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aftyde

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Posts posted by aftyde

  1. Posted · Edited by aftyde

    Hi All,

     

    Trying to create solid disk images - debugging why both my controllers (both TI, one 40 track with Guion ROM, the other 80 track ROM) can't seem to format any sort of floppy. (real or Lotharek image)

     

    I can read / write, update, relabel - everything but format. I am beginning to suspect the firehose - does that make any sense? 32K RAM tests OK. In the meanwhile, I was hoping someone could look at this and suggest the right parameters for DSSD and SSSD 40 and 80 track images.

     

    Here is the form I am trying to guess at...

     

    tidrive

    I am currently using tiDir to make workable diskette images - which I can do anything with but reformat. I do not have this problem on my other system with the Myarc controller. Sort of lost on this one! :/
    Thoughts???
    Cheers, Arthur...

  3. Posted

    Try swapping consoles. I have found with my P-Code card that with the "shiny pretty console" it fails about half the time - weird errors and such. If I swap it out with "ugly scratched up console" it works like a champ every time. I have had strange problems in the past that seemed like it should be PEB centered but turned out to be the computer itself.

  4. Posted

    When I moved to Turkey back in the mid-nineties, every single keyboard had to be on the "Beyanname" (customs form) by serial number. You should have seen the face on the customs inspector as I told him I had 26 TI consoles in my baggage. He was even more confused by the PC I had built myself that had no serial number at all. I had to pull out an indelible marker and write a 0001 on it to appease him. . .

     

    hahaha - I went through similar drama in the Philippines - though I was bringing in parts and building out a system there. Still have my place in Manila, with a very nice TI setup - now that I am spending much more time in the US am building one for use here. I don't think I'll ever be able to move any of the stuff in Manila out though - cash, stuff - when it comes to the Philippines it's pretty much a one way adventure. :)

    • Like 2

  10. Posted · Edited by aftyde

    Hi All,

     

    Have a TI controller with the 80 track mod in it and 2 Lotharek drives. Trying to sort out which images to run / get predictable working diskette images built would be so much easier if I knew which sets of roms were in the controller. I think I have 80 track DSSD on 1 and 2. I can read and write to diskette images but not format them...

     

    Any ideas??? Is it possible to dump the roms without a programmer and compare?

     

    Cheers, Arthur...

     

    ---

     

     

    This is a modification for the TI Disk Controller card which enables
    the use of 80 track drives for a total of 1440 sectors per 80 track
    drive. There are several configurations available. Please distribute
    this archive freely.
    Tony Knerr 07-15-01
    The files in this archive are as follows:
    readme.txt This file.
    80trackti.doc Instructions for installing 80 track eproms on the
    TI disk controller card.
    80t1r1.bin Replacement for U26, 80 track drives on 2&3, 40 track
    on drive 1.
    80t1r2.bin Replacement for U27, partner to 80t1r1.bin.
    80t3r1.bin Replacement for U26, 80 track drives on 1&2, 40 track
    on drive 3.
    80t3r2.bin Replacement for U27, partner to 80t3r1.bin.
    40tk1.bin Original TI rom U26.
    40tk2.bin Original TI rom U27.
    *end*

  12. Posted · Edited by aftyde

    Hi All,

     

    Thought I'd share the process of building out a PEB. Certainly not news to anyone but I suspect we all solve some problems differently. Here is my solution to a really nice dual 3.5 in device cage for the disk drive bay in the PEB.

     

    Peb drive cage

    12 nuts, 4 2" machine screws. You need to drill out the bottom holes in the metal drive racks to make them a little larger, and remove all metal shaving around the holes for the nuts. Nice aspect of the design is you can thumb-tune it to perfection (height and angle of drives in relation to each other) and then crank it down with a small wrench. This cage will hold 2 Lotharek floppy emulators.
    Here is what it'll look like with the drives mounted...

    Ld mounted

     

    I'll use a sheet metal drill to make a hole in the PEB cage for the screws. Next task, figure out how to set the switches and make an floppy cable. Given my cable making skills - this will be the hardest part - determining whether I have a crappy cable or the switches set wrong - expect another post in 2017... ;)

     

    • Like 4

  15. Posted

    Reliable storage is something I'd like to see. I've had trouble with HDX, and WDS SCSI working with software that seems designed to work only with floppy drives. I work with large amounts of data - and programs like TI-BASE are 100% reliable when talking to any size storage through a floppy interface but fail in weird random ways when talking to a hard disk or HDX.

     

    So a floppy controller that would support DS/QD or HD - or very large volumes like CF7.

     

    Cheers, Arthur...

  19. Posted · Edited by aftyde

    Hi All,

     

    Ordered a cart a while back - finally got the system built up enough to try it out. There seems to be a diagnostic you access by pressing FCTN-6 that verifies the GROM and ROM. GROM fails, ROM verifies. The message is "Do not use the Cartridge until the problem is resolved!"

     

    Do I care about this message? It seems to be working fine - but who knows... :)

     

    Please advise! Cheers, Arthur...

  20. Posted

    Image Tool has drastically enhanced my TI experience. If your post sounded self-praising (which I do not think it did), it was well deserved and certainly relevant. It is more of a one-stop-shop than the methods I described, but I rarely develop using disk images, so I mentioned the other. ;)

     

    Agreed - also worth mentioning that with Lotharek drives - the combination of disk images and HDX means you can do all sorts of cool things on the real iron and then upload the disk images directly for manipulation in Image Tool or Classic99. Would still love to see 80 col support on the HW in an extB environment. For me - editing in a text editor and then pasting it into an emulator is hard. Meaning - when it comes to programming basic I like the interactive nature of the interpreter. Of course, when it comes to pascal it's much easier to paste into Classic99 - and, I would guess there is no hope in updating the 1984 UCSD Pascal IV system... ;)

  21. Posted

    It seems that with all the development on RXB that F18A support might be something to put high on the list. I've been trying to get my hands on a Mechatronics or SNUG EVPC2 card for quite a while; no bueno... fairly happy with the F18A in my other system. For development I tend to use Classic99. Being able to paste code into the Pascal editor for example is a win.

  22. Posted

    In my main TI PEB I have a P-GRAM+ card and love the thing. I can essentially load any module from disk and access it. Given that I have never seen another P-GRAM+ card in the wild - is there another simple way to load and try carts that doesn't require burning and swapping ROMS???

  23. Posted

    Hi All,

     

    Anyone have experience with word processing on a TI with spell check? I had tried numerous programs downloaded from WHT and was never able to get any of them to work. BA Writer seems really interesting, seems to support the F18A but again - spelling... LOL

     

    Any advice? Cheers, Arthur...

  25. Posted · Edited by aftyde

    Sadly, I was the lone TI user in my small Michigan suburb. I sold counterfeit Jordache t-shirts in a flea market (1981) for the entire summer to buy the thing. I thought there might be an advantage to it as it had 4x more memory than the TRS-80 Model 1. I remember my math teacher stopping by to see it and asking why I hadn't bought an Apple. (duh, 4x the cost)

     

    I did a LOT of programming on the thing, eventually bought xbasic - and my first job as a programmer (1983) was porting programs from the color computer to the TI for Aardvark Software in Walled Lake MI. All my software was on tape - and I even published a small programming column in a local gaming magazine.

     

    Eventually I transitioned to a C64, and then an Apple ][+ clone, then a ][e - was a big Apple CP/M fan. The TI wound up in a box - and eventually I gave it to my cousin (who I am sure never used it). My aunt however did take me out to Taco Bueno for making the gesture... :)

     

    Still - the TI launched a long and profitable career in IT. I am working on my 2nd TI system. Have a PEB on order, a couple of consoles (waiting for a unit nice enough to warrant the F18A) - and will kit it out with Lotharek floppy emulators and other cool stuff. I'd love to find a DSDD drive controller.

    • Like 5
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