cbmeeks

Sorry to go OT. But if I released a CV compatible console that had the same RAM and sound chip in the same IO space, would it be more of a legal thing to say its SGM compatible or a commoradary thing? The reason I ask is because I was thinking of making a small CV board myself. I designed a 6502 SBC recently and Im looking for another project.

Ive been away for a while. How was the SGM licensed by Opcode? In its simplest form, isnt the SGM just more memory and another sound chip? Sorry to be so clueless but I havent been keeping up to date lately. Thanks.

Because this BIOS supports a monochrome mode and I thought maybe someone would ask "Hey, are you sure the BIOS isn't in monochrome mode?" Anyway, I will probably end up recapping the monitor. At $3.99, I don't have much to loose. :-) Thanks for the suggestions.

So, I have this 486 DX2-66 machine that runs really well. 32MB RAM, VGA, SB, etc. For a while now, I've used some cheapo Dell LCD monitor and everything is fine. Yesterday, I found an NEC 17" CRT VGA monitor (MultiSync 75) for $3.99. So I jumped at it! Got it home, hooked it up and it seemed to work great. I noticed the environmental logo in the upper-right (during boot) looked monochrome. So I fiddle with the OSD controls and they are all in super bright color. This screen actually looks amazing. So I load up Eye of the Beholder and config for VGA. Again, looks amazing! You just can't beat CRT. Then, something weird happens. After the intro plays, the screen goes to a sort of gray scale. All color is pretty much gone. I restart the game and the intro is in color again. Do it a couple more times, and the intro is now gray scale. I have to reboot the computer to get the intro back to normal color. The game itself never shows in color. Only the intro. Next I tried a few other games (Hillsfar, etc.). All of them show in gray scale! I have looked at every BIOS setting I can find (yes, it's in VGA mode). I degaused the monitor, turned the monitor on/off, etc. I only get color during EOB intro! When it does show color, it's rock steady. No waving or fringes. Now, the OSD shows the refresh is 70 Hz. So I'm thinking the game goes into 60 Hz or something different and that causes the screen to loose the color. Every now and then, I can hear the monitor "twerp" when it switches to the game screen. So I am assuming it's switching the refresh rate. However, the OSD always show 70 Hz. Any idea what's going on with this? This being a multi-sync monitor I would have assumed it could handle the popular DOS games. I can provide screenshots if anyone is interested. Thanks!

Where is that spreadsheet? Thanks

The only F18a documention I know of has the 20 pages IIRC. Its pretty good (few typos) but I wished it were more. Like how to enable all 32 sprites on a line. Or show snippets of code with screenshots for sprites and scrolling, etc. Id write more documention myself if I had better TMS9900 asm knowledge and general knowledge of the F18a. So, is there more out there I can build on? I think the F18a is an under utilized platform that gives the NES a run for its money.

Ive tinkered with that idea before. Hmmm I wonder how hard it would be to latch the Genesis pad values and then stream them in via the fire button? Sort of like a parallel to serial conversion. Of course Id have to write a driver for it on the TI. And it wouldnt work with legacy games.

Its for a home brew project one day.

Is there a converter for the TI that would allow me to use a standard Genesis pad and have access to all buttons? Thanks!

Sorry for your loss.

I havent received the computer yet. But the seller did say he buffed out scratches and painted.

So I just won a 16k CoCo 1 off eBay. The seller had already painted the case white to match the model 2 and 3. Since the no-no has already been done, I thought there would be no harm in painting it again. But I want it back to the original gray color. Any ideas on what paint color I should use? Also, do you recommend a flat clear coat too to prevent oils from my hand changing the paint color over time?

Keep in mind Im the guy that still likes loading games from cassette. Lol So, whats the elevator pitch to the TIPI? Does it provide storage as well as RS232?

Thanks for the suggestions! I already have several RPis. The TIPI looks really nice but Im not crazy about running the PI for my retro systems. Not that I wouldnt do it. Just not my preferred choice. Ill look into that more. The FinalGROM 99 looks nice. I may have some PCBs made and order the parts. I like building my own hardware when I can. Ive wanted to get that P-Box going for years. Id love to see it running. But that will take some time and big money.

Its time to get my TI setup back out again and have some fun. Here is what my current rig has: F18a 32k side car Speech synthesizer FlashROM 99 WiModem 232 (not used on TI) What new and exciting hardware upgrades am I missing? Id like to play more games. I would also like to explore some development. Im a 6502 developer but wouldnt mind trying native TI assembly or maybe a compiled basic? Frogger or Goonies would be the limit of games Id like to make. Suggestions welcome! PS, I have a PEB box but nothing else. No cables or controllers. Also, I have no serial option or even joysticks. So I got some shopping to do!

Hello all. I hope I'm not OT here but I'm finding it difficult to find a place devoted to early PC (8088 - 80486) hardware and games. So, I'm slowly building a vintage 386. I have a motherboard that has 16 bit ISA slots only. My CPU is an AMD 386 @ 40Mhz. I also have a standard 3.5" (1.44MB) floppy as well as a 5 1/2" floppy drive. Now I'm at the point where I'm looking for some type of ISA (8bit? 16bit?) disk controller. It's been a LONG time since I've built a computer this old. I remember there are IDE cards, EIDE cards, etc. I'd like a real hard drive and not use a SD or CF. But I may go that route because it's hard to find small drives that aren't used and with problems. I would also hate to buy a 1TB drive and only use 512MB. lol So, in summary: Hard drive (preferred) in the 512MB to 2GB size. But I may use CF. 3.5" floppy 5 1/2" floppy IDE CD-ROM (optional) Oh, didn't they make controller cards that had I/O ports too? I'm going to need those, obviously. Especially serial. Any suggestions on what card(s) I should get? Brand names? Types? Etc. Thanks for any suggestions!

Ah, I imagine you're probably right. I can't ever seem to find one myself.

As the topic states... Anyone out there have a working memory expansion board for a Tandy 1000 EX? Thanks!

As I sit here with my nearly 80 vintage computers, I can say that emulation isn't my "go to" choice. :-) While I do use emulation....mainly for programming old computers before I transfer the software over to the real device. But to each his own. One aspect of the collecting and owning actual hardware (for me) is the peaceful and relaxing hobby of restoring them. Seriously. I love taking an old computer or console that doesn't work, clean it up...re-cap it, etc. and watching it come to live. I do admit, however, that I have a collecting problem. It's hard finding hidden places to store my computers so that the family doesn't have to step over them. lol

Care to share what video chip it was?

Something I'm really confused about. It was stated there will be no FPGA. Was the video chip actually made in the 80's? Are you using a micro-controller? CPLD?

I have version 1.7 of the F18a on my TI. The only way I can get software over to the TI is with my FlashRom99. But I'm not sure how to do it. I don't see any instructions on the site and when I search, I seem to find solutions for CF7 or other means. Is there a way to upgrade it? I don't know that I *have* to have 1.8 but I thought it would be a good exercise considering I hope to start programming the TI soon. Thanks!

You young whippersnappers and your modern plastic cases! In my day all of our computer cartridges were made from wood! Oak like a real man would use. Now get off my lawn! Lol

Holy crap Batman! That is complicated. The TI was my first computer and I will always be fond of it but that is complex. I knew some of it. Like the VDP because I've been studying the TMS9918 for a long time (in relations to Coleco). I'm going to have to wrap my head around all of this. After I received my TI as a kid, I then moved on to the C64 and became pretty good at 6502 assembly. But I'd love to do some TI development. Anyway, lots to learn. BTW, I cannot get used to > for hexadecimal addresses when the world uses $. Lol.

So you guys are saying that TI released some cartridges (modules) that contained RAM/ROM on the cartridge itself and that RAM/ROM was in a different address space than the 32K RAM side expansion? So they compliment each other rather than compete? So how would the address space work with all the bank switching in the cartridge space? That wouldn't conflict with the side expansion right? How much contiguous memory would there be with the FG99 and the 32k side expansion? Thanks