OLD CS1

Our TMS-9919/SN76489 variant is a 15-bit shift register for the noise channel. https://www.smspower.org/Development/SN76489#TheLinearFeedbackShiftRegister Sadly, I tried converting the VGM to an ISR list for me to play with, but it is too complex for my script to output a good recognizable list.

I will be @Lee Stewart's age before another pops up. I had been debating all day on whether to grab it. I am glad you settled it for me.

Seriously... they are already trying to get around $100 for TI keyboards, irrespective of make, model, or condition. God help us if they put two-and-two together and jack up console prices. 😠

I have not been able to find specific information on this system, but given what I have read thus far, I suspect this system is like the wireless audio system we had in my high school Spanish class. It was a loop of braided wire -- it looked like picture hanging wire -- suspended on the wall surrounding the classroom, maybe about six inches or a foot from the ceiling. We had wireless headphones which we wore to receive the audio signal. As I recall, it was pretty good fidelity and worked very well inside the class, but reception dropped precipitously outside of the loop. Are there any RF dudes in here who were around during this era and might have knowledge or experience with this kind of system?

I am certain I have no Mitsumis remaining in my stash.

Wow. Talk about esoteric. Nice catch.

Yep, but the cartridge has to be taken out of the shell.

The seller, Biff Howard Tannen (I swear I know this name from somewhere...) seems to have a lot of retro electronics. Almost like he went back in time and collected a bunch of stuff, then came back to the future to sell them all as "vintage." Very strange. Anyway, I asked him to post some photos of the inside. It is listed as a restoration project. Its appearance makes me think it might be a little involved.

I have one I am/was planning to use it with a Geneve and the TI. Just for shits and grins.

Just euthanize them.

Some feller around here did make some cartridge break-out boards for us. Cannot recall who it was, but I bought one.

Without the CF card or the CF adapter, the whole system hangs on startup. @Tursi pointed out above that the nanoPEB sends a command to the IDE and waits forever for a response.

Good point. Technically, there is no recognizable format to it. For instance, it should not be formatted FAT or anything like that. It would have been nice, but also increased its complexity, to be able to just drop disk images on a FAT-formatted CF card with names like "0000.dsk" or the like. Would have made moving data back and forth easier, but then TI99Dir does a great job for this.

The problem is not just the floppies, but the entire infrastructure which underpins the system. Slow networking, fragile network cabling (the "slower than AOL dial-up" leads me to think it is an RS-422-type of system, or pre-Ethernet, with ancient cabling,)* and non-extensible networking are other factors. The system actually runs the subway part of the rail network. They would like to extend the train control system to street-level, but the system cannot handle it. As well, they state the system was built to last 20 to 25 years, so they likely chose the most stable hardware and software setup they could, when the project was initiated, which I expect was three to five years prior to "its installation in the Market Street subway stop in 1998," (emphasis mine,) with no indication I see of when the system itself was actually instantiated. Granted, a floppy simulator would address the issue of data degradation, but I would like to think they keep extra physical copies on-hand, as well as digital copies and equipment necessary to write new disks. * It is worse than I thought: "The Automatic Train Control System is designed to communicate with light rail vehicles via a loop cable-based system. This is a type of wireless technology from the 1980s." (Emphasis mine.) It does not detail what the back-haul of this wireless system is -- nor does it give any implications of its level of security!

Need to show those damnedable Mylar membranes.

Probably, but it appears the real problem is the missing DSR, and why only one is missing.

Still a number of light industrial applications using 2000s, if not 1990s, technology because replacing it would mean re-outfitting an entire production area, possibly redesigning, retraining, plus the cost of the new stuff. I was talking to a colleague last week about a cutting (CNC, I think,) facility which has a working system. Margins are good enough to keep things going, but an upgrade to a modern system will cost in the hundreds of thousands, far, far more than the mere tens it cost to get started. They manage to keep things going by having a stock of old hardware, and figure it will be time to retire by the time they run out of hardware. I used to do work for a frame shop with the same problem. Its cutting machine was run by a Pentium Pro system. The software was keyed to the motherboard and video card! I had to replace a couple of capacitors on it once. When its power supply popped, we were worried it had taken out the motherboard. Fortunately, the system survived up to the shop's closing. Remember, up until 2019, our nuclear silos were run on 8-inch floppies. Stick with what works until it no longer works.

Pfft. It was a legitimate question, not a demand. The WHT SCSI promised DSK emulation which was never delivered. @Shift838 is quite capable and talented, two traits which, if motivated, could fulfill this promise, or could enlist the assistance of someone else. Or not. Whatever. Not sure why someone's jimmies would get rustled over this. Someone just needs a sensitivity adjustment. In any case, I would love DSK emulation. I would trade up my WHT SCSI for it without a second thought. Though, just for a modern SCSI solution with a refresh in longevity, I might consider upgrading, anyway. I could easily offset the cost of a new SCSI card by selling my WHT SCSI. It has served me well and can serve someone else just as well. To address a previous inquiry, I prefer SCSI over IDE as I would like the option of accessing more exotic storage mediums. I might never do it, but I would like the option.

I would be pissed, too.

Holy smokes. Between 3:14am and 3:45am we received 1.9 inches. Good bit of my front yard washed away last night, exposing some comms cabling. The back porch flooded the worst of all the time I have lived here, but all the modifications I have made to the yard kept my storage room, which sits lower than the yard, from flooding.

hehehe a number of my programmer friends say they spend more time fixing AI code than it would take to write their own. IIRC, Google has directed its programmers to not use AI for code.

I would actually trade up from the WHT SCSI for this. This emulation was something I harped on for ages, much to the consternation of the Great Gazoo

Unfortunately, it appears that if the CF card adapter or card are missing, the nanoPEB does not initialize and causes the console to hang. It struck me that, if the ROM is divided into two sections for the DSR, then perhaps the decoder circuitry has problem. I dunno enough about this unit to troubleshoot it.