cbmeeks

I don't have an answer but if you find a source, please share. I have a Laser 128 that has all of the keys. However, many of them have rubbed off (ink missing).

DUR! Yeah, I knew that...just a typo. Maybe I'm not the man for the job! LOL And yes, I've started using the "correct" convention of KiB, MiB, etc. (notice the "i"). I know the pain of thinking you bought a 512 MiB drive only to find out you had MUCH less after formatted. 🙂

Just a suggestion....but I would recommend editing the text so that you have proper naming conventions. For example: Everyone more than likely knows that "8k" means 8 kiloBYTES. But 2mb could be confused for bits. As in 256 KiB. So things like: would look really professional, IMHO. I'm not a grammar nerd by means...but (there's always a "but"), this FAQ is good enough for print and it would be nice to see some polishing touches. I can re-type and clean up if anyone is interested. Anyway...thanks for doing this! I come here all the time looking for new "official" happenings with the TI community.

I've got some SCSI drives for some of my old Macs....sound like a 737 hovering over my house. I much prefer SSD. 🙂

That sounds great. I'll have to look into that. We have the F18A (and soon, the MK2) for the TI-99/4A and (I just recently learned) the Sophia DVI for Atari 800 series. The VIC-20 and C64/128 are SCREAMING for a similar device. Shoot...that goes for the Amiga and ST as well. In the meantime, I've never been a fan of these converters/upscalers. But, I've never heard of this one so thanks for that.

Keep in mind when I first started *really* wanting a II+ (I had several IIe's), they were going for $400+ for bare unit with not much else. But, I kid you not, after I bought my motherboard and case I noticed they started dropping considerably. 😕 Oh well...not the first time that's happened to me. One saving grace for all of my patience and cost is that this machine looks like it just came off the assembly line. FWIW (apparently $300+ for me...lol)

Sorry for OT, but this reminds me of how naive I was as a kid (maybe as an adult?? lol ). When I was a kid and played all of these cracked games, I never knew what that meant. I just assumed you went to the store, bought the disks and they had all of those scrolling text messages and splash screens. Ah to be young again...

Could be. Joust was ported to so many systems that it's possible I played it on something else. Does seem odd, though. It's not like Joust is too taxing for the C64.

I don't remember the exact procedure, but I think if you hold down the mouse button, you can boot an NTSC 1200 into PAL mode (or vice-versa). I may not remember the exact details but it's something like that. However, make sure you have a display that will handle both signals. My 1084S (NTSC) will not handle PAL signals. Only shows B/W when I try.

Are you sure? I remember playing Joust as a kid and I know it wasn't on my TI. I know I played it in arcades but I was almost positive I played it at home too. Which would have been C64, Amiga 500, 2600 or Coleco. Then again, I am in my late 40's so who knows how bad my memory is. lol

I got a spare Tandy 1000 EX that has a cut power cord. I could easily repair that but otherwise, it's stock with no extra cards. I'm debating selling it. If it's not worth much, then I may not bother. Anyone near Chattanooga that might be interested?

Well, I actually did bother to read the thread but I guess I didn't put 2 and 2 together like you did. I gathered that the general consensus was that it could never be good enough to be enjoyable which is why it was never done. Thanks for pointing out my mistake.

Speaking of, in my recent move I discovered that I have several educational titles and some print titles (banners, etc.). I could have sworn I saw some type of bear on one of the boxes. I will try and remember to look this evening when I get home. I think most of it is Math Blaster and Carmen San Diego. At the very least, if I can remember, I will post my titles and see if any of them are missing from archives.

That's a good question. I guess I am more of a computer hoarder than I thought. I have sold/donated stuff in the past but not that often. I think one reason is that since I already own these computers, I feel a sort of "hardware wealth". Not to brag...but more like stability. Like, if my Apple II dies, I have several others so I'm covered. Another reason is that the Apple II, Commodore 64, Amiga and TI all have a certain nostalgic feeling for me. In different ways. The TI was my first computer ever. So I have an affinity for those machines. The Commodore 64 was very special to me because it was bought by my mom and I enjoyed the most programming out of. The Amiga was dear to me because it was the first computer I ever bought myself (worked an entire summer saving every penny during school). The Apple II was the computer I wanted as a child because we had them in school but they were way too expensive. So I can go on and on as to WHY I hang on to these things. My head tells me I'm being irrational. Another reason is that I sometimes feel the recipient of one of my computers wouldn't respect them the way I do. It would tear me up to discover they were parted out for profit or used in some stupid YouTube video like that idiot kid that smashed a TI as click-bait. Again, I'm being irrational. It would certainly help to find someone...preferably someone local....that would actually use and enjoy one of my computers. Several years ago, I almost gave one of my Amiga 500's away. I worked with a guy much younger than me but he had discovered the Amiga and was fascinated by them. He kept asking me questions about them and said he was looking for one. Then, he was fired from work. I didn't want to talk to him immediately after that (it's actually a policy here)...mainly because I knew he was probably stressed enough and/or embarrassed. After more time went by, I figured he moved on. That's a very good way to look at it. I have also gotten MUCH better at repairing machines over the years. And many parts can be substituted or found elsewhere. There are a few exceptions, however. Especially with Amiga's and Commodore 64's. If you have a dead SID, your choices are limited. You can get a modern replacement (SwinSID, etc.). Which is certainly an option. But I would hate to not have a real SID...because, well...SID. Another option is to buy from eBay. Assuming you get one that works, hell, you can pay more than a "dead C64" that probably has a working SID. eBay scalpers are scum. Finally, you can pull one from a "parts C64". Preferably a C64 that was mostly dead already. Same goes for Amiga parts. Fortunately, Apple is a little easier to repair because much of the logic is plain TTL. Unless you want to match date codes. But I've never been that picky. I will certainly think about thinning my collection out. I may start with some of my lesser desirable machines. Like my spare Mattel Aquarius. 🙂 Or, I have a spare Tandy 1000 EX that is missing a power cable that should be easy to repair. Those are actually in demand. Maybe my spare IIc or spare Platnum? If I do, I will try forums first. No way I'm selling on eBay.

I have the F18a for my TI-99/4A and it was one of the best investments I ever made in retro computing. The VGA signal is so amazing. So when I learned of a CPLD version for the A8 that could possibly do the same thing (or, technically better since it's digital vs. analog), I was really excited. I've read that there are some issues with monitors. I've also done some light weight FPGA and CPLD work so flashing new cores would be fine by me. In fact, seems like the author could put the cores (even binary files) online so people could just flash them directly if they knew how. I've sent a PM for pricing information. 🙂 Anyway, can you tell us about your project? Perhaps a new thread would be better as to not hijack this one. Thanks.

The only way I would drop that kind of cash is if I was super wealthy and $6200 was peanuts to me. And that would be after I donated tons of money to charities, etc. I will admit, however, that my Apple II+ (which I am assembling from parts) is my most expensive retro computer. I don't have the grand total as I bought several pieces from different auctions. But it's probably well north of $300. And that's not counting the monitor and disk drives. That was a hard pill to swallow but I "cheated" a little. One, I spread it out over about a year or so. Meaning, I bought the motherboard first ($69 IIRC) that is near mint and works. Then I bought a near mint case for $49. Next, I bought a complete Apple II +(case, motherboard, PSU, keyboard, disk controller and language card) for $140 or so. I plan on using the PSU and keyboard out of it. The case is severely gouged (school initials burned into the top) and holes drilled into it. Finally, I bought a PSU kit from Reactive Micro for $70. What's that? $69 + $49 + $140 + $70 = $328. There's probably another $30 or so in there for shipping that I am forgetting. No one ever said collecting computers was cheap. 🙂 What's funny is that even in the 40 year old retro world, Apple is still the most expensive! HAHAHAHA So yeah. I paid up a little but at the end of the day, I will have pretty much a show-piece Apple II+ that I will actually USE. Plus, I will have another motherboard as backup. Or, I could sell it to recoup a little cost. I hope to make that my everyday Apple but I might be a little disappointed when it comes to the expanded features the IIe gives you.

AH! Thanks for clearing that up. Sounds like I would need the DVI solution then.

Sorry, I haven't read all 42 pages. 🙂 But what's the difference between this and the Sophia board? How do we know which to choose? I have a 24" HDMI / DVI / VGA Acer monitor that I think would be perfect. Although it's wide-screen. Thanks for any tips.

One place you may want to check out is http://forum.6502.org I see that GAL mentioned a lot over there and since it's for a 6502 based computer, I don't think it would be off topic. Plus, I know some guys over there are experts in WinCUPL.

I read several pages but not all. So apologies if this has been mentioned already. On the topic of the TI....TI's "killer app" is, IMHO, the vibrant community here on AtariAge. TI has great new software and hardware coming out all the time. I really believe the TI has become a better computer these days because of it. Especially when you factor in the F18a, TIPI, etc. Tons and tons of great games. Plus some great BASIC's that can be compiled to nearly asm speeds in many areas. As for the A400, I have two of them. I also have a few 800XL's, couple 600 XL's and even a 1200 XL. Shoot..I got a 65XE, XEGS and 130XE too. So I got the wide-range of 8 bit Atari's covered. My personal favorite is my stock Atari 800 (not XL). That machine is built like a tank. Tough as nails and a joy to use. But if I were to recommend a newbie buy an 8-bit Atari (not counting the 2600), I would recommend the 800XL. Mainly because it was Atari's flagship Atari. Even though the 130XE was technically better. But I can't stand that mushy keyboard. The 800, 600XL and 800XL have a nice keyboard and the build quality is good on them. If you're serious about retro collecting, then I really recommend getting the TI *AND* the Atari 800XL. I mean, why not? Another great thing about TI is that they are surprisingly affordable. They are both great game machines...wait...they are computers that play great games. lol The TI certainly has its foibles (in spades, actually). But that's why we love it. I will say this about the Atari 400, they do look like they belong in an episode of Dr. Who. Something that screams great 70's/early 80's goodness.

Sorry, I haven't read every reply. My apologies for any repeats. First, you are correct. Commodore was infamous for piss-poor quality. Well, I would say Tramiel was more low quality than many of the engineers at Commodore. From what I understand, potting of power supplies was/is a common practice. In fact, it was to help prevent fires. I even asked the retro community a while back. https://retrocomputing.stackexchange.com/questions/4444/why-did-commodore-fill-their-power-supplies-with-epoxy I think Bil Herd summed it up best: Having said that, it's wildly known that the PSU's of any Commodore are crap. Especially the C64 and it is HIGHLY recommended you only use a modern solution. Look around, there are many options these days. I won't turn on my C64 without my modern PSU. Also, I think most people remove that crap RF shielding. If my neighbor can't microwave his bean burrito at 2:00 AM because I'm blasting aliens on my C64, then he will have to get over it. lol I prefer to remove the shielding and put heat sinks on most of the chips (along with recapping the board). I like to think these days all of us retro computer guys and gals can finally get along and realize all of these wonderful 8-bit computers are great. So, no more need for flame wars. HAHAHA

Sorry to dig up an old topic. But the images for this thread are long since gone. Is there a more modern write up to this? I'd like to use a modern PSU in my PEB if I can. This link seems to be pretty good but having a step-by-step guide with pics would be awesome. http://www.harmlesslion.com/text/atx_peb.htm Thanks!

So, while I work on possibly replacing my PEB power supply, I was wondering if there are any good, new PSU's for the TI itself? I've bought modern supplies for my C64 and Apple II so why not for my TI? I'm pretty good with a soldering iron so I guess I could recap the PSU. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the external brick just a transformer? I've never opened it up. But, having a nice new PSU that is reliable would be ideal. Thanks!

Those are all valid points. The very reason I am learning to use the 1504/8 is because of the 5V tolerance. That, and I think it's big enough to put some glue and simple VGA frame buffer. I have some FPGA's but I like the idea of a decent size CPLD that "feels" more like a vintage, custom ASIC to me at least. Especially since you can get through hole sockets for them. Anyway...I was just curious.

So, pardon my ignorance, but if a game like Skyfox can run somewhat smoothly on an Apple II, then why couldn't Pole Position run OK? Is it because of the odd-ball graphics format? I know the Apple II is only 1 MHz (with no custom hardware) but still...