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Geneve 9640 part deux, 'Say what???'


hloberg

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In the last post I threw around some terms that might not be familiar to those who may have never used the Geneve 9640. So, here is a brief description. 

 

MYGPL - Programs from the TI99/4(a) can't be run directly on the 9640. A lot of TI99 software has a underlying layer known as GPL in the code. MYGPL has a GPL emulator built in that enables those TI99 programs with GPL to run on the 9640.

To run TI99 software with MYGPL you type in 'MYGPL nameofTI99program' at the MDOS prompt. This executes the TI99 program. But, the program will be running at the native 9640 speed which is about 5 times faster then a normal TI99. This can be an issue if playing games such as Parsec which is already fairly fast. To slow down the program you will need to do a SHIFT+SHIFT+CTRL. This will bring  up thev MYGPL menu. See screen below:

mygpl.thumb.jpg.4a3aec3a1b5a2a950ebc0f073592077e.jpg

Pressing F4 will enable you to adjust the speed of the game. Most TI99 games run best at 1 or 2. After setting the speed press ENTER to return back to the game. This is also the way to exit MYGPL by pressing ESC on this screen.

 

EXEC - Sometimes the TI99 program may not have GPL inside it. This is software from the TI99 that usually is executed by entering the Editor/Assembler then pressing 5. Several of the applications run this way. It is executed similar to MYGPL with 'EXEC nameofTI99program'. The down side of EXEC though is that there is currently no way to adjust the speed otherwise I would be using it more with games.

 

BATCH FILES - I run a lot of the MYGPL and EXEC commands from batch files. The batch files are very similar to batch files from MSDOS as they are a collection of commands in a runtime script that will execute from the MDOS prompt. 

 

HDS1, HDS2, HDS3 etc.. These are the hard drive designations for Hard Drive 1, Hard Drive 2, Hard Drive 3. There can only be up to three hard drives in MDOS. Within MDOS prompt you can also specify these drives by the letter E:, F:, G: in the form of E:/MODS.DM . The letter designations don't seem to work outside of the MDOS prompt environment though. Like in XB you must refer to the files with the full name 'OLD HDS2.GAMES.BUCKROGERS'.

 

The RAM disk H: DSK5. - The RAM disk is H: OR DSK5. It a 128k drive and is volatile. So if you reboot your system, you will lose the contents of this drive.

 

DSK1 to DSK4 - These are the disk drives 1-4 or A: to D . in MAME/MESS I have them setup as 5.25 DSDD.

 

HELP - you can type HELP at the MDOS prompt anytime to get a list of other HELP files for the MDOS commands, common programs, MYGPL usage and the QDE editor usage.

 

If you need to reboot - Press SHIFT+SHIFT+CTRL like in MYGPL. This will also reboot the system (if not totally locked up).

 

D - typing the letter D at the MDOS prompt will give you a nicely formatted directory listing of your current directory location. As for as I can tell, it won't take any parameters.

 

PATH - As in MSDOS you can specify a PATH command in MDOS. I have set BATCH, MDOS and GAMES as default paths. any program or batch in those directories can be executed anywhere from the MDOS prompt.

 

DSK1 directory - DSK1 directory on E: is a shadow location for the disk drive 1. You can put files in this directory and they will be executed as if in DSK1. Good example is the E/A files: ASSM1, ASSM2 and EDIT1. When running E/A you won't have to have the E/A boot disk in DSK1 to run since MDOS will look for the files 1st in E:/DSK1. This is also handy with XB. I have the XB LOAD file in DSK1 to give that ding dong sound when XB26 starts.

 

That's about all I can think of for now. Good gaming.

HLO

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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