Ed in SoDak

I'm in the slow process of porting some of my old floppies. There are several conferences on Delphi's TI forum from the early '90s. I don't know how much of this stuff has been preserved. A fun read from back when many things were still under development and about to be released (or not!) -Ed

The first file loaded in Mac V9T9, other than the "For-Next Nesting" error. The second file is in TIFILES format which I had to convert to V9T9. Then it ran fine. -Ed

Fileread was one of my old XB standbys. Here's the program in V9T9 format. Remove the ".txt" extension after downloading. Also tried the same file as a drag&drop attachment without the extension. One of these should work. -Ed FILEREAD.txt FILEREAD

1) I place a 2.5-inch 12v computer fan on top of the vent slots behind the cartridge port. Not noisy at all when I power it from an old 3v DC wallwart and the console runs much cooler with zero lockups after hours of running. Before that, I had plenty of lockups. That happened often enough I had dual TI-PEB setups running the same program that could take over in short order. Why, you ask? I was using my TI to time color darkroom processing. Unknown amounts of time lost while rebooting to get back to timing meant failed prints. After I added a console cooling fan, I was able to "retire" the second system from work duties and could instead play a game or write programs on it while the "work TI" minded the clock. The prints were in daylight light-tight drums rotating on a motor, so other than draining and refilling between steps, I often had nothing to do for 10 or more minutes. It was a great home business till everything photographic went digital. -Ed

Neat stuff! Bridges the gap between console-only and expanded systems. Sure to be useful to those who haven't popped the coins to add memory or move up to one of the several upgrade alternatives. I never saw the cass24K2 program back when my TI was cassette only in the mid-'80s but I sure made the most of what I had. That far back, there probably weren't many programs it could be used with. Like you, I trimmed and chopped larger programs so they would fit and still run, shortening variable names or whatever it took. If there was any room left, I'd put back in a little lipstick to make it suit me. Thanks for sharing this! -Ed Edit: Hard to believe 16 Megs expands to almost a Gig!

19 downloads already. For someone like myself with no Telnet experience Ian's doc file was pretty easy to digest. If the install is as smooth, I'll update shortly after the goodies arrive and I get 'em all connected. -Ed

Wow, that's almost identical to the one I put together 30-some years ago (Pic is from iec link above). Not a bad price either, plus you don't have to look up the pinout or strip and solder the fine ribbon conductors. -Ed And my tagline seems unusually appropriate here in this thread.

Added more info to my post above as my recollection sharpens a bit. -Ed

That style is more tedious. See those two tabs either side of the post? Push them inwards and the white plastic part then lifts off. Don't recall the innards, so expect maybe a spring or other fly-away parts. Or not! I do recall needing three hands or six fingers to get it out! Oh, another possible gotcha. The switch terminals may have to be desoldered and cleared since that's part of the switch! It's been awhile since I've had to do that, so my memory of it is a bit cloudy with a chance of a clearing trend. What I've done for an easy fix, having lots of spares laying around, was to swap in a better snap-in switch from a donor board. In a pinch, you could swap a heavily used switch with another on the same keyboard that's used less often. -Ed

While you're trying to repair it, don't forget the leaf switches exposed by popping a keycap off. If the traces, soldering and wiring look good but it's still a bit flaky, pop the offending caps off and spray a small shot of contact cleaner in there then work it a bit. My last balky keyboard had failed solder on a few switches, discovered when the cleaner didn't help. -Ed

Thanks, grabbed it! Thought I might have it in my old carts. No, but I have three TE-II carts. I even have the old phone-cradle modem and a phone old enough to fit the cups. -Ed

How did I miss seeing this thread till yesterday? What good was a Nano with crippled RS232? Amazing stuff! -Ed

Not quite all. TE I allowed a whopping 600 baud as well as using 8 bits or 7 bits. Select Option 2 at the Main Menu to TE I, press enter at the TE title screen to get to the option menu. Both TE-I and TE-II do allow setting parity to Even, Odd or None. When you get to a choice in either TE version press the number of your choice, then Enter to move to the next item. I.E., press "3" for None. Multiple choice. For the Logon file, entering a space over the L, leaving " OGON" skips creating that and exits to the term window. Not that you'd get much use of these in emulation, but perhaps on the real iron. If you care to source a Terminal Emulator I cart, that is! TE I from the manual PHM3017. I've never seen a .bin of it to try in emulation. TE II screen shot. After spacing over the "L", the cursor is obscuring the "O" of "OGON" Press Enter to accept that last option and it jumps to the Term window. Presumably ready to roll.

Great vid! I learned quite a bit just by watching him go at that poor, abused C64. He kept a good pace, so many of these get mired where they should have done some editing or fast forward of the tedious parts. He may have missed a damaged trace early on, but his techniques did take him there in due time. Funny he didn't take the time to fix his soldering iron! Or order in some Zener diodes. I recall in one of the old magazines where they used a C64 or a TRS computer and turned it into a chip tester. Now you can buy a couple low-buck gee-whiz mini-testers for that and way more. -Ed

It was primarily intended for RF shielding, in TI's typical tank-like design norm. Seems the FCC used to care about such trivial things as obliterating TV and radio reception. These days, not so much! But the metal enclosure did perform double-duty as a heatsink for the VDP. Plenty of alternatives for that. Your finger will tell you which chips would benefit. As to losing the RF containment, your wife will let you know all her TV shows have wavy lines now. -Ed

The first $100 4-banger digital calculators didn't arrive till after I graduated high school. I got Ds in math. Later I bought a TI-30 (still have it) and was playing with Einstein's equations. Didn't get a computer till '84, a used TS1000 with 16K RAMpack for $50. TI99/4A arrived in '87 and I was off and running. -Ed

As a stopgap, try a small computer fan laying on the slots behind the cartridge port. I power a little 12v fan with a 3v wallwart. Slow and quiet but it does keep the "coffee warmer" atop the power supply cooler. -Ed

Flat screens add a new variable to the video troubleshooting. Sometimes they don't like some signals that the old analog CRT sets would display no problem. Sometimes passing the composite signal through an old VCR makes it more digestible. -Ed

Wow, so cool! You've already got a fanbase here. I bet the backstory is equally interesting if you care to share any of that. -Ed

That Naxa cassette recorder looks interesting. I hadn't seen one with USB before. Looks like it will only record to USB and not play the files from USB through the amp and speaker/earphone. I still have my TI data recorder with tape counter. Like Home Automation I unplug the Mic cable and speak the program name at the start and end of it; also a hand-written note with any details like what cart is needed and the index counter's number. By partially depressing levers, I can move the tape at a faster clip and still hear audio. Zoom it ahead while listening for the steady tone or my sped-up chipmunk voice. I made a dongle with a meter movement, plus jacks & plugs on short wires. A diode in series with the meter changes the AC audio to a steady DC voltage that lets the meter act as a playback level indicator. One of the added jacks has a resistor for a reduced volume monitor. Set the playback for the proper load volume using the meter and listen in via the monitor. -Ed

Shim it.

Always look in subsequent issues of the magazine for any corrections to the listings. Some familiarity with the version of Basic the program is written for and its syntax helps spot errors in the listing while you're typing it. And of course read through your entries for typos made while you're inputting it.

There was an LC/PDS TV tuner card for some of the Performas, with RF and composite inputs that displayed the video in a window or full-screen, but it would be woefully inadequate as a monitor. Resolution looked more like a VCR created the picture. But I could watch a tape or the Dish satellite signal on the Mac while I did something else. Some of the LC/Quadra/Performa Macs were All-In_one, including the Mac TV mentioned above by Carlsson. http://lowendmac.com/mac-500-and-5000-series/ -Ed

Easiest might be to find someone with a junked-out console. Wonder if they used the same part in both the B&S and beige consoles? We use the silicone rubber as well, found it in a putty version. The hard part in using the putty is to make sure the rubber fills all voids but doesn't deform and lose contact elsewhere during the brief working-time window. You would also need the original part in hand to create the mold. So back to the junker-donor suggestion for the OP. Maybe Arcade Shopper has one amongst his trade pile? -Ed

Obviously, now that it's working, you need more stuff! Type in some programs from the many resources, cobble up some better program input methods like MP3 through the cassette port, get some game carts and one flavor or another of XB, joysticks, etc. and let the mayhem begin! Good easy fix for the ill-bespoke Mitsumi. I didn't have much luck with the conductive paint on my Timex keyboards; maybe the Mitsumi has more robust membranes. I've never had to deal with a Mitsumi yet on my TIs. For many years after TI dumped their TI99 inventory, the surplus catalogs carried the TI keyboards, power supply boards, wall warts and modulators for around 5 bucks a throw, so I stocked up on a few. My answer back then for the Timex was to hack on a trustworthy Alps TI keyboard and chuck their flimsy membrane. -Ed