show for a while now, being stuck in DR.

 

I think also that fbForth topic should be made a STICKY, major programming ones like that, XB 2.7, and RXB threads should be on the TOP page of forum, as rarely I ever click on the second page of topics listed, and had not noticed that thread for while, until today when a new post got added to it.

[+Lee Stewart]

 

My bad, very sorry, I think that fbForth label looks cool. -- I got some bare boards from hexbus with blank eproms, what size do I need to make one myself, or is there a place to order one from, sadly I don't get out to the chicago show for a while now, being stuck in DR.

 

I think also that fbForth topic should be made a STICKY, major programming ones like that, XB 2.7, and RXB threads should be on the TOP page of forum, as rarely I ever click on the second page of topics listed, and had not noticed that thread for while, until today when a new post got added to it.

 

No prob. I can make you a cartridge or you can make your own. You need a 32KB EPROM (27C256), which requires at least the 64K Guidry board (I don't think any 32K boards were made). (I think Greg (@arcadeshopper) has available on his website some 512K boards that Jim (@Ksarul) made. The binary, cartridge info, manual, etc. are all kept pretty much up to date in post #1 of the fbForth thread.

 

...lee

Edited November 25, 2014 by Lee Stewart

[atrax27407]

No cartridges at all. Everything I need is on my HSGPL and loads from a menu selection.

[Omega-TI]

No cartridges at all. Everything I need is on my HSGPL

 

That sounds a little bit like the PGRAM+ card? Do you know, or anyone else know what differences there are between the two units?

Does it work with BOOT too?

[atrax27407]

It is a P-GRAM on steroids. Yes, it works with BOOT. Mine is actually called MENU and loads from my HRD16 RAMdisk.

[Omega-TI]

Mine is actually called MENU and loads from my HRD16 RAMdisk.

 

Cool! You must have one of the FASTEST boot & load times of anyone out there!

[atrax27407]

It isn't too shabby. I used to like to harrass my buddies with a PC by going from a cold boot into the F'WEB editor with two keypresses (and about 10 seconds) and challenging them to do the same on their PC.

[Iwantgames:)]

It isn't too shabby. I used to like to harrass my buddies with a PC by going from a cold boot into the F'WEB editor with two keypresses (and about 10 seconds) and challenging them to do the same on their PC.

[Gazoo]

It isn't too shabby. I used to like to harrass my buddies with a PC by going from a cold boot into the F'WEB editor with two keypresses (and about 10 seconds) and challenging them to do the same on their PC.

 

Only one keypress for me (I). I have Funnelweb configured to go right to the editor when it loads. Just timed it at 7 seconds.

 

Gazoo