+arcadeshopper Posted May 20, 2019 Share Posted May 20, 2019 With Force Command you can load up the TI Extended BASIC cartridge directly from DOS by typing: FG99 BASICG. (I have the program in my FinalGROM root directory.) At any rate, I was wondering if any of you gurus out there could figure a way to tweak the Extended BASIC to bypass the cartridge menu screen and have it go directly to the XB command prompt? If we could do that... pretty sure Tursi has a patched version, he used to use for a bbs.. memory may be wrong 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+InsaneMultitasker Posted May 20, 2019 Share Posted May 20, 2019 I have heatwave's XB cartridge dump set up like this. I believe it is as simple as editing the power-up address to match the cartridge start address, though it has been some time (8 years?) since I set things up. I don't know what happens during these cart loads but seems to me a if there is a way to modify the cart header during the load process (either by FC or FG software) a command line flag to auto-start the cart would be a better, generic solution. (this would be similar to how the beta-test version of the TI interpreter for the Geneve handles it) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted May 20, 2019 Author Share Posted May 20, 2019 That would be so neat, simply typing "LOAD BASIC" from the Force Command DOS prompt and instantly being in XB! The trick (probably not gonna happen) would be having it pop directly back to DOS upon exiting BASIC. If anyone turns up a copy of said version of XB, PLEASE send it my way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted May 20, 2019 Author Share Posted May 20, 2019 pretty sure Tursi has a patched version, he used to use for a bbs.. memory may be wrong Tursi? Tursi? Are you reading this thread? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tursi Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 pretty sure Tursi has a patched version, he used to use for a bbs.. memory may be wrong Nope, I had a patched BOOT for the Horizon RAMDISK that auto-ran an EA#5 program. I was not a fan of XB loaders back in the day But we know the steps to auto-boot a cartridge these days, especially one that already has GROM, nobody else can do it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+arcadeshopper Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 Musta been Tim grin Sent from my LM-G820 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tursi Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 Well, based on Tim's suggestion, here's the patched XB to autostart. Seems to work at least in emulation. It's just patching two bytes in the GROM file (make bytes 4-5 match bytes 6-7, and the first program will autostart). autobootXB.zip As for returning to Force Command on exit, I have not had a chance to see how Force Command is loaded, but you'd basically replace the BYE function. (It might be possible to also catch FCTN-= with a clever interrupt hook, but that's more iffy). That one WOULD be a little trickier. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted May 22, 2019 Author Share Posted May 22, 2019 Well, based on Tim's suggestion, here's the patched XB to autostart. Seems to work at least in emulation. It's just patching two bytes in the GROM file (make bytes 4-5 match bytes 6-7, and the first program will autostart). autobootXB.zip As for returning to Force Command on exit, I have not had a chance to see how Force Command is loaded, but you'd basically replace the BYE function. (It might be possible to also catch FCTN-= with a clever interrupt hook, but that's more iffy). That one WOULD be a little trickier. So cool Tursi! THANKS! On 'Real Iron' it loads just fine by typing, 'FG99 TIXBG' (I shortened the name for testing). We're 1/2 way there! When typing BYE in XB or even doing a hard reset FCTN = or ALT F12 if just restarts BASIC and takes you back to the command prompt, so a power cycle on the console is required. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RXB Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 (edited) That would be so neat, simply typing "LOAD BASIC" from the Force Command DOS prompt and instantly being in XB! The trick (probably not gonna happen) would be having it pop directly back to DOS upon exiting BASIC. If anyone turns up a copy of said version of XB, PLEASE send it my way! LOL RXB has CALL BASIC or CALL XB or CALL EA By the way as they are GPL DSR based you can used them from any prompt too. OLD BASIC or OLD XB or OLD EA At any EA prompt you can type XB or BASIC or EA Wish granted since RXB 2000 Edited May 22, 2019 by RXB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted May 22, 2019 Author Share Posted May 22, 2019 As for returning to Force Command on exit, I have not had a chance to see how Force Command is loaded, but you'd basically replace the BYE function. (It might be possible to also catch FCTN-= with a clever interrupt hook, but that's more iffy). That one WOULD be a little trickier. Replacing the BYE command would certainly work for me. I'm actually starting to get excited again. The past few days on the TI have been like a dream come true, I can almost taste the success on this. Being able to jump in and out of BASIC and the DOS environment was always something we took for granted on a PC and the TRS-80, on the TI is like a luxury. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+jedimatt42 Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 Force Command isn't loaded. It runs out of cartridge space. I've planned to write an EA5 loadable tool to trigger the FinalGROM99 to switch to the FCMDG image. As for switching right into XB or another cartridge, I can read cart headers and go there after instructing the FG99 to do the cart load. My code that interacts with the FG99 is hoisted up into expansion RAM. Saving 2 keypresses, and the 2 that trigger the most 4A nostalgia, is low on my priority list. -M@ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+jedimatt42 Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 BTW Switching to BASIC on a TI is usually only 3 keystrokes. FCTN=, <space>, 1 -M@ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted May 22, 2019 Author Share Posted May 22, 2019 Saving 2 keypresses, and the 2 that trigger the most 4A nostalgia, is low on my priority list. I understand, but I actually am going somewhere PRACTICAL and USEFUL with this, if the IN and OUT can be accomplished seamlessly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+InsaneMultitasker Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 So cool Tursi! THANKS! On 'Real Iron' it loads just fine by typing, 'FG99 TIXBG' (I shortened the name for testing). We're 1/2 way there! When typing BYE in XB or even doing a hard reset FCTN = or ALT F12 if just restarts BASIC and takes you back to the command prompt, so a power cycle on the console is required. Ah, so the cartridge is persistent when loaded from (into?) the FG99? I was thinking it was a one-time shot until a restart. Can you load an alternative cartridge or flush the cart from the XB command line? Just a thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted June 14, 2019 Author Share Posted June 14, 2019 Bumped for Sinphaltimus. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted June 14, 2019 Author Share Posted June 14, 2019 Ah, so the cartridge is persistent when loaded from (into?) the FG99? I was thinking it was a one-time shot until a restart. Can you load an alternative cartridge or flush the cart from the XB command line? Just a thought. Yeah, it's only a one time shot until a power cycle or another cartridge is loaded over it. If you load EA/5 programs, and quit them, you'll be back in FC/DOS if you load a cartridge with the FG99 command it'll take over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+jedimatt42 Posted June 14, 2019 Share Posted June 14, 2019 Ah, so the cartridge is persistent when loaded from (into?) the FG99? I was thinking it was a one-time shot until a restart. Can you load an alternative cartridge or flush the cart from the XB command line? Just a thought. search hear for the heading 'Reloading' https://endlos99.github.io/finalgrom99/ - you can write assembly code that (re)loads an alterative or dumps back to sd card. -M@ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted June 28, 2019 Author Share Posted June 28, 2019 On 5/21/2019 at 9:56 PM, Tursi said: autobootXB.zip 33.12 kB · 9 downloads As for returning to Force Command on exit, I have not had a chance to see how Force Command is loaded, but you'd basically replace the BYE function. Yes! Replacing BYE with DOS or even leaving the name the same and simply loading Force Command from the FinalGROM would be awesome. This would make my upcoming retirement years much more enjoyable. I've never been an assembly language programmer, old dog/new tricks sort of thing, but I have dabbled in Extended BASIC, and that, coupled with TX80 allows me to do what I want without bugging anyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted December 8, 2019 Author Share Posted December 8, 2019 I have to wonder, did Jedimatt have some dark help when he was ironing out the kinks on the early versions of Force Command? 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
royedmund Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 Hi, I'm running TI-99/4A with a FinalGrom99 amd 32K expansion but when start Force Command from the FinalGrom it displays gibberish (see attached image). Any suggestions? I also have TIPI on order. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+arcadeshopper Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 33 minutes ago, royedmund said: Hi, I'm running TI-99/4A with a FinalGrom99 amd 32K expansion but when start Force Command from the FinalGrom it displays gibberish (see attached image). Any suggestions? I also have TIPI on order. corrupt file? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+jedimatt42 Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 I've just tested with only a 32k expansion on the side, no TIPI, no drives, no storage, and it boots up almost fine... With no drives, you get a "[0000..]" prompt and can only run limited commands, and some things don't work right, like 'BAR ON' The "sysinfo" command should work and show you your VDP type and memory. Try downloading again from here: https://forums.atariage.com/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=1048498&key=f0dfe7e6cdad68e4a5cf3ed36d0557f4 From the wiki: https://github.com/jedimatt42/fcmd/wiki#cartridge-support, the language might not be clear, it says it is distributed as 2 files, you need BOTH of the named files from the ZIP to be installed on your FinalGrom99 SD Card. If you only have the GROM file it'll jump into random memory and have something akin to a cow. 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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