MurdockScott

All very cool. I read the above-mentioned thread over on GitHub and I appreciate you advocating for the TI99 with them.

I'm sorry my video is not more informative but hopefully, it was helpful in some small way. I was just happy to get it functioning. I had to work through many problems and by this point (several months later), I have forgotten most of them. I think it's a defence mechanism aginst madness. : )

Yeah, I had been told that and I assumed that if I didn't add anything it would be somewhat of a blank slate... But after I did the standard install I found it made ALOT of reference to game systems and games in general by default and that put me off using it as it is for a young boy who already has plenty of access to games (We run OpenEmu and Steam on a Mac Mini in our entertainment center as well as having a PS3), and I wanted this machine to be more about creating and exploring. RetroPie's default slant towards gaming was one of the driving factors for me deciding to attempt an install of TI99Sim straight onto a regular Raspbian loaded SD card. I meant to work out getting it down to just the handful of systems I wanted after I got that done, but I got busy teaching him (and myself) Arduino stuff. You make it sound like its a simple thing to remove (or perhaps selectively not install) those bits... so I am sure I am making a mountain out of a molehill. Back when I did it the first time, I had never touched Linux in my life, fast forward a few months and I honestly don't even remember what was involved... but now that I am a solid novice, I bet it will be a breeze. : )

Thanks! As you may have seen, I have it working under one SD card install of Raspbian and we are enjoying that a great deal. But I still have to install it on the SD that my son uses most of the time and have been putting that off. Plus, I also eventually want another SD Card with a straight up RetroPi install. So I will review this information soon! Thanks again for all you effort on this, it has been very helpful. It's kind of hilarious that he has a "TI99/4a" sitting on his desk hooked up to a modern monitor, mouse and keyboard and can switch between working in Scratch, TI Basic, or the Arduino IDE. I wish there was a less "game oriented" implementation of RetroPi that just focused on the classic computers and left out the references to gaming systems. I am sure I COULD customize it... (he said with a crazed look in his eyes)!

I deeply enjoyed seeing the first computer I ever personally owned being used for such a modern task. I am sure a therapist might have something to say about why I like seeing older things made useful again... but lets just not go there and leave it with me saying COOL! : )

You said it! Although we have two actual consoles that he has been using now and then for several years, This project was born from the fact that it is not practical for us to have a full TI99/4a system set up at all times. My massive cartridge collection, the data tapes, cassette data recorder, cables, paired with a somewhat small house make it so we just don't have space for that AND a computer that he can use as a general purpose desktop. Plus I have never had a PEB and wanted to give him some better way to save his work in basic... and we certainly could not have had a monolithic PEB set up if we did have one (I wanted one so bad when I was 17). He loves the TI99/4a and I am very happy that it is his first computer. This will give him a way to spend much more time exploring the ins and outs of it. And, if he ever wants, there is a whole world of other vintage emulation to explore. I really want him to get a feel for the history of computers. Someday I hope to invest in a NanoPEB, a few multicarts and one of those fancy F18A's to trick out and condense one of my units. At that point perhaps I can give a real unit a permanent home in our living room entertainment center and move this doppelganger to a small desk area for him. : )

My 7 year old son is at this very moment using a Linux terminal window and putting in commands like "ti99sim-sdl dsk1=JHS_FUN.dsk -f XB.ctg" and then once he is met with the familiar cyan screen, he is typing in TI Basic commands like "OLD DSK1.DADDY1" to load basic programs that he and I are working on... He is doing this mostly on his own and I am very happy. Thanks to all the good people here. I have re-learned so many things I have forgotten over the years and also learned so many new things that I never knew. I really appreciate all the information I have gotten from folks at AtariAge, either directly or indirectly. This place is great.

Rats, not supported by safari, well I know I should be using something better anyway. Plus, I don't mind the anti-aliased look I get in safari, I usually find myself using crt shaders in emulators anyway cause I'm old-school like that. : )

I feel a bit silly, I think someone here may have actually recommended it to me a while back and I thought "oh, yeah... browser based, fun toy I bet... I will check that out some day". I am a goof... heh.

I am a bit stunned... I did not know about Js99'er! I have casually used TI99 emulators for many years off and on, but as Mac support has often been "spotty" I haven't always felt like keeping up with the changes and have never felt it was worth getting deep into them (it has been discouraging at times). Recently I have been hanging around here and trying again. I have MESS, and the Java version of V9T9 running on the Mac, and now ti99sim running on a Raspberry Pi 3 and all of them have good points, but I think it is OK to say that they are each "challenging" to get functional. So, When I discovered this bumped thread tonight and went to check it out I was blown away! After playing with Js99'er for just a few minutes, I can see it becoming a favorite tool. It is just dead simple... I really love the interface. If I am honest... since I never had a PEB, disk drives, or even Extended Basic when I was a young man, there was a lot I did not know and stumbling around with command lines and confusing interfaces has made it a lot harder to try to fathom why stuff is was not working... I have learned a lot in the last couple of months, but I feel like if I had discovered Js99'er before starting with the old standard emulators that I already knew, I would have been "fast tracked"! The interface is very much the kind of thing I have wished for all these years. I assume there are some limitations with it being a javascript app but wow, it seems really full featured! Thanks. I look forward to exploring this great tool.

globeron, arcadeshopper, I wanted to say thank you for the links to .ctg cartridge files. It was very helpful. You guys rock!

Picked it up today... $.99 well spent. I have about 4 different ways to play the original... but none of them can be played while I exercise. : ) Now SoftTango... get to work on the iOS version of TOD please! heh. (No but seriously, that would be cool...) Thanks again for this fun recreation!

I made a video of ti99sim running in Raspbian on our PI3. It is working great. I doubt my video will offer much insight for people here but it may be entertaining or just serve as an example that it works in that configuration. https://youtu.be/Pm4WcbTG5L0