Omega-TI Posted July 10, 2019 Share Posted July 10, 2019 BITD there was a TI/XT computer interface, now day's we have F18A's, TIPI's and all sorts of other P-Box upgrades, so I'm wondering *IF* a modern NON-TI interface could be integrated (plugged in) to our P-Box's that uses a Raspberry Pi in a 'different aspect'. It would be interesting to have the TI as a control interface for an RPi running Raspbian. Yeah, I know, it's not "kosher', but it would be REALLY COOL to be able browse AtariAge using my TI. I can envision a FG99 based interface program that would 'switch modes' and work direct with the Rpi. Is something like even 'doable'? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+arcadeshopper Posted July 10, 2019 Share Posted July 10, 2019 I was thinking more of the rpi being a kvm for the 4a Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrhodes Posted July 11, 2019 Share Posted July 11, 2019 How this is supposed to be politically incorrect is beyond me, but Omega does present a interesting idea. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted July 11, 2019 Share Posted July 11, 2019 3 minutes ago, jrhodes said: How this is supposed to be politically incorrect is beyond me, but Omega does present a interesting idea. Ya I was wondering the same thing. If it's some kinda joke or something to call it politically incorrect I totally missed the punchline on this one. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted July 11, 2019 Author Share Posted July 11, 2019 4 minutes ago, Shawn said: Ya I was wondering the same thing. If it's some kinda joke or something to call it politically incorrect I totally missed the punchline on this one. Ah yes, there some 'purists' among us, and that's fine as everyone has their own thing going on in the hobby, but I've been quite literally reamed out via a PM by a former AA'er for daring to even suggest something as impure as new tech on the TI. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Posted July 11, 2019 Share Posted July 11, 2019 To answer the question: it could be done, but not through the Tipi card. You'd need a SECOND Pi hooked to your 99. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted July 11, 2019 Author Share Posted July 11, 2019 4 minutes ago, JB said: To answer the question: it could be done, but not through the Tipi card. You'd need a SECOND Pi hooked to your 99. I am not opposed to that! RPi's are fairly cheap, I figured the TI to RPi card would be the most expensive part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Posted July 11, 2019 Share Posted July 11, 2019 Honestly, if X supports keyboard input over TTY, it'd be doable with nothin' more than RS-232 adapters and a terminal emulator on the TI. I don't know if X supports that, though my gut instinct is yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted July 11, 2019 Share Posted July 11, 2019 36 minutes ago, --- Ω --- said: Ah yes, there some 'purists' among us, and that's fine as everyone has their own thing going on in the hobby, but I've been quite literally reamed out via a PM by a former AA'er for daring to even suggest something as impure as new tech on the TI. I think "former" is the key to that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted July 11, 2019 Author Share Posted July 11, 2019 I was giving a little more thought to this and since the F18A Mk II is coming out, one could use an HDMI switcher, using the same monitor, but I not sure if an auto switcher like <<THIS>> one would work properly. Not being totally familiar with the way HDMI signals work with the auto switchers, I believe signal output would have to be cut for the other unit to take over, but I don't know if that is possible without shutting down, which defeats the purpose. I suppose getting a monitor with two HDMI inputs would work, but that jacks the cost a bit. Are there any other possible solutions? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted July 12, 2019 Author Share Posted July 12, 2019 Forget yesterday's post. I've had a chance to 'distill' my idea a little more... A) A RPi installed into the P-Box, controlled by means of... B) An FG99 or E/A 5 program allowing the user to switch which unit to control, the TI or the RPI. (A secondary wireless mouse would probably be required.) I believe it would be NECESSARY to have a manually controlled software/keyboard controlled switch to select which video stream goes to the monitor at a specific time. This of course is assuming in the future when people start running the F18A Mk II which would have the same HDMI compatible signalling as the RPi. For those with TIPI's, you would still use the browser to transfer downloaded programs, unless M@ at some time point in the future added that capability to Force Command... assuming any of this ever comes to pass. Now the bad news, this idea is NOT cheap and it would... 1) REQUIRE and F18A Mk II that is currently unavailable... 2) A new interface card as of yet that does not exist... 3) A program that does not yet exist... 4) A Raspberry Pi 3B+ 5) A mouse 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+9640News Posted July 12, 2019 Share Posted July 12, 2019 Is the suggestion to use the TI keyboard on the RPI, or would the RPI have a separate keyboard? The A/D card could probably be used to create a software switch to open/close video outputs. One could probably use some kind of terminal emulation on the TI to feed the keyboard input as an output (7 bit?) on the A/D that would feed into the RPI possibly???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted July 12, 2019 Author Share Posted July 12, 2019 6 hours ago, BeeryMiller said: Is the suggestion to use the TI keyboard on the RPI, or would the RPI have a separate keyboard? The idea is to use a single keyboard, the TI's keyboard, Tursi's PS/2 keyboard, or JediMatt42's keyboard, although a seperate mouse would be necessary. Switching video sources would be done via the keyboard and handled by the program. The switching electronics would reside on the P-Box card in which the RPi is attached. From all outward appearances it would look like a regular TI... but with a little bit more under the hood! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plastik Posted July 13, 2019 Share Posted July 13, 2019 So using a RPI, kinda like the amiga vampire cards ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted July 13, 2019 Author Share Posted July 13, 2019 12 hours ago, Plastik said: So using a RPI, kinda like the amiga vampire cards ? I'm not an Amiga guy, but I thought the Vampire Cards were accelerators'. In essence this idea would be a "TI support computer enclosed in the TI itself". We use our PC's in a support role for our TI's, even if it's just downloading new software and transferring it to the TI. Why not have it done, at least partially by the TI? For those already with TIPI's, new files could easily be transferred via Wifi between the two RPi's in the P-Box using the Chromium browser. For those without a TIPI's, I imagine a simulated hard drive, could also be implemented that would allow people to transfer downloaded files directly to their TI's classic hardware, or just run if off the unit itself. This could potentially rectify the printing issues with contemporary printers as well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Posted July 14, 2019 Share Posted July 14, 2019 On 7/10/2019 at 8:00 PM, JB said: Honestly, if X supports keyboard input over TTY, it'd be doable with nothin' more than RS-232 adapters and a terminal emulator on the TI. I don't know if X supports that, though my gut instinct is yes. I looked into this, and my gut was wrong. X doesn't do it natively, and the software that would make it happen hasn't been maintained for years and doesn't run on modern Linuxes. This suddenly became more complex, if you want to use the TI's keyboard. If you want to use an IBM keyboard adapter on the TI, it is dead simple. Get a KVM that supports keyboard-controlled switching and call it done. 'S basically all the Triton XT sidecar was anyways, a KVM switch. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted July 14, 2019 Author Share Posted July 14, 2019 Bummer. That potentially reduces the number of potential users to make the idea viable, unless inspiration on someone's part materializes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted July 18, 2019 Author Share Posted July 18, 2019 Question. When one purchases two identical wireless mice, can one mouse work with both USB receivers, or are they individually coded to work as only one pair? If they could work with both, one mouse could be used with both the TIPI unit and the RPi unit used to access AA. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GDMike Posted July 18, 2019 Share Posted July 18, 2019 They usually have separate pins due to your co-worker may get a mouse handout in an organization and they don't want interference between them. In some cases you can change the pin though... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Lee Stewart Posted July 18, 2019 Share Posted July 18, 2019 7 hours ago, --- Ω --- said: Question. When one purchases two identical wireless mice, can one mouse work with both USB receivers, or are they individually coded to work as only one pair? If they could work with both, one mouse could be used with both the TIPI unit and the RPi unit used to access AA. Not sure about other mouse manufacturers, but Logitech, in particular, goes out of its way to prevent that. However, they do make at least one mouse, the “M720 TRIATHLON Multi-device wireless mouse” specifically for that purpose. It has a thumb button on the mouse to switch among three computers. ...lee 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+jedimatt42 Posted July 18, 2019 Share Posted July 18, 2019 I share a keyboard and mouse with a PC, Amiga, MSX, 4A, (and the keyboard with the Geneve) But I use super non-intelligent USB switch boxes, so the devices can re-detect things like ps/2 vs USB protocol. My keyboard is actually all USB so it can be wireless, but for some connections it is in HIDBOOT mode, which doesn't support extra features on the keyboard that a modern OS supports. I used to use an active KVM, but by contrast, the KVM becomes the keyboard and mouse, presenting only common functions to the device hosts. This is what works for me. But it has grown into daisy-chained switch boxes and they are mounted close at hand. -M@ 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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