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cbmeeks

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Posts posted by cbmeeks

  2. Posted

    I just purchased a floppy disk controller (PHP1240) for my PEB. I read the MainByte page on it and it appears that I can only use an official TI disk drive. SSSD or DSSD drives.

     

    Is that true? I have a couple standard 1.2 MiB floppy drives but I'm guessing those can't work.

     

    What's my best option for a 5 1/4" drive?

     

    Thanks!

     

     

     

     

     

     

  4. Posted · Edited by cbmeeks

    Who would have ever thought it? Who could have ever believed an Apple IIe computer would still work all of these years later? Thanks to CNN's top-notch reporting, we now learned that there exists in this world...an actual working....Apple IIe.

     

    https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/17/tech/30-year-old-apple-computer-work-trnd/index.html

     

     

    Hey CNN....this just in....man drives 1970's era Volkswagen Beetle.....kid plays baseball with 40 year old mitt.....who'da thunk it!!!

     

     

     

     

    **EDIT**

     

    OK, sarcasm over....mother always taught me to look for the positives. OK...something positive....perhaps CNN's coverage of the Apple II would spark more interest in vintage computers?

    Wait, that might not be positive. Bad enough eBay scalpers have latched on...

    • Like 4

  6. Posted

    IEEE is not a card. It is a standards organization that standardized several interfaces, not just the one implied above, which is, I believe, the IEEE 488 or GPIB (also HPIB).

     

    ...lee

     

    Right. I knew IEEE was an organization. I just assumed when Stuart mentioned IEEE he meant the RS-232 card.

     

    So there was an IEEE-488 card too?

  7. Posted

    As I understand this,the program is copied out of the cartridge and into the 32K memory expansion. So a totally unexpanded TI99 would not work - you need the 32K.

     

    No worries there. My machine has the 32K expansion.

     

    In fact, I plan on getting a SAMS card sometime soon. :-)

    • Like 1

  9. Posted

    You can also use module creator to make the resulting E/A files from the compiler into a cartridge image.

     

     

    Wait, does that mean I can write an XB program...compile it....and then take that compiled binary and convert it to a cart? So the end user wouldn't need XB to run it?

    • Like 1

  10. Posted

     

    for the ieee card for the TI?where?

     

     

    Well.....I saw a few of them on eBay and they were $100 or so. Except the one that was $39.95. So my gut told me to just buy it. Which I did.

     

    Looks to be in pretty good shape and it's from a seller I've bought from before.

    • Like 1

  11. Posted

    You can use the joystick port for both input and output - http://www.stuartconner.me.uk/ti/ti.htm#i2c_interfacemight give you some useful information.

     

    Although if you're interfacing with a Commodore PET, you really ought to find an IEEE card for your PEB and interface over the IEEE ports - that would be a great project. ;-)

     

    I looked online and the cheapest I could find was $39 + S/H. Is that a reasonable price? There doesn't seem to be many of them around.

  12. Posted · Edited by cbmeeks

    The Myarc sounds nice but I have a few other purchases ahead of it. 🙂

     

    I'll search for the Wilhelm compiler.

     

    Will I need a disk system to use it? I was just going to save to cassette until I can get me a TIPI or real disk drive/controller.

  14. Posted

    I'm thinking of working on a small project that requires the TI-99/4A and a Commodore PET to "talk" to each other.

     

    Normally, this would be a job for serial and while the PET has a serial port, the stock TI does not.

     

    I have the PEB but I have not obtained a serial card yet. What I do have is the 32K sidecar expansion that has some header pins.

     

    So, I was wondering, how difficult would it be to use some of those pins as crude I/O?

     

    All I would need is a simple triggering system. I don't need to transfer data. Just something like:

     

     

    10 TI sends signal to PET
20 PET detects signal, runs script
30 PET finishes script, sends signal to TI
40 TI detects signal, runs script
50 GOTO 10

     

    Thanks for any suggestions.

  15. Posted

    I'm learning TMS9900 assembly language. But it's a little slow-going at the moment.

     

    In the meantime, I'd like to tinker around with some graphics/sound on the TI using BASIC. The official Extended BASIC seems to be a popular choice but I read many times that it's slow.

     

    XB is probably fast enough for what I want to do for now but I wouldn't mind playing with something that is faster and maybe even be compiled.

     

    The most complex thing I would want to do with it would be along the lines of Asteroids or PacMan. I'll save the more complex programs for assembly.

     

    What do you suggest?

     

    Besides assembly, what are the cool kids using for graphics/sound on the TI?

     

    Thanks!

     

    PS, I wonder if there should be a sticky somewhere for this. Like a PROS/CONS of each language for the TI. I know there are a lot of them! Might help people make some choices.

  17. Posted

    They turn up sometimes. I have acquired two TI couplers with big collections. They don't seem to add a premium!

    I used an (Apple) Novation CAT acoustic coupler with my Geneve for a while. (Hello CAT.. I found you in the garage yesterday while looking for Geneve stuff.)

     

    They can even talk to each other through the air, a trick I should bring out again for public demonstration.

     

     

    That would be a neat trick. I assume you put them in reversed positions pointed at each other?

  19. Posted

    Ahhhhh, a wifi antenna. So that's what that thing is.

     

    Still, whatever works. I think it's pretty darned impressive how it's able to sniff the apple 2 bus in real-time, regardless of whether or not the video output is handled by a Pi board.

     

     

    Agreed. As someone who has dabbled in getting a Propeller (160 MIPS micro-controller) to monitor the bus speed of a 6502, I can confirm that what they did in software is nothing short of impressive.

     

    Just proves my point...through enough cycles at something and you can do just about anything. :-D

  20. Posted

     

     

    "I'm going to change the floppy, if I'm not back in 20 mins, send help."

     

    LOL!!! That wasn't just an internet saying...I actually did laugh out loud!

     

     

     

    It seems odd nobody at TI pointed out the Circus Train being built before it left the station. The successor PEB and Firehose made a huge and unwieldy combo itself.

     

    Then again, compared to the TI-990 system, maybe they thought they were "thinking small." :)

     

    But I guess you could take the skyscraper approach some of the ZX81/Timex expansions chose. Or just keep sticking additions off the Back Porch. :lol: Some companies just sold boards and let the user figure out what to do with 'em. Don't forget the "real" keyboard upgrades

    -Ed

     

    That Leaning Tower of RAM is awesome. It clearly falls into that saying of "just because you can, doesn't mean you should". Hahaha

    • Like 1
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