TI-99 PC with 3.5" disk drives

[Brufnus]

Hopefully this info may prove useful to some of you.

 

I was hoping I could find a way to copy disk images to TI format 3.5" disks with Linux, but haven't had any luck so far.

So I went back to a Windows 98 PC with an older floppy controller (Pentium 3 motherboard) and tried with a modern 1.44 MB floppy drive.

The TI 99-PC docs says a 5 1/4" drive should be used, but it works equally well with a 3.5" drive - thus, I successfully transferred an MDOS 7.30 disk image to a 3.5", 1.44 MB disk and booted from it.

 

So, since it's getting harder and harder finding 5 1/4" drives in good shape (and the ones I have, I'd like to spare as much as possible), this is definitely an option for those, who may not have TIPI's or all that other fancy, modern stuff I don't even have any experience with...  

Edited July 27, 2021 by Brufnus
addition

[RickyDean]

Are you using an emulator, or using a Geneve to boot this disk? If a Geneve, are you using a HFDC, and is the disk formatted as 1.44 or do you have the hole covered, using it as a 720k drive. If using Mame, and how did you set up the a drive  to be recognized as a ti-99 drive tie it into the Geneve emulation to boot. I know back in the day, I could boot from a 720k disk but never from a 1.44meg disk on my real hardware.

[+OLD CS1]

What disk controller in your TI?

[Brufnus]

Hi, sorry about that...

 

What I use is a Geneve with a HFDC, and yes, indeed the disk is formatted as a 720K, not 1.44, with the hole covered. Forgot to mention that...

On both the PC and the Geneve I've used Alps floppy drives from a recent stock, but I guess most drives will do the trick without any modification. The only thing I've had to change, is the drive select on the Geneve, of course.

I haven't any experience with MAME, though.

 

Edited July 27, 2021 by Brufnus

[+mizapf]

As for accessing disks via Linux, have you seen my floppyti tools?

Concerning MAME, I'll be happy to help you set it up if you need assistance. Find the emulated features on https://www.mizapf.de/ti99/mame/emufeat. MAME is running natively on Linux, Windows, and macOS (and Raspbian, but with the limited performance of the Raspi4, the Geneve and 99/8 emulations won't run at real speed).

Edited July 28, 2021 by mizapf
Changed link to features

[Brufnus]

Hi mizapf,

 

Thanks! My primary objective was to get the GeneveOS 7.30 transferred to the Geneve after downloading on a PC; however, I'll look into your floppyti tool, that sounds promising... and I also appreciate your offer concerning the MAME. I have a lot to do at the moment, including upgrading my Amiga 500 CDTV to new Kickstart ROM and OS, which I really look forward to, too. But I'll get back to you, when I have the time for trying out the MAME.

 

Mit freundliche Grüße,

Bruno, Dänemark

[+mizapf]

Nowadays, there are numerous ways to move stuff between a TI/Geneve and a PC.

I am using two ways at this time:

• For single files I use my TIImageTool on the PC and my XMODEM Geneve MDOS application and a serial cable between PC and Geneve.
• For bulk transfers, I use a MicroSD card. On the Geneve, this card is plugged into the SCSI2SD adapter, which is connected to a ASCSI card; it is my main hard drive on the Geneve. On the PC, I put that card in a card reader and read/write from the raw device in Linux.

 

BTW, installing and configuring MAME does not require you to take a holiday. There are some helper tools; if you run Linux you could try to download the latest version from https://ftp.whtech.com/emulators/MAME/ti99/linux/ and the bash script https://ftp.whtech.com/emulators/MAME/ti99/linux/mameprep (I just noticed that the version in the archive files is outdated; use this separate mameprep file ).

[Brufnus]

Yes, well I didn't know about tiimagetool, thanks for the tip - that will definitely come in handy, as well. c",) I don't possess a SCSI2SD adapter though, I don't even have a SCSI controller for the Geneve, so I'm still using the HFDC with a couple of MFM hard drives.

 

No, a holiday is probably overkill for that, but I'm far behind with so many things and the railways tends to consume both my time and energy nowadays (I'm a train driver).

Anyway, I look forward to try it out - I've also come across the WINUAE Amiga emulator, which requires the use of a Kickstart ROM in file format (I've just exported my 1.3 ROM and will do the same with the 3.1 once installed). Both emulators will prove both interesting and useful for many things, I think. c",)

 

I do hope I'll someday come across a SCSI controller, but they seem to be pretty hard to find...

[globeron]

Now use the Gotek disk emulator (and images are on a USB). I am happy with that (instructions are in ti99.atariage.com)

.

 

But also use he RS2323 connection between the PC and both TI-99/4A and Geneve to copy to floppy disks if needed with tool of Fred. CFHDXS1.  

 

 

 

[+9640News]

Another option for moving files around since you have a HFDC is the DREM and TIDIR.  Cheaper though Togo with a PI and TIPI which adds all kinds of flexibility.