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1 Meg Super AMS Discussion Thread


Omega-TI

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All is well so far. A little slow but that could definitely be my IC. I will continue to monkey around with this new awesome piece of hardware.

 

Budz,

Please let me know how it goes and what programs you find interesting. I'm still a week or two away from receiving mine as I guess it'll ship Friday. The four programs that I use the most are the 9640 Menu System, TIMXT, Stuart's Internet browser and Remind Me!.

 

Sadly I've not seen hacks for Multiplan with the SAMS, which I think could really benefit from the device, but I doubt I ever will. In this day and age hardly anyone uses that program anymore. At least there is the 80 column hack that works with the F18A which makes that program actually usable though.

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We need to update Classic99 for the 4 Meg version!

 

That way I can make a RXB version 2016 with SAMS 4 Meg support built in!

 

I suppose a few people will might eventually use that much memory. I'm betting that for now, and into the foreseeable future, the 1024K will be more than enough for most people... after all, it's just a TI.

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I still have to work out the circuitry to expand these to 4MB in any event. That may be a long while yet. I've been spending all of my hobby time lately building the 1MB boards and the box of cartridge boards I sent to Arcadeshopper for the Fest West. . . ;)

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I have been researching the internal workings of Commodore 64 GEOS and GEOS128. While (barely) usable without, these two operating systems shine when used with a RAM Expansion Unit (REU.) The difference between the REU and the SAMS is the REU offers DMA capability to transfer chunks of memory (including the entire 64k memory map) into 64k banks on the REU, no CPU required.

 

Even so, while I should be doing other things, the glittery squirrelTM of always wanting GEOS or similar on the TI has attracted me right now and I believe it to be fully feasible to port GEOS to the TI. Obviously, the binaries will not be compatible as the 64 and 128 are 6510 and 8501 CPU (respectively,) neither will the disk formats as GEOS uses a custom filesystem on top of CBM DOS and the GCR low-level format, but I expect to be compatible with the data files (geoWrite, geoPaint, etc.) with transfer possible via the Converter tool.

 

I have been playing with using the 1571 to read 180k (SSDD) TI disks to make it easier to move files back-and-forth. The 1571 cannot be used to read 90k (SSSD) TI disks as the 1770/1772 in the 1571 is locked to the DD MFM mode by grounding the density select pin. I think a modification of connecting the density select pin to an unused pin on the 6526/8521 on the board can be used to over-come this limitation, but right now I see neither the necessity nor the practicality.

 

Back on-topic: ergo, I will have to pick up one of these, as well.

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... always wanting GEOS or similar on the TI has attracted me right now and I believe it to be fully feasibly to port GEOS to the TI.

 

... or something like it. Actually with the talent around here, I agree it probably is possible. One thing is certain, with the F18A, UberCart and SAMS card, the hardware now exists to actually bring it all together in an efficient and practical manner.

 

As mentioned in the past, it would probably have to be able to run regular E/A 5 programs too for practicality while other things are being developed for it in the years to come. (Sort of like how Windows 3.1 and DOS worked together in the past.) It would sure keep things hopping around here.

 

You know, it does not support GROM, but this new SD card based cartridge would be a great way to exploit something like this too. You have to admit, it would be a great way for anyone to EASILY add new modules into the GUI or remove them as wanted or needed and for testing.

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That would make yours Serial Number 0015, Arcadeshopper. :) I had an email exchange with Mike Dudeck this week about SAMS cards. The last time we had some boards made as part of a group buy (I think it was around 2005-2006), he bought a whole bunch of bare boards (and promptly lost them in one of his storage bins--he's still trying to figure out where he put them). He was pleasantly surprised at the current level of interest, so it may spur him to dig those boards out of their hiding place. They don't have the LED, but they can be built as a 256K board in addition to working as a 1M board. I hope he does dig them out--as those were the last boards made using the original layout (and the format it's in is no longer used by the board houses, which was what initially spurred me to make the new layout).

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