PeBo

I've actually had no problem using plato dsks simply copying them over to the native 1600 sector CF7 volumes and mounting them as volume 1. That is, with my only working CF card. That's why I was hoping to get one of these 512MB cards to work as CF7+ compatible cards...I have 492 Plato dsk's (including the learning outcomes and survey disks), so a 512K card has room for all of them plus an additional 133 volumes for other Educational carts/tapes/disks). Thought it would be cool to have the majority of TI's educational catalog - including the Plato Learning Series - on a single CF card. But after trying to get these to work with multiple card readers, I think I simply have to concede that the Lexar brand (or something that took place in the prior camera or windows formatting) rendered them unusable as nanoPEB cards. (maybe the attached picture will describe the results of my attempts better than my previous verbal diarrhea) As far as copying TIfiles over to my card, it was my understanding (my understanding is often wrong) that TIFiles were incompatible with the nanoPEB, so I've always coverted the files to V9T9 format first (which is a simple single click under TI99dir)

Thought I should get back in here and apologize for not reporting back on my successes failures with TIMT, but alas I am having endless problems with my CF cards, and am hoping someone can suggest a fix. (apologies in advance, can;t figure out how to explain this without being long-winded) First, the CF card that came with the nanoPEB a couple years ago continues to work flawlessly - but it was a 256MB, and I really want to store all of the Plato disks on a single CF, so at least 512MB is required. Luckily I have two 512's and a 256 from an old camera, so I'm off to the races... ...or so I thought. I tell TI99Dir to read the CF7+ volumes, and as it should it reports that the drive is formatted FAT and using it will remove all contents yadayadayada. I say yes go for it. Everything looks hunky dory, I insert/remove the card multiple times initializng volumes, copying dsk's into volumes, etc., and TI99Dir continues to update and recognize the card as a CF7+ disk all the details are correct when I look at the info. But when I put it into the nanoPEB, none of the volumes can be read. Although they can be mounted when I call up a catalog, nothing's on it, the size and volume names are all screwy). Here's the weird part... when I open it in TI99dir aain, it reports that it's formatted FAT, and using it will remove all contents...the card name has reverted from being listed as CF7+ to FAT. Now all the volumes I copied previously are still listed, and intact (no size/usage changes) EXCEPT THE FIRST VOLUME, which is being reported as UNFORMATED empty 1600 sectors again, although I had copied the standard CF7 vol1 onto it. Any of the three cards I'm testing work as expected, until I put them in the nanoPEB. Now I noticed last night when I was once again trying to get a usable CFcard, the when I used one of the cards I got an error <5> (can't write sector <1> to disc<X:>...), tried another disc and yup same error. So I figure that.not being able to write to a sector (specifically sector 1) must be screwing up the header for the DSR. But the question remains what's causing it. I've tried 3 computers and 4 CF readers, and none of them seem to be able to give me a usable CFcard... I even tried backing up my working card to a second 256 and again it looks perfect under TI99dir, BUT the first volume is unformated! What the CF?!?! Are all 3 cards simply incompatible? (all three are Lexar) I could by one of Greg's biggies, but hate to spend money when I have 3 otherwise working cards (would be mighty angry if I bought a new card and was unable to get it to work either). Any ideas? As I said, my original card works perfectly. One final question (if you've made it this far I may as well) I've tried both cf2k_8.bin and CF2K_V2.4.bin in the FR99 with the working CFcard in the nanoPEB, but as soon as I hit a key I get "DSR error <6>". What am I missing here? My brain is getting way too old for such things.

I speak from personal experience when I say that the flailling about continues as you move from midlife to having retirement clearly in view (you just flail more slowly and it hurts more). I was already well into adulthood (just under 30) when I got my first TI, and I left it not because it wasn't still serving me well, but because it had simply become impossible to find peripherals and software for it up here in the Great White North (and all my friends owned Ataris). I got back into this machine because it (and later, the Atari ST) remain to this day, the most fun I ever had with technology. Sure Modern machines might wow us with their speed, photo-realistic graphics and number-crunching prowess, but the FUN of having a computer hobby today pales in comparison to having a home computer in the late 70's a to mid 80's. Luckily there's no reason why you can continue having the fun of a 1980's computer hobby in 2017... (actually MORE fun considering how community talent keeps pushing the limits of the hardware and software to levels never imagined in their original era!)

I was playing around with the 'text to speech' disc the other day, and it struck me that there is one piece of hardware that would be very cool to have, and that would be a re-jigged/re-imagined speech synthesizer board that would, as TI once considered, accept expansion vocabulary cartridges. Now TI thought about Speak 'n Spell cards, but what would be truly outstanding, would be the ability to store user created digitized words/sounds on CF or SD cards. Phonemes are great in TI Basic but they have that 1970's compu-speak sound, and in XB, the contents of the Text to Speech disc eat up so much memory that little is left for practical applications to be created with it. But the ability to use CALL SAY (or GPL/Assembler/Forth equivalents) to access an expandable library of words/phrases/digital sounds) would open a huge world of possibilities. If it all fit in the existing synthesizer case and connected through the side port as it does currently, that would be cooler still. Probably dreaming in technicolor, but isn't that how this community comes up with all the cool new toys we have???

You can use CALL VERSION [CALL VERSION(X)::PRINT X] to determine the release version of XB, but I think what Ω means are the variants The ones I have are: TI XB XB 2.7 Super XB RXB Cortex There's also Myarc level IV, but that's all I can think of off the top of my head

Fabrice, that is the most beautiful mod I have ever seen! An elegant use of existing space to create a truly full-featured console within the confines of the original design. Since you say that it does not satisfy you, please send it to me immediately so I might offer it a loving home and reward it my total satisfaction. (hé hé) (sans blague ou niaiseries, j’ai jamais aimé les consoles beiges, mais là là, c'est vraiment une chose de beauté que vous avez créé)

Rasmus, I suck at searching these forums....is the plasma demo posted somewhere here... Need something new to replace "Saver" and the minimalist brilliance of Four Bouncing Balls (fantastic little demo/screen saver that one!), and plasma looks so schweet that it would be perfect as a cool addition. Is it in your demo compilation? Don't remember seeing it there.

The William Tell overture and medley of public domain ditties that play during Blasto. Can't think of another "theme" from another game/system that is quite like it.

Well slap my face and colour me stupid... never thought to USE the CF7 volume directory for copying after reading it.

I'm off for a couple days in the later part of next week, will try it then and let you know in this thread (already have an image file of 1 of my CF cards to play with.)

I figured there must be a way to do it within TI99Dir, but couldn't find it. Help guide me past my apparent senility please.

See, that's what I get for not paying more attention to the plethora of tools I download...have TIImageTool but never though to use it for copying onto a CF7 CFcard! Will look at DD for Windows as well, thanks. I DID fix my problem by physically disconnecting my media drive and reconnecting it (with a reboot in between without having it hooked up). All back to normal now, but thanks for providing alternatives. When it works dsk2cf is a cinch and pretty idiot proof though (even if it did beat this idiot this morning).

I've never had this problem before, so looking for suggestions... Wanted to copy a couple dsk's over to a CF card this morning. but dsk2cf (which has always worked flawlessly in the past) seems to be having issues. I enter the dsk name and volume parameters, it reports back that it found the flash drive, identifies it correctly, and asks me if this is the drive I want to use, but when I type "Y" it just returns to the command prompt without the familiar "Successful!" (or whatever it is it usually responds after a successful copy). The flash drive is accessible and readable through TI99Dir and as I said dsk2cf recognizes it, but for some reason it's not completing the copy. I've tried multiple CF cards, all of which have worked fine in the past. Since the CF7 formatted cards are not directly accessible to windows I can't test writing to it in windows. but TI99Dir initializes volumes without problem. I just can't seem to copy dsks with dsk2cf, and as far as I know, there is no windows alternative. Been doing this for a couple years without issue, so kind of surprised it's suddenly not working. Any thoughts??

OMG! I just realized no one mentioned « Tex Turbo (and the Big Bug Battles) »!! From new release to my top 10 TI games list over a single night (of no sleep)! And the fact that it included « Mad Marvin's Great Escape » (which had been on that list for some time) on the same cart made it even better! With his name, he could have been a hockey superstar, but kinda glad that Marc Hull became a 4A superstar instead.

My nanoPEB reports the same memory size (24488/11832) which I always assumed was an 8k loss as a result of the additional commands (CALL MOUNT/CALL UNMOUNT) will be interseting to read what others have to say.

Sorry Davvel, but the Atariage forums are about as close to 'social media' as I get. You might find that more than a few of us old farts don't do facebook or twitter. (in my mind it is just more internet tracking and corporate marketing) Great game though, arrived a couple days ago, and it's been a great holiday time-filler!

Yup Super Demon Attack is simply « Demon Attack » on the title screen (although it bears little resemblance - visually or in gameplay - to the original Demon Attack on the Atari 2600) A CF7 power requirements (if that's what you're asking) is +5V so you need a 5V adapter. I would think that you could tap into the Speech Synths power (as is being done with the new 32k expansion) if you're adventurous. I can confirm that the game works perfectly using a CF7, XBasic or E/A. In fact playing the disk based version has the advantage of playing the version with speech support. I have a question about that too... I've heard it said that the speech version was never released on cartridge, but I could swear my original cartridge had speech (I remember the British accent clearly). Then again after years of playing it on emulators I may be incorrect. Was it ever released with speech on cartridge outside of the US? With or without speech though, Demon Attack on the TI is, without a doubt, the most visually stunning (Best use of multicolor sprites in any original era TI game (if the demon critters are indeed sprites) and the "musical themes" of the various demons were catchy without being annoying)

Being socially inclusive is too often misconstrued as an attempt at politically correctness, but your message leaves no room for such doubt. I'm going to opt for a Merry ChrisTImas pun, and a Happy Happy Joy Joy to everyone in the community. May the coming year be prosperous and stress-free. You guys have made this hobby far less of an exercise in solitude than it was the first time around (of course messaging with highspeed broadband instead of 300baud certainly helps).

2016? Are you guys all living in some sci-fi wonderworld fantasy?? I turn on my computer and it clearly states that the year is 1981, just as it has been for as long as I can remember! I am still 26 years old, and my svelt wife's nay-nays are still deliciously perky. Pierre Elliott Trudeau is the Prime Minister of Canada, Ronald Regan is President, and Ronald Regan in drag (calls himself Margaret Thatcher) is the Prime Minister of the UK. Journey's "Escape" is the number 1 album, and Raiders of the Lost Ark continues to break box office records. A terrorist is a 2 year old who had a favorite toy taken away and the worlds greatest threat to peace is Leonid Brezhnev (long before any Russian president had a bromance with a President elect) . For my birthday, I bought myself a Texas Instrument Home Computer. So if you want to live in some Futureworld from the 21st century, you go right ahead, but I am content to celebrate New Year's 1981 again next week!

- A Flashrom99-like cartridge with GROM emulation? (say 8x8k GRAM?).

To make use of Synthesized Speech you'll need: - a TI-99/4A console - a speech synthesizer Those two are required. then you'll need at least one of the following: - an extended basic cartridge of some variety (this will give you access to the limited pre-sampled vocabulary built into the synthesizer) by abridging or concatenating this vocabulary, it is possible to expand the vocabulary (by making new words out of existing words). - a terminal emulator II cartridge (this is where the fun starts, as it provides the means to build you own vocabulary using phonemes.) Using this method, the TI can say ANYTHING. Heck it can even sing!) - the Text To Speech disk based software. Extended Basic, a disc drive/controller and memory expansion is also required, but it will give you the same capabilities as the Terminal Emulator II cartridge. There are also MANY games and educational software packages that talk right out of the box when you have the speech synth attached. If you are programming savvy (or would like to be), Assembly language and GPL accesses speech while Turbo Forth not only supports the digitized speech built into the Speech synth, but it also allows the TI to speak without pausing the execution of other commands (I might be mistaken (guys, correct me if I am), but it's the only programming language on the TI that I've seen that can pull this off)

If I'm not mistaken, Greg opted not to do the pass-thru in order to keep the price down (which is always a good thing) And just to add to the discussion, my particular favorite DB9 joysticks are: - the Epyx (completely correct Vorticon, except I find my index finger wants to revolt after extended play, love everything except the fire button position) - the Slik Stik (tiny button, but exactly the right throw for frenetic gameplay) - my favourite though is definitely the Recoton (with the giant red button and yellow ring). The latter feels like a really good Atari 2600 stick (post heavy sixer - the actual heavy sixer remains the best joystick ever out of Atari). My Recoton is original era, and has been used on and off with emulators and real hardware for 30 years, and although they are a bit more « mushy » than they were when I bought them, they still function perfectly. Very few joysticks can lay claim to that longevity, so if you see one of these they are worth every penny!

Thanks for checking. Good to know and saves me $30-$40 US.

Ordered the cart earlier this week as an Xmas present to myself (why should the wife and offspring get my entire gift budget eh??) What struck me about the demo video was that it reminded me of a (non-scrolling) version of my favourite Ball n Paddle game of all time. An Atari ST game (coulda been released for other systems as well) called Addict-a-ball. That one still keeps me up until the wee small hours from time to time (although sadly, the most recent version of STeem seems to have issues with it). If anyone out there uses a trackball, it would be interesting to find out if BreakFree is compatible as this (and Backstein) would be good reasons to buy one.

For a while there, one of these puppies was making an appearance on ebay every couple of weeks, but there was always something I wanted/needed more, so I kept letting 'em pass... Now that I'm ready to consider one, none are being posted - which is cool coz I'd rather give my money to AtariAge peeps anyway. So if anyone has a working MBX console with headset/joystick/power supply in relatively good condition (manual and box would be nice, but not a deal breaker) fire me off a PM with price. No games/overlays req'd. (I will also happily accept it as a Xmas gift for the Kris Kringles among you)