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Toucan

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Posts posted by Toucan

  3. Posted

    In other news, I just noticed something. Has anyone else noticed in the BASIC manual that the word BASIC is there in the picture? Along with the number 2. Never noticed that before :) The "2" might have just been some random number thrown in, unless they were going for "2 Basic", like "Too Basic".

    • Like 2

  4. Posted

    1 hour ago, Ksarul said:

    Interesting finds there, Toucan. I suspect the Beginner's BASIC book was part of a test printing--and that the output of that review was to change the color on the final manual.

     

    Definitely check the technical data book contents--having the 99/4 version would be most useful.

     

    On the joystick manual, I haven't seen it online, so high quality scans would be a good thing.

    On inspection, it definitely is for the 99/4 as it shows the 9918 (no A) in the diagrams. 

    • Like 1

  5. Posted · Edited by Toucan

    Not sure if this info is well know, but Tom Merrow programmed the intro screen to the TI-99/4 Computer.

     

    Tom Merrow:

     

    Quote

     

    I was a software engineer (nominally a project leader) and I personally wrote much of the system software and the byte-code interpreter. The first screen you see on power-up (greenish background with little colored blocks)--I wrote that code. I also worked with David Levy and wrote a lot of the chess program (another engineer took over the project and completed it after I left).

     

    I left TI in December 1978 (if I recall correctly), primarily because I couldn't stand Lubbock. I moved to Tektronix Computer Research Lab in Portland Oregon--a very nice place to work and a great place to live.

     

    I've attached one snippet for the start screen as it stood in October 1978 (the text strings in the FMT statement are recognizable).

     

    2131558427_HomeScreenCode.thumb.jpg.d624707dfff30bc010457703034bfdf2.jpg

     

    • Like 5

  6. Posted · Edited by Toucan

    I just got a box of some goodies from CB Wilson who worked at TI back in the 70s and 80s, was one of the top guys on the 99/4 project. There were some nice things (he's still digging), he even remembers seeing the 99/4 unit they sent to the FCC with IR port and wireless joysticks when at TI. He doesn't think he has that, but he's digging through his stuff. Anyway, some interesting things so far that he sent:

     

    • An original 99/4 joystick manual (with part number 1037084-2). Has this been put on-line anywhere? I can only find the other one with the later joysticks pictured. Funny, they both have a 1979 only copyright, even though the later joysticks came out after 1979 (http://www.99er.net/files/Wired Remote Controllers Manual.pdf)
    • A prestine 99/4 Users Reference Guide
    • A black text cover of the original 99/4 Beginners Basic manual. All the other versions of this manual have white text. So this is an oddity. Has a 1979 copyright and same part number as the ones we usually see with a white font cover. Any else ever see this variation? 
    • 1980 Copyright "Technical Data" book. I have seen the other version that says "TI-99/4A Console Technical Data", but I guess this one is for the 99/4.
    • Text-to-Speech Design Specification and Users Guide for TI Extended BASIC. 1981 copyright. I came across a Text-to-Speech Users Guide at http://www.99er.net/files/TextToSpeech_Draft.pdf, but this one is different (I guess this one is specifically for Extended Basic) and says "Herman Schuurman, M/S 5890". Just wanted to see if this has been scanned in somewhere.

     

    20200122_185849.jpg

    20200122_185943.jpg

    20200122_190007.jpg

    20200122_190105.jpg

    20200122_192244.jpg

    • Like 6

  7. Posted · Edited by Toucan

    1 hour ago, Gary from OPA said:

    Here is a link OPA News #1:

     

    https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/comp.sys.ti/OPA/comp.sys.ti/ODVJi4FK7gM/oofwg_1sy1QJ

     

    (BTW, people should backup old usenet group comp.sys.ti as it being wiped out from archive history soon)

     

    There really as no #3 after that

     

     

    Where did you hear about comp.sys.ti being wiped out? Can't find anything about that on-line and want to make sure you are not thinking of the Yahoo! Group, which was not wiped out completely, just the archive there.

  8. Posted · Edited by Toucan

    A few months back I asked if anyone had any boxed CSI games, and it seemed most did not even know they came in a box (not a plain box, but one that was printed on with graphics and text related to the game). Anyway, I just came across this eBay auction:

     

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/TI-99-4A-Cassette-HORRORS-Challenger-Software-CSI-NIB-NEW-Rare-1983-Unlisted-/223389144561?hash=item340307d5f1%3Ag%3ADkcAAOSwdyVcZFCw&nma=true&si=X9Ciystb7nCmSxT4lKkX%2BF7aAKg%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

     

    Did anyone here actually win this title? I have never heard of this one, nor seen it mentioned. Sounds interesting, trying to paint a haunted house. I know CSI made some great titles, so I would not be surprised if this one was a goodie. Just wanted to see if anyone here actually won that auction or knows about the game? I had a boxed Wallaby at one point, it was a brown color instead of blue like this one as I recall. Wish I would have hung on to that one.

  9. Posted

    17 hours ago, OLD CS1 said:

    @Ksarul would likely be best to answer the question of authenticity.  I have little reason to doubt it but I am also not an expert.  This is by far one of my favorite games, which I mowed yards to buy in its DataBioTics form from Triton.

    I also will step in to confirm the authenticity of this cartridge. I have one, and the manual and label all look correct. It most certainly is a rare find, harder to find than the DBT version, which in itself is not that easy to find. So you have a pretty good one here!

    • Like 3
    • Thanks 1

  10. Posted

    I was digging through the old User Groups Newsletters at WHTech, and noticed there were none for the St. Louis 99ers. Their newsletter was called "Computer Bridge". Does anyone happen to have any copies of their newsletter that they could upload or sell so I could scan them in? Would like to get them added to the collection. Thanks!

    • Like 1

  11. Posted

    I've only ever seen one CSI box, and it was pretty much a white box in the general TI box style with a window in the front for the manual. I have a boxed copy of 4A Flyer from Triton that uses the same blank white box.

     

    I had one for Wallaby at one point which sounds similar to what you describe, except that it had CSI graphics on it/text. So I'm not sure if at some point they just left them blank, or only certain games had them printed with info.

  14. Posted · Edited by Toucan

    The blobbed versions of The Attack use a similar board--and those have only been found as loose boards as well. It looks like these boards were being designed as a cost-cutting measure, as that would seriously reduce the required size of each board. The question there is: does the move to blob cost more or less than the standard IC chip? If more, it would negate the savings introduced by the smaller board, if the same, it would reduce costs, and if less, it would reduce costs even more.

     

    I find this topic very enlighening, as there hasn't been much said about these boards in the past.

     

    Oh, so the blobbed carts are officially COB carts? You know, I have a The Attack proto in a case marked COB. The casing is slightly different from the standard case. I believe it has 4 slits in the bottom and no screw/middle clip. When I got it, the guy (Bill Barneia?) said it was a new cost cutting technology TI was experimenting with. Not sure if I ever took pics of the case.

  15. Posted

    Sorry to bring up an old thread, but I talked with a TI employee who said that the "4" was chosen as a middling number, so they could go up and down if they introduced better/lower models (like the 99/2 and the planned original 99/3 that was to be released in 1979 with the 99/4 as a lower cost model).

    • Like 3

  17. Posted

    WHTECH has a great archive of news letters from old usergroups << HERE >> but I cannot help but think that at least one or two of you out there have at least one 'unknown' issue or one of better quality images than what in this rather large archive. So, if you've had a newsletter hanging around for decades, or if you just managed to obtain one thrown in with a recent purchase of TI goodies, could you please check this archive and verify that it's already there or it's as least as nice as your copy? If not, please post it here for us all to enjoy, while you help the TI community as a whole. I'm sure once Greg see it, it'll find it's way there too.

     

    If you have one and are unable to scan it, please send me a PM. Thanks.

     

     

    The thing I noticed is that there are not a lot of newsletters pre-1983. Seems like if someone had some before 1983 (especially before 1982), then it would stand a good chance of not being in the archive.

  19. Posted · Edited by Toucan

     

    Yeah, not a cheap hobby when coming from out of the area. I'm not the organizer either, but I will say this, those that ARE putting this on all reside in the Portland area, so it's probably fair to expect them to have it in their 'backyard' since they will be doing all the planning, organizing and probably setup too. Besides, it's difficult to scout out and book places if they are in a different city.

    I kind of like the idea of going bigger this year, like in Vegas. It's the 40th anniversary of the TI, so it would be kind of neat. Drumming up the publicity on the 40th anniversary could mean more people would be interested in attending. I have not heard a peep about 2019 being the 40th anniversary, so it could help make this years event bigger/better. The 99/4 was to be shown at the January 1979 CES in Las Vegas, but ended up being shown at the June 1979 Chicago CES instead.

     

    Las Vegas also has the entertainment to make people want to come from all over. Things to do at night.

     

    Another thing I was thinking. Would it be better to hold the faire over one of the 3 day weekends, like Memorial Day/Labor Day? That way people would have an extra day off work?

     

    Or, do we drop TI faires completely and just have a TI area at the bigger classic computer shows. Not sure how big TI faires are nowadays, but someone mentioned about 10 years ago or so that having system specific faires was no longer a good idea and that we should just come together and be part of the bigger classic computing/gaming faires and demo/get involved that way. We could still have the fun of meeting other TIers and hanging with them, but in a more lively environment and also see what others are doing for other systems.

  21. Posted

    That does sound sort of like an earlier version. I searched my personal archive... but many things have odd names or are zipped or in odd formats. I probably don't have it...

    Got any file or disk name examples?

    Well, the application for the TI is called "Index Card File" and goes by ICF. The disks should be named icf, icd, or ict. One such file on the disk is called "carts-ent"

  22. Posted · Edited by Toucan

    No can find...

    Could you elaborate?

     

    I have the disks, but no 5.25" disk drive to run them in. The CCK came with 4 5.25" disks as well as a CD. The CD was for a Windows machine with images as well as some emulated versions of the disks. The 5.25" disks were for running on the TI. I'm looking for dumps of those 5.25" disks so I can run them via emulation on my PC, as the .dsk files included on the CD seem to lack some of the info.

  23. Posted · Edited by Toucan

    Does anyone have a copy of Bill Gaskill's Cartridge Collection Kit? I have one, but it seems on the CD (for PC's) the .dsk dump of the cartridge information doesn't have all the extra info (like magazine references and the like). Almost like it was an earlier version. The screen shots shown in the manual I have show this extra info, but apparently are being run from the 5.25" disks that come with it. I have those disks, but no easy way to run them. I was hoping someone might have a copy of the CCK 5.25" disks and could send me a dumped .dsk file that I could run via emulation? I'd love to see all the info that each entry has. All I need is the "Carts" disk. Thanks!

  24. Posted · Edited by Toucan

    Heh. I clued the seller onto the caps lock. She sent a nice thank you message. Did the price go up? I think so, but wasn't paying much attention to the original listing and price. I see she changed the description to all working. More power to her if she sells it.

     

    Meanwhile, she also has a clean-looking and tested console-only, no PS or cables for ~ $60 and free shipping. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Texas-Instruments-TI-99-4a-Home-Computer-System-CONSOLE-ONLY-Tested-Works/264066709786

     

    There's something to be said for clean tested working versus the typical used "as-is."

     

    Toucan, I'd guess you still have the power supply and misc. cables from your beige console?

     

    -Ed

     

    Yep. Still have it all. Am very tempted to buy this one. Probably will click the button.

     

    Update: done. Thanks for all the help everyone!

    • Like 1

  25. Posted

    I just got a setup where I can hook up my PC and TI on the same TV set and am looking for a clean/working TI-99/4A black/silver console. I would like to find a until in as pristine condition as possible. I had a beige unit that seems to not work anymore, and a black/silver unit would match the TV/PC. Thanks for any help!

    • Like 1
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