FALCOR4
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Posts posted by FALCOR4
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On 4/29/2021 at 10:38 AM, Bill R Sullivan said:Have the MSAVE/MSAVE6 source code files been found?
Not that I'm aware of. I started disassembling MSAVE6 a couple of years ago but got side tracked.
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18 hours ago, pmk222 said:After reading through all this and skimming through all the files, I'm thinking about potentially making one or two of these to play around with.
Out of curiosity, is there any information on the case? I know it's metal, but that's about it. With some dimensions, my boss and I may be able to come up with a few cases for these.
The other thing I noticed, the schematic document seemed to be blurry and in some cases impossible to read. Just wondering if it's still being worked on or if there is a higher quality scan, or something like that?
I, unfortunately, have only been able to view the files from my phone so I'm not sure if it's just a problem with downloading from android.
Thanks for your time
That's about as good as it gets for the schematics. They were in my garage for over 30 years in the summer heat and at one point also suffered some water damage. However, the resolution of the pics is good so you should be able to zoom in on them and see what you need to see. I wish I still had the original case drawings but I'm afraid those are lost to history. The mylars for the boards should be posted, though.
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2 hours ago, Ksarul said:That's the code I posted in the other thread, @FALCOR4
Copy. I was a step behind you but finally caught up! 😁 Thanks Ksarul!
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On 4/5/2021 at 3:55 PM, InsaneMultitasker said:Some time back, early 2020 perhaps, someone posted what appeared to be original, commented source code for the TI Disk Controller. I took note of this for future review, alas, I must not have saved the file(s) and I cannot find a reference to the post.
I spent the afternoon trying to find the post using the forum search mechanism. I am hoping someone remembers posting the source and/or knows which topic to look in?
(The code was not a disassembly nor was it from Thierry's tech pages. )
Thank you
I have TI source code for the sidecar controller. Thought I had posted it somewhere; will have to look. I once did a quick side-by-side comparison with some other disassembled code from the PEB controller card and it is very close. There were some code additions/differences that I thought could be easily reconciled at the time.
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I started with a TI-58C. I remember really wanting a 59 but I couldn't afford it at the time. I used the 58C until several of the buttons stopped working then went over to an HP15C which I still have today along with a 12C and 16C. Their buttons all still work 😆
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On 2/10/2021 at 5:21 PM, SpaceEdu said:Has anyone built one for sale for us electrically-minimal-skilled Ti99/4a fans that would love to have one but can never remember which end of the soldering iron not to pick up?
I had "briefly" considered designing a new version of the GK but I'm not convinced that there would be much interest in it given the FinalGROM and UBERGROM carts, emulations, etc. Even if I went ahead with the project it would likely be a kit as I wouldn't have the time to put many of them together. I wouldn't be able to produce a metal case either so it would have to be a printed plastic case.
My to-do list is long <sigh>
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On 1/29/2021 at 5:50 AM, apersson850 said:Considering that there's a programming language called TI LOGO, which runs in graphics mode, I suggest you change "logo" to "logotype" in your post. Now it's very misleading.
Thanks apersson850 for letting me know, change made.
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This may be out there somewhere but if not, here is the TI logotype (c) for TEXT mode (40 columns as opposed to 32 columns). If you have pics like this to share I'd love to see them.
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I was cleaning up my desk at work today and came across this cartoon a friend of mine gave me years ago after discovering I enjoyed programming assembly language on the TI. It was in fun and I certainly didn't take any offense but it got me thinking about structure in assembly language programming. So, do we have examples of what "good" assembly language programming looks like? And, why is it "good?" If you do, I'd love to see it and hear your philosophies about it.
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6 minutes ago, RXB said:RXB has this command CALL IO:
100 CALL CLEAR :: CALL HPUT(1,1,"THIS PROGRAM CHECKS FOR UNUSUAL KEYS BEING PRESSED, EVEN IF MORE THEN FOUR KEY ARE BEING PRESSED AT ONCE") 110 CALL IO(2,16,3,A,B):: IF A=18 AND B=255 THEN 110 ELSE CALL HPUT(24,3,RPT$(" ",30),24,24,STR$(A)&" "&STR$(B)) 120 IF A=146 THEN CALL HPUT(24,3,"FUNCTION KEY")ELSE IF B=191 THEN CALL HPUT(24,3,"CONTROL KEY")ELSE IF B=223 THEN CALL HPUT(24,3,"SHIFT KEY") 130 IF B=251 THEN CALL HPUT(24,3,"ENTER KEY")ELSE IF B=253 THEN CALL HPUT(24,3,"SPACE BAR")ELSE IF B=254 THEN CALL HPUT(24,3,"PLUS/EQUAL KEY") 140 GOTO 110This command unlike your other programs you see uses the IO CRU chip that talks to keyboard directly.
Thus the program returns the values of both sides of keyboard of a key, this is much better then other examples as it does a better job.
And it does it from XB with no assembly having direct access to the IO CRU chip.
Same command was used for the Weather Station control program.
That's pretty nifty, Rich! How did you implement it? Are you using the GPL Call IO command as part of the code sequence? Just curious.
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18 minutes ago, mizapf said:BTW, here is a chart that I once drew for my TI-as-USB-keyboard project that could be helpful. There is one downside of directly accessing the keyboard (not going through KSCAN): It won't work on the Geneve. This is one of those showstoppers for the otherwise almost perfect compatibility.
Nice! This will be very handy! Thanks
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23 hours ago, retroclouds said:Thanks for providing this. Like it a lot.
Just noticed that when pressing the right FCTN key while alpha lock is up, it shows alpha lock going down. Is that actually the case?
On a sidenote, In my Stevie editor I'm using a variant of the keyscan routine published by Simon Koppelmann taken from the book "TMS9900 assembler auf dem TI-99-4A".
Not using the TI99-4A ROM keyscan routine.
Before I'll release Stevie, I have to revisit and have to learn more on how to properly debounce keys. Because that is what is required for getting a fluent typing experience.
Is there a good way to do a reliable keyboard debounce, without using a very precise CPU loop? I tought about the 9901 timer function here for a moment.
Seems like a waste spending CPU cycles while reading the keyboard. Also makes it difficult if you are on a machine that has a higher clock rate.That really happens with the FCTN key. Also the 1,2,3,4,5 keys since they are all on the same line as the alpha key. Just one of those goofy design choices that TI made. Try this; press the FCTN, Shift and D keys together. You'll notice a fourth "phantom key" pop up.
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Here are pics I send to sellers to help determine QI MoBos from non-QI, if that's helpful. Like Ksarul stated. the CRU lines don't come out to the cartridge port on the QIs.
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On 12/21/2020 at 9:22 PM, Tursi said:Apologies, yes, Classic99 has a 32MB AMS card. I know non-standard breaks things, but I always expected one of the two writes in a word to be ignored on real hardware? I don't have a lot of information on the device, is my assumption wrong?
On the 256k and 1M cards you only need to send one byte in the MSByte of a WORD. In the 4M and above cards you need to send two bytes in a word; the 1M bank number in the LSByte and the page number in the MSByte. The LS612 always overwrites the LSByte write with the MSByte write. On the 4M and above cards the LSByte is latched and presented to the LS612 on the MSByte write cycle.
And on the larger cards, you only get the page number, duplicated in the MSByte and LSByte, when you read back a register. The latch containing the bank number does not read back on the data bus.
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One other tid bit of information that may help. The top SRAM on the PCB is the lower half of the total memory and the bottom SRAM IC is the upper half of total memory. If a test program makes it through the first half of memory and then flags errors afterwards then it is usually the bottom memory chip on the PCB. If the software doesn't function at all or errors out somewhere in the lower half of memory then it may be the top SRAM IC. In that case you could swap ICs and try again.
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On 12/17/2020 at 4:09 PM, Nelno said:Unfortunately after sanding down my latest piece to where it was fitting nicely, I tried to insert it without making sure the metal contact had separated and I crushed one side of the two copper contacts, breaking off the small pins there.
I had tested this previously and the contacts were being pushed aside by the internal bar. However, it turns out that I put the nubs on the wrong side of the plunger I designed and when I aligned the nubs correctly on the outside for inserstion, I didn't realize the internal bar was 90 degrees off and it crushed the contacts.
This is a very minor fix to the 3D CAD design, but a major setback for my keyboard repair.
I am really, really bummed about this. Nothing like breaking a nigh-irreplaceable 40-year old piece of hardware to ruin your day.
There doesn't seem to be any easy way to get the broken contact out of the plastic waffle housing and finding (or making) a replacement seems like it's going to be rather difficult. I'm pretty unhappy about this, but at least (I think) the 3D printed plunger has a good chance of success.
Hard to tell from the picture, but that bar is going the wrong way compared to the little nubs that allow the plunger to snap in, and that's basically how I managed to break my contact on my 2 key.
I'd be very interested in getting some of the plastic plunger replacements when you get things worked out to your satisfaction. I have the same issue with one of my good consoles with cracked posts that cause the keys to stick.
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Sometimes you may want to scan a key or two directly from the keyboard in your software rather than going through the TI KSCAN routine. This routine, that loads into cartridge ROM, is a quick and easy way to identify the key column and row that you can use for directly addressing the TMS9901. Also see Thierry's page on the TI keyboard implementation for a good rundown on how it works. Just another tool in the tool set. And, yes, the columns are listed vertically and the rows are listed horizontally 🙂
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1 hour ago, TheBF said:I have had it happen that removing and re-installing socketed chips solves a problem. There are a lots of opportunity for that problem on that board.
Definitely try that first. I had a similar problem that cleaning solved. I ended up cleaning the pins of the ICs, using contact cleaner on the pins and sockets, then swiping a thin film of dielectric grease on the pins before reinserting them. The card has been rock solid since. Hopefully something like that will work for you.
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16 minutes ago, blackbox said:Falcor asked " However, I have stepped through the HRD ramdisk DSR many times. No timing conflicts there as everything is in SRAM. What was your experience when you did this?"
Many years ago... Myarc 512k ram disk with bank switching. Can't recall what happened- a crash of some sort which may have been coincidental but it was safer to not use it. Myarc DSRs had a mind of their own- excellent operation but sometimes took control...
s
Copy that. I never tried to use it with a Myarc ram disk. Thanks for the reply.
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21 hours ago, blackbox said:Here are three zip files containing, in three parts, 112 hi res 480dpi tif images of the manual for
Millers Graphics EXPLORER
for you to read, print, ocr or pdf as you wish.Explore what your TI99/4a is doing - really doing- when running software. Lots of technical information.
The manual as you may anticipate is of value even without the program. If you have the disk it can load with XB, EdAs, MiniMem, Myarc Loader, Disk Manager...
Two important caveats- the details of console ROM/GROM relates only to one version, other consoles may (and do) differ. Atarisoft modules relied upon one version due to programming short cuts, and on some consoles the scores characters were 4 bytes out. Oh dear.
Major caveat- Disconnect any hard disk you have before running as EXPLORER can easily wipe your hard disk due to interrupt / timing etc conflicts. Also does not work nicely with ram disks.
Sadly my original manual was lacking ink in some places on some pages, I have filled these in but you may spot the insertions, sorry.
explorer_pt1.zip 11.59 MB · 6 downloads explorer00.tif 195.04 kB · 6 downloads explorer_pt2.zip 11.68 MB · 6 downloads explorer_pt3.zip 14.15 MB · 6 downloads
Very nice! Thanks for the hi-res repos!
One correction, there is no need to disconnect your hard drive while using the MG Explorer. It only causes problems if you try to step through the DSR or run code that accesses the disk (such as stepping through a BASIC file operation), which is a warning in the manual. I have actually had to re-format my old hard drive because I did that and didn't catch the code before it started to communicate with the controller board. Ouch! Fortunately I had backups! Otherwise, no problem leaving everything hooked up. However, I have stepped through the HRD ramdisk DSR many times. No timing conflicts there as everything is in SRAM. What was your experience when you did this?
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On 11/23/2020 at 7:34 AM, atrax27407 said:The T56 is supposed to do Vpp 25V chips but the TMS2516 isn't listed as "supported". You would have to check the entire support list to confirm which 25V chips are supported.
I have been successful emailing the company and requesting additional support. The ver 10.50 included support for logic test of the 74259 and 74688 that I requested as well as support for the two versions of the 2M SRAMs used in the SAMS 4M board. That happened in the matter of about a month; I was surprised and pleased to see that.
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18 hours ago, Bill R Sullivan said:In my MG 80K GramKracker, I use GRAM 0 for lowercase, GRAM 1 & GRAM 2 for an enhanced TI Basic w/EA Basic support code; thereby allowing me to use GRAMs 3 - 7 for MSAVEd TI Basic Plus programs. Due to both RAM banks being bad (chips or switch bad?) I can't do ROM pages. Due to my age and health I don't have time to do all that's on my plate. I have to take my daughter to Las vegas this afternoon to pick up her just repaired car, and tomorrow I have to go back to Vegas for a Doctor's appointment. Fortunately these are the shorter trips to Vegas from Bullhead City, AZ. Usually my Doctor appointments are in North Las Vegas (VA hospital) or Northeast Las Vegas Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center or nearby Heart Clinic. These non-VA appointments are due to LV VA not able to perform TAVR procedure which, in my case, caused my right groin artery to break, so they had to put a stint in it causing a prolonged recovery time. I now have a full beard due to blood thinners making shaving dangerous, even with an electric razor! So I'm always very thankful for any help I can get with hobby and other things that are difficult or dangerous for me to do. I can pay for some things as long as they're reasonably priced, as I'm having to pay for some of the non-VA medical charges myself (no other insurance, except Medi-care A).
I'll PM you, Bill.
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15 hours ago, mizapf said:Is the optional 32k RAM also battery-backed? It is not really clear from the schematics.
The optional 32K RAM, as RickyDean pointed out, is not battery-backed. All of the disk SRAMs and the 8K/32K DSR memory are battery-backed.
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The Gram Kracker mega thread
in TI-99/4A Development
Posted
If we are talking about the same problem, it is an issue in the console programming and can't be used out of GRAM/GROM. You may be able to write a routine that can be added to GRAM that fixes the issue? I'm not heavy into BASIC so I defer to those who have the knowledge. From Thierry's website; "
RESTORE command
Description: The RESTORE command in the Basic interpreter (in association with DATA, not with files) will only work if the program is placed in the VDP memory. It won't work for a program placed in GRAM/GROM.
Cause: This is because it imports data from the VDP directly instead of calling the dedicated routine that checks whether the program lies in VDP RAM or in GROM.
Fix: None that I can think of."