Red Baron Flight Simulator and Tris

[PeteE]

Ok, I think Desktop Publisher is mostly working, there were some more unexpected writes to >(6000-7fff) that were throwing off the bank switching. Would someone please check the manual for how to exit Picture Maker mode: Back doesn't work but Quit does?

 

Stargazer 3-in-1 converted Ok.

 

Beyond WordWriter is going to need some more debugging...

desktoppublisher8.bin

stargazer_3in1_8.bin

[+acadiel]

Look at the three links above the ROM chip. I suspect that they were to select for 16K, 32K, or 64K ROM chips, as the PAL was capable of controlling all three sizes. I wonder if the writes to select the unused banks were there as a form of copy protection?

 

 

Tursi and I found several of those when we were building the Multicart with the 8K ROMs way back when. I think he just NOP'd them out. Whether the writes to >6000->7FFF were there as copy protection, or just errant programming, who knows, but my money is on copyright protection, since DBT was very aware of the things in the market (like Gram Krackers) that could be used. Forget to write protect thing thing, and you have to reload the cart... Or, try to put their cart in a bank switched cart, and it would screw up the cart by switching to some other cart.

[+acadiel]

Ok, I think Desktop Publisher is mostly working, there were some more unexpected writes to >(6000-7fff) that were throwing off the bank switching. Would someone please check the manual for how to exit Picture Maker mode: Back doesn't work but Quit does?

 

Stargazer 3-in-1 converted Ok.

 

Beyond WordWriter is going to need some more debugging...

 

 

Yep, likely copyright protection. They knew they were CRU banking and not write to ROM banking. I don't think I have the manual for Desktop Publisher; maybe Ksarul does.

 

Awesome on the Stargazer port! I'll burn a copy and play with it. Thank you!!

 

- acadiel

[+Ksarul]

I have to check, but I'm pretty sure I have a copy of the Desktop Publisher manual--but I don't have the cartridge to go with it, oddly enough. . .

[+InsaneMultitasker]

Ok, I think Desktop Publisher is mostly working, there were some more unexpected writes to >(6000-7fff) that were throwing off the bank switching. Would someone please check the manual for how to exit Picture Maker mode: Back doesn't work but Quit does?

 

The manual text I have seems to indicate FCTN-9 (BACK) should return to the main menu

 

 

.FO ^^©1988^DataBiotics^^^^^^^^^^^^Page %

INTRODUCTION:.

.

The Databiotics' Desktop Publisher cartridge is designed to allow you to create

and print reports, ads or flyers on a mimimally equipped TI-99/4A Home Computer

at a fraction of the cost such programs are sold for on other computers.

Desktop Publisher allows you to utilize the typefaces included in your Epson or

compatible printer to print in 1 to 3 columns with a picture of your choice..

.

.

GETTING STARTED:.

.

.

1. Turn the computer OFF, slide the module into the slot on the front of

the console and turn the computer ON. The Color Bar screen should then

appear. .

.

2. Press any key to make the master selection list appear. The title of the

module will be third on the list (TI or Myarc) fourth for CorComp. .

.

3. Press the "3" or "4" key to select the Desk Top Publisher..

.

Note: To remove the module, first return to the Color Bar screen or CorComp

screen by pressing FCTN "=", turn the P-Box (if in your system) OFF then the

Computer OFF. Then remove the module from the slot. If you have any problems

please see the section "In Case of Difficulty"..

.

.

PROGRAM OVERVIEW:.

.

After selecting the module, a title screen for Desktop Publisher will appear.

Press any key to advance to the main menu. The main menu consists of four

options numbered one through four. You can select an option by either one of

two methods. You can press the number of the option that you want (and that

option will be highlighted in inverse characters), or you can move the

highlight bar with the up and down arrow keys (FCTN E and FCTN X) to the option

that you would like. Once you have selected an option, with either method,

press the ENTER key to select that section of the Desktop Publisher..

.

The Desktop Publisher consists of 3 major sections. Numbered from the main

menu: Option #1 is the PICTURE MAKER. This portion of the program is used to

create a picture for your document. If you are at all familiar with the many

drawing programs available for the TI-99/4A, you will recognize the use and

commands of this function immediately. If not, you may want to read the

section "The Picture Maker"..

.

Option #2 of the main menu is the WORD MAKER. This part of the program is very

much like a word processor. It allows you to select the number of columns you

would like on your page (1-3), position the picture you created with the

PICTURE MAKER, and then type the text for that page..

.

Option #3 of the Desktop Publisher, PRINT PAGE, is used to send your completed

document to your Epson or compatible printer. The final option of the main

menu, #4, returns you to the Master Title screen..

.

..

THE PICTURE MAKER:.

.

The Picture Maker is a drawing program containing many of the features found in

stand-alone drawing programs. To draw, first use a joystick or the arrow keys

(FCTN E, FCTN X, FCTN S, and FCTN D) to move the crosshair-shaped cursor

around. To place a dot on the drawing area (marked by the blue block on the

screen), press the "fire" button on the joystick, or the ENTER key. The many

other functions, are listed below. Simply replace the word "fire-button" with

"ENTER" if using the keyboard instead of a joystick. Press the key indicated

under the "Key to Obtain" column to initiate that function:.

.

Function Key to Obtain Description.

======== ============= ========================================.

 

Draw D Use to draw a line or a curve..

.

Point P This is a more precise way to draw an .

individual point. Press the "fire" button.

or ENTER to leave the point at the

location of the cross-hairs.

.

Frame V This function is used to put a box frame

on the screen. Press the fire button

to place the upper left corner of the

box, then move the cross-hairs to the

lower-right side of the area you want to.

enclose and press the fire-button again..

.

Box X This function will place a filled box.

in the drawing area. It works like the

frame-function above with one important

difference: you can select the pattern in

the box by pressing a key from 1-10

before selecting the area to enclose..

.

Circle O This option will place a circle of any.

diameter in the work area. Once this

option is selected, press the fire-button

once to set the center of the circle,

move the cross-hairs to the diameter of

the circle, and press the fire-button

again to draw the circle..

 

Disc Q This function is the same as the Circle.

except it draws a filled circle with.

one of the 10 fill patterns available..

..

Function Key to Obtain Description.

======== ============= ========================================.

.

Fill F Use this function to fill in any part of.

the work area. Select by pressing "F",

move the cross-hairs to the area to fill,

select the fill- pattern desired then

press the fire-button to fill that area..

.

Text T Sometimes you may want to place a small.

descriptive note with your picture, or.

even use the picture as a headline for .

your document. This function will allow.

you to type in the drawing area..

.

Clear C Use to clear the work area.

Select by pressing "C". Press "Y" to

indicate YES to clear the drawing area,

or "N" to say you don't want to clear it..

.

Load Picture A This option is used to load a picture .

from cassette or disk. Enter a filename.

and diskname to load from disk or "CS1" .

load from cassette..

.

Save Picture B This option is used to save a picture.

to cassette or disk. Enter a filename and.

diskname (exa: DSK1.PICTURE) to save to.

disk or enter "CS1" to save to tape..

.

Line L Draw a straight line from point A to B..

To select, press "L"; after the

cross-hairs are at the starting point,

press the firebutton once. Move the

cross-hairs to the end point and press

the fire-button again to draw the line.

Up to 8 line-styles are available..

.

Connected Lines K Draw multiple-lines. After drawing each

line with the procedure described above,

the cross-hairs will move to the line end

waiting for the next line to be drawn..

.

Rays R This function works like connected line

function above except all lines drawn

will radiate from the starting point..

.

Horizontal H This function is used to draw horizontal

vertical lines - it will only allow

cursor movement on either direction only..

.

To return to the main menu, press FCTN "9" (BACK).

..

THE WORD MAKER.

.

The Word Maker is both a page-layout tool and a word-processor. It is the

portion of Databiotics' Desktop Publisher used to create and layout your text..

.

When this function is first selected after you've loaded or created a picture

in the PICTURE MAKER portion of the program, you will be asked to select the

number of columns 1,2 or 3. Then, a graphic representation of your page will

appear and a box that represents your picture. Use the arrow keys (FCTN E, FCTN

X, FCTN S and FCTN D) to move the box around the page. After positioning the

picture, press ENTER to continue on to the text-entry portion of Word Maker..

.

In this mode, your text entry box is located in the upper 5 lines of the

screen, and the picture representing your page layout in the lower-half. Your

cursor will be in the upper left corner of the screen. In this mode you have

the following special functions:.

.

Function Key Press Description.

======== ========= =======================================.

 

Delete FCTN 1 Delete a character at the cursor

location..

 

Insert FCTN 2 Insert characters starting at that point..

Note: This function only works on a line.

by line basis - any characters pushed off.

the right hand side of the edit area are.

erased..

 

Delete Line FCTN 3 Deletes the line the cursor is located.

at..

 

Roll-down FCTN 4 Advance 5 lines at a time through the .

document to the bottom of the page..

 

Page-right FCTN 5 Advance the window on the text 20 .

characters to the right..

 

Roll-up FCTN 6 Move 5 lines up at a time to the beginning

of the document.

 

Insert Line FCTN 8 Insert a line at the location of the

cursor.

 

Previous Menu FCTN 9 Go to the previous menu (when in the edit

text mode return to an action menu

described below)

..

Function Key Press Description.

======== ========= =======================================.

 

Word-wrap toggle CTRL 0 When word-wrap is activated (when the

word "wrap" appears below the edit

window on the left) any word that cannot

fit on a line while typing will be

automatically forwarded to the next

line. When word-wrap is off (the opposite

state) words may be divided up between

lines while typing.

 

Place-Picture mode CTRL P Used to return to the place picture stage

of the Word Maker

 

Select Text-style CTRL T You can select different text styles while

you are typing text simply by pressing

CTRL T and selecting one of the 5 styles

available. No text indicator is given for

the style selected.

 

Save Text CTRL S This is used to save text to cassette or

disk. When saving to cassette specify

"CS1" for the filename, and enter a

disk device name and filename when saving

to disk.

 

Load Text CTRL L Load stored text from cassette or disk.

Again, enter "CS1" to load text from

cassette or the disk device name and

filename to load from disk (ex.

DSK1.TEXT).

.

 

The last four functions listed - Place Picture, Select Text-Style, Save and

Load Text can also be selected from a menu instead of directly. To do this,

press FCTN "9" (BACK). A short menu will appear. This menu functions exactly

like the main menu, and will appear over the page representation. The options

of this menu are, in order: Edit Text (return to the text edit mode), Picture

Position (place the picture in a new location), Type Style (select type-style

as above), Load Text (as above), Save Text (as above), or Previous Menu (which

is equivalent to pressing FCTN "9").

 

One note on entering your text: The program functions by having you type in

your text one column at a time. Once you have finished typing to the bottom of

one column the Edit Text mode will send you to the top of the next, and so on

until you've run out of room to enter text on that page.

 

When you have finished creating your text and laying out your page, press FCTN

"9" to return to the Main Menu.

..

THE PRINT PAGE FUNCTION:

 

Once you have drawn your picture with the Picture Maker, and placed it on the

page and entered your text with the Word Maker, you will naturally want to

print out your page. The PRINT PAGE function puts all the pieces together for

you.

 

There is nothing really to know about how to use this function, only a little

about your output. Desktop Publisher will allow you to overlay your text and

your picture. Therefore, when you are entering your text, be careful not to

overwrite the area indicated as the starting coordinates of your picture (on

the right side of the screen below the edit window in the Word Maker)

unless you explicitly want to merge text with your picture. This feature can

be a very powerful tool, but can also frustrate you if you aren't careful.

 

 

A SAMPLE SESSION WITH DESKTOP PUBLISHER:

 

The purpose of this section is to give you a step-by-step guide for using

Databiotics' Desktop Publisher.

 

After you've started the program as detailed in the "Getting Started" section

above, you will probably first want to select the Picture Maker function to

create or load a saved picture. To create a picture use the many functions

described in the section entitled "The Picture Maker". To load a picture, all

you need is the Load command (accessed by pressing "L"). Once a picture has

been loaded or created, you can go on to the next step.

 

Next, you will want to design your layout, and enter your text. Select the Word

Maker function for this. First enter the number of columns you want on the

page, and then place the picture you loaded or created in the previous portion

of the program. If you do not want a picture, simply leave the picture box in

the upper left hand corner of the page. Assuming you did not draw or load

anything, the page will be printed with no picture. Using the text editor

(described in the section "The Word Maker") enter your text. When done, press

FCTN "9" to return to the main menu.

 

Finally, you may want to print the page. To do this select option #3 (Print

Page) and the printer will do it's work. After printing the page, you may want

to make modifications to the text or the layout. To do this, simply re-enter

the Word Maker portion of the program, make your changes, return to the main

menu and select the Print Page option again. NOTE: Do not return to the

Picture Maker section unless you have saved your text prior to doing so,

otherwise your text will be erased from memory.

 

After you have perfected your page, you can save the text to disk or cassette

for printing at some future point.

..

IN CASE OF DIFFICULTY:

 

If the module doesn't seem to be working properly, return to the Master Title

screen by pressing FCTN "=". Withdraw the module, re-insert it carefully, and

press any key to make the master selection list appear. The title of the module

should show up in the third position. Press "3" to select the module (Note: in

rare instances it may be necessary to turn the computer off and wait several

seconds, and then turn it on again).

 

If the module is accidently removed from the cartridge slot while the module is

being used, the computer may behave erratically. To restore the computer to

it's normal operation, turn off the console completely, remove the module, wait

a few seconds, re-insert it, and turn it on again..

 

If you have additional trouble, please contact the manufacturer..

..

 

WARRANTY

 

Databiotics Inc., warrants the Desktop Publisher product which it manufactures

to be free from defects in materials and workmanship for a period of 90 days

from the date of purchase..

 

During the 90 day warranty period Databiotics Inc., will repair or replace, at

it's discretion, any defective products or parts at no additional charge,

provided the product is returned, shipping pre-paid to Databiotics Inc.,. The

purchaser is responsible for insuring the product so returned and assumes the

risk of loss during shipping. All replaced parts and products become the

property of Databiotics Inc.,.

 

Ship To:

 

Databiotics Inc.,

P.O. Box 1194

Palos Verdes Estates, CA 90274

 

Warranty Coverage:

 

This Desktop Publisher product is warranted against defective materials or

workmanship. THIS WARRANTY IS VOID IF THE PRODUCT HAS BEEN DAMAGED BY ACCIDENT,

UNREASONABLE USE, NEGLECT, IMPROPER SERVICE, OR ANY OTHER CAUSES NOT ARISING

OUT OF DEFECTS IN MATERIALS OR WORKMANSHIP..

 

Warranty Disclaimers:.

 

ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY ARISING OUT OF THE SALE OF THIS PRODUCT, INCLUDING, BUT

NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY, AND FITNESS FOR A

PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ARE LIMITED IN DURATION TO THE ABOVE 90 DAY PERIOD.

Databiotics Inc. SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR LOSS OR USE OF THE HARDWARE AND

RELATED FIRMWARE AND/OR SOFTWARE BY OTHER INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL COSTS,

EXPENSES OR DAMAGES INCURRED BY THE CONSUMER OR ANY OTHER USER..

 

Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of implied warranties or

consequential damages, so the above limitation or exclusion may not apply to

you in those states..

 

 

Legal Remedies:

 

This warranty gives you specific legal rights, and you may also have other

rights that vary from state to state.

 

The information in this manual is subject to change without notice.

 

Databiotics Inc., shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or

omissions contained herein: nor for incidental or consequential damages

resulting from the furnishing, performance, or use of this material or product

described by this manual.

 

This manual contains information protected by copyright. All rights are

reserved by the author. No part of this manual may be photocopied or reproduced

in any form without prior written consent from the author and Databiotics Inc.,.

......................

 

 

 

This appears to be the code that returns to the main menu.

CHECKQ LWPI >83E0
       LI   R0,CHKQS2
       LI   R1,PAD+>90
CHKQS1 MOVB *R0+,*R1+
       CI   R0,CHECQ2
       JNE  CHKQS1
       B    @PAD+>90
CHKQS2 LI   R12,>0800
       LI   R1,BNK0
       LDCR R1,0
       B    @>6030
CHECQ2 MOV  @SAVER5,R11
       RT

KEYSEL MOV  R11,@SAVER7
       LI   R3,>2E00
       LI   R0,>0300
       MOVB R0,@>8374
       BLWP @KSCAN
       SETO @TEMP
       MOVB @>8375,R0
       CI   R0,>FF00
       JEQ  KEYSR2
       MOVB R0,R2
       CLR  R4
       MOV  @READY5,R5
       JLT  KEYSM0
KEYSL0 CLR  @READY5
KEYSM0 CB   R2,@KQUIT
       JEQ  CHECKQ

The source contains the following keypress bytes, including KQUIT. Both FCTN9 and FCTN= are set to the same value.

 

KFCTN1 BYTE 3

KFCTN2 BYTE 4

KFCTN3 BYTE 7

KFCTN4 BYTE 2

KFCTN5 BYTE 14

KFCTN6 BYTE 12

KFCTN7 BYTE 1

KFCTN8 BYTE 6

KFCTN9 BYTE 15

KQUIT BYTE 15

 

This may explain why FCTN9 doesn't work, if 15 is in fact the value for FCTN-QUIT.

 

Edit: added bank equates below:

BNK0 EQU >8000

BNK1 EQU >2000

BNK2 EQU >0800

BNK3 EQU >0200

Edited August 19, 2017 by InsaneMultitasker

[+acadiel]

On 8/18/2017 at 11:26 PM, PeteE said:

Ok, I think Desktop Publisher is mostly working, there were some more unexpected writes to >(6000-7fff) that were throwing off the bank switching. Would someone please check the manual for how to exit Picture Maker mode: Back doesn't work but Quit does?

 

Stargazer 3-in-1 converted Ok.

 

Beyond WordWriter is going to need some more debugging...

desktoppublisher8.bin 32 kB · 20 downloads

stargazer_3in1_8.bin 32 kB · 25 downloads

Hey PeteE, did you ever get Beyond Wordwriter banking correctly with the Write to ROM method?

 

[PeteE]

40 minutes ago, acadiel said:

Hey PeteE, did you ever get Beyond Wordwriter banking correctly with the Write to ROM method?

 

I had given up, but I still have the files and will take a look at it again.

[PeteE]

On 4/16/2020 at 9:20 AM, PeteE said:

I had given up, but I still have the files and will take a look at it again.

Something seems odd about the Beyond WordWriter dump.  The upper half of the 3rd bank is all FFs, but maybe that's okay since there don't seem to be any references to anything >7xxx.  From what I can tell it runs along fine until a BL @>694a which appears to be in the middle of an instruction, and the next instruction is a DATA >0000 and eventually reboots.  Here's the cart binary if you'd like to poke at it, and an EA5 program that can dump a CRU-based cartridge to a file if you'd be willing to try it though you'll need some way to load it without the EA cart, like TIPI with CALL TIPI("DSK0.DUMPCRU") and send me the file CRUDMP.

 

beyondww8.bin DUMPCRU

[+acadiel]

I’ll take the EPROM out and dump it again for ya.

[PeteE]

3 hours ago, acadiel said:

I’ll take the EPROM out and dump it again for ya.

Thanks!  Or if you have a TIPI, you can dump it with the EA5 program above from basic with the cartridge inserted, no need to remove the eeprom.  That would also keep the banks in expected order.

Edited April 18, 2020 by PeteE

[+acadiel]

Here's the direct EPROM dump.  I'll attach pics shortly of the board.  If I get time, I'll move back over to the TI to try a PI dump.

BWW.BIN

[PeteE]

1 hour ago, acadiel said:

Here's the direct EPROM dump.  I'll attach pics shortly of the board.  If I get time, I'll move back over to the TI to try a PI dump.

Perfect.  That dump seems to be much improved.  It seems to run correctly now.  Here's the write-to-bankswitch converted bin:

 

bww8.bin

 

Edit: Now that I have compared the good and bad dumps, it looks like the bad dump had one of the address lines stuck low: >6800->6FFF was reading >6000->67FF and >7800->7FFF was reading >7000->77FF, the same way for all 4 banks.

Edited April 20, 2020 by PeteE

[+acadiel]

1 hour ago, PeteE said:

Perfect.  That dump seems to be much improved.  It seems to run correctly now.  Here's the write-to-bankswitch converted bin:

 

bww8.bin 32 kB · 3 downloads

 

Edit: Now that I have compared the good and bad dumps, it looks like the bad dump had one of the address lines stuck low: >6800->6FFF was reading >6000->67FF and >7800->7FFF was reading >7000->77FF, the same way for all 4 banks.

 

Awesome!  I probably mis-dumped it long time ago (2008 if that's the true date I did it).  Back then, I had a different programmer.  Thanks!!!

 

Edit:  I think that's about all the DBT CRU Bankswitching carts now are converted.  

• Beyond Wordwriter (32K)
• Red Baron Flight (32K)
• StarGazer I/II/III (32K)
• Desktop Publisher (32K)
• TI Workshop (64K)

 

Anyone know of any of others >16K CRU Bank switched carts?  I know a few Magic Memory ones got out there, but they're likely buggier than TI Workshop (which is pretty buggy...)

 

[+Ksarul]

On 4/20/2020 at 5:41 PM, PeteE said:

Perfect.  That dump seems to be much improved.  It seems to run correctly now.  Here's the write-to-bankswitch converted bin:

 

bww8.bin 32 kB · 61 downloads

 

Edit: Now that I have compared the good and bad dumps, it looks like the bad dump had one of the address lines stuck low: >6800->6FFF was reading >6000->67FF and >7800->7FFF was reading >7000->77FF, the same way for all 4 banks.

I knew I'd seen a version of this cartridge that worked in bank-switched mode. Thank you @PeteE!

[+acadiel]

I haven't done this yet, but @Schmitzi or @arcadeshopper I mentioned to the other day - probably take all the DataBiotics carts that we changed from CRU to the 378/379 method and put them in one archive and stick them here in this thread in case someone else someone else comes looking for them.

• Beyond Wordwriter (32K)
• Red Baron Flight (32K)
• StarGazer I/II/III (32K)
• Desktop Publisher (32K)
• TI Workshop (64K)

At least I think that's all of them.

DataBiotics Converted Bank Switching.zip

 

[+Ksarul]

Superspace II and III also used the CRU switching method. . .but they may need to stay in that mode to protect the RAM on them.