Ksarul

Wasn't Parallax from Sometimes99er? I am really glad this project is approaching completion. I definitely want one!

Page 21 of the Hamsoft Manual, Schmitzi. The pinout for the 15-pin parallel connector is there. Importantly, Page 22 also shows the signals on the TU connector (identified by wire color).

Do you want 44-pin connectors with long straight pins (heavy wire-wrap type) or would you like them as saddle-mount connectors for the edge of a card? I have good part numbers here for both types--but unfortunately, they aren't cheap. I use the saddle-mount style on my PEB Spliter boards. Wire-wrap (long straight pins):ECC22DRMN (Link to Digi-Key) Saddle-mount (card edge): ECC22DRMN-S288 (Link to Digi-Key) The price now is a bit better than it used to be (I paid a bit over $8 each last time I bought some), but as always, their minimum purchase quantity is 10.

I have not yet written down (or tested) all of the necessary changes to the revision 4A boards. I know it will require several trace cuts, some of which would require removal and replacement of existing chip sockets to get access to the cut points. It would also require two pairs of chips to be stacked (and a lot of flying wires) to add the necessary bits to the selection circuitry.

Thanks, Rich. Once all is stable for a while, I'll have to make an UberGROM image for the new RXB. . .and some of the cartridges too

Is this one ready for a bin file release yet? Many thanks for doing all of these--the Tutor needs this kind of additional software. . .

That double-byte thing is a function of the 74LS612 page selection routine. The odd address byte is written first (and is basically lost on 1M and smaller boards, but is meaningful with the 4M and larger implementations). The even byte then sets up the selection registers within the 256 pages of a 1M card. One note: yes, 4M SAMS cards do exist (that capability is one hardware revision past the cards I've sold in the past), but getting the memory chips that support it is getting seriously difficult/expensive. Lately, they've been about $100 for two chips and no guarantee they work as they're pulls (usually work) or fakes from China (often fail). That's double what they cost when I started looking to increase the memory size in 2016. @FALCOR4 has built a couple of them using the 2M chips and verified the operation in 4M mode, as have I. Any boards I sell in the future will have the capability to be expanded to 4M (switch the jumpers and install 2M chips), but will be delivered in the 1M configuration to ensure delivery of functional cards at reasonable cost. Though it is "technically" possible to upgrade the older 1M boards, it requires some significant board surgery and isn't generally advisable for those with limited soldering skills.

That is a most useful tip!

They should work fine in the FlashROM (it isn't called the FinalROM), as long as you follow the naming convention @tmop69 identified to get your FinalROM to recognize it. Note that you must also have a 32K memory expansion of some type for it to work though, as the loader lobs it into 32K space and executes it there.

I think @tmop69 is probably the best person around to answer this question, as he is also an expert at making the subtle changes to an Extended BASIC program that make sure it remains playable once compiled. Er ist Hier wirklich Meister.

It is a good thing to see effort pointed at the Tutor! I will definitely have fun with them once you are ready to release the bin files (or buy them, if that is the route you plan to take).

I remember typing in Goldsuche and Pilzwurm when I found them in one of the German computer magazines, BITD.

What is funny on the Mars Attacks! thing is that She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed was recording a message for her sister tonight, and when she played it back to listen to it, all the two of us could hear was: Ack! ACK! AckAck! Ack! We both looked at each other and laughed. . .

I am absolutely sure I have multiple spares of the User Reference Guide and the TI Extended BASIC manual. I may even have some of the quick reference guides. I'd be interested in the Atari Pilot and Student Pilot books. . .

I think most folks who picked up XB 2.7 picked it up as part of the XB 2.7 UberGROM Suite. I knew there was an RPK out there, but I never went looking for it. Many thanks, @atrax27407

I bought some of these (about 100 of them) when I was stocking up for the general SAMS card builds. Almost all of them worked (one or two will always fail in groups of 50 or more). The seller is a generally reliable source of surplus parts too, and I have bought a lot of stuff from them over the years.

Looking at the markings, I suspect you may have issues with some of the chips in the left picture. Something feels just slightly off with them (they may be fully functional, but they are probably fakes). The group on the right doesn't give that vibe--but you won't know for sure until you test them. I like @fabrizio's solution. I may have to modify one of my spare consoles to support that (and look for a 64-pin ZIF to do the same with the CPU). Thinking on that I may actually already have a 64-pin ZIF around here somewhere. . .I think Burndy made them.

On address conflicts in general between sideport and PEB items, there is one thing to always remember: if the device performs the same function (32K, p-Code, Video Controller, RS-232, Disk Controller--and yes, all five of these exist in both variants), they will fight each other if you try to connect both to your system. The exception is the RS-232, as the PEB RS-232 has the capability to be moved to a different address (as already noted by others here). That said, you can mix peripheral types all you want, as long as you take care not to connect two devices with the same function and CRU address.

Do note that there are differences in the pins fed to the cartridge port--and that a few cartridge port devices (like the FinalGROM) won't work properly because of the differences. I was not aware that the mother board had an integrated alpha lock fix--it may have been modified by a previous user. . .

SAMS-aware software is always a good thing. . .

Nice! Do you have an image for it that we can burn to cartridge?

I like the Snowflake Advisory warning on the label. . .

That sounds like the 612 is operating in pass-through mode only. . .I've had several 612s fail that way during initial testing.

Yeah, the real problem is between the QI motherboards (with the silver fingers at the sideport connector (as opposed to the copper fingers on previous boards)) and the FinalGROM. The cartridge port in those boards lacks two signals found on the earlier versions, and that creates problems for the FinalGROM. If the FinalGROM isn't working on boards with the copper fingers shielding the sideport connector, the problem is likely the FinalGROM, not the computer (although it may be a good idea to check the cartridge port connector and remove the felt to eliminate one other possible problem).

I haven't had any boards of the new generation fail (yet). But I have had to carefully test each one I build to make sure the 688 and the 612 were working as designed, as both of those chips seem to have higher initial failure rates than the other LS chips on the board. As already noted, I started using 25LS2521s in place of the 74LS688s early on, and I've had no problems with them at all (while about a quarter of the 688s I bought at the beginning failed immediately or during the burn-in).