[Assembly on the 99/4A]

I always liked the Atari XL font. It worked well on a TV with 40 chars per line

 

[MuseScore/4a - Music for the TI]

On 4/2/2024 at 8:42 PM, SteveB said:

The quick patch seems to cure the problem. I will rework the code a little and prepare a new release in the next days.

It took a little longer ... here is the fixed version 1.2;

 

TI-MuseScore4a_V12.zip

 

Have fun,

Steve

 

[Off-Topic / Dumping Thread]

26 minutes ago, mizapf said:

Banana?

[Warnings about Malware when downloading some File Attachments]

Guarantied to help against headache:

 

 

but Asperin might have less side effects. 

 

Sometimes the cure is worse than the problem.

 

 

[Off-Topic / Dumping Thread]

10 hours ago, Tursi said:

I think the only people who are finding it creates the code faster are those who couldn't write it anyway, and there are no metrics at all about whether the code that was generated /actually worked/.

 

I have to admit, when setting up my Linux NAS on a mini-pc last month, I had quite some bash scripts written by ChatGPT. 

 

It understood very well what I wanted and created code with error-checking and comments, which ran immediately. In some cases I started simple and added features in the dialog ... ignore .zfs directories, write a logfile, ...

 

It was fun. And spared me from learning the bash syntax, in which I have no real interest in. 

 

[TI Related -- Ebay / Heads Up Notice]

4 hours ago, OLD CS1 said:

rebuke the metric system

Really?  

 

 

[What is the purpose of the PERMANENT parameter specification in a sub?]

12 hours ago, jschultzpedersen said:

100 SUB TEST(PERMANENT X)

You BASICally found a parsing bug for the SUB statement. It ignores a single token in the variable list before any variable. Therefore the following also works:

 

SUB TEST(SIZE X)

SUB TEST(FIXED X)

SUB TEST(DELETE X)

 

If you CALL TEST(5), X will be ZERO ... I assume the 5 gets assigned to the strange token-named variable, which you can't access later on with print or anything else. When you set a comma after the token, you get an "incorrect argument list" at runtime. If you adjust your CALL for two arguments, it gets through and the second value gets assigned to X. Yet you can't access the Token-Variable with the first value, without provoking a syntax error. I tried to use it in PRINT, CALL and LET.

 

This also works for more than one variable:

 

SUB TEST(DELETE X, FIXED Y)

 

Perhaps @RXB can share some insights of the SUB GPL code for this unexpected behaviour.

 

Steve

 

 

 

[MuseScore/4a - Music for the TI]

I'm testing my changes and I am amazed how some songs sound much better now .. This one is in G minor (though Google lists half a dozen of keys for this song) ... Enjoy

 

100 DATA 500,220,0,0,500,349,174,0,375,415,349,0,125,349,311,0,125,220,0,0,125,349,311,0
110 DATA 250,466,261,0,250,349,311,0,250,311,349,0,500,349,174,0,375,523,349,0,125,349,349,0
120 DATA 125,220,0,0,125,349,233,0,250,554,261,0,250,523,311,0,250,415,349,0,250,349,138,0
130 DATA 250,523,138,0,250,698,277,0,125,349,277,0,125,311,311,0,125,220,0,0,125,311,311,0
140 DATA 250,261,261,0,250,391,311,0,750,349,349,0,625,220,0,0,125,311,0,0,250,261,0,0
150 DATA 250,233,0,0,250,207,0,0,500,349,174,0,375,415,349,0,125,349,311,0,125,220,0,0
160 DATA 125,349,311,0,250,466,261,0,250,349,311,0,250,311,349,0,500,349,174,0,375,523,349,0
170 DATA 125,349,349,0,125,220,0,0,125,349,233,0,250,554,261,0,250,523,311,0,250,415,349,0
180 DATA 250,349,138,0,250,523,138,0,250,698,277,0,125,349,277,0,125,311,311,0,125,220,0,0
190 DATA 125,311,311,0,250,261,261,0,250,391,311,0,750,349,349,0,625,220,0,0,125,311,0,0
200 DATA 250,261,0,0,250,233,0,0,250,207,0,0,250,174,0,0,125,523,174,0,125,523,174,523
210 DATA 125,523,349,0,250,523,349,523,125,622,311,523,125,622,0,0,125,622,311,622
220 DATA 250,622,261,622,125,587,311,0,125,587,311,587,250,587,349,587,250,174,0,0
230 DATA 125,523,174,0,125,523,174,523,125,523,349,0,250,523,349,523,125,622,349,523
240 DATA 125,622,0,0,125,622,233,622,125,587,261,622,125,587,261,587,125,523,311,0
250 DATA 125,523,311,523,250,523,349,523,250,138,0,0,125,415,138,0,125,415,138,415
260 DATA 125,415,277,0,250,415,277,415,125,415,311,415,125,415,0,0,125,466,311,0
270 DATA 250,466,261,466,125,311,466,0,125,466,311,466,250,466,349,466,250,349,0,0
280 DATA 125,523,349,0,125,523,349,523,125,523,0,0,375,523,523,0,125,466,0,0,125,523,311,0
290 DATA 250,523,261,523,250,233,523,0,250,207,523,0,250,174,0,0,125,523,174,0,125,523,174,523
300 DATA 125,523,349,0,250,523,349,523,125,622,311,523,125,622,0,0,125,622,311,622
310 DATA 250,622,261,622,125,587,311,0,125,587,311,587,250,587,349,587,250,174,0,0
320 DATA 125,523,174,0,125,523,174,523,125,523,349,0,250,523,349,523,125,622,349,523
330 DATA 125,622,0,0,125,622,233,622,125,587,261,622,125,587,261,587,125,523,311,0
340 DATA 125,523,311,523,250,523,349,523,250,138,0,0,125,415,138,0,125,415,138,415
350 DATA 125,415,277,0,250,415,277,415,125,415,311,415,125,415,0,0,125,466,311,0
360 DATA 250,466,261,466,125,311,466,0,125,466,311,466,250,466,349,466,250,349,0,0
370 DATA 125,523,349,0,125,523,349,523,125,523,0,0,375,523,523,0,125,466,0,0,125,523,311,0
380 DATA 250,523,261,523,250,233,523,0,250,207,523,0,1500,523,0,0
390 ! Player code
400 FOR I=1 to 158
410 READ DUR,F1,F2,F3
420 IF F2=0 THEN CALL SOUND(DUR,F1,0 ) ELSE IF F3=0 THEN CALL SOUND(DUR,F1,0 ,F2,0 ) ELSE CALL SOUND(DUR,F1,0 ,F2,0 ,F3,0 )
430 NEXT I

 

This restores the (sound-) honor of the TI-99/4a and the faith in the TMS9919, doesn't it?

[MuseScore/4a - Music for the TI]

On 4/1/2024 at 8:38 PM, SteveB said:

You are right again ... my music knowlegde wasn't suffient when I started this program. I works only correct when in C major. This is why the first note on the second, fourth, sixth and eights measure have a explicit "natual" accidental.

 

The <alter> seems to reflect this already.

 

@syd michel Does this sounds right?

 

  Reveal hidden contents

100 CALL SOUND(500,220,0) ! M001: quarter 3A 
110 CALL SOUND(500,277,0) ! M001: quarter 4C#
120 CALL SOUND(500,329,0) ! M001: quarter 4E 
130 CALL SOUND(500,369,0) ! M001: quarter 4F#
140 CALL SOUND(500,391,0) ! M002: quarter 4G 
150 CALL SOUND(500,369,0) ! M002: quarter 4F#
160 CALL SOUND(500,329,0) ! M002: quarter 4E 
170 CALL SOUND(500,277,0) ! M002: quarter 4C#
180 CALL SOUND(500,220,0) ! M003: quarter 3A 
190 CALL SOUND(500,277,0) ! M003: quarter 4C#
200 CALL SOUND(500,329,0) ! M003: quarter 4E 
210 CALL SOUND(500,369,0) ! M003: quarter 4F#
220 CALL SOUND(500,391,0) ! M004: quarter 4G 
230 CALL SOUND(500,369,0) ! M004: quarter 4F#
240 CALL SOUND(500,329,0) ! M004: quarter 4E 
250 CALL SOUND(500,277,0) ! M004: quarter 4C#
260 CALL SOUND(500,293,0) ! M005: quarter 4D 
270 CALL SOUND(500,369,0) ! M005: quarter 4F#
280 CALL SOUND(500,440,0) ! M005: quarter 4A 
290 CALL SOUND(500,493,0) ! M005: quarter 4B 
300 CALL SOUND(500,523,0) ! M006: quarter 5C 
310 CALL SOUND(500,493,0) ! M006: quarter 4B 
320 CALL SOUND(500,440,0) ! M006: quarter 4A 
330 CALL SOUND(500,369,0) ! M006: quarter 4F#
340 CALL SOUND(500,220,0) ! M007: quarter 3A 
350 CALL SOUND(500,277,0) ! M007: quarter 4C#
360 CALL SOUND(500,329,0) ! M007: quarter 4E 
370 CALL SOUND(500,369,0) ! M007: quarter 4F#
380 CALL SOUND(500,391,0) ! M008: quarter 4G 
390 CALL SOUND(500,369,0) ! M008: quarter 4F#
400 CALL SOUND(500,329,0) ! M008: quarter 4E 
410 CALL SOUND(500,277,0) ! M008: quarter 4C#
420 CALL SOUND(500,329,0) ! M009: quarter 4E 
430 CALL SOUND(500,415,0) ! M009: quarter 4G#
440 CALL SOUND(500,493,0) ! M009: quarter 4B 
450 CALL SOUND(500,415,0) ! M009: quarter 4G#
460 CALL SOUND(500,293,0) ! M010: quarter 4D 
470 CALL SOUND(500,369,0) ! M010: quarter 4F#
480 CALL SOUND(500,440,0) ! M010: quarter 4A 
490 CALL SOUND(500,369,0) ! M010: quarter 4F#
500 CALL SOUND(500,220,0) ! M011: quarter 3A 
510 CALL SOUND(500,277,0) ! M011: quarter 4C#
520 CALL SOUND(500,329,0) ! M011: quarter 4E 
530 CALL SOUND(500,369,0) ! M011: quarter 4F#
540 CALL SOUND(500,440,0) ! M012: quarter 4A 
550 CALL SOUND(500,369,0) ! M012: quarter 4F#
560 CALL SOUND(500,440,0) ! M012: quarter 4A 
570 CALL SOUND(500,440,30) ! M012: quarter 4A 
 

 

 

The quick patch seems to cure the problem. I will rework the code a little and prepare a new release in the next days.

[MuseScore/4a - Music for the TI]

24 minutes ago, Asmusr said:

I think <accidental> is about how the note looks while <alter> is about its pitch. As you probably know, depending on the key, e.g. A major, some notes are sharp or flat by default without writing it explicitly.

 

https://www.w3.org/2021/06/musicxml40/musicxml-reference/elements/alter/

You are right again ... my music knowlegde wasn't suffient when I started this program. I works only correct when in C major. This is why the first note on the second, fourth, sixth and eights measure have a explicit "natual" accidental.

 

The <alter> seems to reflect this already.

 

@syd michel Does this sounds right?

 

Spoiler

100 CALL SOUND(500,220,0) ! M001: quarter 3A 
110 CALL SOUND(500,277,0) ! M001: quarter 4C#
120 CALL SOUND(500,329,0) ! M001: quarter 4E 
130 CALL SOUND(500,369,0) ! M001: quarter 4F#
140 CALL SOUND(500,391,0) ! M002: quarter 4G 
150 CALL SOUND(500,369,0) ! M002: quarter 4F#
160 CALL SOUND(500,329,0) ! M002: quarter 4E 
170 CALL SOUND(500,277,0) ! M002: quarter 4C#
180 CALL SOUND(500,220,0) ! M003: quarter 3A 
190 CALL SOUND(500,277,0) ! M003: quarter 4C#
200 CALL SOUND(500,329,0) ! M003: quarter 4E 
210 CALL SOUND(500,369,0) ! M003: quarter 4F#
220 CALL SOUND(500,391,0) ! M004: quarter 4G 
230 CALL SOUND(500,369,0) ! M004: quarter 4F#
240 CALL SOUND(500,329,0) ! M004: quarter 4E 
250 CALL SOUND(500,277,0) ! M004: quarter 4C#
260 CALL SOUND(500,293,0) ! M005: quarter 4D 
270 CALL SOUND(500,369,0) ! M005: quarter 4F#
280 CALL SOUND(500,440,0) ! M005: quarter 4A 
290 CALL SOUND(500,493,0) ! M005: quarter 4B 
300 CALL SOUND(500,523,0) ! M006: quarter 5C 
310 CALL SOUND(500,493,0) ! M006: quarter 4B 
320 CALL SOUND(500,440,0) ! M006: quarter 4A 
330 CALL SOUND(500,369,0) ! M006: quarter 4F#
340 CALL SOUND(500,220,0) ! M007: quarter 3A 
350 CALL SOUND(500,277,0) ! M007: quarter 4C#
360 CALL SOUND(500,329,0) ! M007: quarter 4E 
370 CALL SOUND(500,369,0) ! M007: quarter 4F#
380 CALL SOUND(500,391,0) ! M008: quarter 4G 
390 CALL SOUND(500,369,0) ! M008: quarter 4F#
400 CALL SOUND(500,329,0) ! M008: quarter 4E 
410 CALL SOUND(500,277,0) ! M008: quarter 4C#
420 CALL SOUND(500,329,0) ! M009: quarter 4E 
430 CALL SOUND(500,415,0) ! M009: quarter 4G#
440 CALL SOUND(500,493,0) ! M009: quarter 4B 
450 CALL SOUND(500,415,0) ! M009: quarter 4G#
460 CALL SOUND(500,293,0) ! M010: quarter 4D 
470 CALL SOUND(500,369,0) ! M010: quarter 4F#
480 CALL SOUND(500,440,0) ! M010: quarter 4A 
490 CALL SOUND(500,369,0) ! M010: quarter 4F#
500 CALL SOUND(500,220,0) ! M011: quarter 3A 
510 CALL SOUND(500,277,0) ! M011: quarter 4C#
520 CALL SOUND(500,329,0) ! M011: quarter 4E 
530 CALL SOUND(500,369,0) ! M011: quarter 4F#
540 CALL SOUND(500,440,0) ! M012: quarter 4A 
550 CALL SOUND(500,369,0) ! M012: quarter 4F#
560 CALL SOUND(500,440,0) ! M012: quarter 4A 
570 CALL SOUND(500,440,30) ! M012: quarter 4A 
 

 

 

[MuseScore/4a - Music for the TI]

8 hours ago, Asmusr said:

I assume that <alter>1</alter> means changing C to C#, but this is not reflected in the output 110 CALL SOUND(500,261,0), which should be 110 CALL SOUND(500,277,0).

 

<pitch>
          <step>C</step>
          <alter>1</alter>
          <octave>4</octave>
</pitch> 

Very interesting .. I currently ignore <alter> and only look for <accidental>flat</accidental> or <accidental>sharp</accidental>. 

 

I will see what I can do in the code... this does not really fit in my translation logic.

 

 

 

[MuseScore/4a - Music for the TI]

Yes, I'm afraid it is as good as the hardware permits. The calculation of frequencies to the notes seem to be correct, sometimes off by 1 Hz due to rounding and also different frequency tables.

 

E: 329 vs. 330 Hz

G: 391 vs. 392 Hz

 

MuseScore/4a calculates by division from the 8th octave:

  freq[8,'C',natural] := 4186;
  freq[8,'C',sharp]   := 4434;
  freq[8,'D',flat]    := 4434;
  freq[8,'D',natural] := 4698;
  freq[8,'D',sharp]   := 4978;
  freq[8,'E',flat]    := 4978;
  freq[8,'E',natural] := 5274;
  freq[8,'F',natural] := 5587;
  freq[8,'F',sharp]   := 5919;
  freq[8,'G',flat]    := 5919;
  freq[8,'G',natural] := 6271;
  freq[8,'G',sharp]   := 6644;
  freq[8,'A',flat]    := 6644;
  freq[8,'A',natural] := 7040;
  freq[8,'A',sharp]   := 7458;
  freq[8,'B',flat]    := 7458;
  freq[8,'B',natural] := 7902;

 

 

You may check out the E/A Manual chapter 20.3 to see the actual hardware divider resolution:

 

Some things work better than others...

[MuseScore/4a - Music for the TI]

Could you send me an example? I'm sure this is fixable ...

 

[TI Related -- Ebay / Heads Up Notice]

I have one for some years now ... I wish I had it BITD ...

 

[Off-Topic / Dumping Thread]

Sometimes you don't even need 16 Bit  ...

 

[Off-Topic / Dumping Thread]

While moving some old stuff to my new NAS System I found a Bookmark-File from May 2002 ...

@Tursi's page at http://tursi.yiffco.com/games/classic99/ isn't online anymore... but still in the archive.

 

[Ghostbusters - Development Diary]

I haven't seen a game manual ... as I know the original game well, I didn't look for one either.

 

You may have a look at our XB Ghostbusters One-Page Manual, there are only minor differences ...

 

 

Map: If you catch a "Roamer" ghost on the map it will show up during your drive. If you bought the vacuum, you may catch it there.

 

Building: You need to drive to a fashing building to catch a ghost. If no ghost is present, you will end up on the map.

 

 

 

[Off-Topic / Dumping Thread]

3 hours ago, OLD CS1 said:

As well, the promise of self-checkout is not coming to fruition of shorter waits, more convenience, greater reliability, &c.  People, on the whole, hate it.

There was an interesting article on a BBC website from the UK:

https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20240111-it-hasnt-delivered-the-spectacular-failure-of-self-checkout-technology

 

[The TMS9900 Cheat-Sheet]

9 hours ago, Artoj said:

I really like what you have done, maybe a whole section on the CRU bits used by the TI and addressing with the CRU instructions. It is something I have been planning to address (pun) for a while, it will save having to look up a number of different lists and files, Regards Arto.

Thank you. As CRU hasn't been in my projects yet, I would need some specific suggestion for such a section to be useful.

[Free HiMem after compiling XB?]

So here are my findings ...

 

I wanted to have a static address, which I can rely on in my program and reserve 4 kB for my levels:

 

       BSS >1000                reserve 4kB space for level
       AORG >FF9E->1000         point to the beginning of the reserved space
       COPY "S:\classic99\DSK4\LEVELS.TXT" and include the levels

 

This way I could have an XB line

  adr=-4194  ! >EF9E base memory adress for levels

 

An encoded levels look like this in the LEVELS.TXT

       TEXT '0020d58Jk2P5cF5Ci8Ea79,'
       TEXT '1000jF5Ch4N5iWe9CbBPe9M,'
       BYTE 44

 

Then I have a "READ" replacement, to read a string from this area:

sub memread(adr,s$)
  s$=""
  call peek(adr,a) :: adr=adr+1
  while a<>44
    s$=s$&chr$(a)
    call peek(adr,a) :: adr=adr+1
  wend
subend

 

or if you are old-school XB:

31010 sub memread(adr,s$)
31020 s$=""
31030 call peek(adr,a) :: adr=adr+1
31040 GOTO 31070
31050 s$=s$&chr$(a)
31060 call peek(adr,a) :: adr=adr+1
31070 IF a<>44 THEN 31050
31080 subend

 

This whole approach has multiple advantages

• I can add new levels without rearranging memory until I filled the reserved 4kB
• I can use memory otherwise inaccessable when compiling XB

The disadvantage is, you can't really test this in interpreted mode. So the approach to do READ/DATA first and when everything works, replace the READ with the CALL MEMREAD above, seems to be a good mitigation.

 

[xdt99: New TI 99 cross-development tools available]

1 hour ago, RXB said:

I think I will just go with Thierry instead as at least he provides documents I can read.

xdt99 is going to have to provide a package I can download and use without learning 1200 pages of Python first!

Download: https://github.com/endlos99/xdt99/releases/tag/3.6.4

 

This includes a markdown-format documentation, also available onnline: https://endlos99.github.io/xdt99/#xbas99

 

 

[Off-Topic / Dumping Thread]

4 hours ago, jrhodes said:

Tomorrow has been postponed due to a total lack of interest ...

 

[Free HiMem after compiling XB?]

Thank you!

 

I will play around with this and see, what I can do .. I will post a summary when done.

[Free HiMem after compiling XB?]

It's coming up .. we hope to be ready by Eastern ... another eighties classic not yet on the TI ... now with some extensions. 

[Free HiMem after compiling XB?]

Hi 99ers,

 

we ran out of memory on our latest compiled XB game. We switched to "put runtime into low memory" and were fine. We filled the memory to almost the last byte. When we compile, we get a "4962 bytes remaining", as the compiled code is more compact than the tokenized, interpreted one.

 

How can we use these bytes? I could load additional level data with CALL PEEK from this memory, but I am not quite sure, which AORG I need to use on the assebler to put it there. Where do these almost 5kB reside exactly?

 

I know that RXB has an enhanced SIZE command:

 

I would think, that >A040 to >B3A1 is unused? The difference is exactly the value given by the compiler.

 

It doesn't look unused in the debugger ... or the values are relicts from previous usage.

 

Did I miss something or could we just AORG >A040, define the levels with 4962 BYTEs until we reach >B3A1, assemble and CALL LOAD? 

 

Any thoughts, hints and warnings welcome ...

 

Thank you

Steve