Omega-TI Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 Okay, admittedly some have called me a "cheap ba$tard", I prefer the term "thrifty" myself. Anyway, it begs the question, "How much USABLE crap can you really stuff on an FR99 or FG99 SD card at one time anyway?" << THIS CHEAP LINK >> Will get you a 16mb SD card, (puny by modern standards but way more than enough room for us TI'ers) sent and delivered directly to our homes for the paltry sum of $0.99! Cheap Chinese Chit can sometime be worth rolling the dice on. For that price ANYONE can have a backup or two in case of failure. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sometimes99er Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 Holy crap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Schmitzi Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 99 cent with free packaging and shipping wow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed in SoDak Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 Letmeseenow, I gots some 200 floppies, maybe half are DSSD, the rest SSSD. I know there's many backups, unfilled disks and redundancy in that estimated 2.7 meg collection. Tossing out the dead space and fluff, let's say 2 megs of programs and files, being really generous. On my Mac, my emulator Carts folder is 5.6 meg and has about all of the legacy carts with a few of the current TI New-Renaissance cart-based jewels. I can't estimate all the .DSK files since they might be a single <16K program stored by itself on a 90- or 180-k disk image, but let's again be generous, discard the unknown empty spaces and say another 2 megs there, assuming no copies of same already exist on my floppies, which is highly unlikely. Still under 10 megs. I'd actually use but a fraction of that ponderous collection of thousands of programs, but it might be fun to have it all there at my fingertips to try/retry and keep or discard. Now, if 99 Amelican pennies was my all-in cost to put that on my iron... hell yeah! Cheap Chit. Even including the cost of the hardware upgrade to use that 16meg SD card, it's a bargain. -Frugal Ed 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sometimes99er Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atrax27407 Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 I have found that all of these "exotic" storage devices for the TI are just so much surplusage. I have a 3Meg HRD16 in my system and menu options through various menus (all accessible with a single keypress) for a couple hundred programs. Coupled with a SNUG HSGPL Card with access to 16 cartridges, there isn't much that I need that I can't easily access There are some programs that I might use once or twice a year. The same would be true if they were all games. The question then becomes "How many programs do I have that I actually USE on a regular basis"? In the final analysis, any of these mega storage devices are a completely unnecessary waste of money and effort for me. In fact, I still have space available on my HRD16 and I even moved my 1.5 Meg Horizon Ram disk into storage and replaced it with a RAVE Speech card because it, too, was largely unused. Who needs an SD Card? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinphaltimus Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 Where's your faith? We get GB cards knowing that we have the option to fill them before we die. Hurry up developers.... we're starting to get old, some of us already are. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted March 1, 2018 Author Share Posted March 1, 2018 Amazing what three decades has done to the size and price of technology and hardware. Now, for only 99 cents and the cost of a FinalGROM cartridge, the average TI'er can now do 90% of what users with that expensive, rare and hard to obtain hardware can do. It's a no-brainer to think the availability of modern hardware coupled with it's cost to benefit ratio on all of the new goodies is a driving force in why the TI has been gaining in popularity. Sure, 16meg is overkill, you're not gonna fill it up, but at less than a buck who cares? Remember how expensive memory was back in the late 80's and early 90's? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 I would have to say that I probably would just have the basic console if it wasn’t for the newer devices. Between the FinalGROM99 and the nanoPEB, I have everything I need at a very reasonable price, and can pretty much run anything I might want to run, and it doesn’t take up a lot of room as an added bonus. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted March 1, 2018 Author Share Posted March 1, 2018 Where's your faith? We get GB cards knowing that we have the option to fill them before we die. Hurry up developers.... we're starting to get old, some of us already are. Okay, let's see ... with Tursi TechnologyTM, we could probably be hooked up with a multii-image game or video controlled by a single GPL based controller program. That might fill it up! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinphaltimus Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 (edited) Okay, let's see ... with Tursi TechnologyTM, we could probably be hooked up with a multii-image game or video controlled by a single GPL based controller program. That might fill it up! I knew you had it in ya! Edited March 1, 2018 by Sinphaltimus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FDOS Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 I would have to say that I probably would just have the basic console if it wasn’t for the newer devices. Between the FinalGROM99 and the nanoPEB, I have everything I need at a very reasonable price, and can pretty much run anything I might want to run, and it doesn’t take up a lot of room as an added bonus. I would (would? I have two TI consoles with the F18A) just add the F18A VDP. This is what I would recommend to newbies and those returning after a long absence, as a PEB and other exotic TI/3rd party mfg cards are hard to find and sometimes very expensive. I have lots of that stuff, but I could not afford to replace any of it today! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted March 1, 2018 Author Share Posted March 1, 2018 I would (would? I have two TI consoles with the F18A) just add the F18A VDP. This is what I would recommend to newbies and those returning after a long absence, as a PEB and other exotic TI/3rd party mfg cards are hard to find and sometimes very expensive. I have lots of that stuff, but I could not afford to replace any of it today! Replacement cost of classic gear... now that's a topic worthy of a dedicated discussion thread of it's own! I bet there are even a few insurance issues that could be discussed as well. Returning after a long absence... In just the last 6 years the scene has changed quite a bit. In the next 2-8 months it could drastically change (for the better) again. Once people jump in the pool, a certain percentage go "ALL IN", but it's nice to see a lower cost route for the majority now. If I was going to try to 'hook someone' I would encourage them in order, 1) FinalGROM, 2) 32K Sidecar, 3) F18A, 4) Speech and 5) when it's available TIPI. The monetary aspect is barely noticeable in steps or stages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+acadiel Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 Seriously, if Ralph can put a few more pins on the FG99 (so he can address the DSR address space at >4000), and we can put like an 8 pin ribbon cable from the FG cart to a passthrough male-female adapter that hooks to the side, you can probably turn something like the FG99 into "FG99 + mass storage", using the same SD for GROM/ROM and .DSK/.HFE storage. Who says the mass storage has to live on the side? Notice we are only missing a handful of pins on the cart port that need to be there for that cart port to control a peripheral with a DSR. Feel free to edit below. This will show you what cartridge pins are on the sidecar, and which pins are missing on the sidecar that are on the cart board. The gurus here can help with deriving the cart port signals that can be derived on the side port. Sidepin Signal Description CartPin Signal Description 1 VCC +5 Volts power supply 19 VCC +5 Volts power supply 2 SBE Low if addr in >9000-94xx (sound port) XX 3 RESET* System reset (active low) XX 4 EXTINT* External interrupt (active low) XX 5 A5 Address bus, bit 5 28 A5 6 A10 Address bus, bit 10 16 A10 7 A4 Address bus, bit 4 30 A4 8 A11 Address bus, bit 11 14 A11 9 DBIN Active high = read memory 25 DBIN Active high = read memory 10 A3 Address bus, bit 3 24 A3 11 A12 Address bus, bit 12 12 A12 12 READY Active high = memory is ready XX 13 LOAD* Unmaskable interrupt (=> BLWP @>FFFC) XX 14 A8 Address bus, bit 8 20 A8 15 A13 Address bus, bit 13 10 A13 16 A14 Address bus, bit 14 23 A14 Address bus, bit 14. Select mode: low=data / high=addr 17 A7 Address bus, bit 7 22 A7 18 A9 Address bus, bit 9 18 A9 19 A15 Address bus, lsb. Also CRU output bit. 8 A15 Address bus, bit 15 / also CRU output bit 20 A2 Address bus, bit 2 XX 21 GND Ground 35 GND Ground 22 CRUCLK* Inversion of TMS9900 CRUCLOCK pin 4 CRUCLK* Inversion of TMS9900 CRUCLOCK pin 23 GND Ground 36 GND Ground 24 PHI3* Inversion of phase 3 clock XX 25 GND Ground XX 26 WE* Write Enable (from TMS9900 WE* pin) 32 WE* Active low = write enable (derived from TMS9900 WE*) 27 GND Ground XX 28 MBE* Active low if addr in >4000-5FFF (card ROMs) 29 A6 Address bus, bit 6 26 A6 30 A1 Address bus, bit 1 XX 31 A0 Address bus, bit 0 (most significant) XX 32 MEMEN* Memory access enable (active low) XX 33 CRUIN CRU input bit to TMS9900 6 CRUIN CRU input to TMS9900 34 D7 Data bus, bit 7 (least significant) 3 D7 Data bus, bit 7 (least significant) 35 D4 Data bus, bit 4 9 D4 36 D6 Data bus, bit 6 5 D6 37 D0 Data bus, bit 0 (most significant) 17 D0 Data bus, bit 0 (most significant) 38 D5 Data bus, bit 5 7 D5 39 D2 Data bus, bit 2 13 D2 40 D1 Data bus, bit 1 15 D1 41 IAQ Interrupt acknowledged by TMS9900 XX 42 D3 Data bus, bit 3 11 D3 43 VDD -5 Volts power supply 29 VDD -5 Volts power supply 44 AUDIOIN To sound generator AUDIO IN pin XX Signals Present on the cartridge port (that did not fit my 1 to 1 relationship) 1 RESET Resets the system (active high) 2 GND Signal groud 21 GS* Grom select. Active low is addr in >9800-9FFF 27 GRC GROM clock: color burst of VDP 9918A 31 GR Active high = GROM ready 33 VSS 34 ROMG* Active low if addr in >6000-7FFF 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted March 2, 2018 Author Share Posted March 2, 2018 Seriously, if Ralph can put a few more pins on the FG99 (so he can address the DSR address space at >4000), and we can put like an 8 pin ribbon cable from the FG cart to a passthrough male-female adapter that hooks to the side, you can probably turn something like the FG99 into "FG99 + mass storage", using the same SD for GROM/ROM and .DSK/.HFE storage. Oh I really, really like the way you think Jon! So we had the FlashROM 99, now the FinalGROM99 so what would the next one be called? UltimateExpansionGROM99? (UEG99) I hope you're reading this Ralph... I'm a +1 if your game! I'm thinking for aesthetics the cable would have be long enough to go straight back and then twist under the TI and then plug in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 Okay, admittedly some have called me a "cheap ba$tard", I prefer the term "thrifty" myself. Anyway, it begs the question, "How much USABLE crap can you really stuff on an FR99 or FG99 SD card at one time anyway?" << THIS CHEAP LINK >> Will get you a 16mb SD card, (puny by modern standards but way more than enough room for us TI'ers) sent and delivered directly to our homes for the paltry sum of $0.99! Cheap Chinese Chit can sometime be worth rolling the dice on. For that price ANYONE can have a backup or two in case of failure. I keep a few 2gb sd cards laying around for legacy devices, but what's the purpose of having a 16gb card? Is there anything it can do that a 2gb can't? Many flash carts probably don't even support under 1gb if it used fat32 but not fat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjh76 Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 lol I had that reaction too but then I read it again - it's not 16gb, it's 16mb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted March 2, 2018 Author Share Posted March 2, 2018 Thinking about Jon's suggestion for the FG99... one item would be missing RS-232 connectivity. In << this link >> there is an interesting little gadget. I wonder if it could be integrated onto a small PC board to fit inside the speech synthesizer case? Of course it would need interface electronics and programming on a chip to handle DSR and I/O protocols. The device leads would have to be soldered onto the speech synthesizer near where it connects to the side of the TI. Of course I don't know how many connection points would be necessary. Five? Eight? I simply do not know. If something like this was designed from scratch, I imagine it could be made to act like an RS-232 card, possibly one with a UDS-10 attached (with the proper programming). This would make it 100% compatible with TIMXT and Stuart's Internet Browser too. Could it also be switched to emulate a WiFi HDX? So, if a person did have an "ExpansionGROM", this could give those (possible future users) that last missing option for BBSing without the need buy additional cables or even a UDS-10, as it would be nice and tidy in one little package. Also, it would CURRENTLY be of benefit for people who own P-Boxes but do not own a RS-232 card. From a price perspective, knowing what things have gone for recently, I cannot imagine this would cost much more than what an RS-232 goes for on eBay. However, in the end it would end up saving the TI'er money because they would not have to spend additional money on an actual UDS-10 or the requisite RS-232 cable, Ethernet cable or power adapter. Just an idea... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+acadiel Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 Thinking about Jon's suggestion for the FG99... one item would be missing RS-232 connectivity. In << this link >> there is an interesting little gadget. I wonder if it could be integrated onto a small PC board to fit inside the speech synthesizer case? Of course it would need interface electronics and programming on a chip to handle DSR and I/O protocols. The device leads would have to be soldered onto the speech synthesizer near where it connects to the side of the TI. Of course I don't know how many connection points would be necessary. Five? Eight? I simply do not know. If something like this was designed from scratch, I imagine it could be made to act like an RS-232 card, possibly one with a UDS-10 attached (with the proper programming). This would make it 100% compatible with TIMXT and Stuart's Internet Browser too. Could it also be switched to emulate a WiFi HDX? So, if a person did have an "ExpansionGROM", this could give those (possible future users) that last missing option for BBSing without the need buy additional cables or even a UDS-10, as it would be nice and tidy in one little package. Also, it would CURRENTLY be of benefit for people who own P-Boxes but do not own a RS-232 card. From a price perspective, knowing what things have gone for recently, I cannot imagine this would cost much more than what an RS-232 goes for on eBay. However, in the end it would end up saving the TI'er money because they would not have to spend additional money on an actual UDS-10 or the requisite RS-232 cable, Ethernet cable or power adapter. Just an idea... A lot of microcontrollers *do* have a TTL RS232 port (Cough, UberGROM, Cough) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted March 2, 2018 Author Share Posted March 2, 2018 A lot of microcontrollers *do* have a TTL RS232 port (Cough, UberGROM, Cough) True, very true. Yes, we were talking about an updated FinalGROM with disk capabilities, I suppose that could be included as well. I thought better of that because.... 1) I was not sure it could be be designed to be 100% compatible with existing software. 2) I figured some might want to use the device with another cartridge and or program on disk without dependence on a specific cartridge. 3) From a marketing perspective I saw more potential use for development if it could also be used by a greater audience. 4) I was trying to avoid direct competition with the UberGROM or TIPI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+arcadeshopper Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 and TIPI gives you that and more.. so tipi+finalgrom99 = pure energy 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted March 2, 2018 Author Share Posted March 2, 2018 HA HA! Yeah, I'm going to get a TIPI too, but I'm not sure everyone will go that route, so multiple options can be a good thing. For instance if someone already owned an UberGROM and that project was redibly available, they might want to go that route, especially if they had other hardware. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+arcadeshopper Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 i fully expect TIPI to be leveraged to do telnet over tcpip, rs232 and midi over the usb ports and of course there's multiuser games on your ti over tcpip.. AND floppy drive/hard disk emu AND a bigger memory card than 32k in the future 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted March 2, 2018 Author Share Posted March 2, 2018 tipi+finalgrom99 = pure energy You forgot the F18A in that equation! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Schmitzi Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 HA HA! Yeah, I'm going to get a TIPI too, but I'm not sure everyone will go that route, so multiple options can be a good thing. For instance if someone already owned an UberGROM and that project was redibly available, they might want to go that route, especially if they had other hardware. I go any route Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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