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hloberg

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Blog Entries posted by hloberg

  1. hloberg
    Way back in the 80s, when I was a kid, there was this thing called the TI International Users Group. The group had a TI magazine and a cassette program exchange. You could create programs and summit them to the IUG who would make them public for others to buy on cassette. If you submitted a program you would be able to get the cassette programs free. So being the cheap-ass I am I submitted a lot of programs to the IUG.
    Here are some that I recently downloaded from WHTECH site. I know I have a lot more but since the IUG had the irritating policy of removing the name of the programmer from the games, these are the only ones I remember.
    All the programs are on the .dsk.
    Here is the list:
    Note: on all games ;xb means programmed in extended BASIC. ;tib means programmed in TI BASIC.

    Awari
    I typed this from the famous book -David Ahl "BASIC Computer Games'. It was a straight BASIC scrolling on the screen game that me and my friend Keven converted to TI-XB graphics. It's a simple game that can me mastered rather quickly but still fun. Name is 'awari1;xb'

    Eagle1
    this is a side scroller shot-em-up. it's rather sluggish but you can do just so much in TI XB but it does play a good game. Most of the code enhancements came from Miller Graphics 'Smart Sprite' book. name: eagle1;xb

    Kroakers
    This game is inspired by the arcade game 'frogs and flies'. plays rather well and includes speech. probably my best game of the era. name: kroak1;xb

    Othello
    There where a LOT of othello style games on the IUG. I 'think' this is the one Kevin and I created, it looks like the kind of code we would create. Our major enhancement to the Othello lot was we really ramped up the AI in level 3 to play a very tough, and slow, game. game name: othello1;xb

    Stock Market
    Another one where there were lots of versions on the IUG. What makes me think this was mine was the inclusions of being able to choose the company name for the stock. name: stock1;tib

    Star Trek
    And again a lot of versions. We added graphics to ours and a little sound effects. We also got this one from David Ahl BASIC book. name: Trek1;xb

    Even though there are multiple files it's the same thing on all the files.

    As I find more I'll post more. enjoy the TI experience!
    HLO
    MyHLOGames.zip
  2. hloberg
    'Clear for Action in the age of Sailing'  is a game of strategy pitting you against the computer in a pitched naval battle in the age of the great sail battleships of the 18th century. Originally ported to the TI-99 by Walid Maalouli from the TRS-80 I have now ported thst 99 version over to the Geneve. This is a really terrific program and I have made some modifications to better run on the Geneve and take advantage of it's features.
    The program is now one large program. Malllouli had to break up the program to get it fit on the 99, on the Geneve there is more than enough memory to fir the whole program at once. Also switched some of the menus to 80 column and added more info in the program.
    there's a run-able version on a single DSK1 that runs from A: and, if you have Geneve MAME package download from my site https://ti99resources.wordpress.com/emulation/,
    a set of HDs you can just replace the SOFTWARE files with the new SOFTWARE files  and execute ABGAMES at the Geneve prompt for the menu to run CFA.
    To change to run from another source change the variable on line 100 to the new default SAVEFILE area.
    Lot's of fun and challenging.
    enjoy
    CFA10a-UPDATED.zip
  3. hloberg
    First off I want to apologize for taking a few months to get to part 2 but real life keeps rudely intruding on my hobby time. How dare it. Anyway, since I’m also hiding out at a Zaxbys to just have the time to type this up it’s not going to be as intensive as I would like, since life will eventually find me after all.
     
    Note: you will want to read through the Part 1 before attempting Part 2. Also, because of the vagaries of Windows PCs your experience may vary. I have also included more utils that you will need in paert 2.
    Now on with the show.
     
    After you got the computer looking all blank like it’s time to make the real changes. Again note: these changes include registry and OS hacks which could crash your PC if not done right. Be warned.
     
     
    1.) First you want to get rid of that pesky arrow pointer. Use the Take Ownership program to take ownership of WINDOWS\CURSORS. Also make a copy of CURSORS to safe place, just in case. Copy the contents from Tools file of CURSORS into WINDOWS\CURSORS. It’s OK to overwrite the contents. Now take the CROSSDOT.REG registry file and install.
    This next thing you might want to wait till you are finished to do this since you won’t have a pointer anymore.
    Open the Mouse Pointer and choose the new CROSSDOT pointer profile. The pointer should now becomes just a dot.
     
    2.) Now lets get rid of that fancy blue logon page. Open from tools Login Studio. Choose the BLACK profile picture and make it the current Logon Screen. Blue gone, black in. Done.
     
    3.) Take ownership of WIN\BRANDINGS dir. Copy content to a safe place. Use Resource Hacker from tools and mod the file WIN/BRANDINGS/BASEBRD.DLL. Remove the bitmap files.
     
    4.) Take ownership of WIN/SYS32/IMAGERES.DLL. Copy to safe place. Now use Resource Hacker to modify that file. Remove spinners, bitmap, mui.
     
    5.) Take ownership of WIN/SYS32/EN-US/WININLOGON.EXE. And you REALLLLLY want to make a copy of this file to a safe place. Just sayin’. Now use Resource Hacker and remove all:
    63-1033
    1002 welcome
    1003 logoff
    1005 welcome
     
    OK this part is experimental. I have got this hack to work, sometimes.
    For a split second the pointer comes up then changes to the .dot. I wanted to get rid of that split second standard pointer so I experimented with changing in the registry HKEY/USER/DEFAULT/CONTROL PANEL/CURSOR from the default to .DOT. It worked on some of the virtual PCs I created but didn’t on others. Not sure why. Anyway, good luck.
     
    Now reboot. If you have a black screen it works.
     
    Copy from TI99REOURCES the MAME Geneve package to the PC. Make a shortcut of the GENEVE.BAT in the Startup folder.
    Reboot and that should make the Geneve come up after a short while of black. As I stated this works much faster and better with the use of a high speed SDD drive.
    That’s it. Now back to that life thing.
    Enjoy.
     
    utils for win7 conversion.zip
  4. hloberg
    this is going to be a short blog. @9640News & @InsaneMultitasker has just released the latest version of Geneve Advanced BASIC v 4.08. They cleaned up the last of the bugs and I had a small part of editing the manual.
    Here is the download. Enjoy.
    NOTE: Recently I found some with the commands concerning SPRITE usage. CALL DISTANCE gives bad values and CALL SPRITE will error out sometimes with a 'bad value' in the X & Y values even when they are good.
     
    ABASIC-408.zip
  5. hloberg
    this below is my Geneve.

    It's a Geneve created using a Windows 7 PC and MAME.
    Here is a bad video I made of the startup procedure.
    I stripped Windows 7 of all badging in start up to just a black screen till the MAME kicks in giving the illusion of a real Geneve PC. I added an old IBM keyboard, HP ball mouse and a new NES style joystick to really give it that old-school look. Mouse works, joystick works and all software runs off the 3 internal v-drives. It looks and operates a lot like if MyArc had went with creating a Geneve PC instead of just a card for the PEB.
    This blog and subsequent blogs will be a step by step procedure of how-to prepare the Win7 PC by removing badging and other unnecessary stuff and MAME setup. 
    I will be breaking up the how-to into multiple blogs to keep the length down.
    Now PART 1
     
    Setting up a Win7 PC for Geneve SoftPC.
     
    What you need:
    PC with Win 7 – one that’s fast enough to run MAME/Geneve, (preferably) has an SSD as the main drive & also (preferably) doesn’t have an irradiating brand logo at startup.
    Copy of the program ‘Resource Hacker’ (included with blog files).
    Copy of ‘Take Ownership’ program (included).
    Copy of ‘Login Studio’ (included).
    Various registry hacks (included in next blog).
     
    Beginning steps:
    Load bare bones Windows 7 then add all patches.
    Use ‘high contrast’ black theme. This clears out some startup graphics.

    Remove all desktop items.

     
    Using ‘msconfig’ set to ‘no gui’.

    Turn off any not needed startup items or services that are starting up, also with ‘msconfig’.
    in ‘system’>’advanced system settings’>’performance’>’settings button’ select to ‘adjust for best performance’.

    Shut off ‘clock’, ‘date’ and any other no needed items in tray items.

    Set bottom tray to ‘auto hide’.
    Shut off all unnecessary services in SERVICES. I even shut off the networking services as they won’t be needed and delay startup by a fraction of a sec.
     
    You now have a fairly clean PC startup. Next is removing the startup screen and startup text, the mouse and few other things.
    this will require some registry hacks but that will be in the next blog, part 2.
    till then.
    Enjoy, HLO
     
     
    utils for win7 conversion.zip
  6. hloberg
    Few months ago I posted an 'essential' package for Atari 'C'. It was a .ZIP up of all the versions of Deep Blue C for the Atari 8-bit line. The .Zip included the later upgrades for Deep Blue C such as Ace C all in one package. I have Done the Same for Action!, Atari Asm/Ed & Macro Assm, Atari Pascal, OSS BASIC XL and MS BASIC. You can get all these software packages off the web but they are usually spread all over the place. I put them in one nice little .ZIP for each programming language package. 
    Here's a little of what in the .ZIPs:
    Action:
    the 3 tutorials docs reference manuals Action .bin action runtime & source strings package the toolkit the programming aids disk Atari Editor-Assembler and Macro Assembler
    ed/assm on disk and cart macro assm package APX editor various OS source code learning 6502 books De Re Atari & mapping the manuals Atari Pascal:
    apx editor pacal setup for proper use of the editor books on pascal tools manuals OSS BASIC XL
    leaning BXL in 30 days book toolkit runtime cart & rom manuals Microsoft BASIC
    manual for ver 1 & 2 ROM & supplemental disk for MSC II Ver 1 disk disk for ver 2.7 tools games in MSB hope this helps in your exploration of the various forms of Atari programming. Enjoy.
    HLO
     
     
    1612407063_AtariAsm-EdMacroAsm.zip 879291318_MSBASIC.zip 315215624_AtariPascal.zip Action!.zip 1076264715_BASICXL.zip
  7. hloberg
    https://ti99resources.wordpress.com/
    is a resource for TI-99 line of computers that I created a little while back. There is over 8gb of software and documentation for the TI-99 computers.
     
    It took me several months to get it to this point and I'm always adding more to the website.
    Here is the list and links from the Documents page:
    Applications
    TI Writer
    MS Multiplan
    TIBase
    TI-Artist
    TI Productivity Cartridge Software
    PLATO courseware
    Games
    Listing of all Game software & docs
    TI Game Cartridges
    TI Game Disk
    Atarisoft Cartridges
    3rd Party Cartridges
    3rd Party Disk Games
    Scott Adams Adventures
    Infocom Adventures
    My Games – Games I created, typed in or modified
    MBX
    MBX manual
    Bill Gaskill-History of MBX
    MBX game manuals
    MBX ads
    MBX Pictures
    MBX Overlays
    Pixelpedant Youtube on the MBX
    Programming
    Languages
    Editor/Assembler & Books on TI99 Assembler Programming – list of documents in directory
    TI BASIC & User Manual
    TI Extended BASIC Manual Cross-linked & Quik-Ref
    RXB Extended BASIC
    TI Forth & Lee Brodie Books
    C99 & Books on Learning & Programming ‘C’
    Fortran & Books on Fortran
    Utilities
    Various Documents on Tips, Peeks & Pokes for the TI99
    Kull Extended BASIC II utilities
    Miller Graphics’ Smart Programming Guide for Sprites
    TI Programming Aids I,II,III
    J&KH-SXB
    Hardware
    Link to TI-99 Tech Pages
    99-4 Console
    9900 Processor
    DSR
    GPL
    I/O & Disk Management
    Myarc
    SAMS
    OS & Console Software
    TI Peripherals
    VDP
    TI Intern Book
    TI Hardware Compendium Book
    TI Interface Circuits 1991
    Periodicals
    Atlanta 99/4a Computer Users Group
    Smart Programmer Newsletter
    Micropendium Newsletter
    Compute! Magazine
    TI User Newsletter
    99er/Home Computer Magazine
    Books
    TI-99 Compute! Books
    Sams TI-99/4a Toolkit
    David Ahl Computer Games Books – Not TI99 specific
    Create Adventure Games – Not TI99 specific
    Internet Databases of TI99 Books
    http://www.hexbus.com/tibooks/ – There are many other things on this site but the book collection is just awesome!
    https://archive.org/details/tibooks – Another impressive book collection, this time from archive.org
     
    now the software page:
    Applications
    TI Writer
    MS Multiplan
    TIBase
    TI-Artist & Data Disk
    TI Productivity Cartridge Software
    PLATO courseware – cartridge, individual course disk and all disk-n-one zip file
    Games
    Listing of all Game software & docs
    Cartridges
    TI Games
    Atarisoft
    Other 3rd Party Games
    Disk
    TI Games on Disk
    Scott Adams Adventure
    Infocom Adventures
    My Games – Games I created, typed in or modified
    Game Cartridges on Disk – Cart games converted to disk for CF7/NanoPEB use (Load in XB unless specified otherwise.)
    Other 3rd Party Game Disk
    MBX
    Game software (may be used with or without MBX-unless noted) and utilities
    Programming
    Languages
    Assembler/Editor
    TI Extended BASIC
    RXB Extended BASIC 2015
    TI Forth
    C99
    Fortran
    Utilities
    Kull Extended BASIC II Utility
    TI Programming Aids I,II,III
    J&KH-SXB
    Compilations
    Compilations Directory
    In this directory is some of the more well know compilations of software. Below is the description of what they are and where they came from.
    The Altman fairware library was maintained by several different user’s groups over time.
    Amnion IUG is the library of the International TI User’s Group.
    BCS would be the Boston Computer Society library.
    Chicago TIUG is the library of the Chicago TI users group.
    Tigercub would be Tips from the Tigercub, which showed up in a lot of disks he sent out–and which appeared in many different newsletters as well.
    Emulators
    Classic 99 – Link to one of the best TI-99 emulators around. Expertly maintained by the computer-wizard Tursi!
    V9t9 – Link to Cool Java based TI-99 emulator created by eschwartz.
    JS99’er – Link to Online TI-99 emulator.
    Win99/4a – Link to TI99/4a simulator. includes a cross-assembler.
    TI994w -Link to an emualtor by FG Kaal. Includes lots of features. Check it out.
    Original V9t9 DOS package includes V9t9 Linux source code – Zipped file
    MAME
    Muli-system emulator. The TI-99 emulator is excellent.
    Mizapf is the expert maintainer of the TI section of MAME. Here’s his site: https://www.mizapf.de/en/ti99
    Link to MAME (official website and downloads): https://mamedev.org/
    Link to MAME, TI-related pages: https://www.mizapf.de/en/ti99/mame
    Link to MAME TI99 change log: https://www.mizapf.de/en/ti99/mame/changes
    Link to MESSUI. This is a version of MAME/MESS that puts back the top menu, UI and a few other things. It, has had a minor bugs from time to time but the maintainers does keep it up to date with MAME. It is not an official part of the MAME team but independently maintained. https://messui.1emulation.com/
    MAME packages
    Full MAME setup with documents, carts, disk and startup batch files to get you going quickly with MAME
    TI99-8, 99-2, Tomy Tutor
    Geneve
    Standard TI-99/4a (Documents not included in this one but can find elsewhere on this site)
    P-Card
    PC Tools
    TIDir – Link to and incredibly useful FOAD directory program. Reads all forms of FOAD disk as well as CF7 compact-flash cards and much more.
    TIImageTool. Link to a Java based directory program (and much more) and is incredibly useful.
    Books & Periodicals
    99er/Home Computer Magazine
    TI99 International User Group Disks – Catalog in directory

    Internet Databases
    TI Game shelf – Great collection of TI games written by TI99 enthusiast. I even have a game on the site.
    Bromosel software collection on 99er.net – Huge collection of BASIC & XB files. Worth your time looking through.
    TI-99 Italian User Group – The database is one of the most all encompassing with some of the finest scans of documents out there. The database site is in Italian so if you want to read in English be sure to click the Google Translate on the right side bar.
    https://ftp.whtech.com/ – The resource of just about everything TI computer related. It’s a FTP site so not a lot of organization but still, it’s got everything.
     
     
    The Links page:
     
    Stores
    ArcadeShopper – He’s always got something new and cool for the TI-99.
    the Brewing Company – nice selection of TI-99 merchandise and they also support Atari.
    DoNotQ – Home of the f18a video adapter for the TI99.
    https://shift838.fwscart.com/ – Carries a large assortment of hardware for the TI-99 and Geneve.
    CADD electronics – Home of PC99 (both DOS & Windows) and the Cyc; a DVD of a lot of TI related stuff!
    https://www.nanopeb.com/ Home of the CF7+, NanoPEB & the NanoPEB WiFi adapter.
    TI-99 on eBay – Search of TI99 stuff for sale on eBay
    MYTI99.COM – this is the launch point for accessing the web with TIPI and/or Stuart’s web browser for the TI-99. the site was created and maintained by Corey Anderson.
    Databases
    TI Game shelf – Great collection of TI games written by TI99 enthusiast. I even have a game on the site.
    TI-99/4a Videogame House – nice list of games, information and trivia for the TI-99 line.
    Bromosel software collection on 99er.net – Huge collection of BASIC & XB files. Worth your time looking through.
    TI-99 Italian User Group – The database is one of the most all encompassing with some of the finest scans of documents out there. The database site is in Italian so if you want to read in English be sure to click the Google Translate on the right side bar.
    https://ftp.whtech.com/ – The resource of just about everything TI computer related. It’s a FTP site so not a lot of organization but still, it’s got everything.
    http://www.hexbus.com/tibooks/ – There are many other things on this site but the book collection is just awesome!
    https://archive.org/details/tibooks – Another impressive book collection, this time from archive.org
    Ninerpedia – A Wiki for the TI99 line. Lots of info on the TI-99/4a and it’s variants.
    TI-99/4a-pedia – A community driven TI-99 resource. Nicely growing site with several bits of TI-99 software that are well documented.
    Developers
    Crafting a Vintage CRPG – Adam goes over, step by step, his building of a role playing game he is creating for the Ti-99/4a line. Good detail.
    Wagner’s Tech Talk – There is a lot of really good videos on this site detailing such things as TIPI, FinalGrom, Stuart’s Internet Brower and much, much more. Included with the videos are list of parts, resources and just about anything you need for the project. Very informative site.
    Mainbyte – Excellent resource of a lot of TI-99 related information. Includes manuals, hardware info, magazines and much, much more.
    ti99-geek.nl – Home of TI-Dir. Also software for use with the CF7, IDE, TI99HDX and much more.
    stuartconner.me.uk – Some cool hardware & software projects such as a CF7 utility and a TMS9900 breadboard project board.
    Tech Page – Detailed hardware & software information. Go to site for any kind of technical questions you might have on the TI-99 plus some cool modifications.
    Mixed resources
    99er.net – One of the older all encompassing TI-99 sites. Has a nice emulator section and a database section.
    TI99.com – This site has some interesting information on some of the early TI modules such as the Dimension line and some of the prototypes such as the 99/2, /3, 4b, /5, /7 and 99/8 among others. Note: the site is in French so the link is through Google translate to English.
    Shaw site – formally Stainless Steel Software (now free) & some nice resources for the TI-99
      TI99 specific Youtube Channels
    PixelPedant – Ti-99/4a game play and related videos. Includes the game I wrote for the Atari 2600 ‘Parsec 2600’ play through.
    TI-99 Italian User Group – Some interesting vintage videos, TI-fest footage, game play, demos in English and Italian.
    Chris Schneider – TI-99 IDE, Myarc, mouse and Oeey Gui for MAME and some the things you will see on this site.
    Omega TI – mix of hardware and software reviews and some personal stuff.
    Arcade Shopper – Some interesting demos of TI software and hardware along with some other stuff.
    Jedi Matt 42 – by Matthew Splett. He has several videos of old TI-Fest and ‘how to’ covering the TIPI.
    TI99 Videos – by eschwartz. well made and informative videos for the TI99.
    newline 99 – Some instructional videos on the TI99.
    Rasmus Moutgaard – Maker of several incredible homebrew games & demos.
    99er – Fairly old TI99 channel. Some fun stuff.
    retroclouds – Maker of Pitfall for the TI-99 among other great games.
    Opry99er – His early stuff is mostly TI99 and good stuff too.
    Rich Gilbertson – Rich is the creator of the incredibly versatile RXB Extended BASIC.
     
    check it out.
     
     
     
     
  8. hloberg
    while back I posted these two games for the CoCo; Awari and Mille Borne. But I wasn't too happy with the quality of the job I did so I pulled them. I have since worked on them a little and now I'm fairly happy with the results.
    Awari; You can choose the background color (if you have a CoCo2b or better) and who starts 1st and if you want random placement of stones or traditional.
    Mille Borne; I cleaned up the code as I had a couple errors and sped it up a bit.
    So for CoCo fans, Enjoy.
    Games.zip
  9. hloberg

    Parsec 2600 v1.7d

    By hloberg,


    Atari 2600
    After several years I have updated my Parsec 2600 to v1.7d and I am releasing as a free download. Of course I reserve all distribution rights and rights to the code but it can downloaded for private use from here.
    What I have added in v1.7d are some improvements, better play and a BOSS level.
    Here is a brief look at the manual (full version included in download).
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Introduction
    It's 2600 AD and you are the pilot of the Star Fighter PARSEC patrolling the alien planet of Irata. Suddenly, Maria, your onboard computer, announces that you are about to come under attack from alien fighters, large cruisers, killer satellites, a meteor shower and the strangest thing you ever seen!
    The Parsec 2600 Game Cartridge is packed with thrills, danger and excitement.
    Waves of attacks from four different types of ships and a thing(?).
    Challenging flights through the refueling tunnel.
    Avoid the dangerous meteor shower just feet above the ground.
    Start from any level and number of ships from menu.
     
     
    Getting started
    Insert the Parsec 2600 game cartridge in your Atari 2600 and turn the console on.
    On the screen the Parsec fighter is seated on its landing pad ready to begin battle.
    Press the controllers trigger button and the Parsec will rise up and the game will begin.
     
    Optional choose your level
    By pressing down on your joystick at the beginning of the game you can choose your starting level and number of ships. You are presented with a screen where at the bottom, where the score will be, is the number of the starting level which is, in this case, one. By pressing up and down with your Joystick you can change the starting level up to 30. When finished press the trigger to move on to changing the number of ships.
    Now at the score area is the number four showing you can only start with a minimum of four ship (normally it’s eight). You can have as little as four with the maximum being 254 ships. When you have chosen your number of ship press the trigger to return to starting the game.
     
    The screen
    On the bottom right is a timer. As the line shortens, your time shortens. In each wave level of ships you will be given a limited amount of time to clear the screen. When time is up you lose a ship. As the wave goes up levels the time will shorten.
    On the bottom left is the number of ships you have left. Each pip marks one ship. The maximum number of ships shown is four but you may have more.
    In the middle is your score.
     
     Option Switches
    Switching to B/W at anytime during the game will pause the game. Switching back to Color will continue the game.
    Press the reset button will reset the game to the beginning.
     
    Operation
    Press the Joystick up and down to move the ship. In the meteor wave you can also move back and forth. Press the fire button to fire except in the meteor stage where you can only dodge.
     
    Waves of ships and danger!
    The Swoopers
    The first wave of ships is the Swoopers. They swoop down and you must clear all of them from the screen. As each level progresses you will need to hit the Swoopers more times to clear them and less time will given to do it.
     
    The Beamers
    These ships move in and fire on your ship. As with the Swoopers you will need to hit them more than once in later levels with less time.
     
    Refueling tunnel
    Time to refuel. Navigate the treacherous refueling tunnel to refuel your ship. As the levels progress the tunnel gets longer and your ship will go faster through the tunnel.
     
    The Killer Satellites
    Randomly the refueling tunnel will be replaced with the Killer Satellites. They may seem easy to hit with their ziggy pattern, but watch out.
     
    Backwards Swoopers
    Watch out! These ships come from behind. Play is same as Swoopers otherwise.
     
    Invisible Beamers
    The Beamers become invisible in later levels but are still lethal! Play is the same as other Beamers.
     
    Meteor Shower
    Avoid the meteors just feet above the ground. You can't shot them so move fast to stay out of their way!
     
    The BOSS!
    Replacing the meteor shower in levels 3,6,9 and randomly after level 12 is the Boss and watch out, he’s out to get you!
     
    At each wave the time gets a little bit shorter, the ships get faster and need to be hit more often. So shot fast and shot often. The world depends on you!
     
    After the games end your ending score will be displayed for a few seconds before the game automatically restarts.
     
    Parsec 2600 v1.7d.zip
  10. hloberg
    I have created a nice little language file for BASIC7800 for Notepad++.
    If you have never added a language file to Notepad++ use Language>user defined>define your language>import. It's set for .b78 files to pull in the language file.
    and for you don't know what a language file is it tailors Notepad++ to the specific programming language or dialect highlighting different kinds of commands in different color and generally making the file easier to create and read.
     
    The Language file adds color to the commands to make them more readable and sets up so that the 7800 language files auto-starts when a file with the .b78 extension is pulled in.
     
    Here is how it looks.
     

     
     
    Also a little batch file (attached) that simplifies using Notepad++ and compiling and using an emulator.
     
    here is the code:
     
    C :
    cd "\Program Files (x86)\Notepad++"
    start /i notepad++
    C :
    cd "C:\Users\hlo\OneDrive\Projects7800"
    cmd
     
    ---------------
    Notes:

    cd "\Program Files (x86)\Notepad++"
    start /i notepad++
    (this part starts notepad++)

    cd "C:\Users\hlo\OneDrive\Projects7800"
    cmd
    (this part sets the location of where your project files are. In my case in my OneDrive. Then it opens a command window to that location. IMPORTANT! Alter this line to the YOUR location of your 7800 project files. )
     
    This assumes you have ran INSTALL_WIN.BAT to set the path for 7800basic and set the PATH for whatever emulator you use.
    Now you can edit the file in NOTEPAD++ then alt+tab to the command window and type 7800BAS yourfile.b78 to compile.
    to run the compiled program in your emulator (my case PROSYSTEM) in the same command window type PROSYSTEM yourfile.b78.a78.
    later compiles and runs you just need to do the up arrow in the command window and choose a previous interaction.
    That’s it. All little helper for programming with 7800basic.

     
    7800basicv3.xml startup.zip
  11. hloberg

    Mille Borne for Apple II

    By hloberg,


    apple ii
    As with the previous two games for the CoCo I once created a piece of software for a computer not TI or Atari, the Apple II. It was the Mille Borne I created for the other PCs and did just a straight conversion. @micahcowan took and spruced it up real purty like for the Apple II so I pulled my original version I did going to eventually put up his version. Well, a long time later I finally getting round to posting his version. Here it is. Enjoy.
    MilleBornes_v1.5.dsk
  12. hloberg
    Put together a short list of some XB golden oldies and converted them into AdvBASIC for the Geneve. Added AdvBASIC features to some of the programs, like 80 column or multi-color font, and others I just converted with little changes.
    Here are games:
    Awari
    barricade (was already a ABASIC program)
    chicken plus
    civil war (made 80 column) - note: the 80 column ones I converted I tried to make them look like they were being seen on an old monochrome monitor of some sort.
    millibornes
    othello
    star merchant
    star trek
    stocks (made 80 column)
    uno+
    wumpus
    yathzee (added multi-color font)
     
    also included the latest AdvBASIC manual if you want to fiddle with the games some.
    enjoy
    ABASIC-conv-games.zip
  13. hloberg
    I like to do my programming, these days, for my TI99 using a PC. First off I can use the wonderful Notepad++ for editing and test the software in the equally wonderful MAME and secondly I don't wear out my 40+ old TI99/4a. And to increase the already massive wonderfulness I have added language support for the TI99 to the already extensive list of programming languages built into Notepad++. 
    I added TMS9900 and TI99 XB support to Notepad++ with the two .XML files attached in the .ZIP below. 
    To add language support for TMS9900 & TI88 XB to Notepad++ use | Language>User Defined Language>Define Your Language. on the 'Define...' page click the Import button and add one .XML file at a time. Shutdown Notepad++ then restart and TMS9900 & TI XB will now be a choice in the Language list.
    Note: the TI XB works well with AdvBASIC of the Geneve too.
    I then use Classic99 and paste straight in XB or for Geneve ABASIC I use TIImageTool to import the file into a .dsk or .hd by | Edit>'Import from Text Editor' then paste>save the file. For TMS9900 a cross compiler would work nicely as well as the other two previous methods. 
    that's it. Enjoy.
    notepad++-xml-lang-files.zip
  14. hloberg
    Long ago Atari offered a 'C' package through APX. It was OK, limited and bit slow. What a lot people may not know that wasn't the end of 'C' for the Atari 8-bit. later Ace C was released which compiled much faster. Still had about the same capabilities but faster compile. But that wasn't the end of it, then CC8 was released. This 'C' more capabilities and faster compile. A really nice package. I have here combined the three packages and the documents in one .zip. Included are libraries, editor and  everything you need to get programming. Enjoy.
    272648083_A8Cpackage.zip
  15. hloberg
    TIBASE on the Geneve
     
    In the updated .HD files for the Geneve emulation (in TI99RESOURCES) I’ve included a new TIBASE for the Geneve running from hard drive. It runs from the FDRIVE.HD (hard-drive 2) in HDS2.TIB. And (recommended) saves to the GDRIVE, HDS3.TIBFILES. It runs with the TI99 E/A Geneve module. (I tried to get it to run with the Geneve EXEC but the SELECT command kept blowing up the TIBASE when executed with EXEC.)
    To run TIBASE from the Geneve I created a batch file called TIB. You can type TIB at any command prompt to start the program. The program starts with a batch file with the notes:
    EA loads in
    Option 5 load HDS2.TIB.TIBASEW
    program begins.
    Some things I did to make in run from .hd:
    To get TIBASE to run from the .HD I modified in the TIB directory files TIBASEW & SETUP. If you want to use TIBASE on your hard drive modify TIBASEW using FILEZAP. Look for the 2 lines that say HDS2.TIB and change to your drive and directory. Also modify the 2 lines in SETUP that refer to HDS2.TIB. You are limited to just 3 letters for the directory name (best I can tell).
    The program runs in 40 column. It looks like someone at some point was thinking of making it run in 80 column as a line in SETUP was created SET LINE=80 (I since removed it) but apparently it was never implemented as the SET LINE=80 command comes up as invalid.
    NOTES:
    in Help (F7) the instructions say ‘press ESC to exit’. This doesn’t seem to work. It may not work because some setting in the emulator or may not ever work, I don’t know. But F9 (mentioned elsewhere in the help file) does exit Help.
    The program runs much faster on the Geneve then it did on the TI99. This, under some slow typing situations ‘may’ cause multiple letters to be typed. It very rarely happened to me though but once in a while if I loitered on a key too long multiple of the same letter did get printed.
    I put the tutorial files for TIBASE on separate .dsk in SOFTWARE/DISK. 
     
     
    Here’s the link for the new .HD for the Geneve in TI99RESOURCES/ Emulation. https://ti99resources.wordpress.com/emulation/
     
    Enjoy.
  16. hloberg
    On the NTSC Atari 600XL the only video output is RF and the picture quality is really not very good, at all, not in the least, bad. So I thought maybe, if I want to use this 600XL for anything more than a prop, I might want to replace the video with something better. After looking around I chose the UAV by https://thebrewingacademy.com/ due to it’s simplistically and it’s cheap at only $30. Plus it has one of the best pictures I have ever seen for a composite output.
     
    Installation:
    (My work area)
     

     
    NOTE: This information covers the installation of the UAV composite and the way I installed it for NTSC 600XL ONLY. There are other ways to install the device but this is the way I choose. I am not responsible for any problems you may have following these instructions. I tried my best to make as clear as possible. So there.
     
    The UAV comes several ways. I chose the pre-built drop in as it’s the simplest. The package comes with all you need to drop in install (except what’s needed for sound). FYI: here is the link to the manual: http://www.thebrewingacademy.net/UAV_manuals.zip
    The manual covers ALL the various machines that the UAV can be installed in giving not too much space for any one type. Read over the manual but don’t expect a step by step install.
    Now my installation. Of course the first thing I did was open up the computer (seen in picture above). The blue wiring is the 64k upgrade I previously did. The UAV is a little board that plugs into the slot of one of the chips you remove. Then you add some wires and 3 solder points (if install like I did).
    Here is the board. I put tape over the top and bottom because there isn’t much clearance in the 600Xl and didn’t want to chance a short.
     
    Top view.
     

     
    Bottom view.
     

     
    Notice an extension on the bottom pins. This is so that the chip will clear a line of resistors just in front of the chip. I found the extension to be a bit unstable so later I took it off and the board set just fine.
     
    Remove the chip U19 as this is where the board will be plugged in.
     

     
    The UART socket is in the black box. Notice I have put electrical tape around the resistors in front of the plug. I found that playing around with placement of the board these resistors tended to want to push against each other and short. The tape kept that from happening.
    Next to the UART socket I have a green wire soldered to a resistor. This wire will be attached to the UAV board later and supplies the color signal.
     
    This is the board plugged into the socket. You will be attaching wires to that green header in a bit.
     

     
    Notice the jumpers I had tape on in a previous picture. Refer to the manual on the placement of those jumpers for the 600XL. The board does not come with the jumpers set for the 600XL so you will have the change them. Little trivia, to the left you will see places for several missing components. This is the missing composite circuitry NOT found in the NTSC version of the 600XL.
     
    For my installation I removed the RF module and the channel selector switch. Location is next to where the channel switch was. This is where I take the sound off of. I soldered in two pins to plug the sound cables into for easy removal. Pin on left is ground.
     

     
    OK, I know I’m going to get a lot of gruff for this but I didn’t solder in a 5 pin plug for this install. Reasons, I plan to only use the composite so most of the other pins would not have been used since I had no way of utilizing the S-Video capabilities of splitting the Luma and Chroma. Also I already had a dual RCA plug. Anyway, here is where you plug the wires into the board and the sound.
     

     
    I cut holes for the RCA plugs and mounted the board on the back of the 600XL where the RF plug was. AND IT WORKS.
     
    The finished product.
     

     
    That’s it. That’s all there is to installing the UAV the way I did it.
    Hope this helps. Good luck.
     
     
     
  17. hloberg
    Creating a SIO2PC cable for the Atari 8-bits with RespeQt is one of the cheapest and easiest ways to get virtual drives for the Atari and also one of the best. He's a little how to on creating the cable and getting RespeQt up and running.
    Not to long ago I built an S-Drive for the Atari (see this blog). Also a fairly cheap and good virtual drive solution. It's portable and easy to use. But it does have one drawback, for me anyway. I do a lot of my development on my PC using Altirra and cross-compilers. So if I want to test a file on real-iron I have to pull the SD card from the S-drive, upload the file from the PC to the SD-card, remove the SD-card from the PC then put it back in the S-drive, fire up the Atari and load in the file to the Atari. A bit cumbersome procedure because of how fiddly it is to pull and re-insert that SD card in my S-drive. But with the SIO2PC and the RespeQt I can leave the Atari attached to the PC and just run the file straight on the Atari, no fiddling with cards.
    What you will need.
    You will need an SIO2PC cable and a copy of RespeQt. If you are running RespeQt on Windows you will also need a USB driver.
    There are several ways to create a SIO2PC cable. I chose the one recommended in the RespeQt documentation. A 'FTDI USB to Serial Adapter TTL Cable 5V 6 Pin UART Female Header Converter FT232' pictured here:

    I got my USB cable from eBay for $16 shipped. Lots of other places also carries the same or similar cable for about that price.
    You will also need some way to attach the USB cable to the Atari. I got an SIO plug head at vintagecomputercenter for $6+shipping.

    Any old SIO cable could work as well but I didn't have an old SIO cable at the time. 
     
    Assembling the SIO2PC cable.
    First off 'The modern Atari 8-bit computer' does an excellent tutorial on creating a cable and setting up the RespeQt software.
    Watch Here. I would watch this first then but come back to this blog as he does skim over some important details.
    Back, good.
     
    Now when I got my USB cable it turned out that the colors of the wires weren't the colors listed by 'modern Atari' or in the RespeQt documentation. Bummer. So I had to do a little more research and create me a chart that could be used with my wire colors on my USB.
    Here's what I made:
    SIO  (pin)              my USB cable      type
    green (5)               (yellow)                 RXD
    black  (4)               (black)                  GND
    orange (3)             (orange)                TXD

    looking from the back of the connector
     
    You only need to connect three lines from the SIO to the USB; RXD, TXD and Ground. The color chart above was from a SIO2MIDI project someone once posted. The colors on the SIO 'should' always be the same. On the USB, maybe. Check your documentation that comes with your USB for it's color to signal type.
     
    I cut the head off the USB cable then tested fitted the USB cable to the SIO plugs and inserted them into the SIO head unit.
     

     
    Then I tested plugging in the SIO head into the Atari.

    Fit was good. Now on to the software.
     
    Setting up the RespeQt sofware
    If you are using RespeQt on a Windows 7-11 machine you will need a driver: CDM21228_Setup.zip 
    Run the setup software for the driver on your PC before installing the RespeQt software. This will create the virtual COM port you that will need for RespeQqt. At this point you can attach the SIO2PC into a USB port on your PC. It 'should' find the right driver and create a virtual COM port on your PC.
    Now the RespeQt software. get it here: https://github.com/RespeQt/RespeQt
    Be sure you download the latest release and READ the bug list. v5.3 has a bug that will brick 'THE CART!' if you try flashing a copy to it.
    There are multiple packages for multiple PCs. I downloaded the Win64 package and it came with all kinds of goodies.
    In the package was the RespeQt software and all the .dlls needed, three ATASCII fonts for Windows (load them), a manual, how to create a USB2PC cable, how to compile the program and several Atari 8-bit programs, of which, I so far haven't needed (you might so check them out).
    To run the RespeQt software you will only need to copy the RespeQt directory from the .ZIP onto someplace on your PC. To execute the RespeQt software just click on the RespeQt.exe. This will start the setup routine for the software. For the FTDI USB pick the virtual COM port the driver software created. Then chose HANDSHAKE method of 'Software(SIO2BT)'. I found this handshake method the most stable but you can also choose NONE which is a bit faster but can be a bit unstable at times.
    The setup screen:

    The handshake of SOFTWARE(SIO2BT) loads the Atari software at about standard Atari drive speeds. Not fast, but also not too slow. I tested some high speed SIO routines but none seemed to work. If you set the handshake to NONE the high speed routines do work but under certain situations I had trouble loading.
    Note: printing doesn't currently work in Windows version. Try to print will usually result in crashing the program. The programmer is aware of this issue and is working on a fix.
    After you have tested the cable and the software you can now close up and solder the SIO plug head.

    Note the little bit of tape I used around the cable so the shell would clamp the wire tightly. The only real problem I had with the shell is the supplied screw was too short. I got another screw and it worked fine.
     
    Summary
    RespeQt has a lot of capabilities to it. I can run .ATR files, it can load from PC directories, it can be set to boot OSB automatically and bunch more. I managed to load almost all of my files except 'Music Construction Set' which is my only .ATX file. .ATX support is still under development. A side project from another set of programmers, which may or may not come to fruition, is including an N: network device. Would be nice.
    That's it, cheap and very useful, the RespeQT with an SIO2PC.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

  18. hloberg
    Molasses Man, a Pacman clone created with the XB256 compiler.
    OK, that said, what is Molasses Man and why the weird name. Well, the game itself is rather OK and challenging. You Pacman your way through a maze avoiding the three ghost. Eat power pills, chase the ghost ect...
    The game itself I didn't create. It's a game from the old TI program exchange of long ago. I actually remember buying the cassette from the exchange seeing if I could do something with it. The game, Molasses Man, lived up to it's name. You can imagine how slow a Pacman clone written in TIXB would be. Yes, that slow. I attempted, at the time, in my youth, to speed it up. Made it from exasperating slow to just very, very slow. Zip forward a few decades and I came across the game again in a the Altman cache. I thought, hum, I wonder if this game would work if you compiled it? yup, it works, after some finishing touches, and it is FAST. Too fast, had to actually slow it down. 
    Anyway, here it is. Have fun.
     
    MM5D.BAS MM5D.dsk
  19. hloberg
    Come one, come all and witness the amazing, no colossal, feat of Microsoft Multi-Plan running on a Geneve! No cartridge needed, it runs from the hard drive! No floppies needed, it also saves and loads from said hard drive! And all in 80 columns wonderfulness! Amazing you say! Earth shattering you say! How can this miracle of science be accomplished? Well,... (bit over the top? )
     
    After a bit of searching the internet (mostly WHTECH) I found several versions of MSMP in 80 column and even more attempts at MSMP that would run, load and save to a hard drive. It was a mess. None really worked correctly or completely. so I took a little here, a little there, and with lots of guidance from @InsaneMultitasker and @9640News  merged several together into a working copy of Microsoft Multi-plan from the TI99 that would:
    1.) run on a Geneve from the hard drive with no cartridge needed.
    2.) save and load it's data files also to a hard drive.
    3.) display in 80 columns.
    the version of MSMP on this blog is the fruits of that labor. It works thus:
    1.) copy ALL the contents from the .dsk attached into a directory called HDS1.DSK.TIMP these are the program files.
    2.) for the system I created you will needed a second hard drive, HDS2. (can be changed, more on that later) to save/load the data files. the directory on HDS2 where the data files will be is in HDS2.MP
    Note: when you save/load in MSMP don't use the OPTION command to change the default path location, stick with HDS2.MP. Problems may occur if you try another path.
    3.) run the MSMP with MYGPL HDS1.DSK.TIMP.MULTI-PLAN (or create an batch file to do it).
    4.) when MSMP ask for the load disk, just press enter. this will start the MSMP in 80 columns for you to use.
    that's it. now it works.
    Oh, BTW, DON'T download any of the other versions of 80columnMSMP or GeneveMSMP from WHTECH. they are ALL defective in one way or the other for use with the Geneve.
     
    Now the later.
    You CAN change the default path of the data files by editing the MPINTR file that's in the TIMP directory with all the other MSMP load files. You will need a sector editor like FILEZAP (included with the files below). Be sure you make backups before editing and read over the Filezap instructions. You can really mess things up with a sector editor if you don't know what you are doing and the shame, oh the shame.
    Anyway, look for this section of the MPINTR file.
    000140: 00 00 2e aa 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00     ................
    000150: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 08 48 44 53 32     ............HDS2
    000160: 2e 4d 50 2e 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00     .MP.............
    000170: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00     ................
    000180: 00 00 00 00 00 10 44 53 4b 2e 54 49 4d 50 2e 4f     ......DSK.TIMP.O
    000190: 56 45 52 4c 41 59 00 0e 44 53 4b 2e 54 49 4d 50     VERLAY..DSK.TIMP
    0001a0: 2e 4d 50 48 4c 50 2e 2e 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00     .MPHLP..........

    Look at the text to the right. Where you se HDS2.MP. that is the location of the data file save. Use the text edit portion of Filezap to change to the location of where you want the data files to be saved to. I would make it short. I have not tested this past 10 characters or like; HDS1.MSMP.
    Save the edit now. Next use the hex edit to change the hex number 08 just before the HDS2; 48 44 53 32. That is the length of the file name. HDS2.MP. = 8 characters if you include the (.dot). In the above name change example, HDS1.MSMP. the new value would be 0A (don't forget this is hex). 
    now save the edit then save the file. done.
    don't mess with the other file locations. If you changed those the cartridge may not work as there is companion file locations in the cartridge GROMS that would also have to be changed. And I'm too lazy to explain those too ?
    There you go. A spreadsheet for the Geneve 9640.
    Enjoy, HLO 
     
    MSMP&FILEZAP.zip
  20. hloberg
    Psystem for Geneve short beginners guide tutorial
     
    Note: this has been updated with new information.
    My initial response to the Geneve Psystem was don't expect much. After working with it some more I have upgraded it to, it works OK but still has a few bugs that really make using it difficult. Some of these bugs are things like no visible cursor and this is a big one. It makes editing a file very, very hard since you never know where the cursor is. Another is only the left arrow key works. makes moving around in Editor tough. Another, there is no known documentation for the psystem. This is an issue since there are some unexplained differences between the p-card and the psystem. And finally not all p-card programs run on the psystem. The main system files run, well enough, but programs like the freeform spreadsheet, pilot programming language and a lot of the user created programs won't run at all. Oh and the Geneve Psystem is actually slightly slower than the P-Card on the TI99. Still, it does work well enough and is usable, if you want to ignore some of the bugs.
    So, to help you along in the world of geneve psystem (and the p-card for that matter) here is a short tutorial. Use the files included in the post with the tutorial. I created an PSYS.HD that can be attached to the MAME/MESS package I created in an earlier post 'MESS/MAME Geneve 9640 update’.
     
    Now the tutorial:
    Starting the system
    If you setup in MAME/MESS the PSYS.HD as the 3rd HD it'll show up as HDS3 or G: in the Geneve.
    Start Geneve and navigate to G:\PSYS.
    You'll find in PSYS directory:
    a directory called VOLS
    a batch file called RUNMAIN
    a TIBASIC file called MKVOL (more on that later)
    and an executable called PSYSTEM (this is the program that runs the whole show)
    You will be starting the batch file RUNMAIN to start the Psystem.
    ---------
    side note: in the RUNMAIN batch are the commands:
    PSYS ON (this turns on the psystem)
    PSYSTEM HDS3.PSYS.VOLS.MAIN
    (this commands PSYSTEM to load volume 1 as MAIN. If you wanted to access DSK1 you would have DSK1. In the place of ..MAIN)
    ---------
    Now that the Psystem has started to the main menu
    once you have executed the batch RUNMAIN the fun begins.
    when all the initialization is complete you are presented with the MAIN MENU at the top of the screen. It looks something like this:
    Command: E(dit, R(un, F(ile, C(omp, L(ink, X(ecute, A(ssm [IV2.2 R1.0]
    if you press the ? key it will rotate to the next list of menu choices:
    D(ebug, H(alt, I(nitialize, U(ser restart, M(onitor
    press the ? again gets you the final menus choices.
    S(et +(Tutorial (I haven’t figured out if Tutorial even works.) You will also see a reference to Help. There is no Help for you.
    again with the ? just rotates back to the 1st menu.
    Now I'm going to just go over the more useful menu commands here.
    F)ile – this is the file manager. It’s the next section.
    E)dit - this starts the editor. I'll go over in more detail in a little bit.
    C)omp – this is the Pascal compiler.
    X)ecute – this runs the other programs not on the main menu (.CODE files) as well as the Pascal program you can create using the editor and the compiler.
    H)alt – this ends the psystem session and returns you back to Geneve.
    I)nitialize and U)ser restart – these restart the psystem.

     
    F)ile
    File is the file manger. But before we get to working with the file manager we need to get some of the basics of how files and volumes work in psystem.
    The psystem holds it’s data, programs and everything in files called volumes on the Geneve (and the TI99 for that matter). In the batch program RUNMAIN the PSYSTEM command has a file to the right of it; HDS3.PSYS.VOLS.MAIN. The file MAIN is the main volume that hold all the system files and all the other files for the Psystem. It's kinda like .DSK file in MAME. As of now, there is no way to read or alter it outside of using P-Card or the Psystem.
    Each volume has an internal volume name. In this case MAIN volume name is (oddly enough) MAIN.
    The volumes are also associated with a device number. The 1st drive is device #4, 2nd drive device #5 and 3rd device #9, etc...
    In fact, everything in the psystem has a device number associated with it:
    Number    NAME:       Description
    #1 CONSOLE: Keyboard and display with echo
    #2 SYSTERM: Keyboard and display without echo
    #4 (diskette name): 1st disk drive
    #5 (diskette name): 2nd disk drive
    #6 PRINTER: 9600 baud RS232 input/output
    #7 REMIN: 300 baud RS232 input
    #8 REMOUT: 300 baud RS232 output
    #9 (diskette name): 3rd disk drive
    #10 (diskette name): 4th disk drive
    #11 (diskette name): 5th disk drive
    #12 (diskette name): 6rd disk drive
    #14 OS: Operating System
    #31 TAPE: Audio cassette tape
    #32 TP: Solid State Thermal Printer
     
    As you can see you can have up to 6 volumes attached at once. Nice since sub-directories are not allowed on the psystem files structure.
     
    In the volumes are files and there are three types of files that the psystem recognizes: SYSTEM., .TEXT, .CODE.
    SYSTEM. files are just that, system files that run the psystem. These files start the name out with SYSTEM.(whatever) Examples of these files are SYSTEM.LIBRARY, SYSTEM.FILER, SYSTEM.MISCINFO etc…
    .TEXT files are, well, text files. These files have the extension of .TEXT, examples off this MAIN volume is HELLO.TEXT which is the source code for a little test Pascal program I created called HELLO.
    .CODE are the other executables other than the SYSTEM files. They can also be compiled programs you create using the Pascal Compiler. Examples are PATCH.CODE, LIBRARY.CODE etc…
    In reality you can name your files whatever you like, it’s just that the psystem may not recognize them.
     
    Now back to the F)ile file manager.
     
    Once F)ile has started you are given a new menu.
    Filer: L(dir, R(em, C(hng, T(rans, D(ate, Q(uit, B(ad-blks, E(xt-dir
    ? for next menu
    K(rnch, M(ake, P(refix, V(ols, X(amine, Z(ero
    ? and the rest. Again, I’m just explaining the most used or important.
     
    L(dir is the directory (Listing?) program that shows you the files in a volume.
    Dir listing of what vol ? Is the prompt. I have found typing the device number for the volume you want to view is easiest. If you want to refer to the Main volume you can refer to it with *. Example: To view the contents of the Main Volume (usually #4) just use a *. When referring to other volumes in Dir listing use the volume number. #5 will display the contents of whatever volume is secondly attached in 2 nicely formatted columns. just remember there isn't a flashing, or otherwise see-able, cursor when typing. Also, if you type in something incorrect you MIGHT, be able to correct it by pressing ctrl-right arrow which will back you up. Of course you will just have to start typing since there will be no visible cursor and hope for the best you are where you want to be. Even then, sometimes it'll still give you an error. Best, if you make a mistake, press Enter and start over. 
     
    E(xt-dir gives a detailed directory of the volume. It only single column but shows more info about the files.
     
    T(rans is the copy utility. Don’t be confused with the program saying it’s a Transfer utility. It doesn’t actually move the files just copies them.
    The utility is in two prompts:
    Transfer what file? - type in the volume number or volume name the : then the file name. = can be used as a wildcard. Ex: #4:HELLO.TEXT
    To Where? Type in location as above with the new device number : file name. You MUST type in the full name as location too.
    Examples:
    copy HELLO.TEXT from #4 to #5
    Transfer what file? #4:hello.text
    To Where? #5:hello.text
    that will copy HELLO.TEXT from MAIN (#4) to WF(#5) volumes.
    Now say you wanted to copy all SYSTEM. Files from #4 to #5.
    Transfer what file? #4:system.= (= is wildcard)
    To Where? #5: system.= (notice you have to type in the full name again with wildcard)
    this will copy all the SYSTEM files from #4 to #5.
     
    C(hng : is the file rename utility. Best not to try use wildcards with this. Format to type in file names like L(dir.
     
    R(em : is file delete utility. It’s like the C(hng utility except it deletes files. You can use wildcards with this just be careful.
     
    B(ad-blks : this checks for bad blocks in the file structure. It doesn’t actually do anything about bad blocks but it’s nice of them to let you know.
     
    D(ate : this sets the date. The files have date stamps so if you plan to do any programming I would set the date.
     
    V(ols : this list the active volumes. Good to find out if a volume isn’t attached.
     
    K(rnch : this does a clean up of the volume. It’s good to do this from time to time. Psystem is lousy about clean up after it’s self and sometimes files can go missing from L(dir that appear in E(extended dir.
     
    Z(ero : This will erase and reformat a volume. Good to use when creating a new volume. WARNING it will erase all data on an existing volume.
     
    Q(uit. This exits the Filer.
     
    There are other utilities but these are the ones you will use the most.
     
     
    Editor
     
    On the p-card this isn't a bad editor; it has lots of functions and is mostly a full screen editor. Bad in that the commands aren’t very intuitive (or at least to what we are familiar with these days). On the psystem, there are a few limitations.
     
    Creating a new document in Editor
    To use the editor with a new file press ENTER. This will create a new work file name will be CREATED.0.TEXT. This is always a good place to start. To start typing in your new document you always start with the I(nsert command. This puts you at the beginning of blank the document area. Note that there is no indication that you are at the beginning of the document since you don't have a cursor. Just start typing. If you make an error press Crtl+Left Arrow that will remove the characters to the left then retype. Press ENTER at the end of the line.
    When finished press Ctrl+C to save and return to the main Editor menu and SAVE the file. If you don't want to save the file press ESC.
    Now that you have created the document Q(uit brings up the Quit menu. To save the file choose U(pdate. If you don't want to save the file press E(xit for exit.
     
    Note: this section is new.
    Editing and existing file.
    To edit, or just view, an existing file instead of just pressing ENTER when entering Editor type the volume and name of the file. EX: #5:HELLO.TEXT
    This will pull up the file on the screen. To begin editing you first want to be sure to position your, invisible, cursor at the beginning of the file. This is accomplished by the J(ump command then the B to set the cursor at the beginning. Now use the X(change command that will position your cursor at the 1st character of the 1st line of the document, unseen of course.
    Now you need to move down the document to the line that you would like to change. Press ENTER  and this will move you down the file line by line. Count how many lines to the line you want to change. On the offending line just retype the whole line over. If you find you are not on the correct line (since you have no cursor, easy to do) backspace using CTRL+LEFT ARROW. (CTRL+LEFT ARROW  also works when editing the line and you want to backspace.) Then press ENTER to get to the correct line. If you over shot the line press ESC and start over.
    After you have corrected all the lines you want Ctrl+C to save all your changes. then the quit procedure as listed above. A little practice and you'll find it less annoying.
    Note: on the p-card you DO have a cursor and full arrow keys.     
     
     
    C(ompile – this compiles the TEXT file you created with the Editor. Fairly straight forward and works well.
     
    H(alt – this exits the psystem.
     
    MKVOL
    Now outside the psystem is a TIBASIC program call MKVOL. This program creates blank volumes to be used for the psystem. Run this program using XB in the geneve. Fairly straight forward. 
     
    Attached is the PSYS.HD you can attach to MAME Geneve as .HD three. The P-Card manuals are available here:
     
    TI99RESOURCES P-CARD documents
     
     
    OK, that’s it in a nut shell. Best to just play with the system. And a lot of this information here can also be used on the P-Card. Anyway, have fun and try to ignore the bugs.
     
    HLO
     
     
     
     
    PSYS.zip
  21. hloberg
    HSGPL, EVPC & BWG were/are created by the SNUG TI99 users group in Germany.
    Their website: https://www.s-n-u-g.de/home/index_en.php
     
    HSGPL
    The HSGPL enables your TI99 (or MAME emulation TI99) to have up to 16 Solid-State-Modules for the TI 99/4A installed in the HSGPL Card  with all 16 selectable from the TI Main Menu screen. It also copies the main GROM into GRAM to slightly increase speed.
    How to use HSGPL:
    when you get the TI99 menu screen (it'll always start with TIBASIC & XB) press the up and down arrows and it'll change to other menus screens. I have a menu screen with down arrow: E/A, TI-DM3, DM2k. At the other end with up arrow from XB: RXB2015 and XB2.5.
    you can alternately when the TI just starts with the color bars press 1-XB, 2-E/A, 3-TI-DM3, 4-DM2k, E-Xb2.5 & F-RXB2015.
    you can add up to 16 cartridges on the HSGPL. read the manual and execute CALL HSGPL on TIBASIC to add more. I have had issues with LOGO2, MSMP and some games not working after loaded. my be user error so if you get some loaded let me know.
    EVPC
     The EVPC cards is a Mechatronic 80-column compatible card.
    The EVPC video adapter enables 80 column  text in programs that have been set or modified for 80 column like MS Multplan 80 (see ftp.whtech.com for an modified 80 column version of MSMP & TI writer.)
    BWG
    The BWG is a TI99 compatible disk drive card that enables up to 4 drives and high density disk.
     
    The MAME package:
    The HSGPL, EVPC and BWG are included in the MAME In the .zip package. I'm on MAME v.236 so should work with that or greater. dump all the MESS content in MAME or MESS dir. be sure NOT to alter the contents of NVRAM. modify the batch file where I have CD MESS to change to your MAME/MESS dir. I have the docs with the .zip in HSGPL.
    enjoy, HLO
    HSGPL.7z
  22. hloberg
    Little time ago I posted some files here that were roll-ups of files for MAME/MESS from the, what I call, the 'other' 99s; that is the TI99-8, TI99-2, TI-99 PSystem, MyArcII XB and the Geneve 9640. Looking over them I realized I hadn't vetted these very closely, especially the Geneve.
    (FYI: if you don't know anything about the Geneve, here is the Wiki article with some excellent links for a deeper dive on the subject: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneve_9640 )
    So I went back and pulled up MESS Geneve and began testing and adding software so now I have a much better package with lots of games and tested software that runs on the MAME/MESS Geneve without much effort. The tested and working files are put in two .HD files; OS7 and FDRIVE. OS7 is the operating system and the development files. FDRIVE is the games, Advanced BASIC and XB26 files and other miscellaneous files. As stated, I tested these files as working to the extent of my ability. If something is missing that you may know of from the Geneve I either could not get it to work or I just didn't know about it.
     
    Here is the brief listing of OS7.
    BATCH contains batch runtime files for:
    AB - Advanced BASIC startup
    Bible - A Christian Bible program
    CAL- displays a monthly calendar
    EA - loads TI-99 Editor assembler in MYGPL
    The HELP files - GPLHELP, MDOSHELP, PROGHELP & QDEHELP
    4th - starts the Forth programming package
    MA - starts Myart
    MW - starts Myword
    XB - starts XB2.6 in MYGPL
     
    Some of the other packages on OS7:
    Forth - the Forth programming package directory
    DSK - holds the Fortran programming package. Start the Fortran in XB then RUN "HDS1.DSK.FORTCOMP.XBBOOT" to execute
    DSK1 - the virtual Disk 1 drive
    TASM - the 9640 assembler
    TIC - the 9640 C programming package
     
    MDOS - the MyDOS operating system files. Notable utilities:
    D - this is a two column formatted directory program
    DM - the directory manager
    EDITOR - an advanced editor
    GAMEGPL - starts GPL programs directly bypassing the TI menu
    QDE - the general purpose editor for the 9640
    XCOPY, XDEL & XDIR - more advanced directory commands
     
    FDRIVE listing:
    ABD - directory program that will run in Advanced BASIC
    XBD - same as above for XB26
     
    GAMES - MYGPL and MDOS game executables
    Listing for game executable. Can be run straight from MDOS
    alpiner, blasto, anteater, burgertime, carwars, chisolm trail, donkey kong, henpecked, jungle hunt, junkman jr, mbgames (includes connect 4, hangman, yathzee & zero zap), microsurgeon, moonmine, moonsweeper, munchman, munchman2, othello, popeye, princess & the frog, return to the island, roto-raiders, schnozola, tetris (MDOS native), the attack, TI invaders, tombstone city, topper, video chess, wingwar, hunt the wumpus and yathzee. 
    Note: it is recommended when starting all these games except Tetris to press SHIFT+SHIFT+CTRL the F4 to slow the speed down otherwise they will run at up to 5 times the speed.
    Tunnels of Doom -TOD. the files for Tunnels of Doom are in HDS2.TODDISK
    Adventure - Adventure files are in HDS2.ADVDISK
    Infocom - all the Infocom games are in the HDS2.INFOCOM
     
    XBGAMES - these games must be run from XB26 otherwise they won't work.
    buckrogers, centipede, congo bongo, dig dug, hopper & Qbert.    
     
    I also added some other .HD files:
    9640news - all of Beery's 9640 newsletters.
    PSYS - this is the Psystem for 9640. It, sorta works but not well enough to have added it to OS7.
    MDOS7 - these are the original MDOS7 files.
    other Games - these are some games that mostly run but with issues.
     
    How to run. Copy all the MESS files in your MAME/MESS directory. It contains the ROMS and other import files to run the 9640 emulator. run the supplied batch files GENEVE-9640.BAT to run the emulator
     
    Some thoughts on the Geneve 9640. It's still very much a work in-progress. Berry and his other programmers are continuously working on updating the system and adding more features to what is a fairly stable platform. There is also some work on a 9640 hardware recreation, so we got that too.
    The 9640 was/is a good upgrade of the TI-99 line. It has a much nice BASIC, faster, better graphics and sound. Personally, I think it been a better product than the 99/8. But, that is history.
    If you want something to play with in the vain of the 99-4a, I would recommend the 9640. Even if you can't get a real iron, make you a virtual one with MAME/MESS or wait and see if a real 9640 finally makes it out the door. 
     
    Enjoy, HLO
    Geneve9640.zip
  23. hloberg
    In the last post I threw around some terms that might not be familiar to those who may have never used the Geneve 9640. So, here is a brief description. 
     
    MYGPL - Programs from the TI99/4(a) can't be run directly on the 9640. A lot of TI99 software has a underlying layer known as GPL in the code. MYGPL has a GPL emulator built in that enables those TI99 programs with GPL to run on the 9640.
    To run TI99 software with MYGPL you type in 'MYGPL nameofTI99program' at the MDOS prompt. This executes the TI99 program. But, the program will be running at the native 9640 speed which is about 5 times faster then a normal TI99. This can be an issue if playing games such as Parsec which is already fairly fast. To slow down the program you will need to do a SHIFT+SHIFT+CTRL. This will bring  up thev MYGPL menu. See screen below:

    Pressing F4 will enable you to adjust the speed of the game. Most TI99 games run best at 1 or 2. After setting the speed press ENTER to return back to the game. This is also the way to exit MYGPL by pressing ESC on this screen.
     
    EXEC - Sometimes the TI99 program may not have GPL inside it. This is software from the TI99 that usually is executed by entering the Editor/Assembler then pressing 5. Several of the applications run this way. It is executed similar to MYGPL with 'EXEC nameofTI99program'. The down side of EXEC though is that there is currently no way to adjust the speed otherwise I would be using it more with games.
     
    BATCH FILES - I run a lot of the MYGPL and EXEC commands from batch files. The batch files are very similar to batch files from MSDOS as they are a collection of commands in a runtime script that will execute from the MDOS prompt. 
     
    HDS1, HDS2, HDS3 etc.. These are the hard drive designations for Hard Drive 1, Hard Drive 2, Hard Drive 3. There can only be up to three hard drives in MDOS. Within MDOS prompt you can also specify these drives by the letter E:, F:, G: in the form of E:/MODS.DM . The letter designations don't seem to work outside of the MDOS prompt environment though. Like in XB you must refer to the files with the full name 'OLD HDS2.GAMES.BUCKROGERS'.
     
    The RAM disk H: DSK5. - The RAM disk is H: OR DSK5. It a 128k drive and is volatile. So if you reboot your system, you will lose the contents of this drive.
     
    DSK1 to DSK4 - These are the disk drives 1-4 or A: to D . in MAME/MESS I have them setup as 5.25 DSDD.
     
    HELP - you can type HELP at the MDOS prompt anytime to get a list of other HELP files for the MDOS commands, common programs, MYGPL usage and the QDE editor usage.
     
    If you need to reboot - Press SHIFT+SHIFT+CTRL like in MYGPL. This will also reboot the system (if not totally locked up).
     
    D - typing the letter D at the MDOS prompt will give you a nicely formatted directory listing of your current directory location. As for as I can tell, it won't take any parameters.
     
    PATH - As in MSDOS you can specify a PATH command in MDOS. I have set BATCH, MDOS and GAMES as default paths. any program or batch in those directories can be executed anywhere from the MDOS prompt.
     
    DSK1 directory - DSK1 directory on E: is a shadow location for the disk drive 1. You can put files in this directory and they will be executed as if in DSK1. Good example is the E/A files: ASSM1, ASSM2 and EDIT1. When running E/A you won't have to have the E/A boot disk in DSK1 to run since MDOS will look for the files 1st in E:/DSK1. This is also handy with XB. I have the XB LOAD file in DSK1 to give that ding dong sound when XB26 starts.
     
    That's about all I can think of for now. Good gaming.
    HLO
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
  24. hloberg
    A bit back I had these MAME/MESS packages posted on ti99resources.wordpress.com/ but decided with the limited space I have on that website to just concentrate on the TI-99/4 and TI-99/4a. So I posted them to an Atariage thread. But since things, over time, tend to get lost in those threads I'm re-posting them here with updates.
    Notes:
    The .zip files come with everything you need to get the MAME/MESS emulator up and going except the current MAME/MESS. The emulator has been tested with MAME/MESS .235 and works down to version .225. get MAME here: https://www.mamedev.org/release.html and MESS here: https://messui.1emulation.com/ MESS is just MAME with the top menus put back.
    I have the ROMS, CFGs and INIs in a MESS directory you will need to copy into your MAME/MESS so that the emulators will work. Be sure to keep the name of the MAME/MESS directory as  MESS so that the execution batch file will work.
    The emulated computers:
    Tomy Tutor - Cassette and cartridge only.
    Myarc Geneve 9640 - I have it booting into 2 hard drives. There is a lot more related files in other hard drives in archive.
    Myarc MyXBII - also boots to a hard drive.
    P-Card - Boots a boot floppy. Be sure to have the switch for the P-Card turned on in the switches. Only use the disk created to the p-card I have included. others may not work.
    TI-99/8 - Boots to floppy. Only use the blank SSSD & DSSD disk I have included as others may not work. This is a resource intensive emulator with using the Hexbus; I5 or better.
    TI-99/2 - Cassette only. Stick with the way I have it set up & don't use the MAME/MESS configurations of the  Hexbus & the 32k memory expansion. Both I have had issues with errors on the 99/2. After all, who needs more than 4k anyway.
    So here you go, have fun. HLO
     
     
     
    TI99_Geneve.zip TI99_MyXBII.zip TI99 PCard.zip TI99-2.zip TI99-8.zip Tomy Tutor.zip
  25. hloberg
    SupeReversion
     

    This is a Reversi game I got from some magazine a while back. It's probably one of the best looking Reversi games on any 8-bit computer with it's 3-D style board. I made some modifications such as changed how the pointer works, displays in several random colors, boots from Altirra disk and improved the game play a bit.
    To play press Option or Select to change player then Start key to start. There is a flashing square you move in 4 directions to the spot where you want to place your piece using the joystick. Press the joystick button to set then piece down. You can play human v. computer, human v. human and even computer v. computer.
    Enjoy
     
    SuperReverse-ALT.atr
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