ralphb

I think I played Jetpac on the FinalGROM 99 ... I need to check the image tonight.

Sure you could. I used this button, although I could swear I paid more then €5 each. Anyway, they're quite expensive, but they're also the shortest buttons that are flush to the mounted surface I could find here. The manufacturer is APEM, the part number is IBR3SAD600.

Thanks, Klaus!

Your race is quite funny to read. But I just want to chime in so say that the FinalGROM 99's memory is 32 times that of the FlashROM 99 -- 1024 KB vs. 32 KB. You could fit the Mega Demo twice.

Yes, that's the one. This one can, of course, also be mount in a shell, but you'd have to make sure to see the LED somehow, and to push the buttons by some contraption. And just to clarify the mounting in a shell: At the very least, you have to add a slit for the SD socket, and cut down one little "finger" inside the shell. For both you can use a rasp. For LED and buttons, you'll need holes.

Theoretically, yes. The FlashROM 99 didn't have any filename restrictions, though, so some FlashROM 99 programs may be missing (short filename ending in D) or not working (short filename ending in G) when used in the FinalGROM 99. The details are in the "Filenames" section of the homepage, which sounds more complicated that it is. The other way around will list GROM images, but the FlashROM 99 will think they're ROM images. To avoid confusion, I'd would not mix them personally, but it works if you know what you're doing.

I use the Petit FatFS. But Roland's problem is that some SD card won't work when powering up, but they do after a reset. Maybe they don't initialize fast enough, or the power is still too low during initialization? If we get more reports, I can have a look at this.

It is. Did you open the list?

For FinalGROM 99 owners, there's a ZIP with images and test programs on WHTech. The test programs are also in the repository. If you have doubts whether your cart runs flawlessly, use the tests to check. Each check has a help text (AID, then letter). Thanks for uploading!

There is on the homepage, in section "Troubleshooting", and "Programs with known issues". It's currently empty. Although I know that the XB2.7 Suite won't work. Not because of issues, but the program's GROM is too large. Besides, I strongly recommend to use individual programs instead of program suites, as the loading times will be much shorter.

Finally. This is it: You may notice a few last-minute changes to the final prototype. The FinalGROM 99 now uses plain SD sockets, although you can still fit an Arduino shield if you want. Also, a second reset button resets the TI 99. This is useful for programs that don't react to FCTN-=. Finally, the 5V SRAM was replaced by its 3.3V couterpart, which is cheaper and easier to get. As already mentioned, with only a few modifications, the FinalGROM 99 fits a standard cart shell. You can also combine both reset buttons by getting a DPST switch for your case. I updated the homepage to include the additional hardware features and some software changes I did (mostly, advanced modes, help viewer texts, and image dumping). The latter allows you to write the contents of the image in SRAM back to SD cart. This is useful for saving high scores, progress, or preferences. You'll also find ordering information on the homepage. Please allow a few days for me to reply, especially in the beginning. While the boards are mostly complete, I need to add a few components, and, more significantly, program and test the final carts. Thanks go to Jim (brain) for nudging me to use real SD sockets and introducing me to a cheap model, and to Eric (speccery) for analyzing an electrical program on the first prototype! Homepage: https://endlos99.github.io/finalgrom99/ Repository: https://github.com/endlos99/finalgrom99 EDIT: added links

I've seen Sony studio monitors on ebay, but some seem deep, and the connectors are kind of weird (for me) -- they look like an antenna.

Thanks for the tipp! I already have a 28" CRT television that does NTSC and SECAM, but I'm looking for a computer monitor I can put on my desk (and sit quite closely in front of). My guru said that some (later) converters in monitors were prepared for both NTSC and PAL with one possible IC, but a PAL IC was put in. If so, I need to check some schematics to find a good monitor that I can commutate.

Michael, it seems that there is a small bug in the TIMT GPL disassembler. This statement . MOVE 12,@>8300,[email protected]>7000 . generates the byte code . 25 00 0C 70 00 00 . but your latest TIMT disassembles to . 601F: MOVE >000C BYTES FROM @>8300 TO [email protected]>8370 25 00 0C 70 00 6024: RTN 00 . Not sure what happens, but the GROM address takes two bytes, not just >70 (meaning >8370 for CPU addresses).

No worries. All I'll say right now is "customs -- WTF?".

Never seen something like this: http://www.ebay.de/itm/332283763996 The seller is offering dozens of development boards. Too pricey, though, for a "dust catcher".

I was referring the bit about three competing groups within TI that gave us the 99/4. And oops, I meant this to post in the general TI forum ... can someone move this topic?

There's an article about the birth of the TI 99/4 in IEEE Spectrum: http://spectrum.ieee.org/geek-life/history/the-texas-instruments-994-worlds-first-16bit-computer Maybe this is known to all already, but I found it quite interesting (and sad, in a way).

Just for clarification, keep what you're doing: What I meant by -9 is that if you extract a file from a disk image . xdm99.py some.dsk -e somefile -9 . then somefile.v9t9 will be the reduced TIFILES format that v9t9 and Classic 99 use.

Yeah, I know, no sweat. To extract a file, you can add the -9 option to get the reduced format (-9 for v9t9), but you cannot combine -9 with convert to TIFILES -T yet.

Regarding the error messages counting as a word: If the error only happens in pass <2>, like for LIMI, which ignores its expression in pass <1> and reserves space for "LIMI 0" instead, erroneous statements will not generate code, but affect all other symbol values. Of course, the nonsense will fail in pass <2>. Pass <1> is meant only to find symbol values (unlike xga99, which assembles over and over until the object code doesn't change any more). Your four steps look great! I think the generated FIAD files have more information like the filename in them than the Classic99 default, but I think Classic99 tolerates them.

OK, thanks for clearing up the bank switching. I was mixing up "paged378" and "standard". But still, the (inverted) TICALC_3.BIN and TICALC_G.BIN are the required files for the FinalGROM 99 or any other carts with adaptive switching.

Hmm, not sure. The RPK, just like with the XB RPK, mirrors the common ROM areas. The question is if the bank switch routines will work, but I think they do, as upper bits are ignored.

Looks like XB, with fewer banks. I know Michael wants to establish ZIPs for verified images, but I still like RPKs, so here it is from the 3 and G files: ticalc.rpk

This can also be assembled with xas99, no error messages. This is the object code: t.obj