Ksarul

Thanks, Tursi! I've always wanted to see a game like this one on the TI for some weird reason--and now you've gone and made one. Many, many thanks!

Probably your best bet for boxes would be the Atarisoft style, the Parker Brothers style, or the ones that Funware used. Most other TI vendors weren't too imaginative with their boxes--especially TI! On manuals, the later color releases from TI are pretty much the gold standard (Texas Instruments followed a pretty good formula), with a lot of the 3rd party stuff much less interesting. Navarone would be the exception there, or the color manuals from Scott Foresman.

There is generally no difference in price between the two versions of the case. Note I said case--as the case could contain two different versions of the motherboard. Some will have the older style motherboard, and will run any cartridge you put into them. Others will only run cartridges with at least one GROM chip, which effectively locks out most third-party cartridges (except Parker Brothers and Funware, which usually worked). The easiest way to see if you have one of the later motherboards is to look at the title screen and see if it shows the operating system as V2.2. Lastly, the case (with either motherboard), is worth about the same as a black and silver machine.

The Triton SEB cartridge is not identical to TI Extended BASIC. It has a lot of additional routines built in. It is also somewhat hard to find--and has often been modified using the Guion Multi-Mod adaptation designed for it. The ones that ARE identical to the TI version are the MicroPal and Exceltec XB cartridges in the US or the original mechatronics XB cartridge from Europe (they later modified these to make the Mechatronics XBII+ cartridges, which made the unmodified cartridges somewhat rare). The original version has a silver label--but most of them had the upgrade done to them without a label change (the XBII+ has a gold label), so the only way to be sure is to test the cartridge to see if it has the APESoft routines (present for XBII+).

Yep, I got outbid at the last second on it--and I needed them to replace the boxes that I lost in an apartment flooding while I lived in Turkey. . .The disks were on a different shelf, and took no damage. I did get a copy of the Database Entry Cartridge from Navarone though, even if it did end up over $90. I've been looking for that one to complete my set (Entry, Sort, Report). The Entry module seems to be the hardest one of the three to find, I just kept missing it when it did come up over the years (three or four times, IIRC). Now I just need the manuals for the other two. . .as they appear to be different from the main DBM cartridge.

That's an anomaly all right--especially since the going price for that cart is under $50, best case! He sold one a few days later for a more reasonable price, as seen in this auction: 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%2FTI-99-4a-Cart-St-Nick-by-Funware-Extremely-Rare-%2F130952370033%3Fpt%3DUS_Vintage_Computers_Mainframes%26hash%3Ditem1e7d5e9771 It may even be the same item, depending on what really happened with the first auction. . .he often makes interesting spelling errors, so that part is no surprise either. He is usually pretty quick on shipping--and there are generally no rude surprises from his auctions either. I've bought from him several times in the past.

It is most likely a member of the TI-990 series minicomputers. They often used 8" floppies, and a lot of them had the small refrigerator-sized card cage assemblies. That should start you on a path towards whichever specific 990 model it was.

I just realized no one may recognize the significance of a red-cased module. Very early in the production of modules for Scott-Foresman, the modules were shipped in very nice library cases--and these were only sold to schools, so they were pretty robust. The cartridges in them were often Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, or Light Gray plastic. The Light Gray ones were only used for the School Management modules (and the color is not the same as the cream ones used for general release when TI changed their color scheme, although at first glance they are similar). Any cartridge using these case colors is HTF. I have about half a dozen of them outside the Light Gray Management modules (and I have 8 of those--one of which is a duplicate). The other thing that makes these case colors interesting was their use by TI internally. A goodly number of the surviving prototype cartridges were in cases like these--although often, the top and bottom parts were of different colors. I have a red case Parsec prototype (I found it in a thrift store for fifty cents), and a number of others that combine yellow, blue and green parts. Nice trivia for the hard-core collector.

Competition Computers=TI Kyle, so we're both right. He's sold repros of these for at least 15 years or so (I bought a couple from him before I went to Turkey in 1996), though he hasn't sold a lot of them. The point I was making on the possiblity of an original box and cartridge is that at least one person I know has an original box for Schnoz-Ola--so there may be more of them, and there may actually be original cartridges too, although I have yet to see or hear of one (other than Kyle's repros). I actually know the bidder who was winning a lot of the expensive auctions. He's a long-term collector who has been around the TI for a long time, but he's just been a lot more active than usual lately. I was one of those bidding against him on some of those auctions--although in most cases I dropped out well below the peak, as I needed some of the same items he needed, and they don't come up all that often. I have one of the most extensive TI 99/4A collections on the planet--and have spent over 30 years assembling it--but there are still interesting items coming up for sale that I don't have (and in some cases, that I've never seen before). I won a Scott Foresman cartridge today in a red case--I've seen one or two of that particular case color for the module in question before, but I didn't have one, so I bought it. I was lucky that there weren't any other folks trying hard to complete their collection of strange variants of known cartridges. Finding some of the ones made in Europe can be a real pain (some were made in Almelo, Holland and others were made at Rimini, Italy). Others were made in Buenos Aires, Argentina (I have just one from there, TI Logo II in Spanish, although I know they also produced a Spanish TI Logo module there and may have produced others too). Items for the TI in languages other than English are often HTF, but it is a fun hunt too. I have a huge amount of material (books, magazines, manuals, and cartridges) in German, French, Spanish, Italian, and Dutch.

Actually, I REALLY recognize Jon's older computer hutch/desk. I'm typing on a keyboard that is sitting on one now (it is one of four identical computer desks in my system lair). They held up pretty well through my many moves--and I even got the corner pieces to tie three of them into a single "U" shaped desk, along with a matching printer table and a matching two-drawer filing cabinet. They're a little beat up now, but they're still serviceable.

Kevan, there is one other advantage to Rich's humongous SAMS game--it adds another application to the list of programs that use that capability on the TI. Each additional program has the potential of changing the status of that device from a sort-of-nice-to-have thing to something people really want. The SAMS is a great piece of hardware that just never really got much traction in the community--and that is unfortunate. Keep plugging aways at additional SAMS applications, Rich--we as a community really do need them (I have the Asgard 128K version, the SW99ers 256K type, and a couple from the first of the recent board runs). Once we get a copy of RXB onto one of the new cart boards, lots of people will be able to try out your software without needing to resort to a GRAM device.

I'm not sure I actually have a copy of YLOAD, Manic1975--I use the various GRAM devices I listed above on my systems--either those or my pizza-box GSIM device from TI, which is the original GRAM device (they also built EGROM boxes and cartridges, and the CEC9914 cartridge emulators, all of which let regular ROMs work like GROM chips using the support circuitry included in the devices). I have at least one of each of these items. . .all in different hardware configurations, which is why I have more than one of some of them.

Unfortunately Kevan, development takes time--and to ensure the product works as advertized also requires a lot of testing. Add the two together and the total time is even longer--and those of us who actually DO develop things have a life outside the TI to deal with as well. In my case it is two young boys who really want me to spend a lot of time with them, and as they are my sons, I give them that time. Of course, all of my younger brothers and sisters have grandchildren older than my boys, but what of it. Add work to support those nice Little Guys, and there is even less time for my hobby--and we mustn't forget She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed either. She gets really cranky when I spend too much time working on the computer thingies--Draconic-Fire cranky. Development is also a teamwork thing--and add the life-needs of the others on a team and you get even more delays. I am happy for each project that comes to fruition--and if the community likes it when I am done, much joy. If the community doesn't like it--there is still much joy--because I have FUN with my hobby. Please don't nuke projects just because they don't do all of the things YOU want them to do. Be happy that they exist--and that you have the CHOICE to use them (or not) as you see fit. Please look at some of the comments you've posted on other projects--and read them carefully. If someone said those things to you and you would have been hurt by them, you probably shouldn't have said them. I am very glad for the things you contribute--they are useful to the community, but please let others contribute as they can on the timeline available to them too. Thanks--and don't take any of this as a personal slam, I note it only because when I read some of the comments on the Nano-PEB and the F-18A, I cringed. Yes, the new serial output IS a change, but it doesn't destroy the device, it just means it can't be used with some applications (and if programmers write software targeted to the changes, it will be even better). The prime function of that device was to provide disk, memory, and (serial or parallel) communications functionality--it was never compatible with every piece of software out there, but it does work with most things. The F-18A is a wonderful TMS-9918A replacement that "happens" to also do some things that an 80-column card does. That isn't its purpose though--it is to allow a TI to use a VGA monitor, and it does that beautifully. I bought three of them--one for my TI, one for my Pyuuta Mark 2, and one for my Powertran Cortex. It is a VERY capable device and it works with DOZENS of different computers. BTW, I have half-a-dozen projects I'm working on for my hobby--some because "I" think they are neat, and some because others have asked me to help on them. Some you will never see at all, even when they are done, because I did them for my own gratification--like the adapter I built to allow a Round-Cable Armadillo Interface card to work with a Flat-Cable TI-99/8. It was a lot of fun--and I made exactly two of them, one for each of my Armadillo Interfaces. If someone else needs to make one, I'll give them a copy of the CAD drawing and send them on their merry way--but "I" won't be making any more of them, because I have enough already. As noted above, please take all of my comments in the friendly-mode. They are just my take on things I've seen--and are not intended to hurt or flame you or anyone. Thank you.

There are several possible answers to this problem. A program called YLOAD is one method of getting a soft copy of a cartridge to work, but it is not a universal solution. The biggest issue with TI cartridges is that some of them are actually larger than the total available memorty on the machine. A cartridge can have up to 5 GROM chips with 6K each (30K) and normally, up to two ROM chips with 8K each, but TI switched only half of each chip in their bank switching routine (4K at a time), so the ROM side generally topped out at 12K. Many cartridges use less than this maximum though, so YLOAD will generally work with them. There are a couple of other routines as well, I just don't recall their names at the moment (others will chime in here). The other option you have is to get a GRAM device (GRAM Kracker, P-GRAM, GRAMulator, HSGPL, Mechatronics GRAM-Karte, Wiesbaden Supermodul, and a few others) to provide a simulated cartridge space that doesn't eat up the system memory. These options run almost all TI cartridges, although there are often issues with cartridges for the MBX, as they hijack the power-up routine of the console, and not all GRAM devices will allow that to happen.

Fred Kaal designed a mod for the TI RS-232 card to set up a similar transfer system between the TI-99/4A and a PC over a serial connection. It is called the TI99HDX, and both the hardware and software components work quite well. http://home.vodafonethuis.nl//fgkaal/

These are definitely Nice!

Bill Gaskill would be your best bet for knowing whether these are already out there, as he's got one of the most complete TI software collections known to man. . .

I guess I need to get this layout completed then, so it looks like I have another summer project to work on. . .LOLOL

They show up on eBay once or twice a year. Good luck on finding one. They do show up more often in Europe than in the US for some reason, so keep an eye on the eBay sites in Germany, France, Holland, and Great Britain. I don't have one myself, although I do have three different 99/4s. The 99/4s are different variants from different points in the 99/4's production cycle. One even has the slide where the "Solid State Software" badge is on the cartridge slot--and a speaker under the grille at the top of it.

Cross-system exhibitions are almost always interesting. I hope those of you out in California have a lot of fun there tomorrow!

Jaime has sold well over 250 of these to the community (I just counted his feedback comments for them)--so there are a LOT of folks out there with CF7 devices. Demand hasn't slacked over the years either, so it is safe to say that there are probably a lot more folks looking for them. It is definitely one of the more popular TI hardware items since the year 2000. . .about the only thing that has sold more are the cartridge boards from Jon.

The disk version of APESoft will should work with any Extended BASIC cartridge, as that was the environment they were targeted to. I'll have to pull out my original APESoft manual and check. You can also look in the Amerisoft Expanded Graphics BASIC manual, as that was just the English Translation of the APESoft manual.

I've seen that particular hack. I even had it loaded into the cartridge space on my Geneve at the TI Treff in Berlin many years ago. It worked great and also included a UNIT for the APPLESOFT routines. The hack was done by a programmer in Vienna, Austria. He sent it to the Treff with Alexander Hulpke so that it could be demonstrated (and tested on a Geneve). He was under strict instructions not to let anyone keep a copy of the application, as he was a beta tester and the author wanted to release it commercially. Unfortunately, it was neither released as a commercial product nor was it released into general availability. It is remotely possible that Alexander still has a copy--or that he can identify the original programmer to allow the hunt to continue in that direction.

If you took a close look, they source their chips from China (a real high likelihood of counterfeits there), and when you go to their TMS9900 page, the only TI-related document on their downloads page is the English manual for the SNUG AVPC2 card. Michael Becker would have to release his CPLD code to build that card directly, and that is not likely. This seller also shows their cost for the chips in the set--which is well above the starting bid, so you can be really sure that apparent shill bidder is really just that--a shill bidder to get the price above their cost.

I got a boxed Gamevision Connect Four last month, although the box wasn't in the best of shape (and it was missing the insert). It was part of a larger lot of stuff I bought (mostly to get some interesting multilingual manuals, although getting the Connect Four cart was nice too). If you ever DO see a boxed Funware Schnoz-Ola cart, I suspect it will go for $400 plus, easily. . .and have at least half a dozen folks bidding on it (note, there are Schnoz-Ola carts produced by Competition Computer--they use the same code and even Funware cases, but they are an aftermarket product). I do have the Competition Computers version. It is well-done and I'm glad I have it, although an original Funware copy would be reaaaaaaallllllllly nice.