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MyArc Extended BASIC II MAME setup


hloberg

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On 6/3/2020 at 6:40 PM, BeeryMiller said:

Myarc XBII is separate from Advanced Basic for the Geneve that Myarc also developed.  Myarc XBII does not run on a Geneve.

 

Beery

Actually, a variant of Myarc XB-II (v2.12) was released with the very first Geneves, as ABASIC wasn't ready yet. It was somewhat buggy, but I did write a few programs that used it. I may still have a copy of that on disk somewhere. I also had a friend at the time who had the 99/4A version of XB-2.12. We discovered that the two variants were just enough different that a lot of programs that worked in one failed in the other. It was seriously frustrating.

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here is a complete GENEVE pack; docs, disk, HD, roms, etc... for MAME/MESS. the batch file boots up a HD filled with lots of Geneve stuff. uses MAME 200 and above. just add MAME/MESS into MESS221 dir. change the name of the MAME/MESS executable to MESS64a. execute the geneve.bat file.

Geneve.zip

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As I have started to scan the Myarc XBII appendices I will continue and post them on the Manuals missing and found thread.


 

Is there still a need for me to scan the Myarc XBII manual now we have this lovely document?  That would now seem to be a lot of work for little gain.


 

 

CORRECTION- not covered in any update or appendix- please amend the text under DIM re integer arrays.

referred to on the entry for DIM:

100 DEFINT B(10) will produce a syntax error

You don't replace DIM, you add DEFINT like this:

 

100 DIM DEFINT B(10)


 

 

 

 

The document above  faithfully reflects the initial manual issued for V1 of MXBII but does not seem to reflect the many changes listed in the appendices.   Also the manual I have has a handful of revised pages which are not reflected in the above document (for example for INIT my manual has more information).

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

s

 


 

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5 hours ago, Jeff White said:

sorta kinda. they made some changes MyXBII like dumping FREESPACE, going with a comma in LIST instead if a dash and a few other minor ones including how the memory is allocated. Although... I hadn't really thought about it, but yes, you could go with the 99/8 BASIC manual, mostly, for now till we get a real manual. Note though, the changes and additions manual I created is more accurate and @blackbox  is still scanning a real manual. but to get people to start using myarcXBII I'm for whatever works.

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Correction to Myarc XBII Appendices-
A few years late perhaps, but there is an error on page 10 where at present you can see:
! P+      ! P-  and  ! P*

These should read:
!@P+   !@P-  and  !@P*
which are the pre-scan commands, which I also don't see in my TI XB manuals.


 

which has drawn my attention to another ommission- the original Myarc XBII manual is based upon the original TI XB manual (Version 100!).

See what's wrong?  They didn't take into account the several appendices that TI issued along the way, especially the TI XB Vn 110 changes.


 

I am going to scan the Myarc XBII manual, amend the content to reflect the changes in the appendices, and now I am going to also look at the TI XB appendices and make amendments for those.  

This will take time, but at the end of the day we should have an authoritative and up to date manual.


 

Perhaps someone else can produce an updated TI XB Manual - one where CALL VERSION returns 110 for example!

s





 

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3 hours ago, blackbox said:


Correction to Myarc XBII Appendices-
A few years late perhaps, but there is an error on page 10 where at present you can see:
! P+      ! P-  and  ! P*

These should read:
!@P+   !@P-  and  !@P*
which are the pre-scan commands, which I also don't see in my TI XB manuals.


 

which has drawn my attention to another ommission- the original Myarc XBII manual is based upon the original TI XB manual (Version 100!).

See what's wrong?  They didn't take into account the several appendices that TI issued along the way, especially the TI XB Vn 110 changes.


 

I am going to scan the Myarc XBII manual, amend the content to reflect the changes in the appendices, and now I am going to also look at the TI XB appendices and make amendments for those.  

This will take time, but at the end of the day we should have an authoritative and up to date manual.


 

Perhaps someone else can produce an updated TI XB Manual - one where CALL VERSION returns 110 for example!

s





 

CALL VERSION(X) in XB manual does put 100 into variable X, but does return the actual value 110 in version 110.

CALL VERSION(X) in RXB 2015 does put 2015 into X, RXB 2020 will put 2020 into X.

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3 hours ago, RXB said:

CALL VERSION(X) in XB manual does put 100 into variable X, but does return the actual value 110 in version 110.

CALL VERSION(X) in RXB 2015 does put 2015 into X, RXB 2020 will put 2020 into X.

Rich,
I've been RXB out of classic99 then turning it in to a .rpk but the latest there is 2015. where is the RXB 2020 ?

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7 hours ago, blackbox said:


Correction to Myarc XBII Appendices-
A few years late perhaps, but there is an error on page 10 where at present you can see:
! P+      ! P-  and  ! P*

These should read:
!@P+   !@P-  and  !@P*
which are the pre-scan commands, which I also don't see in my TI XB manuals.


 

which has drawn my attention to another ommission- the original Myarc XBII manual is based upon the original TI XB manual (Version 100!).

See what's wrong?  They didn't take into account the several appendices that TI issued along the way, especially the TI XB Vn 110 changes.


 

I am going to scan the Myarc XBII manual, amend the content to reflect the changes in the appendices, and now I am going to also look at the TI XB appendices and make amendments for those.  

This will take time, but at the end of the day we should have an authoritative and up to date manual.


 

Perhaps someone else can produce an updated TI XB Manual - one where CALL VERSION returns 110 for example!

s





 

no shock finding errors in the MyArc XBII manual. I have found more than one in the copy that came with the Cyc. like LIST is still LIST firstline-finishline in the manual. actuality it should be LIST firstline,finishline - use a comma intead of dash. plus if you don't have a startline or finshline it errors.  and the Cyc didn't have appendices (or at least the version I have). another is the manual still say PRINT FREESPACE(0) but a not later says it has defaulted back to SIZE and FREESPACE(0) doesn't work. 

interesting related side note in 99/8. 99/8 uses PRINT FREESPACE(0) instead of SIZE. But you can't use SIZE as a variable as it errors with syntax error. SIZE is still in the BASIC command table.

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20 hours ago, hloberg said:

Rich,
I've been RXB out of classic99 then turning it in to a .rpk but the latest there is 2015. where is the RXB 2020 ?

RXB 2020 is still being finished, found some bugs and that keeps delaying project as then docs, example programs and other updates needed.

Example is found a problem in SIZE:

 

Edited by RXB
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  • 3 weeks later...
On 6/1/2020 at 5:36 AM, hloberg said:

As of v2, or so, MAME now supports MyArc Extended BASIC II. I had this on PC99 and really liked it. It uses the MyArc memory card and disk/hd card. the XBII is fantastic. it's much faster that TI XB, sometimes up to twice as fast. It has a whooping 72k of program space and accesses all the graphic capabilities of the TI VDP such as 40 cloumn, hi rez, all the sprites and added character sets. 

below I have set up a zip file that has all you need to run MyXBII. you just add the latest MAME or MESS in the MESS221 directory and modify the TI99-II.bat for the current MAME/MESS names and away you go.

the manuals for the memory, HD, supespace2 are included. BUT, I did put in a copy of the MyXBII programming manual as the only one I have is from the Cyc. (if anyone has a copy they can scan?) I know, it's a bummer. if I can't find a non-cyc manual I guess I'll have to type a short one. but look at the various demos on the disks to get an idea of the capibilities.

the MyXBII boots from WDS1 very quickly. in BASIC you can call the MyArc disk manager by typing CALL MDM. in BASIC and MyXBII you can use the dir by CALL DIR("filespec"). I have 2 HDs installed. It uses superspace 2 and EA is accessible from the menu. also can run TIWv5 from the HD. 

a bit of a quirk in MyXBII is to list by line numbers you type in LIST 1stline,2ndline. you use a comma instead of a dash for some reason. also for some reason I can't get CALL PART to work to create a RAM disk/print spooler as it's written in the manual. since MyArc is bad about errors in their manuals, that's probably it.

MyXBII is 100% compatible with XB IF you keep away from PEEKS and POKES that reference the VDP or GROM.

All in all a really nice system and a nice, what could have been. 

and speaking of 'nice' if this could, one day, become an add on to a real TI99 that would really be nice. all the design is there. the superspace2 is there. an HD adapter is there (TIPI). hard part be creating the myarc compatible memory with the MyXBII ROM installed. maybe it's time I got serious about learning this stuff and build my own?

note: as soon as I can find a MyXBII manual i'll post it to my TI99resources.

 

 

My-XBIIc.zip 76.51 MB · 23 downloads

Are there any technical details on the MEMEXP-1 memory card? Could not find any details:

  • How much does it differ from SAMS?
  • What memory areas are pageable?
  • Does the MEMEXP-1 have a DSR?

I read that the MYXBII cartridge is not much more than a loader for setting up the MEMEXP-1 card and loading MYXBII from a storage device. Is that confirmed?

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30 minutes ago, retroclouds said:

Are there any technical details on the MEMEXP-1 memory card? Could not find any details:

  • How much does it differ from SAMS?
  • What memory areas are pageable?
  • Does the MEMEXP-1 have a DSR?

I read that the MYXBII cartridge is not much more than a loader for setting up the MEMEXP-1 card and loading MYXBII from a storage device. Is that confirmed?

you can use superspaceII in place of the MYXBII cartridge and it works fine.it's just a storage area. that's what I use in MAME and people who have the MYXBII card has said that works. as for the other questions @mizapf might be able to help there.

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The MEXP-1 offers RAM at 2000-3FFF and A000-FFFF by 4 (128K) and 16 (512K) banks. The banks are set by 2 or 4 CRU bits.

 

It also has a DSR at 4000-5FFF which implements a print spooler and a RAM disk.

 

Try it with

./mame64 ti99_4ae -ioport peb -ioport:peb:slot2 myarcmem -ioport:peb:slot8 ddcc1 -cart myxbii -flop1 xbii212.dsk

 

You need a program disk for booting; this is Myarc Basic V2.12. I have to check whether we have it on WHTech.

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7 minutes ago, mizapf said:

You need a program disk for booting; this is Myarc Basic V2.12. I have to check whether we have it on WHTech.

I know it is on Whtech, someplace  under the Geneve\9640News folder as it is captured in one of the directories.

 

It's also at /emulators/pc99/pc99 dsk collection/Vendors/Myarc/XBII212.ZIP

 

 

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1 hour ago, retroclouds said:

Are there any technical details on the MEMEXP-1 memory card? Could not find any details:

  • How much does it differ from SAMS?
  • What memory areas are pageable?
  • Does the MEMEXP-1 have a DSR?

I read that the MYXBII cartridge is not much more than a loader for setting up the MEMEXP-1 card and loading MYXBII from a storage device. Is that confirmed?

The appendices posted above at

https://atariage.com/forums/topic/307501-myarc-extended-basic-ii-mame-setup/?do=findComment&comment=4559048

include a memory map and paging information for the module, vdp ram  and expansion memory.


 


 

I am presently scanning the XBII manual and incorporating into the text the updates from Texas Instruments Extended Basic upgrade from vn 100 to vn 110, the updates to Myarc XBII Vn 2 to 2.1 to 2.11 to 2.12, adding some personally obtained and some missing bits, correcting  erroneous bits- the record so far is two hours sorting one page out but the average is 15 minutes per page. There will be a lot more appendices. The idea is to have a single central up-to-date source without a need to dip into piles of loose paper and lots of other manuals.

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15 minutes ago, mizapf said:

The MEXP-1 offers RAM at 2000-3FFF and A000-FFFF by 4 (128K) and 16 (512K) banks. The banks are set by 2 or 4 CRU bits.

 

It also has a DSR at 4000-5FFF which implements a print spooler and a RAM disk.

 

Try it with

 


./mame64 ti99_4ae -ioport peb -ioport:peb:slot2 myarcmem -ioport:peb:slot8 ddcc1 -cart myxbii -flop1 xbii212.dsk

 

 

You need a program disk for booting; this is Myarc Basic V2.12. I have to check whether we have it on WHTech.

 

Thanks the reason I asked is to see if Myarx XBII could be patched to run from SAMS and FinalGROM.

Well, it seems it’s not an impossible task, unless I missed something.

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1 hour ago, retroclouds said:

 

Thanks the reason I asked is to see if Myarx XBII could be patched to run from SAMS and FinalGROM.

Well, it seems it’s not an impossible task, unless I missed something.

Last fall, I spoke with Lou to see if he had the source code for Myarc XBII.  He had a system in storage and was going to look to see what he still had.

 

I got a text message from him early January he had looked in 2 of 4 places and was going to look in the other two places "soon".  One of those other places was his "development" system.  I sent him another text message just 3 weeks ago to see if he had made any progress and have not heard back.

 

If someone were to patch it for SAMS and FinalGrom, then it will likely require a full disassembly of the program to understand the mapping structure.  The first place would be to start from the Eprom loader that is pushed into the 8K ram cartridge at >6000 that then loads the 128KOS file that then loads XBII1 to XBII7.

 

Just a FYI, I tried patching the Eprom to load from TIPI device name instead of DSK1, and had no success in a system where the TIPI CRU was >1400 or maybe >1600.  

 

The source for the Eprom loader for the 128KOS file is in the Myarc 512K source code file.  It is posted someplace on here and likely on Whtech as well.

 

Someone could probably look over the Eprom loader code and the 128KOS file and create a FinalGrom loader, as long as the 8K ram cartridge that Myarc sold is not used by Myarc Basic.  If it is, then likely Myarc XBII would not be useable as the FinalGrom only offers 4K of Ram (>7000 to >7FFF) if you setup the appropriate image.

 

Back in the day, I frequently used my GramKracker with the >6000 to >7FFF page range switch set to unprotect so it would behave as the Myarc 8K ram cartridge.

 

I believe I have seen it written elsewhere the Rave memory card could use the Myarc Eprom and run Myarc XBII.  So it would sound like they both utilize the same mapping structure which I am pretty sure is different from the SAMS card.

 

Beery

 

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, retroclouds said:

 

Thanks the reason I asked is to see if Myarx XBII could be patched to run from SAMS and FinalGROM.

Well, it seems it’s not an impossible task, unless I missed something.

does the FinalGrom emulate a SuperspaceII? I haven't been keeping up on it?

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4 hours ago, BeeryMiller said:

I believe I have seen it written elsewhere the Rave memory card could use the Myarc Eprom and run Myarc XBII.  So it would sound like they both utilize the same mapping structure which I am pretty sure is different from the SAMS card.

 

Beery

 

 

 

 

I know there is a version of the EPROM for the Foundation 128K/512K card (I've seen that one in action and I think I even have it installed in one of the two Foundation cards I own), but I've never seen one for the Rave GrandRAM.

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Thank you all for the clarification. Yes, having the source code would definitely help.

 

On the other hand if it does run in MAME, its debugger could be used for digging deeper.

At this time I don’t know how capable the debugger is though. I looked at it many, many moons ago when it was still MESS.

 

At least with the debugger we would for example see how often the cartridge space is accessed,

after XBII has loaded and while it is running. What I for example do not know at this time, is if the MAME debugger

can view paged memory.

 

But still, sounds doable to me.

Having said that, it’s something I’d like to take a look at, as soon as I have a first version of my Stevie editor out of the door.

Would make a heck of a winter evening project.

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4 hours ago, retroclouds said:

On the other hand if it does run in MAME, its debugger could be used for digging deeper.

At this time I don’t know how capable the debugger is though. I looked at it many, many moons ago when it was still MESS.

 

At least with the debugger we would for example see how often the cartridge space is accessed,

after XBII has loaded and while it is running. What I for example do not know at this time, is if the MAME debugger

can view paged memory.

 

But still, sounds doable to me.

Having said that, it’s something I’d like to take a look at, as soon as I have a first version of my Stevie editor out of the door.

Would make a heck of a winter evening project.

 

The debugger has not changed over the years.

 

You can view paged memory, but only in the way it would be done during runtime. That is, you must set the respective CRU bits; this is possible in the Memory view window (CTRL-M).

 

However, for such kinds of debugging I recommend patching the source code.

 

P.S.: I just noticed that the debugger does not allow setting values; this is obviously a problem I have to check.

 

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