acadiel

The pictures on the link are the 16K ones though

You can do that pretty easily... I wrote an article back when I started dabbling with assembly (and trust me, I'm *still* a novice compared to people like Tursi). It's pretty easy to turn the audio and motor on and off in assembly: ftp://whtech.com/user%20groups/Dallas/newsletters/dallas9208.pdf Go check out page 8. I don't remember how it wound up in Micropendium or the DTIHCG newsletter (or the Long Island one either for that matter.) There is one misprint; MTRON was supposed to be on its own line; it was a label.

The TI-99/4 is actually mentioned in the book

Adventure is a main game mentioned in Ernest Kline's Ready Player One book, which I highly recommend reading if you haven't

I am amazed... +1 for the cassette playback on the cell phone

I usually stay quiet in these. I'm not a mod. However, I hope I do carry some weight in this community to express myself. My concern that I have is that I see people chiming in and responding with comments that have nothing to do with the matter quoted (or not quoted, in the case of some people.) Matthew brings up a great example, above. I never did see him mention that the F18A had GRAM. He tried to correct Rich, and then Rich went off with another thread that had nothing to do with what Matthew was saying. I was scratching my head as well at the response. I know these terms. I know what they mean in TI context, and I know what they mean in other contexts. No biggie. People sometimes do make mistakes. Some people write stuff and misquote it. Fine. Correct it, and move on. But please, for the sake of our small community, don't make this a gik'tal. We're much too small a community to be nitpicking and making enemies with each over really trivial stuff. If you have any inkling that you're going to stir something up by replying to someone who's out to start something, just take your bat'leth and go home, please. Yeah, we're adults and can shrug it off, but come on... is it really necessary? I really do like and respect all of you. Tursi's excellent hardware and software knowledge, Marc's hardware (SID Blaster) and excellent games, Rich's knowledge of GPL and all the odd stuff he knows about XB and RXB. Those are just some examples. I see all kind of new stuff that just blows my mind in these forums; Titanium, the smooth scrolling (and Marble Madness examples, just recently), Mr. Chin, you name it... you all rock!

OK, I might have gotten this lost in another thread.. Telco has a 40/80 column toggle. Can we make this work properly with the F18A? Thanks!

I got my spare at the Faire :-)

Actually, that's me that asked I'm hoping they eventually do, because the HFE format (I'm guessing it stands for the HxC Floppy Emulator) is being used by all sorts of retro systems to work with the HxC - IBM PC, Atari ST, Amiga, CPC, Generic Shuggart, MSX2 format, C64, and more. I'll ping them on their message board as well to see if they know of anyone working on a HFE driver for MESS.

Along the same lines, do you know if MESS can support the new HFE floppy format the HxC emulator and others are using? http://hxc2001.com/download/floppy_drive_emulator/SDCard_HxC_Floppy_Emulator_HFE_file_format.pdf Thanks, MZ!

I can't seem to read my cassette. I saw an eBay auction, but figured someone might have it on disk already. http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-TRI-CONTABLE-COMPUTER-PROGRAM-CASSETTE-TAPE-SLINKY-MANUAL-TI-99-4A-/261303009550?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cd6df810e Thanks!

I can vouch that I did, in fact, see RXB working once at the Faire in cart format, before the cart went on the fritz. Tursi, I'd be curious if you did a byte compare on your 1284 and F040 and see if either/or got corrupted, since they refused to work in my board as well. (You did have a hacked 379 though.... and I had the 378 in mine.)

Anyone have guidance on a 2GB or so CF card (brand, etc) that I could use instead of the 32MB one it came with so that I can do something like this? I'd like to move all my volumes (including the Jim Peterson Tigercub, all my TI disks, Cyc disks, etc) over to a large CF card and then use CF2K to create a printed set of directories.

Yes. I likewise had a cart (that I've never had a problem with) fail at the Faire. I cleaned the contacts of the 49F040 (they had oxidized) and it booted right back up. So, when we use Ksarul's stock of 49F040's, we need to make sure to drag them over a piece of sandpaper before programming/installing them.

Yep, there's a public garage two blocks down that I always use. Don't bring a Yukon XL in it though... LOL

Dude, I can't wait to see this in person! You rock!

I should be going. Will haul all four young-uns with me, probably. Also will be hauling my console to get its F18A upgraded! Need to formally list my CC-40 collection somewhere eventually too.

Hey Matthew - are you going to be at the TI Faire? Can I bring my F18A to get it reflashed?

They are rough prototypes created by the community college's instructor of engineering (he spent about four hours measuring and drawing them.) They don't fit perfect yet (the clasps do not engage), and he's going to work on revising it again. He can't give me the .stl file, as it's for student distribution only with their autocad license. I plan on taking a CAD 110 course online next semester (auditing), so then I can get the .stl drawing and learn how to manipulate it, and distribute it for non commercial use. I will bring these to the TI Faire next month if anyone wants to see them. The instructor did a great job on them for a first try!

Here's a great description by Stuart of how the whole process works. http://www.avjd51.dsl.pipex.com/ti/ti.htm#bank_switching Selecting a ROM Bank To select a ROM bank, a word of data (any data, it doesn't matter) has to be written to a specific address in the >6000 - >7FFF address range. At circuit level, this is what happens: The processor sets up the write address on its address bus A0 - A15. (It also sets the data up on the data bus but that is irrelevant at the moment.) It also brings its MEMEN* signal low - this is not shown in the circuit diagram, but that action in the console brings the ROMG* signal low (assuming the write address is an address in the cartridge address space), so the 74LS379 latch is now 'enabled' - meaning it is outputting signals on its Qx and Qx* outputs and will respond to the clock input. With the address bus now set up, the processor pulses WE* low. This clocks the 74LS379, so whatever binary code the device is seeing on its Dx inputs it presents on it Qx outputs, with inverted signals on the Qx* outputs. Each time the 74LS379 is enabled in the future, this same binary code will be presented on the outputs again until the device is clocked again to latch a (possibly) different binary code. The processor now brings MEMEN* high, which brings ROMG* high to disable the 74LS379, and performs the next instruction.

Yes, the startup code is very annoying. However, I've only used it for >8K projects, and it probably isn't required if you can figure out what a particular "batch" of logic chips is using as its normal power up bank (even though it isn't defined). I've found that although the 379's do not have a defined startup state, most of them typically will either start in the first or last bank, depending on the batch. In the 49F040 512K cartridge board, the 378's likely also start in one particular bank, usually the first (startup is in a certain state because of either all 0's or 1's on the outputs). Since the LS379 is using inverted outputs, then, typically the last bank that comes online (all 1's probably), and the 378 is non inverted, so the first bank comes online (all 0's probably). This is how the multicart that Tursi and I worked. We had the multicart logic in the bank where the logic chip appeared to power up and then it was always the first option in the menu selection screen. We had the 8K ROM games in the different banks without any additional headers or such, because the Multicart program logic took care of all the copying, branching, etc.

Here's another crazy one... http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?ff3=4&pub=5574883395&toolid=10001&campid=5336500554&customid=&mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fitm%2F251334040979

Crap, that is impressive!

I wouldn't mind doing the AVR initial programming for any planned board runs. My 844USB programs them well and has a "repeat" button on it.

I'm comfortable with the ROM part. Tursi can speak to where he is with GROM, and the manual is pretty darn comprehensive. (I'd like to get XB and RXB working on it for a PoC.). Once Tursi is done, it just needs a sponsor or sponsors to get them made and sold. At that time, I can help provide guidance. Matthew got the last batch done, so he can provide input as well.