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DavidC

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Posts posted by DavidC

  4. Posted

    20 minutes ago, senior_falcon said:

    I guess it's best not to assume anything with this pesky problem. For all I know this thing splatters random bytes throughout memory when it starts up. 

     

    Using regular XB, press 2 for XB.

    CALL INIT::CALL LOAD(9456,99,99)

    Do some disk access, etc. (only XB stuff, no EA5 programs)

    Quit, then press 2 for XB again.  No CALL INIT this time.

    CALL PEEK(8198,A,B)::PRINT A;B    should be 170 and 85

    CALL PEEK(9456,A,B)::PRINT A;B    should be 99 and 99

    Using regular XB (from my finalGROM),  Typed CALL INIT:: CALL LOAD(9456,99,99). Then I loaded and ran a few simple XB programs.  Edited and saved them, reran them.  I quit out of XB, reloaded XB did the CALL PEEKS and the results were :  170 and 85  for the first one and 99 and 99 for the second.  The results match what you expected. 

  6. Posted

    30 minutes ago, senior_falcon said:

    Just want to be sure you did PEEKV and POKEV

    CALL POKEV(16111,99,99)

    Use the disk for a while and then quit.

    CALL PEEKV(16111,A,B)::PRINT A;B

    Yes sir.  Call POKEV(16111,99,99) ,  ran the nano, loaded games, mounted different disks to volume 1, loaded programs, saved programs, quit out back to Title Screen.  Loaded XB2.8,       CAll PEEKV(16111,A,B)  values are:  76 and 49.

  7. Posted

    11 hours ago, senior_falcon said:

    The number at -2 tells XB 2.8 what screen colors to use. I did make it so transparent cannot be used and so that you can't accidentally use the same foreground and background colors.

     

    Can you do one other test for me. Select 2 for XB in the XB 2.8 G.E.M. cartridge. Type CALL POKEV(16111,99,99,99,99,99,99)

    Use the computer to load stuff, run programs, etc. After you have wrung it out, Quit or BYE to get back to the master title screen. Press 2 again, and in XB type:

    CALL PEEKV(16111,A,B,C,D,E,F)::PRINT A;B;C;D;E;F

     

    (edit) actually, I only need 2 bytes, so just do 16111,A,B

    The information I have for that memory location (>3EEF) is (?? not used any more was for the 99/4 ??)

    If these are not used I should be able to move the color and font bytes there.

    These values are retained through a Quit, at least in Classic99.

    Ok, after playing a couple disk loaded games, mounting different disks into vol. 1 of the nanoPEB, saving and loading small programs, newing and reloading. I quit to the master title screen, returned to XB2.8 and the values from the PEEK are:  76 and 49. 

  8. Posted · Edited by DavidC

    1 hour ago, senior_falcon said:

      85 should be:

     -64=try to load Force Command on BYE

      21   2(black)*16+6(light blue)-17 = 21

    So you are actually Black on Light Blue and using font #1

     

    One time the screen was indeed black, with light blue font.  The other 5 or six times I tried it, it was cyan and black.  

     

    EDIT:  I tried again without the Speech...this time it booted up with the red screen and blue font. 

  10. Posted

    Fair enough. I did not partake in a 8 hour debugging session.  I did what senior_falcon requested.   I loaded XB 2.8 GEM. I did this..

     

    "Try this after starting XB:

    10 FOR I=-24 TO -1::CALL LOAD(I,0)::NEXT I

    This will zero out the memory from >FFE8 to >FFFF

    Then see if FinalGrom and the nanoPEB work correctly.

    Assuming all works as it should, then check to see whether memory from -24 to -1 is still set to zero."

     

    I tried CALL CAT("DSK1.") and the disk catalog worked.   I loaded a few programs and ran them.  They worked.    I "BYEd" out of xb2.8 loaded TML it loaded normally.  I quit out of that and reloaded XB 2.8 GEM it loaded normally.   I called PEEK(-8,a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h):: PRINT a;b;c;d;e;f;g;h and got   0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0 as a result.   Therefore, everything seems to work fine.

    • Like 3

  13. Posted · Edited by DavidC

    2 hours ago, senior_falcon said:

    Try this after starting XB:

    10 FOR I=-24 TO -1::CALL LOAD(I,0)::NEXT I

    This will zero out the memory from >FFE8 to >FFFF

    Then see if FinalGrom and the nanoPEB work correctly.

     

    Assuming all works as it should, then check to see whether memory from -24 to -1 is still set to zero.

    Yes, nano and FG seem to work fine, and everthing is still zero.   That was with speech disconnected.

     

    EDIT: Seems to work fine with speech as well.

  14. Posted

    Ok, this is weird. I disconnected my speech synth and plugged the nano directly in.  Boot up XB 2.8 GEM and it boots normally. Cyan screen, black letters, normal font.   I tried again with the speech hooked up....red screen, blue letters as in before.  Disconnect the speech and try again...Cyan screen as is normal....

  15. Posted · Edited by DavidC

    Fire up the TI, go into finalGROM menu and load xb2.8 GEM and I get the red screen.  I type CALL LOAD(-2,244,0) and do the CALL PEEK the numbers I get are 25, 90, 246, 244, 103, 210, 244, 0

     

    I am using a nanoPEB.

     

    Edit: If I power off the computer/nano the screen turns red again when I reboot, it does not remember the settings.

  16. Posted · Edited by DavidC

    3 hours ago, majestyx said:

    Is yours working fine without having to enter the CALL LOAD lines? I'm wondering if it's an issue with either my system or my FinalGROM, based on Casey's post. I'm also using a nanoPEB so not sure if that has something to do with it.

     

    EDIT: I may have stumbled upon the answer. I disconnected my nanoPEB & tried running XB 2.8 from The FinalGROM. Works fine - cyan screen with black standard text. Of course, my nanoPEB also has the 32K in it so I am unable to run the other versions like T40XB.

     

    Casey (or anyone else) - could you verify your set up (PEB, nanoPEB, CF7+) and whether you are getting the same symptoms as I am? I'd  greatly appreciate it and I'm sure Harry would too, as I don't want him going on a wild goose chase for something that may only be happening for me.

    I still have to do the Call Load.  I also have a nano connected..Yes I have a nanoPEB with the 32k.  I dont know if this helps, but if I quit out and reload sometimes the screen colors are different.  Like, each time its a different color.  

     

  18. Posted

    7 minutes ago, senior_falcon said:

    I don't have a lot of insight on this. Wolfgang was able to get this to work by changing XBGEM_8.BIN to XBGEM_C.BIN.

    The original G.E.M. had only 2 banks of rom (the standard XB setup) This one has 17 banks, so maybe something different has to happen?

     

    Yes sir, that is what I did to get the original G.E.M to work.  It does not work ( for me ) with 2.8  Does anyone have it up and running with their FinalGROM?

  19. Posted

    First of all I would like to thank @senior_falcon for all your hard work.  This is truly incredible. I was able to get this up and running on Classic99 without issue.  Has anyone loaded onto their FinalGROM?  I tried, but all I get when I choose a option is a blank screen.  The original GEM from post #1 works fine on my FG, I simply cannot get 2.8 to work on my FinalGROM.  Any ideas?   

    • Like 2

  20. Posted

    9 hours ago, carlsson said:

    Hm, perhaps the license changed between ver 00.12 (1984) and 00.14 (1987 ??). Programming books in COMAL were sold separately anyway. But honestly it doesn't surprise me that a product distributed for free in one market would be charged $70 + VAT in another market.

     

    On the other hand, the limitations of BASIC forced a good number of people to learn assembly language. Many probably found it a road block and lost interest, while others learned the inner workings. I have a feeling that on computers with better high level languages, fewer people would feel obliged to learn assembly language. Also people tend to complain about all those POKEs into a lot of memory addresses you need to memorize. What they forget is that the exact same POKEs translate into assembly language as pairs of LDA / STA, no need to relearn the entire computer. If you had all those DRAW, PLOT, SPRITE, SOUND, JOY etc commands, the inner workings would be completely new to you when you started to dig deeper. Thus I consider the limited BASIC partly as fortunate for when you were ready to move ahead.

     

    I don't know how strong Commodore were in the educational field. I know they had a vast library of software for it, plus of course the Educator 64 computer, but I understand that in the US, Apple pretty much had established themselves in the schools and e.g. in the UK, Acorn BBC won the procurement for a school computer which put them in pole position. Elsewhere on the European continent there may have been more variation though. But yes, COMAL was in some places used as an educational language so in that respect you're correct. For instance the Swedish school computer Compis was a 80186 featuring CP/M and COMAL, with optional Pascal for the professional users.

     You have a valid point.  I had a TI99 with Extended Basic when I was a teenager. The CALL SOUND, CALL COLOR, CALL SPRITE, ect, was what I was used to.  When I finally picked up a C64 I was well into my 30's. I was totally lost and confused when I tried to make simple animations.  It was very frustrating.   I think that is the major why I like Comal, and Simon's for that matter.   It opens up the power of the 64 without the complexity of the POKES and PEEKS. Makes it fun to experiment and play around. At least for me.  

  21. Posted

    Wow, the disk version 00.14 was freely distributed here in the US. When the cartridge did come out, Version 2.0 or whatever, I think that was around $125. 

     

    As a matter of fact I was randomly going thru some .d64's  of AHOY! magazine this afternoon and I was surprised to find they put Comal 00.14 on side two of their magazine disks.  June, July and Aug. (or thereabouts) of the 1987 issues.  Funny that I randomly found them after starting this thread...lol.   It's a cool language.  I dig it.   I have the .CRT on my BackBit Cartridge along with pretty much everything else, Simons Basic, 64Forth, all kinds of stuff to mess around with, depending on my mood.   Fun to play with. 

  23. Posted

    42 minutes ago, Badaboom said:

    Probably because they'd have to pay for a licence for it and Jack Tramiel hated paying for stuff... Hence why they milked that PET Basic as long as they could.

    Yeah, you ain't wrong about that.  The flat rate he payed for Commodore BASIC...Oh well.   That was then, this is now.  30 years later...something like that.   

  24. Posted

    Turtle graphics, way better than Terrapins LOGO, much faster in Comal.   Sprite control without all the PEEKS and POKES.   Why Commodore did not latch on and make Comal the standard language is beyond me..  Of course, I just discovered it myself about two weeks ago.    Structured programming,  this would of changed everything...but what do I know.   Other than,   I like it! 

  25. Posted · Edited by DavidC

    23 minutes ago, Gray Defender said:

    Yeah some of those old books are difficult to find even in PDF format.  I hadn't heard of Comol before. 

     

    I found this post on Lemon64:

    https://www.lemon64.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=57133&sid=43a761ffa484431c2b204e8080afda27

     

    And it has a Comol Collection which looks like it includes PDFs..

     

    http://tinyurl.com/ofucjhc

    Yes sir, I saw that on Lemon as well.  It is a very nice collection of Comal books, magazines and .D64 as well as a .CRT.    It is missing that one book.   It must be pretty rare. 

     

    Edit.  The .CRT has a lot of other good stuff on it as well...

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