New to TI99/4A and this is what I'm starting off with.

[COREi64]

Hello.

 

Back in the 80's I was a Commodore guy, but was always intrigued by the TI99. I worked in a local computer shop that sold all of the flavors of home computers of the time (Commodore, Colecovision Adam and the TI99/4A). As an employee of the place, I sold a ton of them, but never sat down and learned anything significant about it. Thought now I'm finding a bit of time for myself again, I'd try my hand at it.

 

Last week I purchased a terrific looking lot out of Quebec. It hasn't arrived yet, but am anxious to see it. (ignore the Atari/Commodore stuff in these photos, I just got the TI stuff)

 

Even though I have the above lot on the way, last night paging through kijiji, I came upon a listing that I couldn't turn down. Being local, there was no shipping, just a short drive (only a few miles from my home), it ended up costing me (equivalent dollars) $240USD (I always boil everything down to USD even though I live in Canada). The history behind what I found was, the sellers uncle was one of those individuals that loved these computers but for whatever the reasons were, never got to use them. He bought the stuff and tucked it away in some storage area (basement/closet). Wherever he had it, these boxes are pristine... I mean, they still smell new. No dampness, no dust, no water damage. I'm talkin as if you time traveled to the 80's and bought it from a shop.

 

Rather than listing off detailed descriptions of what I got from the guy, I thought photos are better.

 

But basically it covers:

 

Texas Instruments dot matrix printer

1 Boxed (doesn't look like it's been used, power cord is still factory tied up) TI99/4A

2 Boxed still sealed (in the original shipping carton) TI99/4A. Sliced open the shipping carton to see what was inside.

1 PEB (new in the box), again sliced open the shipping carton to look inside

2 Software package in binders

Lots of cassette/cartridge games

1 Floppy drive with manual (but no disk controller card)... I think that's a big deal

1 Speech synthesizer

1 Dual tape drive cable

 

 

Any comments on what I found would be appreciated! Did I do well, poorly... do I need anything else to "complete" the experience, or anything cool I should be looking for?

 

I also have a NanoPEB I found on ebay on the way, and I have a FlashROM99 in hand already as well.

 

Thomas

COREi64

[+save2600]

Damn fine "starter" setup you have already. Wish I could find a deal on a brand new in the box TI like that. Especially love those units with the "solid state software" badge.

[Opry99er]

Holy lord!!!!! Thats a hell of a lot!!! Great score, congrats, and welcome!!

[sometimes99er]

Whauh ...

[digdugnate]

Welcome, and have mercy! That is some fine-looking kit.

 

If you want to use the floppy drive you'll have to get a Disk Controller card for your PEB. If you want to use the printer, you'll need an RS232 card.

[Omega-TI]

 

1 Floppy drive with manual (but no disk controller card)... I think that's a big deal

...and I have a FlashROM99 in hand already as well.

 

 

DAMN! - That is a awesome start and at a killer price too! Congratulations on steroids!

 

From your photo that's a FinalGROM, much better than the original FlashROM! I would not worry too much about getting a floppy controller, I'm sure someone here can come to your aid for a reasonable price if you ask.

 

WELCOME ABOARD!

[RickyDean]

Maaaan... that is a mighty fine haul. I sooooo jealous right now. Good for you and welcome to the club..

[COREi64]

Thanks so much everyone for your replies! Really makes a guy feel welcome. Very cool.

 

Ya, I was pretty blown away to find a couple brand new never opened TI99's in one of the boxes. I can't however bring myself to open them up, as the third machine was already open and I have a couple more machines on their way with my first ebay purchase from Quebec, so there's no real need to open them up. Plus, part of me want's to preserve that the way it is. Undoubtedly as time goes by there will be fewer unopened TI99's out there which will make it even more special.

 

That's a great idea on asking someone here. So, if someone happens to have a disk controller and/or RS232 interface (and maybe even a 32k expander cartridge/board) for my PEB they'd like to sell direct, please do let me know.

 

Yes, they did mention that it was a finalgrom cartridge in the auction listing. Still pretty new at all this, so have to do some googling/reading about what the difference between the finalgrom and flashrom99 is. From what I can tell (from the bit of reading I've done) is that the finalgrom is more compatible with

 

One other thing I'd like to ask... I've seen people putting a 3.5" floppy drive into their PEB. Seeing some kits occasionally on ebay, but is there a page out there somewhere that you've come across that details how to do it yourself? I have a bunch of 1.44 floppy drives sitting here, and (of course after I get a disk controller) wouldn't mind trying that. BUT, I'm probably getting way ahead of myself.

 

Thomas

COREi64

[digdugnate]

check this thread out if you haven't read it already

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/267055-new-to-the-group-ti-994a-faq-hardware-and-software-resources-read-first/

 

it answers a ton of questions about the TI in general.

[+adamantyr]

Congratulations, hell of a haul!

 

Did you get any peripheral cards with the PEB?

[+9640News]

What card(s) do you have in your PEBox? I would have thought you would have likely had a 32K and a RS232 already in there with a Disk controller.

 

Something to keep in mind if you go down the RS232 route is that pins 2 and 3 are reversed from the rest of the PC world.

 

Your most difficult issue in your current state if you decide to acquire additional software is how to get it onto your TI. There are all sorts of ways, but I would suggest the consideration of a HxC Floppy Drive Emulator.

 

http://hxc2001.free.fr/floppy_drive_emulator/index.html#SDCARDFloppyemulator

 

I got mine through Lotharek. If I am not mistaken, you have to purchase on Ebay to get it. That was how I started migrating stuff over when I got back into it as there were some needed software I did not have on existing floppies.

 

If you have a Windows systems, that will be the simplest way to download stuff from the internet and get it over onto a TI system and floppies. Simply put, download/FTP files onto your Windows computer, run it through the utility to put it into a diskette image file, copy image file to SD card, plug SD card into the HxC Floppy Emulator on the TI. You could completely avoid diskettes all together as an option.

 

If you have a TI diskette controller, you will be able to handle up to 180K on a floppy drive. With that full height SS/SD drive you have shown in the pictures, you will be limited to 90K. If you can find a Teac 55B 5.25" drive, that would be a half-height drive where you could then put both the HxC and the Teac drive into the same slot in the PEBox where your full height drive is now. You would just need to split the drive power cable to two plugs and add another 34 pin edge connector to your existing drive cable to connect both drives. Also, the floppy drive cable does not have twisted lines between drive 1 and drive 2 like the old PC drive cables had.

 

Unless you acquire a Myarc Hard and Floppy Disk Controller, I would stay with nothing more than a 720K 3.5" drive. I am not sure how a 1.44 MB 3.5" drive behaves in a TI system with a TI Disk controller. You still would not get more than DS/SD 40 tracks giving you only 180 K of diskette space. You need a Myarc, CorComp, or BWG floppy disk controller to get you up to 360K, and a Myarc Hard and Floppy Controller to get you to 720K. On a TI system, 1.44 MB is not possible. On a Geneve system, the OS I am told still has issues with 1.44 MB's. Avoid the 1.2 MB 5.25" drives all together.

 

My 2 cents.