idavis

Thom, I think I broke it again. Cursor is stuck just sitting there. ============================================ Select File to Display: [_] Exit _ _____ ___|_|___ _____ ___ ___ _ _ | | .'| | | | -_| | | | |_|_|_|__,|_|_|_|_|_|_|___|_|_|___| [U] User List [G] Goodbye [M] Message Boards [C] Chat /w SysOp >> [M] Message Board Current message board is Atari 8-Bit Developers _ _ | |__ ___ __ _ _ _ __| |___ | '_ \/ _ \/ _` | '_/ _` (_-< |_.__/\___/\__,_|_| \__,_/__/ [N]ext Board [P]revious board [R]ead Messages [H]eader Scan [J]ump to Board [S]earch Messages [M]y Messages [Q]uick Scan [G]oodbye [X]it to main >> [R] Read Messages Read: [ENTER]Unread, [S]earch [B]egin With, [Y]ours >> [_] Last Unread

Could you post some instructions? How do you handle phone# vs ip addr?

Don't forget to place some protective tape over the eprom windows. Just in case.

Thom, I think it just locked up. I went through the bulletins and into the menu. Got the User list twice, and when to click G. It's hung up. I will let it sit here for a while and see if it picks back up. This is where it's sitting and won't accept any input. _____ ___|_|___ _____ ___ ___ _ _ | | .'| | | | -_| | | | |_|_|_|__,|_|_|_|_|_|_|___|_|_|___| User List [G] Goodbye >> [_]

Very interesting. Thanks Rick. That got me to searching and I found this article on forced read mode. I still haven't quite figured this out, but we seem to be getting closer. http://www.atariarchives.org/c2ba/page026.php

Thanks guys. I was just sitting down mapping out the locations and trying to figure out what this does, but it looks like nothing really. When I (L) Binary Load in dos, it doesn't do anything, and I can't load it in with basic. So I guess this is a lesson to younger me. Take some better notes. Appreciate the try.

Here is the disassembly: *=$0600 0600 A9 94 LDA #$94 0602 8D C5 02 STA $02C5 0605 A9 7D LDA #$7D 0607 20 A4 F6 JSR $F6A4 060A A9 02 LDA #$02 060C 85 54 STA ROWCRS 060E A9 00 LDA #$00 0610 20 A4 F6 JSR $F6A4 0613 A9 1C LDA #$1C 0615 20 A4 F6 JSR $F6A4 0618 A9 1C LDA #$1C 061A 20 A4 F6 JSR $F6A4 061D A9 0D LDA #$0D 061F 8D 4A 03 STA $034A 0622 4C 00 A0 JMP $A000 I have to dig out some books to figure out what this is doing.

Well, don't forget the [C]hat with sysop feature! I will give you a heads up before attempting the putty connection again as it isn't a big deal.

So this might be a long shot, but I have been browsing through some of my old floppies I converted to atr. I found some kind of protection scheme I barely remember using. Running certain basic programs they immediately jump to a subroutine that asks for the first security code, which turns out to be a file. The second security code is a password. In this file is about 100 chars, and every 10th bit making up the passsword. Pretty crude, and I have already rewritten a copy to just spit out the password. I am not sure what I was trying to hide, but another part that I can't figure out is that I have this file called RUN600.624 on a number of the disks. I have googled and binged with no results. I also looked here on the forum and find no mention of this file. I will attach the file just in case. Anyone have any idea or remember what this file is for? I will see if I can run it through a decompiler later. Just wanted to see if anyone might remember what it's for. RUN600.624.zip

Thom, Do you want me to contact you before I try using putty again? I don't want to lock up the bbs inadvertently. Or would you rather I just wait till you get that code sorted out? It's not a problem, just don't want to force you to have to start using a decaf.

So I am guessing it was my putty session crapping it up. I just used telnet and it worked just fine. I will have to look at see what I need to futz with in putty.

Thom, That might be me. I was testing out using putty (so I could redefine the backspace.) I tried putty twice, and after using just telnet but it couldn't resolve the connection.

Anytime. Can't wait to see it come alive. I wouldn't worry about the backspace bit. I was just using my linux terminal. If I had been using putty I am sure it would have mapped the backspace to ctrl-h. And I didn't need it at the beginning. It was when I was typing in my email and flubbed it. As someone who has dealt with terminals for years, I just hit it naturally after seeing the wrong chars pop up when I hit backspace. I use hjkl to navigate in vi if that tells you anything.

Just logged in from my Linux terminal. looks good. In case anyone needs, you might have to use Ctrl-H as a backspace.

Add me to the list of original equipment owners. Still have my original 800, 810 and 1050 drives and my 410 is around as well. All of my boxes of disks have been kept as well. I don't throw anything out, and still drag it all out ocasionally just to make sure it all still works.

Lets not leave out Sands of Egypt. And there was also a game called Hacker. You didn't need any instructions, because it didn't come with any. You had to hack your way in from the get go.

Every story I have seen so far has said they found about 200 cartridges. Well that's Geraldo level in my opinion. Not quite millions....

I have this installed on my phone now. Pretty cool. I was able to get the arrow keys working by holding down the shift button and switching to the non-alpha keyboard options and pressing the +-*= buttons. They aren't all together so that is a pain. My Samsung keyboard also have an option where if you drag your finger in a direction it will use that as cursor input so to move down just drag down on the keyboard. I checked and this does work with games like Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. I also verified it in Memo Pad. Another option is to use a bluetooth keyboard. The arrows work on there as well, but I have found there seems to be a little lag. Sometimes the keys will get skipped. Either way, I am amazed that I can now carry a working 800 in my pocket.

Paulo, Just checking in. The 4.0 version is working fine on my Ubuntu USB stick. Keep up the good work!!

Sky Blazer by Tony Suzuki (Star Craft Inc)

I looked and the formula you explained above is the first part of the process. You have to build a grid with a 1-9 in each row, column, and square and cannot have duplicates. After that step is done, which can take minutes for the limited cpu to check, and random spaces filled in. Once that is done, you then jump to the process of making a "game". I see your point about letting player continue on if they are filling in a real solution, but that still doesn't mean that it's a unique solution. Which is what this boils down to. As embarrassing as this is to say, it wasn't till well into this process that I found out that there could only be one solution for a valid puzzle. I was also wrongly applying the term puzzle to a filled in grid where all of the 1-9's were in place and valid. That's only half the battle, and just blanking out a random number of squares (like I am currently doing) doesn't ensure a valid "puzzle". To try and apply your last idea I would have to come up with a block of code that can solve a puzzle so that it can confirm your played numbers if you hit the Hint button. I am currently pretty busy at work with 50-60 hour weeks and really haven't had time to even bring the code up. I am mentally in the background running through a number of different schemes/formulas that may or may not work at turning a valid solution into a valid sudoku approved puzzle. I am even contemplating enlisting the help of someone at a university. There is the brute-force method, but I am not sure we have the horsepower to make that work. I also am not 100% sure that taking a valid puzzle and shuffling it wouldn't introduce more solutions. It's something I have to work out. I wish I had more time to devote at the moment, but I will get there slowly. I think it's been 8 years that I have been working on this. Not sure I want to put the code out there just yet. It might take me a year to put comments in so that I am not completely embarrassed or more embarrassed than already. I really do appreciate all of the comments and help over the years on this. I wish there was a quick solution I could just code up, and will keep working on this in the background at the moment. I don't want anyone to think I am not appreciative of the discussion and ideas.

It's a little more complicated than that. I do have a routine and formula that does what you mention above. One of the problems is that with the limited horsepower, even using a pure ml routine, it still can take a while to come up with a valid full grid. From there you have to start making a puzzle and that's where the complications come in. If could write another routine to try and solve each puzzle. Then compare to see if there is more than one solution, which would mean you then discard a puzzle with more than one solution. Right now, I can't figure out how to do that with 1) the cpu available and 2) in 8 bit machine language. I am sure #2 can be overcome with a few long coding sessions, and a few gallons of soda. #1 is a little harder to overcome. Maybe later I can expand on this. I am trying to write this response inbetween meetings at work.

Darren, so cool to see you here. If you wanted to create a special font for the game, I would be happy to include it. About the sudoku game, TheRealBountyBob helped me figure out that it does turn out that the game is not properly blanking out and effectively "creating" a valid sudoku puzzle. Problem is, it's been a real headscratcher for me. The part I am having a problem with is this: The game creates a valid grid, and then has to randomly blank out a number of squares based on the level you want to play at. Well, this is where it's turned into a real nightmare as I am not sure the 6502 has enough horsepower to start solving puzzles fast enough to see if there are two possible answers, and get this done in something resembling a lifetime. I have been researching this, and there's some code that's been written in some higher level languages and on much faster processors. Just converting that down to 6502 asm is not possible. So while I don't have a degree in math I have been wracking my brain to try and come up with some way to make this work. For now, the basic physics of the game (1-9) in each square, each row, and each column will be valid. But it is possible that you can get a playfield with two or more results. At this point you have to rely on the Hints to help you. I hate that it's not working 100%, but might have to get a PHD in math to figure this out.

So no one yell at me, but since it's a podcast and audio based, why didn't you name it Pokey?

Madmaddie, I am sure for most of us, it's the answering of some questions that we find interesting. I know for years we heard these stories about how the carts were dumped, cemented over. It was always just a story with no real proof, or at least that I can recall from the times I heard about it. There would be a posting somewhere and everyone would get all lathered up about it but no proof ever offered up or anyone who was actually willing or able to find this out. Then along come Marty and Curt and offer up some real proof. Not only that, it's not like you are hearing it from the cousin of a guy who knows someone who talked to someone who's father in law saw it happen, it's coming from Marty and Curt! Now it looks like you guys might have an actual chance at unearthing this block of concrete and finally either putting the rumors to rest or making them even more out of hand. You have to remember that back when this was all going on, some of us lived in a real vacuum of information. Like I mentioned in a Pac Man thread, the first time I got to see the game running was when I put it in. There was no internet to check reviews or see preview videos. And when the internet did come along, the "rumor" started it's run. So as the rumor spread it was news to me. Sure I didn't think E.T. was the greatest game, but I also didn't know I was supposed to be burying my copy either. Good luck to you and your team.