Stuart

It should be possible. When I done this years ago, I took a very simple approach: (1) Get a sheet of thin graph paper. Mark out an area 256 x 192 blocks, and subdivide this into 8 x 8 blocks. This represents your screen. (2) Get your logo, and photocopy/resize it to fit on the 'screen' on the graph paper. (3) Place logo under graph paper, and colour in the blocks on the graph paper to give the shape of the logo. (4) Now look at the 8 x 8 blocks on the paper. You need to define a character for each variation you have. So you can use one character definition for all the completely empty blocks, one character definition for all the completely filled blocks, and different character definitions for the blocks where only some pixels are filled in. Depending on the complexity of the logo and the number of character definitions available, you might have to do a bit of tweaking of the design to reduce the number of different blocks needed. (5) Now write your program. You need CALL CHAR to define the 8 x 8 blocks, and then some form of print statement (PRINT, DISPLAY, HCHAR, ...) to print the characters in the right places. Very low tech, but it works!

Doesn't it need to be >8802 (with a ">") in the second to last line? I don't think you need the SBO 2 as you're only reading the state of the input bit, not using it to generate an interrupt. If you're interested, I've put a 'tutorial' on using VDP interrupts on my TM990 system at <www.avjd51.dsl.pipex.com/tm990/tm990.htm#using_vdp_interrupts>. I've got the VDP interrupt connected to a TMS9901 in the same way as the 4A, but you can't use this technique directly on a 4A because you can't (easily) change the interrupt vectors at the bottom of memory.

The chap who makes and sells them has the ebay account "schmutzig1952" - you can contact him via ebay and enquire when the next batch is available.

You could certainly do a lot of it in an emulator if you so wished. You'd have trouble I think trying to get an assembly program from an emulation environment to a real console using a (cassette) tape, but going the cartridge route is a definite possibility - some cartridge boards which take an EPROM were produced quite recently and you could probably get hold of one. Your program would need a header on it so that the program can be run from the TI master title screen - that's quite easy to do. Not sure how much you know about the TI-99 architecture but be aware that with the bare console there's only 256 bytes (yes, bytes) of CPU RAM available, and it knows absolutely nothing about any peripherals. All the peripheral 'device drivers' are in ROM in the peripherals themselves. A CF7/NanoPEB will give you an extra 32K RAM to play with, virtual floppies (which you can transfer to/from an emulation environment) and a parallel or serial port device. You could use this if you wish with a program you've loaded into a cartridge. Also, there's a PC utility developed by the user Tursi that will take a picture (your school logo for example) and convert it into the data needed to load into video RAM to display it on the TI.

Another idea is to get a CF7 - the version with the parallel port (so the device is 32K RAM, virtual floppies and a parallel port all rolled into one). The parallel port will give you 8 digital outputs plus a strobe, which might be enough for your needs. You can control it by just printing specific bytes to the 'printer'. Stuart.

If you're willing and able to take the console apart and do some soldering, I'd do this by piggybacking a TMS9901 IC on top of the one already in the console - quite an easy job. This will give you a dozen or so input/output pins that are individually programmable and that you can connect to the Arduino (is the Arduino compatible with 5V TTL logic levels?). You've then got to be able to program it: TI BASIC and Extended BASIC won't be any use as they don't support the required level of hardware control. There are two other versions of BASIC though that would do it, and I suspect one of (all of?) the versions of Forth would do it as well, plus of course assembly. To run any of these, you'll need 32K RAM plus storage - a CF7/NanoPEB device would provide both of these. If you want further elaboration, let me know. Stuart.

The video connector has a +12V output on pin 1, with GND on pin 6. The +12V regulator on the console power supply board is rated at 1A, and the console motherboard draws about 330mA. I can't imagine that the CF7 board + the CF card draws more than 100mA or so, so I reckon you'd be OK running a 5V regulator off the 12V supply to power the CF7. Make sure that the piece of plastic in front of the cartridge slot, which is directly above the 12V regulator heatsink, doesn't get uncomfortably hot. You may need a heatsink on your 5V regulator.

Well since you ask ... WARNING: This is for powering a NanoPEB that takes a regulated +5V supply. I take no responsibility for blowing up or otherwise damaging the NanoPEB, the console, or yourself! What you'll need: -- A piece of 2-core cable - I used some speaker wire. About 12" long. -- a 2.1mm DC power plug - to fit the connector on the NanoPEB. -- Soldering iron and solder. -- Sharp modelling knife. Remove the bottom cover from the console. Looking at the photo below, identify the +5V and 0V outputs on the PSU board. I've used the back of the connector that the cable from the motherboard plugs into as a convenient point to solder the wires to. If you remove the two screws securing the PSU board, you can turn it over and the connector pins are labelled. I've soldered the wire with the white strip on the insulation to +5V. (Ignore the red wire in the photo - that's a +12V supply for my EPROM programmer.) Solder one wire to the +5V output, and one to 0V. With the DC power plug, solder the +5V wire to the tip, and 0V to the shield. Route the cable out through the expansion port hole. CHECK YOUR WORK. Make sure you haven't shorted out anything, and you've got the wires round the right way. Use a multimeter to check you have the correct voltage (+5V) and the correct polarity (centre positive) at the DC power plug. Reassemble the cover. Using a modelling knife, carefully remove a small piece of plastic from the side of the expansion port to provide a recess for the cable to sit it, to stop it getting trapped by the NanoPEB connector. Fit NanoPEB, plug in connector, turn on and test. You attention is drawn again to the warning at the top of this post! Stuart.

With my console, I've opened the case, soldered a wire with connector directly to +5V on the PSU board, and fed that out through the expansion port hole to connect to the CF7. Stuart.

There's a TMS9995-based Powertran Cortex II on E-bay at the moment if anyone is interested. Item #261297535704. It sounds like it's a non-runner at the moment (no mention of one of the LEDs flashing once booted) so requires some attention, but it's all standard parts that are still available. Looks like one of the key tops is missing as well. Stuart.

Thanks for the suggestions folks. I've done some more poking round and now got it working. The Lantronix has an option for "Telnet mode" where it send a "Terminal Type" message when it makes a connection, and this also set remote echo. Switching this option off, and modding my code to not wait for the remote echo, and it now all works.

Thanks. Are you able to elaborate on what you mean by "send your requests in stream"? I'm sending the GET and Host as two consecutive strings at 19,200 Baud. Conversely, I've managed to download some pages through Telnet by typing the details (some servers time-out quicker than others, but I have managed it, although Telnet may be buffering the input?). I've been trying the HTTP/1.0 protocol to prevent the 'chunked' response of HTTP/1.1, which is more difficult to process.

I'm trying to retrieve a web page using my TMS9900 system connected to a Lantronix UDS-10 serial to Ethernet adaptor. Testing what I'm trying to do using Telnet on the PC first: Telnet 62.24.202.30 80<Return> GET /index.htm HTTP/1.0<Return> Host: www.avjd51.dsl.pipex.com<Return><Return> ... retrieves the text of the web page I'm after. Trying from my TI system, sending and receiving character strings on the serial port: C62.24.202.30/80</0D> (Make a connection between the Lantronix and the server port 80) (Wait for the Lantronix to return "C" indicating successful connection) GET /index.htm HTTP/1.0</0D></0A> Host: www.avjd51.dsl.pipex.com</0D></0A></0D></0A> ... always returns the text of an HTTP 400 Bad Request page. As far as I can see the command is getting to the server OK as it echoes the characters back correctly. Anyone any ideas where the problem lays? Stuart.

Not exactly a BBS ... but I'm (slowly) working on a web browser, using a serial port connection to a Lantronix UDS-10. There's no hope of displaying a 'modern' web page so I'm looking at a very simple HTML tag subset (including links between pages), with pages written specifically for the TI. Possibly with some extensions so simple graphics can be included by embedding character definitions. Currently at the point where I can connected to a web server and download (but not yet render) a page - with a few hiccups to sort out. Stuart.

It's not at all CRAZY Kevan. Why not put a large bid on that auction? (I'm not the seller)

At microcomputer level, I think the term "monitor" is more a small program that supports simple user I/O and provides simple functionality like displaying/editting bytes in memory, dumping and loading blocks of memory, executing a machine code program in memory, and so on. TI had a monitor program called TIBUG for their TM990 line of computer modules (http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/ti/tm990-100/MP324_990-401_TIBUGlst.pdf), which they expanded to become the EasyBug program (option 2) on the MiniMem cartridge and the Debugger supplied on disk with the E/A catridge. Stuart.

I bet he gets a lot more done though by choosing not to engage with umpteen different TI forums! I wonder if he's anticipating problems getting TMS9902s from a reliable source at a price he's willing to pay? Stuart.

Have done, although being ebay I suspect it is a complete waste of time ...

Well would you believe it - a flurry of bidding by bidder "a***l" on the TMS9900 and TMS9995 kits on ebay ...

I'm not too sure about this lot. Looking at the seller's other auctions, what he seems to be doing is assembling a more-or-less standard set of parts (VDP, RAM, EPROM, GAL, CPLD) and throwing different processors in with them. The TMS9900 kit, as supplied, doesn't contain enough for a working system - no TIM9904 clock generator, +12V and -5V regulators, TMS9902 UART (all easily obtainable though). And I think the GAL and CPLD are probably unprogrammed, and if you've got the knowledge and equipment to program them, you'd know enough to be able to work out what parts you needed anyway. Mind you, if you can get this lot for £0.99, it can't be bad, and I see the seller has 100% feedback ... (Going through the bid histories though, there is a bidder "a***l" who has only ever bid on this seller's items, and seems very proficient at pushing the price up while winning relatively little. Suspicious, or a very unlucky bidder?) (Also note, if you're after a small TMS9995 system, I've got full details of how to build one here http://www.avjd51.dsl.pipex.com/tms9995_breadboard/tms9995_breadboard.htm, plus EPROM downloads for running BASIC and Forth.) Stuart.

Easy to remove the keyboard and use a length of ribbon cable to extend it to a couple of feet from the console. Two long bolts through two of the keyboard mounting lugs to give it a bit of tilt, and four sticky feet to stop it sliding around. Job done.

Note for those in the UK, the floppy drives for the BBC Micro work well with the TI and are quite common on ebay. Typically double sided, double density, 40/80 track. Single or double drives in a nice enclosure with built-in mains power supply. Costly to post though 'cause they weigh a ton ... Stuart.

Good thinking! Could you put an all-white (or other colour) sprite under the menu sprite to make the menu text stand out more clearly?

[Pedant Mode On] Not quite true. A disk drive for the Ace was developed and sold by MPE in Southampton who done lots of other Forthy things. At least one is/was known to exist, but they are rarer than rare. www.jupiter-ace.co.uk/hardware_JetDisc.html [Pedant Mode Off]

You're only removing/inserting the card when power is OFF, yes? It's not plug-and-play on the TI ...