FarmerPotato
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Posts posted by FarmerPotato
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Hmm, that's interesting. We'll have to figure out something, then. At the very least, I'd like to get the original Pac-Man to play, since I stupidly loved the 2600 version, and playing with it a little makes me realize the TI version blows it out of the water. Looking on ebay, I've found a cheap copy of both games on floppy w/manual, but I don't think those will work for us, since also looking on ebay, compatible disk drives for the TI are going for upward of $100, and we can't afford that (the games themselves are going for around $15, at most).
The easiest way to run these cartridges is a FinalGROM or FlashROM99 cartridge loaded with the cartridge dump. No other hardware needed.
The other formats are for loading the game into external 32K RAM. So you need a 32K RAM (like the sidecar currently available) and a cartridge such as Editor/Assembler or MiniMemory that can load the program from disk or cassette. Some cartridge dump formats can be loaded from Extended Basic.
Other than BASIC programs, you will always need a 32k memory expansion to load disk or cassette programs into.
FlashROM99 emulates the original cartridge so no memory expansion is required.. for cartridge games.
Again, FlashROM99 by itself is able to run most of the Atarisoft modules (except DigDug and Moon Patrol I think). PacMan and Ms PacMan do work fine I think.
FlashROM99 cannot run a lot of TI cartridges (those based on GROM chips, like Tunnels of Doom.)
FinalGROM runs almost all cartridges.
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I have this minimem program, and apart from the use of POKEV and POKEV, it looks like plain basic.
I think i can insert the BXB routine to get the characters it needs in XB, but PEEKV and POKEV would still be missing.
Which brings me to this question:
Is there a sub routine i can insert in XB to take the place of PEEKV and POKEV?
Hi! I found the BXB routine inside Sam Moore Jr's port of CARS AND CARCASSES to XB. This game uses the color groups 15 and 16 (but not 12, 13 or 14!).
How does BXB enable XB to use CALL CHAR(152, "1C1C1C141C1C1C00") ?
I found this version on Stainless Software Volume 6. Some years ago I downloaded the original from whtech but it is no longer there.
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I'll bet Microsft made "OLD" up.
Their finger prints are to be found inside the TI's BASIC.
No, OLD was ANSI standard, following Dartmouth BASIC, the original BASIC.
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Hi all
Just received a TI99/4A and after plugging it in get this on the screen.
And this
anyone any ideas please.
many thanks
This is what your computer is trying to tell you:
@BHTTNF: [email protected] [email protected] HRT NHBHT FDR FDRFHNFDRPNJDN TND [email protected] HRT [email protected] [email protected] DDR RPRHNFDNVDRJ BLNVDNFTRDN, TND BNRJDNPNPPHN LHT [email protected] HRT NHBHT FDR FDVDRJDN BX [email protected] DTLPJNFDN. [email protected] RTBBDRNDBJDN RHFHTRDDRDN JDDPDN [email protected] [email protected] HN [email protected] PNBJDTR. [email protected] TND [email protected] [email protected] BLHNJDNLHFHTR.Seriously, have a look here:One of the 4116 [email protected] has failed. [email protected], U102 which is @ll the way over to the left by the joystick pnrt.Replacing it will take some desoldering skills (this is a great way to start with electronics.) -
Well, I got the $11 crimping tool (for open barrel contacts) at Altex. No ratchet. It did the job, with extra hands. Amanda now has the amended title "Chief Sloth of Communications and Crimping."
Unfortunately, Altex is like an electronics candy store, and I spent $40 on stuff I didn't necessarily need right away. So the cheap crimping tool sort of cost $50 anyway.
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I heard about TI-Forth in one of the magazines that were published in 1980s.
With no internet I then had to find a supplier of TI stuff in Canada in one of the smaller cities here.
As luck would have it I found a guy trying to make some money selling TI stuff and he had a copy of TI-Forth.
I called him and drove to the location and got the disks and manual and hurried home to try it.
I put in the disks and started the system. "Hey it has an editor, how do I run it... there we go." And I promptly edited the boot sector on the floppy disk.
Had to drive back and get another copy.
RTFM carefully.
My FORTH story:
the TI FORTH package , disks and manual, was dropped off by a TI employee who said "you have to see this demo". What is this!??! How does it work?
My older brother and I followed the getting started instructions in the manual. It became clear that we needed a user floppy disk. We had only one disk candidate: my new program save disk, purchased for the enormous sum of $1.99 at JC Penney, on which I had saved working copies of an all new, large sprites version of TI-TREK. I think we owned like 8 floppy disks in total. Even the disk drive was on loan from TI to our boy scout troop (TI made it a gift eventually.)
My brother insisted it would be fine if we used my disk. I was not so sure. In the end, I gave him the disk. TI FORTH ate it. The files were gone and there were Klingon CALL CHARs on the user screens.
I was sad. I never worked on another TREK game. But we moved on to programming bitmap mode in FORTH. Yay.
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Oh heavens, I never knew this existed, despite browsing the DataMath site a lot for reference:
Texas Instruments Stack Around Clown, Le Clown Magique, Magic Clown, Chatter-Ring Clown
http://www.datamath.org/Speech/StackARoundClown.htm
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I am just old enough to remember when TI watches were cool.. never mind that typewriter looking thing around the corner.
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For all of you hoarders er collectors....
https://www.shopgoodwill.com/Item/65649524
A FULL 4A with what appears a FULL? PEB (can't see the front so who knows if it has a floppy drive or two), a few carts and a mystery item.... 49 lbs shipped.
located in Tucson, AZ.
It's a sidecar 32k OR paraPrint18 from Doryt. Goodwill didn't take a whole photo.
The funny thing is the assymetrical ON-OFF instructions on the sticky note.
See here:
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Hey all,
Every time you mention a game in this thread, a bell rings, and the game gets a ticket into a very special game heaven ruled by King Knut Polyoptics. (The first game to get in was Cars & Carcasses II, Knut's favorite.)
But the door is only 8x8 pixels wide so only some of the sprites get into heaven. Unfortunately, Zero Zap de-rezzed because it did not fit. Oh no. Also the red monster from The Attack failed, though the spores got in and are giving MunchMan the hay fever.
King Knut is angry about this loss of pixels, but so far none of his angels or valkyries or dwarves (or all the King's horses) have fixed it. For now it's strictly 8-bit heaven.
Keep it coming.
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Hi all,
We're planning another trip to Portland soon, like in May. If y'all pick a date for FestWest there's a chance I can attend!
I would bring the work in progress of FORTI-2 hardware (it runs! sort of), and a fun bitmap scroller game that I just had to write (thanks, RetroChallenge 2019.)
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This is funny as there seems to be a ZeroZap revival going on here despite the complete lack of gameplay.
...
This would be so much better with a breakout style paddle at the bottom of the screen.
Are you saying you want a ZeroZap 2?
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Not since Gazoo's Extended BASIC 2.7s cartridge has there been as much excitement as there has been over the FinalGROM 99 and Tursi's Dragons Lair conversion.
This poll is designed to show how wide-spread these two cartridges are becoming or have become.
The FinalGROM 99 has 'settled down' a bit, and with the exception of new users, most people have probably already gotten one if they intended to.
In the case of Dragon's Lair, since it's newly released the question will be slightly different in that we'll also count people who have already ordered but not yet received.
I'm still using FlashROM and it's good enough for me.
I use actual cartridges with GROMs like E/A, XB, MiniMemory, games.
Sure I'd like to get a FinalGROM, but there were so many upgrade priorities (hmm WICO joysticks)
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Football was indeed a disappointment- but do we have any fans of the incredible fast-action adrenaline packed module game ZERO ZAP???
The word "astonishing" captures it nicely.
I've been playing Zero Zap. It's growing on me. My high score is 541 so far.
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Ah, thanks for the link; among the games FarmerPotato gave us was the cartridge for Tunnels of Doom, but he couldn't find the cassette for it, and the only file I found while searching Google was the DSK file Tursi uploaded a while back. We're really wanting to do it though cassette, since we also got a datacorder from him, and we recently found some cassettes that we hope can work with it (they're Maxell XLII90 high bias IEC type 2 90 minute cassettes).
It just occurred to me that I can just plug in Tunnels of Doom, load a game from DSK1, then save to CS1. Duh. I am all set up with cassette recorder on my desk these days (cassettes are cool again?)
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(Posting in TI-99/4A because it's my home page)I had never used a crimping tool until now, only solder. But I'm making an arcade joystick console, and the buttons and stick (links to Ultimarc) have quick disconnect terminals. So I got a $10 crimping tool at Lowe's and made a wiring harness.
(The buttons use 2.8mm quick disconnect terminals, which are not common. Don't forget to buy these when buying buttons! Fortunately I had a box from an estate sale.)So now for the 9-pin D-sub connector that plugs into the joystick port!I have only used solder-cup 9-pin connectors, but I picked up these at Fry's. (Fry's is a giant electronics store that is both a train wreck and a lifesaver at the same time.)
So how the heck do I crimp those contacts onto wire ends? My trial efforts are miserable. I need another tool.I found this video showing closed-barrel D-sub contacts. I'm not sure if the tool works for these Fry's open-barrel or Dupont contacts.This 4-indent, closed barrel pin crimping tool costs $50. (I saw the tool chained down in one video.)I think I need the SN-28B ratchet tool used here. It's more reasonable for $22I'm about to give up and just go buy solder-cup 9-pin D-sub. Advice? Before I throw any more money into a crimping tool? Will it just give me more grief? -
I had this cartridge. I promptly sold it off. The technological ingenuity aside, it is a horrible game. Far worse than Zero Zap.
I sunk many hours into beating this game as a kid. The worst thing about it was the requirement to jump from exactly the right pixel.
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Well, this is the board that's already in there, so...
That will connect perfectly.
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Possibly. Some of the earlier black & silver models (as shown below) had a pigtail type power connector instead of connector pins, the later black & silver models had the same standardized connector as the beige models.
The picture you show, that's what you refer to as a pigtail? The 4 pin Molex cable?
The replacement power supply xabin refers to is the Radio Shack/Archer-branded QI supply (new-in-bag) and has the 4 pin header on the board.
The alternative was a non-QI supply board (taken out of a working beige console that was sacrificed for parts) also with the same 4 pin header.
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For anybody looking to find a few TMS9900 microprocessor chips, here are some from the second source that TI was required to have for military sales. They are S9900 chips and can be used to replace the 9900 without any problems. A group of four is only $9.95 plus shipping. I use this seller a lot--and I've almost never had problems with items they sold (their 27C160s only work in 16-bit mode, but that is an almost universal problem with the die revision they have on hand--and this is the only problem item they've ever provided me).
Received this today: https://www.halted.com/commerce/index.jsp
Surplus store HSC has sold to Excess Solutions.
I noticed they sell the AMI S9900 for $15.50.
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Feature request: issue a warning for this syntax:
ci r1,r2
I know it's legal, but the 'r' indicates the real intention.
my bug was introduced when I rewrote a CI, putting the constant in R2.
; random number bits, modulo 20 andi r1,>3f li r2,>14 mod0: ci r1,r2 jl mod1 s r2,r1 ; 64 modulo 20 makes the first 4 more likely jmp mod0 mod1:-
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Enjoying the scrolling!
Practical question: how are you capturing the video to upload?
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Under the heading of putting the cart before the horse...
If/when this thing is ever released, there may be a 'few people' with holes in the back of their TI's. For some industrious person with a 3D printer, they might be able to come up with some sort of 'universal cover patch' with the capability of holding an HDMI outlet.
I'm a laser guy.. not a 3D printing guy.. it seems a lot easier to me to laser a rectangular panel out of sheet acrylic, with a second layer jig that also fits snugly around whatever jack is present. Cost of material: 25 cents. Time to produce: cut dozens of them in a few minutes batch job.
My beige is not an exact match for TI beige. Black acrylic is cheap.
This would work for new mods (or covering up unsightly holes)
I'm not going to be removing my F18A either (its super valuable and useful! never obsolete!). I will just mod another console for an F18A mk2.
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Back on topic:
This code works on my 4A, but it assumes a GROM address for the char defs. Is there a better way to look up the char defs? Are there different GROMs out there?
* copy 7 byte grom char defs to vdp. * assume 06b4 is the char table (seen in classic99 4A grom) * they are 7 bytes per char so add a 0 after each 7 bytes * R0 VDP address * ---- * R1 scratch * R2 scratch chara: ori r0,>4000 swpb r0 movb r0,@VDPWA swpb r0 movb r0,@VDPWA li r1,>06b4 movb r1,@GRMWA swpb r1 movb r1,@GRMWA li r1,>5f ; number of char defs chara1: movb r1,@VDPWD ; insert a zero byte li r2,7 ; bytes per char def chara2: movb @GRMRD,@VDPWD dec r2 jne chara2 dec r1 jne chara1 rt
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Using PEEKV and POKEV to covert MiniMem game Light Race to T.I. XB
in TI-99/4A Development
Posted
This adds CALL POKEV to BXB:
30007 SUB POKEV(A,B) :: CALL LOAD(9492,INT(A/256),A AND 255,B) :: CALL LINK("POKEV") :: SUBENDI don't think BXB has PEEKV. The author seems averse to accessing numbers from assembly.