maguman

Dumb question. I have been out of the ti-99/4a game since I was a teenager. What is a nanoPEB and where can you get them? There are no dumb quesions and we are happy to help where we can A "nanoPEB" is basically a compact flash device that plugs into the TI-99/4A sideport. It has 32K RAM and a serial interface. The device is used to emulate disk drives. It's the most easy way to transfer disk images from your PC to the TI-99/4A. It's also a lot faster than a disk drive. These devices were previously known as "CF7+", but the version with the serial interface is called "nanoPEB". It basically replaces the big PEB box. They can be found from time to time on ebay. The ebay seller name is "schmutzig1952". Cool. Thanks for that. I will keep an eye out for them.

Dumb question. I have been out of the ti-99/4a game since I was a teenager. What is a nanoPEB and where can you get them?

Thanks, but that is the version I tried that doesn't work. I can't seem to find any other copies anywhere. Does anyone have a different copy? Do you start with Basic enabled? RUN "D:INSOMNIA.ED" It started fine for me, but I can not use it ... Just pressed some keys and saw something change Anyone have the manual? Gave up on it for a while and only just came back to it. After some trial and error I think I have found the problem - the supplied example doesn't work. Once I figured this out, and generated a new sound file, I managed to edit/save/load/play in a BASIC program etc without problems. I've got a copy of the manual - I can PDF it if you are interested. It is only a few pages long.

Thanks! The only last thing I needed was an easy way of selectively bypassing the Basic ROM. The obvious thing is just a short bit of ML code that can be used to switch off Basic from DOS. It is entirely too obvious - so obvious that it didn't occur to me at all. I am changing my name to Mr G.Oat....

Yep, have basic in ROM. However, I am working on some code on disk using a few bits of software. Some need Basic and some don't. I was just looking for a way to work from disk without all the restarts & switching basic in and out. Mostly I use TBXL anyway, but for a couple of bits of code TBXL doesn't work too well. I could mod that code, but a disk based Basic just seemed like an easier prospect.

Digging up this old thread... Does anyone have a dumped version of BASIC that runs from DOS on an XL/XE machine?

Thanks, but that is the version I tried that doesn't work. I can't seem to find any other copies anywhere. Does anyone have a different copy?

I've used the old APX Insomnia sound editor program on real hardware. I was just looking for a version to use in an emulator, but I am having trouble getting it working. Specifically, the file "INSOMNIA.INS" designed to incorporate sound effects into BASIC is giving me trouble. It just hangs, even when trying the basic tests from the manual. The only version I have been able to find online was on atariarchives.org. This is the version that doesn't seem to work. Does anyone have an ATR with a copy that does work?

Not from me. I still use MAC/65. A good macro library makes it a treat. I still get joy from the programming experience.

Here is an ATR. It has no DOS on it, so you need to boot with something else. Someone posted a copy of the manual a little while back. The toolkit was pretty good. My major gripe was with the PM graphics routines - just a preference issue. As a result, I wrote my own macros for much of that. Mac65 Toolkit.zip

Hi I am trying to work out how the use the MAC/65 toolkit to get basic PM graphics up and running. Up until now I have always done my coding the 'long' way (with very few macros). The toolkit has macros to handle setting up PM graphics, movement, collisions and so on. However, I am a bit confused WRT how it sets up VBI routines and does movement (calls the movement routines etc). The manual doesn't make it all clear - the individual macros calls look like they make sense, but there is (probably) some trick to getting them in the right order needed to make it all work. Does anyone have an example of a simple PM program using the toolkit, so I can look at the correct way the employ the macros? Appreciate any help I can get!

One such device is SIO2SD. I bought one a while back and it has worked flawlessly. I have a 130xe, but I have hooked it up to a few 8-bits and it works with all of them. Uses a standard FAT formatted SD card - easy transfer from PC to Atari. I bought it via ebay (can't remember who the seller was) - do a search for SIO2SD and they come up pretty often. There are probably other places to buy them.

I've had an SIO2SD for a while. I use it a bit to play games, but also for programming and testing code on real hardware. It works a treat - if an assembler can write to a disk image I guess a lot of games could too. Just transfer the disk images to an SD card using a PC, and you are off and running.

I bought a MAC/65 cartridge off them a while back. No problems, so my one and only transaction was hassle free. Cart works great too!

There is a basic program named Insomnia that was distributed by APX. You can visually build sounds using it, and it is surprisingly good. More for effects than music. I believe the disk contains tools for translating into basic, but not assembler. Most of the standard archives have copies of it - let me know if you have trouble finding a copy. Personally, I use AMAC most of the time, and I have been looking for the SWEAT sound editor (as there is a converter to generate assembler source in the SWEAT toolkit). No luck finding it yet.

You can get a copy of the 400/800 service manual here: http://www.digitpress.com/library/techdocs/index.htm

Does anyone out there have a copy of the SWEAT Sound Editor? All the other tools exist at places like atarimuseum, but the sound editor is missing. I use the other tools regularly when I am in an AMAC & real hardware mood. I'd really love a copy of the Sound Editor as I currently have to use other software.

The web server was down today for a reason, but it is working now, so the file should be available again. thanks I'll check it again... Does anyone know if I can run games from this? How would I go about copying ATR disk images to the hard drive and will the games run that way? I am one of those classic Atari computer guys who is pretty much only interested in running games with the exception of the ST, which I would use for music as well. I have no interest in doing desk top publishing or other stuff like that, just the games, so with that very limited and I admit narrow focus, would this thing be worth getting for my newly acquired 130XE? This one rocks, but its probably not the one for you due to your needs. It doesn't write in PC fat16 so it's not going to help you move ATRs. You'd still need an SIO2PC and Ape. But, if you got an SIO2SD card (which the same guy is selling), you could plug the SD card into a PC and move atrs to the card that way. interesting, does the SIO2SD allow you to launch disk images right from the SD card with no computer interface? is there documentation for it somewhere? I have an SIO2SD (that I bought off this guy too). Yes - you can mount and launch disk images using its built in interface with no additional computer interface. Mounts 16mb MyDos images etc without hassle. I didn't get a manual but it has only a few buttons and tells you what it is doing onscreen, so pretty easy to work out. If you google SIO2SD you'll get a website that shows how the buttons work. Mine works a treat - really easy to transfer dozens of big disk images directly off a PC.

Thanks for the offer, but don't need info on that version. I believe originally DDT was supplied as AMAC source code on floppy, with a couple of executables. It is this version I am trying to find the documentation for, so I can get it working properly with AMAC. The cart version seems to work fine with it already...

Hi I am looking for a copy of the original DDT manual, written when DDT was designed to work with the Atari Macro Assembler (not the newer EDDT). Does anyone have a scanned copy, or know where there is one?

This might help Assemble to ramdisk (or disk) instead of to memory. So do not .OPT OBJ! I have had same issues. Using ramdisk is very fast too. It also helps using smaller labels. You could consider making a BATCH file called M.BAT, in which you reload the assembler, and automatically load your source back. Do not forget to save your source before exiting the mac/65! And you'd better use SpartaDOS 3.3a (or b) in stead of 3.2 Good luck! Marius Got there! Two issues: First, assembly to disk (took your suggestion - eliminated to .OPT OBJ) This nearly got it home. However, on disk to disk assembly it then produced one mysterious error with no error code. A quick google search found the following in an old ANTIC article: "The only minor quirk we have found in SpartaDOS 3.2 is that while working in machine language with the OSS MAC/65 assembler, you'll get a mysterious error message if you attempt a disk-to-disk assembly of a large program. To fix this, write a short program that INCLUDEs all the necessary files and assemble with this program in RAM. " Took this advice - worked a treat! Thanks to everyone for the help

The C64 was something from my youth, but I truly prefer the Ataris since getting into them. I've got at an 800 (the first machine I bought), an XEGS and 2x1050's as well. For transfer, I've got an SIO2SD. Looking at some form of cable as well, but haven't made it that far. Hope to find a 130xe some time soon.

You now know that you are definitely not the only one. I only moved to Canberra about 10 years ago, and I only really got into the Atari side a few years back. Before that, I used to be a C64 user. Don't know why I swapped, but I am glad that I did.

Recently I've been trying to assemble some largeish (around 130k) projects using MAC/65. When using both the cartridge and disk versions, it works fine unless I am using Spartados. With Spartados I get a number of error 5's (undefined labels) towards the end of the code. No Spartados, no problem. I was hoping to use the two together so that I could store a lot of source on a 16mb ATR, but I am not having much luck. I am not very familiar with Spartados. Looks like there is some memory clash issue going on here. Has anyone else struck the same problem? What elements in RAM does Spartados 3.2 use that might clash? I tried in MyDos and had similar problems there too. Appreciate any insights!

Does anyone have a copy of the SWEAT sound editor tool? It seems to be missing from all SWEAT collections I have so far found.