New MAME release

[+mizapf]

2 hours ago, hloberg said:

looked at Fred's info but it didn't make a lot of sense to me (or it could been that I was reading it a 2am). anyway, the IDE was a nice to have. I'm just going to use the myarc disk.hd controller instead.

 

Hey, giving up is not an option. ? The IDE card is indeed an interesting device, not having a DSR on board.

 

Just try it step by step. The setup procedure should be identical to the real iron. That is, you start by downloading the idedsr15.zip, unpack it. There is a DSK inside; put that in DSK1. Continue at point "Operation" on that web page. The switches are accessible in the OSD menu.

 

By the way, you'll have another option in a few days with the WHTech SCSI card. (The Block DMA does not work yet, though.)

[+hloberg]

1 hour ago, mizapf said:

 

Hey, giving up is not an option. ? The IDE card is indeed an interesting device, not having a DSR on board.

 

Just try it step by step. The setup procedure should be identical to the real iron. That is, you start by downloading the idedsr15.zip, unpack it. There is a DSK inside; put that in DSK1. Continue at point "Operation" on that web page. The switches are accessible in the OSD menu.

 

By the way, you'll have another option in a few days with the WHTech SCSI card. (The Block DMA does not work yet, though.)

might try it again when i'm not so sleep deprived. my idea was to use the BWG floppy controller, since it's also SNUG but wanted a HD too. SCSI,IDE, don't matter. also take a shot at busmouse with the evpc going but haven't even looked  at that yet.

 

 

 

[+dhe]

I was totally dependent on Shift838 to get me going on the IDE. hloberg, don't be down, if it doesn't immediately make sense!

[+hloberg]

so far, I haven't come across much in MAME I haven't been able to figure out, although it may have taken lots of trial and error and a bit of help. In fact the only things I haven't figured out and tested, to some extent, are the Bus Mouse, Forti, IDE, usbsm, pgram & horizon ramdisk. mostly because I either didn't find much info or I just didn't have a use for them. 

oh, I have got it working but haven't played much around with is the serial access through TIImageTool. mostly because I haven't had a need for it, yet.

if I have time I'm going to attempt the IDE again. should be fun. then the busmouse? maybe.

UPDATE: I checked out the info on SNUG about the busmouse & it's in German. I know English, some Spanish, Southern Redneck but no German. and the .pdf isn't set to cut & paste the words into Google translate. oh well.

 

Edited December 21, 2021 by hloberg
update

[+hloberg]

speaking of BWG, long ago I edited the BWG ROM in MAME to correct the day names to English. But that was before the ROMS changed and it's no longer usable (and I lost it anyway ). Looking at the BWG ROMS this time I noticed the days are both in, whatever language and English but there is no mention in manual. So, if I edited the ROM like I did before it should still work but it'll throw a checksum error. @mizapf anyway to suppress that error or make the new edited ROMS legit?

Edited December 21, 2021 by hloberg

[+mizapf]

Concerning modified ROMs, I guess you'll have to live with the warning messages, and anything else would not be a good idea. Just imagine you were a developer of MAME, and people started to complain to you about errors, lockups, weird behavior during full moon. After hunting that issue for weeks, someone finally tells you that he's been using a modified ROM, and it turns out that your emulation was flawless.

 

If you allowed people to suppress that message, say, by some configuration setting, do you believe this would be the first thing that people turned on again before filing the error report? No, they would completely forget about that. You need not really have a weak memory, this is the normal course of things.

 

This does not mean we could not offer new DSRs. It just happened with the boot ROM of the Geneve. But in that case, I'll have to check that and take it on my responsibility, and I'd have to add the respective checksums to the MAME code.

[+mizapf]

2 hours ago, hloberg said:

UPDATE: I checked out the info on SNUG about the busmouse & it's in German. I know English, some Spanish, Southern Redneck but no German. and the .pdf isn't set to cut & paste the words into Google translate. oh well.

Do you refer to the document titled "Anschluß einer C64-GEOS - Maus an den TI 99/4a mit EVPC  oder 80 Zeichen-Karte"? (Connecting a C64 GEOS mouse to the TI-99/4A with EVPC or 80 column card"?

 

I can paste the text into Google Translate:

 

For some time now there have been instructions and circuit suggestions for the TI that make it possible to connect a mouse for easier graphical input or as a replacement for the joystick.

In most cases, however, these are only circuits that convert the mouse movement so that the mouse can be connected to the joystick port. However, this is not a mouse as you know it from the PC to display the position in relative terms, but only an input element that detects the direction of movement in order to convert it into a joystick-like pulse-pause ratio.
But since the 80 character card has been on the market and it has now received the necessary software support, it is now possible to connect a mouse in the 'correct' way - directly to the video processor. This procedure now corresponds to the "correct" mouse mentioned above.

 

The problem is that each line is separate; you must join the lines before letting it translate them.

[+hloberg]

2 hours ago, mizapf said:

Do you refer to the document titled "Anschluß einer C64-GEOS - Maus an den TI 99/4a mit EVPC  oder 80 Zeichen-Karte"? (Connecting a C64 GEOS mouse to the TI-99/4A with EVPC or 80 column card"?

 

I can paste the text into Google Translate:

 

 

 

 

The problem is that each line is separate; you must join the lines before letting it translate them.

no, the one called maus.pdf. but that's all I found on s-n-u-g.de about the busmouse.

I didn't even see that other .pdf. where is it?

Edited December 21, 2021 by hloberg

[+hloberg]

4 hours ago, mizapf said:

Concerning modified ROMs, I guess you'll have to live with the warning messages, and anything else would not be a good idea. Just imagine you were a developer of MAME, and people started to complain to you about errors, lockups, weird behavior during full moon. After hunting that issue for weeks, someone finally tells you that he's been using a modified ROM, and it turns out that your emulation was flawless.

 

If you allowed people to suppress that message, say, by some configuration setting, do you believe this would be the first thing that people turned on again before filing the error report? No, they would completely forget about that. You need not really have a weak memory, this is the normal course of things.

 

This does not mean we could not offer new DSRs. It just happened with the boot ROM of the Geneve. But in that case, I'll have to check that and take it on my responsibility, and I'd have to add the respective checksums to the MAME code.

OK, just thought I would ask.

my second question then, i'm sure you don't have a answer for so just a rant, why do they have the English days in the code but no way, I can see, to access them. oh well, I just go back to using myarc which has a built in hd anyway.

ALSO, got through the IDE and discovered it wasn't what I thought. looks to be just a set of virtual drives like the nanopeb. meh.

on my HSGPL setup I think i'll just stick with myarc and wait till you get the SCSI to play with.

[+mizapf]

In fact, this was maus.pdf.

 

The IDE is treated in quite different ways by Thierry and by Fred. Thierry's solution is actually a set of virtual drives, as you correctly stated. But Fred introduced devices like IDE1 etc. and can use partitions.

[+hloberg]

1 hour ago, mizapf said:

In fact, this was maus.pdf.

 

The IDE is treated in quite different ways by Thierry and by Fred. Thierry's solution is actually a set of virtual drives, as you correctly stated. But Fred introduced devices like IDE1 etc. and can use partitions.

ok, that explains the discrepancy on the IDE.

i'll take another look at the maus.pdf. thanks.

Update: read the translation of the busmouse. I don't think I'm going there. I'll stick with the serial mouse.

 

Edited December 22, 2021 by hloberg

[+Ksarul]

The mice connected to the mouse connector on the Geneve were busmice. They used the same mice as Z-Nix did (the Z-Nix Turbomouse). It was a relatively easy change to convert the serial variant to a busmouse by swapping some of the signal lines around. I built a few adapters to do that while I was in Germany, but the schematic I drew for the cable was destroyed in a flood while I was living in Turkey. I may still have one of the adapters I built buried in a box somewhere. If I turn it up, I'll recreate the schematic. . .as this subject seems to come up now and again. I see the Z-Nix mice for sale now and again too, so it is possible to get one that matches the original if you are lucky. All of the Z-Nix mice I saw today were newer models though. Here's an ad for the right Z-Nix mice.

[+arcadeshopper]

Or you can get a mouse adapter from shift838

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

[+hloberg]

I vaguely remember hearing about busmouse. what exactly were the benefits? I went from serial to ps/2 & never had one.

[+Schmitzi]

12 hours ago, hloberg said:

no, the one called maus.pdf. but that's all I found on s-n-u-g.de about the busmouse.

I didn't even see that other .pdf. where is it?

 

Here, I did a quick translation today:

 

MAUS-SNUG-english-v1.pdf

 

 

 

[+hloberg]

OK here is a HSGPL package you should be able to just merge into MAME or MESS. I'm on v.236 so should work with that or greater. dump all the MESS content in MAME or MESS dir. be sure NOT to alter the contents of NVRAM. modify the batch file where I have CD MESS to change to your MAME/MESS dir. I have the docs with the .zip

tutorial:

when you get the TI99 menu screen (it'll always start with TIBASIC & XB) press the up and down arrows and it'll change to other menus screens. I have a menu screen with down arrow: E/A, TI-DM3, DM2k. At the other end with up arrow from XB: RXB2015 and XB2.5.

you can alternately when the TI just starts with the color bars press 1-XB, 2-E/A, 3-TI-DM3, 4-DM2k, E-Xb2.5 & F-RXB2015. 

I'm currently using the BWG disk controller set to DSDD.

Have the EVPC video adapter setup too so you should be able to use things like 80 column MSMP.

I'll do a complete article on the HSGPL when I finish my series on the Geneve on my projects blog.

you can add up to 16 cartridges on the HSGPL. read the manual and execute CALL HSGPL on TIBASIC to add more. I have had issues with LOGO2, MSMP and some games not working after loaded. my be user error so if you get some loaded let me know.

enjoy, HLO

 

 

 

HSGPL.7z

Edited December 22, 2021 by hloberg

[+Vorticon]

So I downloaded and installed MAME for Linux Mint, but when I to start the TI 99/4A emulation it tells me that the machine has no BIOS. Is there a good source for the TI ROMS?

Is there a tutorial document out there to help with first-time set up on Linux?

[+hloberg]

47 minutes ago, Vorticon said:

So I downloaded and installed MAME for Linux Mint, but when I to start the TI 99/4A emulation it tells me that the machine has no BIOS. Is there a good source for the TI ROMS?

Is there a tutorial document out there to help with first-time set up on Linux?

the post above yours (HSGPL) should have all the ROMS you need in the MESS dir including just the TI99.

[+mizapf]

Walid, please try my mameprep script. You can download a current MAME version from WHTech (https://ftp.whtech.com/emulators/MAME/ti99/linux/)

 

Drop the mameprep script (also in that server folder) in your local folder where you unpacked MAME. The mameprep script is contained in the tar.gz file. Start it with ./mameprep, and you will experience some magic. ?

 

After it is done, you should have a fully prepared, ready to run MAME installation (against all expectations concerning MAME setup).

[+Vorticon]

2 hours ago, mizapf said:

Walid, please try my mameprep script. You can download a current MAME version from WHTech (https://ftp.whtech.com/emulators/MAME/ti99/linux/)

 

Drop the mameprep script (also in that server folder) in your local folder where you unpacked MAME. The mameprep script is contained in the tar.gz file. Start it with ./mameprep, and you will experience some magic. ?

 

After it is done, you should have a fully prepared, ready to run MAME installation (against all expectations concerning MAME setup).

Awesome! Worked like a charm. I did notice however that the CC40 and Cortex did not have Roms. Where can I find those?

[+Ksarul]

Here's a great Powertran Cortex resource. I linked to the download page--the ROMs are at the bottom (both Standard Cortex and FORTH flavors).

[+Vorticon]

8 hours ago, Ksarul said:

Here's a great Powertran Cortex resource. I linked to the download page--the ROMs are at the bottom (both Standard Cortex and FORTH flavors).

Does the zip file need to be given a specific name? I dropped it into the rom folder but still no dice with the Cortex...

[+mizapf]

Rename the roms.zip file to cortex.zip.

[+Vorticon]

18 minutes ago, mizapf said:

Rename the roms.zip file to cortex.zip.

Yup I had done that before dropping the zip file into the rom folder. I wonder if the rom files within the zip file need a specific naming convention.

[+mizapf]

If you use the MAME version I mentioned above (0.237 from WHTech), it should work. It does for me.

 

$ ./mame cortex
cortex.ic47 NOT FOUND (tried in cortex)
cortex.ic46 NOT FOUND (tried in cortex)
cortex.ic45 NOT FOUND (tried in cortex)
Fatal error: Required files are missing, the machine cannot be run.
$ cp ~/Downloads/roms.zip roms/cortex.zip
$ ./mame cortex
Average speed: 100.00% (3 seconds)

 

What is your error message?