budz2355

So ninerpedia is wrong in 3 spots? Maybe someone should update it?

I have a question about the standard TI Disk controller. I was always under the assumption that the disk controller could control up to 3 disk drives. I was also under the assumption that the standard TI disk drives were SSSD 90k 360(sectors?). While reading on ninerpedia this morning I found some conflicting information. This link http://www.ninerpedia.org/index.php/Frequently_Asked_Questions#What_are_my_options_for_upgrading_the_disk_drive_in_my_PEB.3F says that the standard PEB comes with a full height 180k 5.25" floppy drive that is single sided double density. This link also has the same information http://www.ninerpedia.org/index.php/Frequently_Asked_Questions#How_can_I_expand_my_TI-99.2F4a.3F This link says the drive is 180k, but that it is single sided. http://www.ninerpedia.org/index.php/Frequently_Asked_Questions#How_do_I_get_a_floppy_drive_for_my_TI_system.3F When I run DM2 from my XB2.7 cart (actually DM 2.1) and try to initialize a new disk I am greeted with 3 prompts: Tracks per side? 40? (This I have the option to change the number to 80) Single sided Y/N? N? (This option pushing Y just beeps at me, I cannot seem to change it to Yes) Single density Y/N? N? (Same as above, pushing Y does nothing but beep at me and the option remains N) Finally my question is.... what the heck do I have? As far as I know I have the standard TI Disk Controller and 2 full height 5.25" full height stock TI disk drives. Are these both 180k and I just never knew it? How do I format the disks as double density? Am I crazy?? Thank you for any insight.

Mission accomplished now to try that clock software link you posted....

Hmmmm time to save some $$$$ for a ramdisk.

Part of the reason for me liking the TI is the fact that it is a retro part of my childhood. For my money if I could find a period item with 720k that would be great, but I try to keep modern parts as far away from my machine as possible. I struggled even with the question of wether or not I wanted to upgrade my video chip, but since it isn't soldered in and I can always remove it... I went for it. I guess what I am trying to say is that at some point you might as well emulate. Part of what makes the TI fun for me is that it is old and clunky and has these awesome huge floppy disks from my childhood. If I wanted whiz bang graphics and modern processor speeds I could use my regular pc or ps4. Hopefully that isn't too preachy....

Mr. Dudeck May or May not have had extra triple tech card he was willing to sell.... We can't let schmitzi have ALL the fun

I liken the ti game library to more of atari than nes. The reason I say this is that most games are score based as opposed to beatable. There are of course some outliers.

I use two original full height 5.25" floppy drives (one in a custom enclosure) both running from the original ti disk controller. Both 40 track so I assume sssd?

Awesome! Yes I can get them onto disks on my ti!

Ideally I would like to spend nothing Anything available in the FTP site that can be recommended? Also, thank you for the recommendations. I had Face Maker as a kid myself!

Nice! I might hit you up on that Greg if I ever figure out what BOOT is and decide I cannot live without it

So my daughter is 3, and loves Early Learning Fun. (<--the game, edit for caps) She is great with counting and shapes and numbers and colors and okay with letter. However she is too little to handle math or spelling. Can anyone recommend any programs? I saw a preschool IQ builder tape on ebay that might fit the bill. Also if any programs are downloadable that would be awesome! (Then I don't have to remove XB 2.7)

Awesome! -- Thank you, I never saw those!

Is there a program a person would use to write an XB program on a modern PC? This way I could have all the conveniences of copy/paste, mouse use, quick save to hard drive, edit a single character easily, etc. etc. I am looking to write a fairly simple program in XB. Could I just write the program in Word and then somehow turn it into a TI file? Thanks in advance for any insight.

Awesome!!! ....I hope Doom Games 1,2,3 are in that pile

So does the wico trackball work like a mouse? What are the best/some of the programs that work with it? Would this be a worthwhile upgrade to my system?

Does anyone remember RIPterm from BITD? It used special RIP graphics, that I know nothing about.... I just remember they looked sharper almost like windows 3.1 at the time and that you could use your mouse with them. Would a terminal program like this ever be able to run on the TI?

The wording on the front is different too. I have both models, but I use the newer one. Not really sure why...

I think I paid $25 a couple or years ago. I'm not really into repros, but. Ow that you mention it I haven't seen a cart come up for sale in a while.

Buddy bear(?) on ebay seems to have them pretty regularly. He normally sells them between 35-50 with a COPY of the manual. Also this could be a repro cart with a burned rom or replacement clamshell (he once sent me a strike three with obviously reprinted label and not correctly branded or colored clamshell) so just know what you are paying for if you choose this readily available route

All of a sudden the 'kick stand' on the bottom of the cart makes sense. I had seen pictures of this cart before, but now I know why the funky shape. Good post!

If you add three I'll pay you for one in gold!!

Can you get one at ANY price? ....I can't find ANY cards on eBay besides the standard 4 that grace most p-boxes. P.S. I also have a second PEB (not hooked up at the moment), so this thread is AWESOME!

Thanks everyone for your advice. I have been running various programs trying to see if I can get my system to crash and so far it is holding up. I did a similar thing, but cut away just a hole in the side of the top metal shielding and screwed the VGA adapter right into it (the metal holes fit perfectly) and just discarded the piece that Omega modded. I did have to jigsaw out a piece in the back of the TI. One thing I see different from Vextrex Roli's pic and Omega's pic is that my VGA output seems to be lower (see pic). At any rate, I might just open the darn thing back up.....another day. It took me about 3 hours to do the mod from the time I got the mail until my anxiety went down when I realized I hadn't bricked my entire system. I can't say I am happy with what I have done entirely though since I cannot get XB 2.7 to run and my cart port is kind of wackadoo. ~~~One final thing I wanted to say is I hope no one takes any of these posts as a stab at their awesome creations. There are so many awesome mods out there for the TI and I a noob to this so I am just trying to post my experiences, feedback and LOTS of questions~~~~