Matt Fisher Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Way back in 1981, I was sure that I was going to get an Atari 2600 for Christmas, but I got a 99/4a instead. I was a little disappointed at first, but came to love it. Many, many happy hours were spent with TI Invaders, Munchman, Tombstone City, and my favorites, Parsec and Tunnels of Doom. I can still remember that I always called my character Edwindletod. That computer, however, has been gone for many years. Fast forward to late last year, when my neighbor lets me have his dad's old 99/4a. Then, a little while later, I see a PEB w/ RS232, 32K, and ss/sd DD in a pawn shop, but it's a little too pricey, around $50. Finally, after years of making what-the-heck lowball bids on MBX's on ebay, one of my lowballs actually won. I took all these things turning up at around the same time as signs that I needed to get back into the 99/4a. So, I went back and got the PEB for $17 (they gave me deal because they thought they'd never sell it) and ordered a copy of ToD. So, last week, I hooked it all up, crossed my fingers, attempted to load in ToD from the floppy drive, and everything worked! Oh, and the MBX works as well. (I always wanted one but could not convince the old man to spring for it.) Edwindletod the hero lives! Anyway, I want to take full advantage of my new toy, and some of the newer games I've seen look great. I have determined that I need the extended basic, editor/assembler, and terminal emulator II carts and a null modem cable for file transfer from my PC and to actually run the programs. Is there something I'm missing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatta Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 There is a CF based floppy emulator available, the CF7. They pop up on eBay from time to time for around $50. You are probably happy dumping disk images to disk (what software would you use for that btw?), but I thought I'd mention it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 $17 for a PEB? Cheapest price I've seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Fisher Posted February 16, 2011 Author Share Posted February 16, 2011 There is a CF based floppy emulator available, the CF7. They pop up on eBay from time to time for around $50. You are probably happy dumping disk images to disk (what software would you use for that btw?), but I thought I'd mention it. Thanks, I was not aware of that, and it looks like a great solution. Perhaps I will try one out. On the other hand, I really dig the idea of using the PEB and interfacing it with a modern PC. I know that the CF7 would be much easier, but what's the fun in that? I can't recall what software is needed for making 99/4a disks on a PC. A step-by-step guide for transferring files via serial cable from PC to 99/4a is here, though: http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/showthread.php?15444-TI-99-4A-file-transfer-what-s-needed This is what I was planning to do. $17 for a PEB? Cheapest price I've seen. Yeah, but it came without a power cord... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Hatter Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 Hey Matt, check out the TI-99/4A Programming forum here at Atariage. It's not just about programming and there's a great group of people who can help you there. The user Orpy99er has a Youtube channel with a tutorial on how to transfer files from the TI-PC and vice versa. If you want full use of your PEB then you will definitely need Extended Basic and Editor/Assembler. Not necessarily T.E.2. I use a program called MFM (Magic File Manipulator) which runs from Extended Basic to transfer files. Check out the programming forum! Way back in 1981, I was sure that I was going to get an Atari 2600 for Christmas, but I got a 99/4a instead. I was a little disappointed at first, but came to love it. Many, many happy hours were spent with TI Invaders, Munchman, Tombstone City, and my favorites, Parsec and Tunnels of Doom. I can still remember that I always called my character Edwindletod. That computer, however, has been gone for many years. Fast forward to late last year, when my neighbor lets me have his dad's old 99/4a. Then, a little while later, I see a PEB w/ RS232, 32K, and ss/sd DD in a pawn shop, but it's a little too pricey, around $50. Finally, after years of making what-the-heck lowball bids on MBX's on ebay, one of my lowballs actually won. I took all these things turning up at around the same time as signs that I needed to get back into the 99/4a. So, I went back and got the PEB for $17 (they gave me deal because they thought they'd never sell it) and ordered a copy of ToD. So, last week, I hooked it all up, crossed my fingers, attempted to load in ToD from the floppy drive, and everything worked! Oh, and the MBX works as well. (I always wanted one but could not convince the old man to spring for it.) Edwindletod the hero lives! Anyway, I want to take full advantage of my new toy, and some of the newer games I've seen look great. I have determined that I need the extended basic, editor/assembler, and terminal emulator II carts and a null modem cable for file transfer from my PC and to actually run the programs. Is there something I'm missing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Fisher Posted February 17, 2011 Author Share Posted February 17, 2011 Hey Matt, check out the TI-99/4A Programming forum here at Atariage. It's not just about programming and there's a great group of people who can help you there. The user Orpy99er has a Youtube channel with a tutorial on how to transfer files from the TI-PC and vice versa. If you want full use of your PEB then you will definitely need Extended Basic and Editor/Assembler. Not necessarily T.E.2. I use a program called MFM (Magic File Manipulator) which runs from Extended Basic to transfer files. Check out the programming forum! I do believe I will... Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 Check us out over there, man.. Anything you could ever want to know about the /4a is there--- and the best minds that ever thought about the 99. We would love to have you over there, man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATARI7800fan Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Hey Matt, check out the TI-99/4A Programming forum here at Atariage. It's not just about programming and there's a great group of people who can help you there. The user Orpy99er has a Youtube channel with a tutorial on how to transfer files from the TI-PC and vice versa. If you want full use of your PEB then you will definitely need Extended Basic and Editor/Assembler. Not necessarily T.E.2. I use a program called MFM (Magic File Manipulator) which runs from Extended Basic to transfer files. Check out the programming forum! I do believe I will... Thanks! Just wondering, what was the store called that you bought it from, was it a disc reply. I sold my TI-99/4A a month or so ago to one here in my town and they mentioned that they send most of there older computers to Indy. The reason I am asking is because if I remember correctly the PEB box mine had, had no power cable. Only gave me 20 bucks for the computer, PEB, 50 carts, cassette drive and a few cassettes and floppies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 You should have talked to us here. I'd have given you at LEAST a hundred. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATARI7800fan Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 You should have talked to us here. I'd have given you at LEAST a hundred. I had a feeling of that but I needed to sell it because I was currently buying a computer off of some one here and really did not have the time to wait for to long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassGuitari Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 $17 for a PEB? Cheapest price I've seen. Not cheaper than the $10 I paid for mine. A system and a whole lot of software and accessories and books were part of the deal, too. (It was a craigslist deal.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Fisher Posted March 7, 2011 Author Share Posted March 7, 2011 Just wondering, what was the store called that you bought it from, was it a disc reply. I sold my TI-99/4A a month or so ago to one here in my town and they mentioned that they send most of there older computers to Indy. The reason I am asking is because if I remember correctly the PEB box mine had, had no power cable. Only gave me 20 bucks for the computer, PEB, 50 carts, cassette drive and a few cassettes and floppies. It was not a disc replay, although I go to the one by Washington Square pretty frequently. It was a pawn shop here in town (I hate to be a jerk, but I don't want to reveal which one). I know they took it in there because the guy who sold it to me said he bought it because it looked cool, although he had no idea what it was. Still didn't when he sold it to me. Is Google that hard to use? In fact, they buy a lot of unknown old stuff because they think it looks "cool," which suits me just fine. I've bought the PEB, a Virtual Boy in Blockbuster case, a Sega CDX, a very nice Eiki 16mm projector, a Toshiba Nuon DVD player, and more than a few audio-visual items there. They recognize me and seem to get a kick out of the "weird" stuff that I buy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 If you ever see a Jupiter Ace at that "cool" shop, let me know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.