Omega-TI

If I remember correctly, I sold 4 Tandy 1000's simply because the wives the guys had with them saw the Kings Quest game running on the screen!

Just curious, has anyone even used one of these, or was it a wasted effort?

Yep, this was the one I bought off of FleaBay. I have it on a spare RPi 3 that no longer gets used for anything else. I had no idea the seller was making money off someone else's work. For the record, I do like the emulator, I just wish I had some time to figure out how to get new programs to load onto it.

If you don't want coffee coming out of your nose due to shock, do NOT click this << INFLATION CALCULATOR >> and compare the prices shown in this advertisement from 1983 to today's equivalent 2020 amount. It's no wonder most of them went unsold.

The TRS-80 Models II,12,16 and 6000 were bloody heavy tanks. I never did like those massive 8" floppy drives, and I was the computer marketing manager for a Radio Shack Computer Center... oh and did I mention the prices just SUCKED! For the business market they had a suitable software inventory and we could get specialized software configured for the customer, but for the average Joe off the street the Tandy 1000, 1200 and 2000 were more to people's liking.

Mine was GWBASIC/BASICA for the PC. I do not even remember how I used to do as it's been so long ago, but I used to design my ANSI graphic screens to load with BASIC for a more "professional look" to my programs. Since the PC was relatively fast and you could access BASIC directly from the DOS it was great for a guy like me who never got into assembly language programming.

Naturally one cannot address "ALL" user groups, but from my personal experience "MANY" user groups started dying off as members started bailing on the individual pre-PC systems like the TI-99/4A, Atari's, Commodores, Apples, etc for the more popular PC's with tons of software. Local BBS's systems, many run by user groups themselves kept some of the groups viable longer, and with FidoNet and PC-Pursuit kept many of these users connected across the country and world as more individual groups disbanded. What finally put the nail in the coffin was the Internet itself (my opinion). In 1995-1996 as the Internet became available to an ever increasing audience, it drove even more PC compatible sales as that was the platform that ran the really good browser of the time, (again my opinion). With the Internet, the BBSes became "less interesting" and unfortunately many of the local friendships and associations that came with them were lost as people "moved on". As the world opened up online, we became ever more personally isolated from local associations and "MOST" user groups had their obituaries read.

I did buy something today, that IS "sorta related" to my classic computer/gaming hobby, but only in a way of documenting stuff and making videos for the hobby. Now maybe the quality of my videos << HERE >> will improve soon. We'll see.

A re-run of his 2016 Fest West presentation...

In PDF... Super Bug II.pdf

The Atari 5200 outputs RF to the TV... I'm assuming it has a built RF modulator right? So, the signal that gets converted is not a composite signal already.. like on many other platforms? If it is, could one simply intercept the signals going into the RF modulator that combines audio and video and channel it into one of these? I mean these things are about $15.00 and would be perfect for modern TV's and monitors? Am I missing something, or is there a project out there already that shows one where to tap the video and audio?

Sorry Rich, I'm not much interested in having RXB continually shoved in my face either, especially when it has NOTHING to do with what I'm currently trying to accomplish with Force Command and TI Extended BASIC. You've been doing this now with RXB for quite literally years now. People have given you hints over the years, tried humor and even cartoons to try to get the message across, nothing seems to have worked, so sorry I came out so bluntly, but dang dude. I really hate acting like a complete and utter tool, but I've had enough. Please don't bother replying to my rudeness, I'm taking a few days off from AtariAge, it's not fun right now.

Finally! The beige TI's can now look good too! <ducking and running for cover> 😝

Vorticon added that routine to his 80 Column F18A version of the program (as you can see from the video imbedded below). On a side note, as I was taking the video, that transient exiting issue popped up. I "believe" it's a timing issue. It obviously reloaded the FinalGROM Image, otherwise pressing reset would not bring it up, but for some reason it does not seem to execute.

Okay, I came up with a "work around" to accomplish 50% of what I want with Extended BASIC. So getting into XB is now fairly fast. Originally I was contemplating a HEX edit of XB's LOAD routine, but if I did that it would break the functionality of FCMDXB. (Catch 22). ... BUT Force Command has a nifty little "CALL" command that lets you run a script and stack up commands, so why not exploit that? Of course, for the "XB" command to work properly, there needs to be a program named involved as well. So I thought why not have a "one liner dummy program" with a REM statement as a placeholder. So in a subdirectory named "BASIC", I made a program called BAS... ... all it contains is... Then, using EDIT80 I created a small DV 80 file for the Force Command "CALL" routine, it's small and named "XB" all it contains is... This is probably the best I can hope for, and it does work, so... Still, getting out of XB to return to Force Command without having to remember and type, RUN "TIPI.FC.FCMDXB" each and every time still eludes me.

Rich, The FinalGROM does in fact do this, and this is exactly how the AUTOCMD selection of Force Command operates, and why I love it so much. Once you load it, it's there! Do a reset? BOOM! Back in Force Command, no title or menu screens to mess with just to get to where you want to be. It works great when running E/A5's because every reset takes you back to Force Command... it's different when exiting Extended BASIC because it's not a program, but a cartridge BIN in it's own right that replaces Force Command when it's loaded. So, this is why I'm wanting a more fluid method to get back to Force Command. I'm already doing it, but it requires my fading brain to remember a whole string to text to type in, which after a week or so I forget. Since I switched back to TI Extended BASIC, I no longer have any transient loading issues, but I do plan to whip out the sector editor tonight when I get back home to make the suggested alteration to the LOAD routine. There does seem to be a timing issue upon return to Force Command about 20% of the time, which requires a manual reset, but since I am unsure of the exact culprit, and don't want to get jumped for posting in the wrong thread, I'll just live with it.

For openers... I know a few people had some issues in the past loading and running the EA/5 version of Stuart's Internet Browser using anything other than the Editor/Assembler module. Trying to load web94 with 4A/DOS, or even Force Command could not be accomplished. Well, since Stuarts Internet Browser requires all it's files in a specific folder to operate properly, the attached file, (put in your TIPI root directory) will allow you to easily execute the program. Currently Stuart's Internet browser does not have an EXIT button (like FCTN 😃, but if you are running this program off of a FG99, pressing the right-hand button on the FinalGROM will exit from the program and drop you instantly back into Force Command. Simply drop this file in your TIPI's root directory, and type: LOAD WEB94 WEB94

If you have a piece or pieces of hardware and/or software you are trying to get to play nicely together with another item to improve your personal experience, but are not 100% ultra-positive of where exactly you should post your question, and do not want to mistakenly "threadcrap" in someone else's domain, please feel free to post your questions here. This topic is open to everyone for everything, no matter what your level of experience is. In this thread we'll go where it takes us, with no limitations to what is allowed. Others may have already experienced the same issues you are having and may be willing to help out other TI'ers in need. Take note though, since this is essentially a "free-for-all topic", and not specific to one piece of hardware or software it may not get direct support from the originators of the specific piece of hardware or software you are inquiring about. Also, if you've come up with a creative item or method to do an end run around built-in limitations of some hardware or software, please share your discovery! Pushing the envelope of what is possible is always a fun thing!

Sorry about that [email protected] it seemed to be more of an issue with BASIC and not Force Command so I didn't want to clutter your thread with something that did not seem to be a problem with your program.

THANK YOU! It worked! I'm pleased! 👍 Sucks to find out most of my problems all along were the version of BASIC I was using.

I've been having some flaky issues with RXB not dropping into an XB program from Force Command on the first attempt, so I decided to do some testing with TI Extended BASIC, but a ran into a little issue... The version I downloaded from the repository is 100 as you can see here... ... my problem is, the chart does not have the correct XBADDR as you can see from the table... ... I tried both of the listed ones, neither works. Does someone have the correct XBADDR or a version of TI Extended BASIC that works? Because this one... TI Extended BASIC.zip does not work properly with the XB command in Force Command. Thanks.

Fuseable links, are the oldest, cheapest and easiest way to go. I'm sure you'll be able to find an appropriate chart out there for the proper gauge wire to use. Why spend a fortune on spendy fuses when a simple wire will do, besides that what fuses are, but just in designer fancy packaging.

No, a reset would do that from a normal EA/5 program, but not from a cartridge BIN. Most of the time I am already in Force Command, usually editing files, checking my schedule, getting on the BBS, using Stuart's Browser and things like that, so a reset works in those cases. With the "FG99" command one can load a cartridge off the FinalGROM, but a simple reset, while using Extended BASIC returns you to that cartridge, or actually the TI menu screen. This requires extra button presses on the FinalGROM to reset, then you have reload Force Command from the Final GROM's menu. It's not quick, or fluid. With an Extended BASIC tailored for use with Force Command, one could enter the BASIC with the proper entry point, and simply get to work quickly, when finished type a simple word like, BYE, STOP, DOS, QUIT, EXIT or whatever and immediately be returned to Force Command, in my case the DOS prompt. Matt is correct in that one could always and repeatedly type: RUN "TIPI.FC.FCMDXB", but wouldn't an easier, quicker and more direct approach be preferable? I feel it would also enhance the experience and "tie things together". With T80XB, programming in Extended BASIC gives one a more rewarding experience, so getting into and out of Extended BASIC quickly and easily seems like a worthy endeavor. From my early days with the TRS-80 to the DOS era PC's the BASIC always felt integral, not so much on the TI.