blackbox

Hi. The PAL console does not have RGB, it uses a colour difference output from the console- apparently to make it easier to work with the French SECAM tv system. To enable the PAL console to work with a PAL tv set you needed a PAL MODULATOR- the first part of which took the colour difference signal from the console and created a composite video signal, which was then fed into the small metal box inside which was the actual RF modulator. It follows that if you open up your TI RF Modulator, you can have access to the composite signal that is fed into the actual modulator box! Details of this can be found on the lovely web site at ti99iuc. The photographs and a little web translation should get you past the Italian. The following link takes you to a selection of related articles: http://www.ti99iuc.it/web/index.php?pagina=cerca&ricerca=modulator&cerca=Cerca The output after conversion is ANALOG COMPOSITE, usually fed to tv sets etc via phono (RCA) cable. Then you may find that your modern monitor is really unhappy with such a low definition signal. regards Stephen

Two more manuals scanned in high res 480dpi, clean tif images for you to ocr or pdf or print or read... A couple for the Milton Bradley MBX unit: I'M HIDING PHM3155, ages 4-7, requires the MBX unit, and uses the membrane keypad, the speech recognition and MBX unit speech synthesiser. HONEY HUNT PHM3156, ages 5-8, will use the MBX unit if you have one but also works on a normal TI99/4a, using the MBX unit speech synthesiser if you have one, or the normal TI speech synthesiser. honeyhunt.zip Imhiding.zip

Two more manuals supplied as separate one page per image clean hi-res TIFs for you to ocr, print, read or pdf as you wish This time two of the older programs by Milton Bradley: HANGMAN PHM3037 CONNECT FOUR PHM3037 - this is the 6 language European manual with the tiny screen printed images of the tv screen. If American spelling is confusing in HANGMAN you can input your own word list of up to 60 words- and can even save them to tape for later use.. which makes it suitable for other languages. The partly complete word on the cover should be obvious.(!) As seems usual for the European manuals there is no note on Connect Four to suggest Connect Four is a trademark, or that Milton Bradley wrote the program and claim copyright in it. On the other hand HANGMAN suggests that HANGMAN is a trademark of Milton Bradley.... I am sure there was prior art to negate that claim. hangman.zip connect_4.zip

That could be it. Try running ANYTHING from DSK5 - for example- Can you do the following from Basic: CALL PART(400,80) CALL EMDK(5) type in a short Basic program: 100 GOTO 100 now SAVE DSK5.TEMP now type NEW then type OLD DSK5.TEMP From the Myarc Disk Memory System manual: "The DDCC-1 Disk Controller will control any combination of 4 double-sided or 4 single-sided disk drives. This disk controller also reads and writes interchangeably — and equally well — to the standard TI-99/4A format, single-density diskette." On the other hand, the docs for the HFDC say that if you have an FDC then the FDC controls drives 1-4 but the HFDC controls drives 5-8. No HFDC therefore may mean no drive 5 due to DSR limitations.. Interesting you are getting a directory, but that will be using differing code. The only other alternative is that PIX PRO is checking the drive number (some programs did) and not permitting an "out of range" number for what the programmer that should be used. s

I've never had an HFDC so can't comment on any restrictions with that. The HFDC apparently has a UTILITY menu (MDM5) (U from Main Menu) with a RAMdisk option which will show you the status of the RAMdisk- worth a try. It should show DSK5 as set up. If that looks correct then it may be a limitation of PixPro. The Utility also allows the ramdisk to be set up (Caution- will delete contents)... Is the HFDC at the default CRU of >1100.

To rule out a problem with file names and file formats- will the same files load from a standard TI disk drive? The 512k ramdisk uses 32k as standard 32k expansion leaving 480k available HOWEVER the RAM disk element may not exceed 400k - the balance is for print spooling. Are you using 400k or less? Can you access the ramdisk as dsk1 -5 with other programs? It has to be set up on every powerup eg CALL PART and CALL EMDK. Which environment are you using with PixPro- Editor Assembler, Extended Basic, or TI Writer? Myarc XB II? Assuming you are using a real TI99/4a rather than an emulator? Which disk controller? TI's 32k ram not present? Can you do the following from Basic: CALL PART(400,80) CALL EMDK(5) type in a short Basic program: 100 GOTO 100 now SAVE DSK5.TEMP now type NEW then type OLD DSK5.TEMP Has it loaded the short TI Basic program? s

More info please! TI Basic Input/Output error codes are given as TWO digits and the Myarc memory card sticks to the two digit format. If the first digit is a 2 it is an INPUT error. If the second digit is a two it is an attribute error (eg the OPEN command is not appropriate- incorrectly specified. A second digit of 7 means the file does not exist or is not the expected format ).. If you set up the ramdisk as DSK1. or DSK2 temporarily, will the images then load? - this will rule out a possibility that PixPro does not like loading files from DSK5 (the catalogue program will use different code). Note the original TI disk system was limited to 3 drives and PixPro may check the drive number when entering file names but not reading a directory. (Change emulated disk drive temporarily with CALL EMDK(2) and set it back to your preferred value after testing) If files don't load from RAMdisk as DSK2: To rule out a problem with file names and file formats- will the same files load from a standard TI disk drive?- are you remembering the dot after the K- eg DSK5.FILE ? Try using the device and filename as RD.FILENAME - no DSK. - PixPro may accept that??? The file format must be one supported by Pix Pro and file names must be acceptable to PixPro. Have fun.... s

That looks like just the thing that is needed- no tapes and full voltage from the cassette deck amp! (Caution- may not work with the TI if you use a modern retro deck made for modern headphones) The spec for my digital recorder suggests 70mV to the headphone socket at maximum volume- this is in line with a European standard maximum of 75mV.. Modern headphones are low impedance to work better with a small battery operated devices and obtain high volume at just the low voltage. This is why your old headphones (or the cheap ones!) seem so much quieter than the fashionable modern ones you have just sold your car for! I think my old (1983) cassette recorder supplied over 2 volts and was intended to output to the higher impedance or lower sensitivity headphones of the day (anyone have a catalogue/catalog giving the impedance of a 1980s headphone?). I can't find any specs from TI on the audio signal level required or the impedance offered to the tape input. s

Notice a lack of anyone saying they have made one work! I just tried one- a high end digital recorder from Olympus. I was aware that the TI had a particular need for fairly squarish waveforms and high volume (maximum voltage peak- 0db) but in theory you should be able to use digital recording if you turn off all the signal processing. Many users experienced difficulty using tape recorders from battery power and we had a list of "sophisticated" recorders the TI simply didn't talk to. First I dug out my old cassette recorder to check the cassette cable was working- first time load, no problem. Easy. Now switch to digital recorder. Recording volume and playback volume set to full manual with maximum levels. WAV format. Record- the signal from the TI seemed a little on the low side. Now playback- wow- where is it??? The playback volume- set at maximum- was far too low and the TI didn't see it. I think a problem today is that earphones are more sensitive than in the 80s, and manufacturers are protecting themselves from action for hearing loss by curtailing the maximum volume their devices will send to an earphone socket. So- from my experiment, it may be better to dig out some old cassette recorders and try to find some short tapes (don't use C90 tapes!).

Updated list time- An amalgamated list of manuals available from several websites, sorted into alphabetical order. This is a pdf. amalgamated_list_02may19.pdf A simple text list with URLs of the documentation held here on Atariage. omegalist.txt Next update will depend on how many new manuals get added but as long sunny (!) days are here- and some longer manuals beckon- perhaps in three months? regards s

Not too much interest shown in the forum in educational modules so far - but before I move on here are a couple more for you. If interest remains low, I'll put the educational material to the back of the pile. Documentation presented as hi resolution clean scans in TIF image format at 480dpi. You can ocr these, print them, read them, or make pdf's from them.... versatile.. These are again modules written by educational publishers Scott Foresman and are copyright by them. Let us Read this time. READING RALLY. "Grades 4 through 6" PHM 3048 (also SF3120) READING ON "Grades 2 through 4" PHM3046 Reading modules were a problem to sell in the UK, as they not only used US spelling, they were also somewhat culturally biased to the US. READING RALLY is excellent and should perhaps be mandatory for all reporters and commentators- the age range given can certainly be upped. It covers the differences between fact and opinion, the purpose of the author, and bias and connotations. Not covered are changes in the meaning of words with time, locale, and generation. A difficult word for the UK is "billboard" = "advertising hoarding". READING ON is about reading maps, graphs and "schedules" (UK-timetables) ( and was that SHEDules or SKEDules?) The final activity is a puzzler and may require a warning or two - health warning, legal warning, animal welfare warning, environmental warning..... it is about "digging up clams". Obviously an activity well known to all American children? Note: This activity is legally restricted in the UK ("Harvesting razor clams is not illegal in the UK if it’s under 5kg per (collecting) person per day" and "10cm, the current EU Minimum Landing Size" also unlawful to sell on unless location and collector are licensed. Beware water pollution.). reading_rally.zip reading_on.zip

Module documentation in clean hi res tif format for you to pdf, ocr or print as you wish. One page per image, text for these is at 480dpi. Two educational modules written by Scott Foresman (a leading US educational text book publisher). NUMERATION 1 - PHM3050 ("kindergarten through third grade") NUMERATION 2 - PHM3051 ("grades 5 through 7") Notice the name of Scott Foresman does not appear on the cover of Numeration 2, but the program is still copyright by them. Not a lot of documentation for the education modules online now - but I have lots, so I'll see how welcome these two are before digging into the pile. In the UK sales were low as it was all tied into the US school system and curriculum. Still excellent educational material but at the time - what did "suitable for Grades 5 through 7" mean? Even when the UK started using CLASS 1 or FORM 1 there were still age and curriculum differences. And we changed the method of teaching every few years anyway. In purely age terms Grade 1 seems to be our Year 2. (We currently start with Reception Class as Year 0!). Aaagh. Still good material though. Numeration_1.zip Numeration_2.zip

I have a search box for the whtech site on my TI search page at: http://shawweb.myzen.co.uk/stephen/tisearch.htm Searching on 9640 News gives me results starting with the following which in the search are of course links to the named content... one line per result.... Index of /Geneve/9640 News disks v1-3/pc99 disks - Description. Index of /Geneve - Description Index of /Geneve/9640 News disks v1-3/v9t9 disks - Description 9640faq.rtf /compuserve/CATALOG.TXT FIX LIST V1.21 NOTE: Before using MDOS 1.21 with any Horizon ... Filename Type Size Diskname PC Filename . (list of files from TonyZ) also links to newsletters mentioning 9640 News - in pdf format. There is a 1987 Profile of Beery on whtech to look for....

Just in case you haven't heard of Test Trainer- The Manual here is for "Compact English Trainer", produced by ILS (Institut Fur Lernsysteme) who offered boxed packages - you received lessons on cassette OR disk and needed a module called "TEST TRAINER 1" which had menu options for German, English and French. Compact English had 3 double sided C60 cassettes I think. The "Test Trainer 1" module was PHM3065. There are WAV files for the cassettes and two dsk files on whtech.

Three multi-language documents in clean hi res tif format for you to pdf, ocr or just print or read. These documents are presented for archival purposes as each has serious weaknesses. As a group there is no indication of copyright, and no indication of where printed, although circumstantial evidence (eg inward facing guillemets »« suggests Germany). There is no warranty information. BLASTO PHM3032 European- gb, i, d, ne, f, s THE ATTACK PHM 3031 European - gb, i, d, nl, f, s Not credited in these documents but the code for the games was copyright by Milton Bradley. They did not use the MBX system. The games indicate that joysticks are "necessary" which is not true. I have added for convenience the keyboard keys to use in an extra added page. TERMINAL EMULATOR II PHM3035 European - gb, f, d, nl, f This TE2 manual is possibly the worst manual to carry a TI Logo. The original 44 page English manual has been reduced to just over a page. Perhaps odder still space has been given to the "Speech Editor" module, which does not work with TE2. The Speech Editor text refers to technology never marketed and abandoned before the TI99/4A was made-- the modules to fit into the speech synthesiser. All very strange. And while posting minimalist documentation, a little gift of the tape cassette inlay card for Mr. D, - produced by SP Software and sold through Stainless Software. I am indebted to Derek Buchanan for this little treat. Blasto European Manual.zip TheAttack European Manual.zip termemulator2_phm3035e.zip

Bitte kommen Sie zu... Kom dan naar..... S’il vous plaît venir à.... Si prega di venire a..... Ole hyvä ja tule... Dewch i..... Vær venlig at komme til... TI European Treffen - 2015: England.... 2016: Denmark... 2017: Italy.... 2018: Germany.... now 2019 - England 34th TI European Treffen - 4, 5 and 6 October 2019 (4,5,6 Hydref 2019) Campanile Hotel in Leicester (England) Main event Saturday, admission free. Hauptveranstaltung Samstag, Eintritt frei. Groepsvergadering zaterdag, gratis toegang. Événement principal samedi, entrée gratuite Riunione principale sabato. Ingresso gratuito Pääkokous lauantaina. Vapaa pääsy. Prif gyfarfod dydd Sadwrn. Mynediad am ddim Gruppemøde på lørdag, gratis indrejse UK Group: http://www.ti99ug.co.uk/category/news/ Organiser: David Caine by email: [email protected] or by telephone: +44 7752 052117 See: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/175240-upcoming-ti-994a-events/page-3?do=findComment&comment=4253751 All Atariage readers are very welcome. (Leicester: https://www.visitleicester.info/see-and-do/attractions) (Leicester: Die größte Sammlung deutscher Expressionisten in Großbritannien) Erwähnen Sie die Veranstaltung auf Ihrer Website/Blog Vermeld het evenement op uw website/blog Mentionnez l’évènement sur votre site/blog Citare l'evento sul tuo sito Web/Blog Mainitse tapahtuma sivustosi/blogi Soniwch am y digwyddiad ar eich gwefan/blog Fortæl andre TI99 brugere om det

Hi res clean tif files for you to ocr, print or pdf- for - ENHANCED DISPLAY PACKAGE vn 2.1, written by Curtis Provance, published on disk by PARAGON COMPUTING. (NOT to be confused with Display Enhancement Package from Oak Tree Systems) This took a long time. I think I'll look for something smaller for my next effort! Always pleased to have any special requests just in case I have the documentation.... (This package added 40 column support to XB including 40 col equivalents to eg CALL HCHAR, PRINT etc. Also added are vdp peek and load and a vdp register writer etc) EDP_v21_Paragon.zip

You can find the book towards the end of a very long page at http://www.hexbus.com/tibooks/ in a downloadable pdf format. s

This forum has a lot of information hidden away in its depths. The repetition of the same questions indicates that locating that information is not as easy as it could be. Ideally I would like to create a metasearch so you could use one search box- but you would be deluged with possible answers and I don't have the resources anyway. So... I have created a page of searches for you to use. In some cases you need to prefix your search with "ti-99/4a" in quotes to focus the results on our favourite computer - I have noted this when especially relevant. How you use quotation marks is important in reducing unhelpful results - but overuse may cause you to miss something, so practice with varying search forms. Just putting lots of words without quotation marks is not usually useful and just one or two words may overwhelm you.. If I have omitted a resource rich web site (which does not require javascript!) do let me know.and I will update this offering. So- open this htm file in your browser and save it to your local machine where you can then open it at will. Have fun tisearch.htm

Briefly and simply - 0370 is a memory address in hex notation and the V stands for VDP RAM, which is the internal console ram. It differs from CPU RAM (mostly external) and GRAM (mostly in modules). Recommend you read from top to bottom of the READ THIS FIRST thread http://atariage.com/forums/topic/267055-new-to-the-group-ti-994a-faq-hardware-and-software-resources-read-first/ There are a lot of links to Manuals and other media goodies on the forum at: http://atariage.com/forums/blog/567/entry-12507-strips-cards-manuals-labels-3d-objects-more-updated-03262019/ My personal list of useful websites would be: a href="http://ftp.whtech.com/"is full of books, magazines, manuals, and programs (you have found this one!) a href="http://www.hexbus.com/tibooks/" TI Books as PDF files (LOTS) Ron Reuter's a href="http://www.mainbyte.com/ti99/" Mainbytes Thierry Nouspikel's a href="http://www.unige.ch/medecine/nouspikel/ti99/titech.htm"Tech Pages</a>- serious stuff. a href="https://www.ninerpedia.org/wiki/Main_Page">Ninerpedia</a>is a principal resource for TI emulation with MAME, and also has lots of other info- registration is required to post, otherwise unrestricted. a href="http://www.ti99iuc.it/web/index.php?pageid=155&pagina=database_ultimi&sezione=2#">ti99iuchas some clean documenation to download, some disks to download (for emulators) and lots of information- like how to get composite video from a PAL console- it is in Italian, but there are translation engines, and you will quickly learn the important words... a href="http://tigameshelf.net/"TI Gameshelf is less taxing, a collection of games in bin format for Mess and other emulators, or the FG99 module, and some disk files for emulators. No registration required a href="http://www.99er.net/" 99er.net is not an easy site to find things on but there is plenty there. I mean PLENTY. Make sure to use the section "TI99 Database". oops- not forgetting my own little offering at a href="http://shawweb.myzen.co.uk/stephen/TI.htm"which has well over a hundred pages of TI information. enjoy

How did this code not appear more widely? I like to know sources so... check out: COMPUTER BRIDGE (Volume 3, Number 12, December 1984) Page 2 (User group magazine from St Louis) Also published in "Dr Tamashiro's TI Travels 1984-1988" which is quite a treasure house of code. s

In RXB 2012 you could switch to text mode with CALL POKER(7,244,1,240) - reversed with CALL POKER(0,0). Two disk packages spring to mind for 40 column Extended Basic with CALL LINK versions of the graphics commands to use in text (40 column) mode--- Oak Tree Systems Display Enhancement Package or Paragon Computings Enhanced Display Package (Note how close those names are!) Paragon's version also gives you access to read and write to vdp and change the vdp registers as well as adding 40 column mode and improvements and 40 column equivalents to the various graphic commands. I have the Paragon disk online for emulators, and will be adding documentation in the next week or so. s

Not Polyoptics was an early US based supplier of games for the TI99/4 and TI99/4a. Founders of Not Polyoptics were Michael Capobianco who later had a science fiction book published, David Harter and Gene Hitz. Initially successful with tape based TI Basic programs, efforts to move to Extended BASIC programs or disk based programs did not succeed due to the low user base for expanded systems at the time. Driving along- "What shall we call our software Company...". Hours later---- "we are not going to call it Polyoptics" Thus was born NOT Polyoptics. So, from the founders, Not Polyoptics means what it says. NOT polyoptics. Next question, what does Polyoptics mean? Polyoptics and Poly-Optic are registered trade marks of manufacturers of resin glass replacements.... Move along please...

I seem to recall the widget (old name) only switched ONLY the grom +5v power line, and was particular about what modules you plugged into what position, and wasn't happy with some combinations- which seemed to be the combinations I wanted, and it fell out of use here. Not sure that three rom-only modules worked too well... too long time ago. Extended Basic HAD to be in the top slot (FG99 probably also). Anyone got a better memory... I can't find a mention in Micropendium. Something about the way the switch works and the way the console looks for modules. There was also an issue with the sliding switch contacts wearing out rather quickly.

More documentation in cleaned hi res tif format to ocr, pdf or print: PROGRAMMING AIDS 1- PHT6004 TI cassette for TI99/4. orange cover. "Requires a cassette recorder". The first program supplied is to catalog a diskette... you get display at, accept at, screen print, lower case, second ascii set for highlighting etc, and character definition. Lots of listings to look at. Mailing List- TI- Disk- PHD5001, TI99/4 manual with blue cover, supplied in the zip with and without the statutory UK Warranty sticker. The manual suggests other uses too. Compatible with the Thermal Printer. All the files on the disk commenced with the name MLIST. SPAD XIII- Not Polyoptics Diskette. The quality of the manual was pretty poor- I have an original print- so you have a choice- CLEAN which is archivally accurate but not much else and BEST which has many pages with retouched graphics but is therefore not archivally accurate. Yes - Figure 1 was printed after Figure 2. My eyes hurt - time for a rest. Next up- could be a few days off- the Paragon Enhanced Display Package Vn 2.1 docs. ProgAids1.zip mailing_list.zip Spad_13_clean.zip Spad_XIII_best.zip