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Keatah

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Everything posted by Keatah

  1. Keatah
    How can I stop the screen from dimming when hitting the TAB key, makes it harder to match colors across different displays. Is the "stella.pro" file still needed? The documentation says it is, but it also says all settings are stored in the sqlite file.
  2. Keatah
    I don't write novels or uber-lengthy works or anything. But I do fill up that RAMworks card pretty good though.
  3. Keatah
    When I had my 800 I even used it on carpeting without any overheating issues. And like I say it had the RAM cartridges. Mine was early enough to have been a first or second run machine. And it is very typical that first runs of products are often built of higher quality materials, more of those materials, and often containing extra doodads like the clips, or a thicker housing. Or in the case of the Heavy Sixer, a spot on the motherboard for a rom chip, a heavier case with speaker mounting provisions, heavier RF shield, better color, full range of motion joysticks, and separate color for the injection molding on the AC power adapter. As an engineer I agree that removing them from their shells would reduce thermal issues. Sure. Was that the reason? Maybe? Probably. I recall reading that it was cost of materials. RAM was very expensive in the late 70's when the 400/800 were designed. So expensive that the 1976-designed VCS had none other than what was in the RIOT. Early home computers like the Apple II and Atari 800 had a lot of granularity in memory quantity. Upgradable in 4K or 8K increments at first. Apple II had the 4K increments.
  4. Keatah
    When I had an 800 it had beautiful cartridges that plugged into those slots. 10K OS ROM & and 3x 16K RAM. Later on they did cost-cutting and removed the cartridge shells and took away the quick-release clips.
  5. Keatah
    Many games meant many things to me at various timepoints along the way. The early Atari VCS catalogs up to about #8 described 43 original made-by-Atari games that were (and remain) something special. They bring back a cozy warmth on frigid winter days. Especially after school, or on a snow day. It was like an extended family within a family. A carefree life where I didn't have to worry about fixing the garbage bin or wondering if the car would start when it was this cold - that's what parents were for! Getting 5 hours of Atari and 70's TV was a great life plan. Checking the analog clockface, watching the hands climb through the hours as we read astronomy and science books and ate Swanson's TV dinners in the aluminum trays. Then flicking off the lights to burrow under bed sheets and moonbeams to engage in walkie-talkies, red led games, and dream of space travel in Atari ships. All that. All that's one small multitude of reasons why Atari was such a critical part in 70's and early 80's childhoods.
  6. Keatah

    Found my 1976 bicentennial REVOLUTION button from Magic Mountain! Again!

    1. x=usr(1536)

      x=usr(1536)

      Found a pocketknife that keeps getting lost and popping up again after extended absences a couple of weeks ago.  It's been doing this for close to 15 years now, and I believe that this was its 4th reappearance.  Time missing was about 5 years, as best I can tell.

    2. GoldLeader

      GoldLeader

      I still have the button for the Screaming Eagle at Six flags over Mid America (St. Louis) 1976.   Great Coaster!  Guinness record coaster at the time.

    3. GoldLeader

      GoldLeader

      @x=usr(1536) That's funny,  I've had a pocket knife (well 2) that always seem to appear and disappear too!  The only thing worse are these LED flashlights I get at the dollar store.   I've finally just bought some spares so I don't have to keep looking for them.

  7. Keatah
    Bug: If the caps-lock key is engaged, you cannot type "M" to jump to Miniature Golf. Or like "V" for Video Pinball..
  8. Keatah
    Part of the magic of Duke & Doom on the PC was just that. On the PC. A platform not really known for fast action 3D games suddenly was presenting something completely out of character. And then there's the mods and additional levels and stuff.
  9. Keatah
    I made a simple circuit to temporarily remap the arrow keys to the keypad if you hit the reset switch twice in rapid succession. And back again. A cheap scroll-lock if you will. Isn't the mouse card a 6522 and firmware and generic 74LS glue?
  10. Keatah
    When I used to do archiving I always used a solution that worked on the original hardware. And a solution that produced disk formats compatible with established emulators. This meant having several devices. I know that's not what you're looking for, its just how I rolled. Getting ready to purchase an AppleSauce disk imager kit to focus exclusively on Apple II material going forward. For PC stuff I don't think anyone cares so much about original flux-level preservation as they do getting the material working in virtual machines and emulators or even on those in-between emu/vm hybrids like DosBox.
  11. Keatah
    Another Apple //e manual. Sure.. they're non-glamorous, boring, seemingly non-interactive and likely have as many detractions as they have pages. But they are informative and capturative of the essence of being back in the day. Often they are the sleeper shortcut to a blast of nostalgia. And especially a pleasure to read when compared with the shit quick-start-guides they publish today, if they publish anything at all.
  12. Keatah
    I remember the //e's main memory had more failures than the II/II+, chip for chip. To its advantage the //e had only 8 compared to the 24 in the II+. But bit for bit, overall reliability had increased a little - thanks to higher density 65536x1 vs 16384x1. The bad chips were almost always MOSTEK it seemed. Incidentally my II+ back in the day had to have a RAM chip replaced. Cost me $150.00 at CompuShop. Was too young to know what I was doing so I had to use out-of-warranty dealer service. The //eP likely had the most reliable memory of all, and at just two chips too.
  13. Keatah
    The transition to a proper home & business computer happened with the II -> II+ change. More specifically I believe these features made it happen.up 1- Applesoft BASIC with Autostart 2- Lowercase support became popular 3- 80-column cards became popular ..and of those three, Autostart was a key development. It eliminated the cryptic 6 <ctrl-P> startup code one had to type. Now it was just flip the power switch.
  14. Keatah
    Is it possible to make an argument for purchasing a standard/enhanced //e instead of a Platinum //e? The only thing I can think of is the high-frequency (500kHz?) filter capacitors on the gameport in the //eP. This could affect using the port as a sampler or other high-speed input. Though you can remove them easily enough. Or connect them to a switch. That and maybe keyboard preferences/ergonomics. Or a certain sentimental value.
  15. Keatah
    It costs time and resources to put the protective conformal blue dots in place. So likely not cheap board.
  16. Keatah
    I've replaced the legs before, easy stuff. But what's all that blue shit? The blue dots by the feethrough vias. That corrosion? If so you will need to replace the PCB. Or somehow address it by neutralizing it and reflowing each one.
  17. Keatah

    With ebay's new managed payments policy, YOU are a drop shipper for them. And payments go from the buyer to ebay to the seller. And it requires 100% access to your bank.

    1. GoldLeader

      GoldLeader

      I don't want eBay to have access to my bank account!  Suppose they got in there and drained all my dough?  I wonder what they'd do with the $85?

    2. Keatah

      Keatah

      I don't know.. I learned about it here:

      http://apple2online.com/index.php?news&nid=251

    3. GoldLeader

      GoldLeader

      Thanks for the info Keatah!  I always wondered if eBay would one day outgrow its usefulness.  On the other hand if they stop scammers in some way by doing it this way...(Well either way,  feebay marches on...)

    4. Show next comments  57 more
  18. Keatah
    Perhaps some other solution will present itself. Something we hadn't thought of or some crazy-ass mod that just.. might.. work.. Some sort of direct-to-CPU connection. Bypassing the "chipset" entirely. The trend in PC design is always toward serialization for chip interconnects, busses, interfaces, and more.. because of size and amount of PCB traces. RealEstate and all that. But if an area of the architecture needs a serious boost there's always parallel wiring to fall back on.
  19. Keatah

    Cozyying up with some Space:1999 on this sub-freezing night. Double and triple blankets all over the reading room.

    1. GoldLeader

      GoldLeader

      I've now watched the first episode!!   Last night before bed probably around a half hour after posting (above).  Good stuff!  Better than I thought it would be.   Guess I thought it would be more Lost in Space and less Star Trek...I will likely continue...

       

      PS Always wanted that bigass Eagle toy!   But never got one. ;)

    2. BassGuitari

      BassGuitari

      I was introduced to Space:1999 a few months ago when I found it on Tubi. I'm a fan of Star Trek OS, and I have to say I think Space:1999 is actually better. 😶

    3. Keatah

      Keatah

      I had a Verti-Bird Eagle when I was a kid. Never seen it anywhere since.

    4. Show next comments  57 more
  20. Keatah

    One-handed unboxing videos are so dumb. And cheaper than cheap. Not only that, the ass shot it vertical too!

     

    1. CPUWIZ

      CPUWIZ

      And yes, I am a grumpy old sarcastic ass, when it comes to hearing or reading "unboxing video".  Pretty sure some short circuits in my head cause that.  🤪

    2. GoldLeader

      GoldLeader

      lit by the nerd glow of a camping headband LED,  he whispers, "Remember to like and subscribe"...

    3. Swami

      Swami

      I hate the ones where they unbox a game and never show gameplay. And, yeah, spring for a video camera and tripod. It's like $100. Their phone was six times that and they might drop it. Or better yet, find a friend.

    4. Show next comments  57 more
  21. Keatah
    I'm not particularly impressed. Oh sure the graphics and specs are nice. But that'll be eclipsed by PC in a year or so. Always is. I furthermore dislike the removal of features. Not to mention the continued push for DL only. Personal copies on local media is everything to me. And the harder they push the more I go elsewhere. Finally there’s too much derpage surrounding new releases. Just doesn’t excite me.
  22. Keatah
    Like all the pioneering consoles back in the day, CV had its place and area of expertise. That would be home translations of select licensed arcade games. Atari VCS = Action Intellivision = Strategy Colecovision = Arcade ..and that's how we saw it. Moving from console whenever we wanted a different class of games to play. We also saw CV as being at the forefront of graphics. Closest to the arcade of everything in town - for a little while - till it was eclipsed by advancing technology.
  23. Keatah

    Happiness is finding extra CT4390s in my parts box.

  24. Keatah
    Love it! And love ColEm 5.4 Windows. Been following this stuff since the days of Mike Cuddy's Gyruss sound emulator. Found 2 roms that don't work. Or at least I can't get them going. Uridium and Gauntlett. I PM'ed them to you for convenience.
  25. Keatah
    Gotta goddamned prop-rod!
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