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whaledriver

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Posts posted by whaledriver

  1. The plot thickens.

     

    So I wrote a small basic program where I enter a string and then print it across the page eg:  LPRINT ST$; where ST$ is the entered string.

     

    If I enter the letter A it prints AAAAAAAAAAAAAA  forever.  Same for B etc.  But if I enter AB then if prints OLOLOLOLOL.

     

    If I enter ABC it prints CCCCCCCCC forever.  So anything more that one character and it prints incorrectly.  Again this is using my model 1.

  2. So I cleaned the contacts and nothing has changed.  I hooked the printer to my Model 1 and it has the exact same garbage output.  I plugged it back into my Atari 1200XL (using 850) and it works just fine.  So there must be some incompatibility between the TRS 80 and the NX-1000.  I have tried several different dip switch setting with no luck.  Hmmm......

  3. Thanks for the reply.

     

    This printer worked fine when connected to my Atari 8 bit. 

     

    I have the manual and checked the dip switches.  1-6 is on (toward the back) so it is set to use the standard set.  The manual says this printer is using the LX800 driver.  I'm not sure how to change that.

     

    I will clean the connectors in both sides with some Deox-it and see if that helps.

     

     

  4. I am having an issue trying to print with my Model 4.  I have a non gate array M4 with a Star Micronics NX-1000 printer attached.  I have it set for Epson LX800 mode.  When I go to print something for instance with an LPRINT from BASIC I get a bunch of random characters.  The number of characters printed is correct but they are not the correct characters.  Any ideas?

  5. Thanks but this doesn't solve my problem.  Those instructions replace the two 1200XL roms with an 800XL 16KB rom.

     

    I am trying to replace both 1200XL roms with two 8KB 28pin Eproms.  I wanted to split the REV11 rom file into two 8KB Eproms and install them in the 1200XL.

     

  6. I have a spare 1200XL that is completely stock.  Reading about the REV 11 OS got me thinking.  I have a bunch of 2764 Eproms.  I would think it would be possible to program two 8K Eproms and put them in the OS sockets.  I have looked and can't really fine a guide that would show how this is done.  I have the REV 11 rom file but it is 16KB.  I will have to split the file in half (unless someone knows where there is one already in two 8KB files).

     

    What changes to the board would I have to make to put in two 28 pin Eproms (besides soldering in two 28pin sockets)

     

    Thanks,

    Sean

  7. Growing up in Orlando I used to spend alot of time at the Adventure International computer store that was just down the road from my house.  I bought several games there for my Atari 400.  One of the software titles I bought was called Pro Pix.  It was a statistical program for betting on football games.  Now as a kid I didn't care to bet on football games but I was fascinated with using statistics to predict future outcomes.  

     

    I also was fascinated with the cash register at the store.  Instead of a regular cash register they had an Atari with a program called C.R.I.S (Cash register inventory system).  

     

    I have looked for several years but cannot find these two software titles anywhere.  I even asked Scott Adams about C.R.I.S. and he said he didn't have any copies of it after all these years.

     

    So I was thinking that maybe someone out there in the Atari world might have one or both of these programs or know of an archive out there that would have them.  Waiting with fingers crossed. :)

     

     

    • Like 2
  8. So I was watching a youtube video about the making of Back To The Future.  They talk about writing the first version of the screenplay for the movie.  The picture they show while talking about writing the screenplay has Bob Gale using a word processor.  Its hard to tell but that sure looks like an Atari XE computer.  That would be a pretty cool bit of history if the screen play for one of the most iconic movies made was written on an Atari.

     

    What do you guys think?

     

    Here is the video.  

     

    The picture is at 3:56

    Screen Shot 2020-02-12 at 9.29.04 PM.png

    • Like 1
  9. My families very first computer anything was an Odyssey II that my dad got us for Christmas in 1979.  Man that was huge for me.  I was instantly fascinated with it.  Later, my father bought the Intro to Computers cartridge and that started my love of programming.  A few years later my dad brought home a Timex Sinclair 1000.  I taught myself basic programming and had pretty much decided I wanted to be a computer programmer as an adult.  Then when I turned 13 My dad brought home an Atari 400.  He had the keyboard and RAM upgraded.  That was where things really took off for me.  I got the Assembler Editor cart for Christmas and taught myself assembly.  I had many years with that 400 being my main machine.  Later I moved onto other computers and the 400 ended up in the closet.  Lucky for me, that very same 400 made it through all the years/moves and I still have it to this day.  In college I minored in computer science.  My first jobs a kid (besides Burger King) were programming.  As I grew up I got out of computers and pursued my love of aviation and became an airline pilot.  Now that I am starting my 50s I find that I am getting the bug again to get back into programming/gaming.  The funny thing is that I have no interest in the modern stuff.  I just want to learn more about my 8 bits (especially the Atari)

    • Like 4
  10. When I was a kid I was fascinated with the thought of dumping cartridges to disk.  I wanted to write a program to accomplish this.  Of course this had already been done many times by others but it still intrigued me.   I had a few cassettes with copies of cartridges that would load a small program that would then load the cartridge.  This boot program would display a lower case 'k' on the upper left side of the screen.  I have also found some disk ATR images that use this same boot program with the 'k'.  Does anyone know the name of the program that created these cart copies?  I would really like to look at it and see how it worked. 

     

     

    • Like 1
  11. That is a classic head alignment problem.  There is a 'Master alignment' disk used to align the heads so all drives write the tracks in the exact same position on the disk.  If the head gets out of alignment it can read it's own created disks but cant read other disks that are aligned properly.

     

    So basically you need to get the drive re-aligned.  That will take an alignment disk that is hard to come by.  Someone here might have one that can help.

    • Like 1
  12. Mine is a little different but it is pretty close.  Out of my large collection, this is one of two computers I have now that I owned as a kid.  Probably my most valuable (to me) computer.  I have hundreds of hours on this very computer (got it when I was 15). 

     

     

    400.jpg

  13. Can you scan (or take a photo strait down if you don't have a scanner) of the front and back of the box and a strait down photo of the front and back of the Austin memory upgrade? Some of use have been trying to archive all the older third party memory upgrades.

     

    Thanks,

    Allan

     

    Sure. I am out of town for a few weeks but when I get home I will post those pics here.

    • Like 1
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